FAITH
have faith in God [constantly]
Mark 11:22 AMP
Faith — having the confidence, trust, conviction, assurance, belief, hope or expectation that something is true or exists without ever actually seeing it. Having faith is usually associated with having faith in God, having faith that God exists and having faith in the life and death of Jesus. As we have done in some of the other sections of this Web site, we will also do here. We are not going to provide a theological assessment on the history of faith or provide pages of supportive documentation as to why or if you should have faith in God. We simply want to say that we live every day of our lives by faith — faith in God and faith in Jesus. Faith in a better life than the world has to offer. Faith that everything we do makes a difference in our lives and the lives around us. Faith that the Bible is the Word of God and that we are what the Bible says we are and we have what the Bible says we have. We don’t know any other way to live than to live by faith, for it is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man (Psalm 118:8 KJV).
With all of that in mind, we offer the following: The simplest definition of faith in God is acting like what the Bible says is true. Faith is an act. No, faith is NOT putting on an act, as in pretending, playing, faking or putting on a front or having false pretense. Faith is an act as in how you behave, conduct yourself, or function in a given situation. Faith is believing that what the Word of Gods says is true, and acting like it! Second Corinthians 5:7 KJV encourages us to walk by faith, not by sight. Some days that may mean getting out of bed and literally taking every step by faith in God’s promises and not based on what is going on in the world around us — not being moved by taxes, gas prices or unemployment but knowing that God is in control and trusting Him and His plan for our lives.
Having faith also means believing someone is healed of sickness or disease because that is what the Word says: He sent His Word and healed them (Psalm 107:20 NKJV)…He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5 KJV). Try not to be moved by what you see or by how things look. Don’t act depressed and gloomy in any situation, but have faith in God and His Word, and have faith that God can do a miracle in any situation, acting like whatever you are believing for will come to pass. Act like you would act if what you were believing for to happen actually did happen! Act like the cancer is healed! Act like the back pain is gone. Act like the tumor is no longer in your body. Whatever it is you are battling, act like you have faith in God to heal you everywhere you hurt. For I will restore health to you, and I will heal your wounds, says the Lord…(Jeremiah 30:17 AMP).
Faith can truly be healing. There are many examples in the Bible where Jesus told people that their faith healed them.
Then He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you…”(Luke 8:48 NIV)
Then He said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”(Luke 17:19 NIV)
Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”(Luke 18:42 NIV)
…Jesus said…have faith in God [constantly]. (Mark 11:22 AMP)
If anyone knew about faith, it was Jesus. And we can certainly trust anything Jesus says to us in the area of faith. You might say, “Well, that is all well and good for you, but I just don’t have faith in anything. I have to see it to believe it.” But you do, have faith — the Word says you do. Second Corinthians 4:13 KJV says, we having the same spirit of faith. We all start with the same measure of faith. How we each grow in, or exercise, our faith is up to each of us as individuals. Two people can start with the same measure of faith but can grow at completely different paces depending on the amount of time they spend with the Lord, reading the Bible, praying — exercising their faith.
The Word also says in Hebrews 11:1 KJV that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Just because you cannot see something happening does not mean that God is not working on your need behind the scenes. Keep believing, keep trusting,keep having faith! For verily I say unto you, that whosoever says unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says he has. Therefore I say to you, whatever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and they shall come to pass (Mark 11:23-24 KJV).
Spending time in God’s Word is an excellent way to grow in faith, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17 NKJV).There are many great scriptures in the Bible about faith to read and meditate on. Hebrews 11 is a great place to start. It shows examples of men and women throughout the Word, who had great faith in God. The more time you spend in the Word, reading and learning about faith, the more your faith will grow. Our prayer is that as you learn and grow in your relationship with the Lord, you will truly experience mountain-moving faith — faith that the Word says you have.