Hebrews 1:11 says “Now faith is the assurances of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen.” In other words, faith is believing in someone/something that you cannot see. I remember as a young child we used to play the trust fall game. You know where one person stands in front of another person and falls backwards having full faith in the person behind you that they will catch you. Having faith in Jesus Christ is very similar to that. We trust that the words that were written in the Bible over 2000 years ago by God through man are the whole truth and that God sent His only Son to live a perfect life, so He could die on the cross and take the sins of this world away by believing in Him whole heartly. We have faith that even though we did not see Jesus Christ live, die, and rise from the dead that it did happen and that the Holy Spirit lives within all His believers. We have faith and trust that one day Jesus will come back for us and take us with Him to live forever in paradise.

 Faith is a gift from God himself, Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” As our faith grows, we have a burning desire to have and want what God wants in our lives. The question may be, how does my faith grow in God? Romans 10:17 “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” We can look at it this way, for any subject that is being studied in school we have the corresponding book/books to go with that subject. You would not study a science book to pass a history test, right? The same goes for our growth in faith. In order to grow closer to God the Father and Jesus the Son we have to study the words that we were given by God himself, the Bible.

Let me leave you with a warning though. Satan hates to see anyone on fire for The Lord and for the work of God to play out because that means he is losing. With true and total faith will come trails, lots, and lots of trails. Satan will try his hardest to pull you down because like I just said he does not like to see God win. Adversity is the best tool to grow your faith in God as long as you stay steadfast to the promises of God. We can look at David’s life and all the trials God brought him through. One of my favorites is found in 1 Samual 17:37 “And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” David knew the God who had sustained him through dangerous situations in the past. He had seen and experienced God’s power and protection in his life, and this developed within him a fearless faith.

My prayer is that you will examine your walk with Jesus Christ. Have you put your faith in him whole heartedly? What has God brought you through in this life? What are you going to do to make sure that you have a firm foundation to stand on?

-Stephanie