Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].
All of us have been betrayed, lied about, gossiped about…and in turn we are guilty of doing these same actions against others. Is it any wonder that trust is so rare to humanity? If we cannot trust the people we SEE on a day to day basis, that it is next to impossible to trust a God that we don't SEE on a day to day basis?
Speaking for myself, I certainly, without a doubt, fall into this category. God has done everything in His power to show me that He loves us (me) and wants a personal relationship with us (me). Finally after several years of unbelief and not trusting or hoping in Him, He has begun to capture my heart.
Through a series of events that would take too long to go into detail here, I have begun to see how much He loves me. He has never betrayed me. He is constantly pushing me to believe in Him on the everyday, little things that seem so insignificant. It is such an overwhelming thought to realize that God that is more vast that the universe cares about the mundane, insignificant things of our lives. However, Scripture reveals that He does; what is important to us is important to Him.
One such instance occurred this past month. I was reading a book that spoke about God wanting to reveal Himself to each of us on a personal level. The book went on to say that if God reveals Himself to enough people that will diligently seek Him, then entire towns and cities could be radically changed. These people would not only individually be blessed but would collectively form a church seek to know Him for Who He truly is. The main desire of these people is that they wholeheartedly seek God's Face rather than just His Blessings.
When I see that I have so little faith and trust in God, it is hard for me to trust Him. It is hard for me not to have utter disbelief that God would be able to accomplish such a collective revival. I am ashamed to admit that I truly did not believe that God would be able to so dramatically turn people's hearts towards Him. Most of all, I did not believe that He could change my heart. I did not believe I was worthy of His Love or His attention.
But God is too tenacious to be thwarted by my self-centered focus. He continually kept after me until I began to realize that the entire focus of my life was wrong. I was worshipping my pride instead of my God; I thought I was too unworthy or too much of a failure to save. I focused on my self-loathing and less on trusting God for my true self-identity. In a sense, I was bowing down to my idols of self-loathing by believing them more than I trusted in God. In short, I was committing the sin of idolatry because I chose to worship my self-assessments rather than worshipping God.
Not only was I committing idolatry, I was calling God a liar. When I chose not to adhere to His Words, refusing to believe that what God told me was the truth, I was calling Him a liar to His Face. When Jesus died for me on the Cross, He said that through Him all of us were worthy of His Death. When we purposely negate our divine value, we are saying that what Jesus did on the Cross did not apply to me. We are saying that Jesus' Death was in vain and was a lie. When God revealed this to me, I was beside myself with shock. I never realized that this is what I was doing.
My sinful choices of idolatry and blasphemy of God directly influenced how I viewed my fellowman. It is much easier to blame someone else for how I felt about myself and for my choices. It is easy to make yourself believe that"I am the way that I am" because of what someone else did to me. If you continually cling to this attitude of excusing your actions because of what someone else did, you develop the mindset of "entitlement." An "entitlement" mindset means that we think that we "deserve to have vindication" because of what someone else did to us. An "entitlement" mindset refuses to forgive our fellowman when they wrong us. We not only blame them for what they did but we also focus on our own self-pity....which then turns into self-loathing....which turns into pride and unforgiveness. Human nature is complex isn't it?? I thought that this mental attitude was the only true fulfillment that I would ever have in this life. But I am happy to report, Jesus showed me that there is so
This is the place in my life that God has brought me to. He impressed a very odd and unique "experiment" on my heart that was meant to increase my faith and trust in Him. This experiment would require that I totally trust Him because nothing I did could influence the final outcome of this experiment. This is by far the oddest but most blessed task God has ever given me. Not only has Jesus used it to heal my heart but He has used it to heal the hearts of those who are closest to me.
He impressed upon me to transplant a tomato plant that was mostly dead into a new pot. In addition to transplanting the mostly dead plant, He impressed upon me to also plant 3 or 4 seeds in 2 different parts of the same pot. Now mind you, the soil that I transplanted all of this in was just generic soil. I did add some "Miracle Grow" to the soil. My friend, who knows everything about planting, said that the chances of anything growing in soil with such poor conditions was unlikely. The seeds I had planted were also very old and didn't not look like they were worth much.
The entire week, He was impressing this upon my heart, I thought I was mentally losing it. But He *continually* kept pushing this thought… "If I can make life grow out of a pot full of dead seeds, bad soil, and a dead tomato plant, then I can also make life grow in the hearts of men that have been dead to Me forever, Who have their own personal idols, who do not seek Me or even know how to seek Me. If I can do this in you (meaning me) then I can do this in anyone."
I thought I was crazy basing all of this on a plant?! But, the thought would not quit coming to me, so I did just as the Lord said and put this all together. For the first week, nothing happened.
By the middle of the second week, on a Tuesday or Wednesday (I believe?) night I had just resigned myself to the thought that I was indeed losing my mind. But in spite of this, God kept repeating to my heart again and again what He had said earlier. In spite of my doubts, I had developed a small seed of faith…as small as that of a mustard seed no less; the Bible says that this is the smallest seed and that if we have faith of this something this small then nothing is impossible to God. (Matthew 17:20)
However, on the following morning, there was 1 very green, and one very obvious plant sprouting through the soil. The next day, there was another plant growing beside it.
~Please Click Here to See the Growing Tomato Plants~
I was actually shocked. God then re-repeated what He had said earlier and added , "If I can make dead seeds grow in your heart, fertilize it with My Word, so that it grows into a healthy plant of faith and commitment to Him, how much more so can I do it in other people who are just like you but who still seek Me?"
Not only was that humbling but it endeared Him more to me and increased my faith.We cannot, of ourselves increase our faith; it is impossible. The only way to increase one's faith is to ask God for more faith. The Bible refers to Jesus as the Author and Finisher of our faith; He plants the seed of faith in our heart and fertilizes it with His Word so it will grow. I am happy to report that the tomato plants that you see above have grown into a healthy, plant that continues to grow...in the middle of winter. I have never seen a tomato plant thrive like this one has; God *more than* kept His Promise, wouldn't you say?
~Please Click Here to see the latest picture of the tomato plant!~
He will give us faith if we earnestly seek after Him. When we earnestly seek Him, we are acknowledging that He is Who He says He is (Hebrews 11:6a) and have the "hope" (Hebrews 11:1) that He will reward those that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6b).
What is faith?
Why does the Bible say that without faith it is impossible to please God?
How is it even possible to believe in a Deity that you cannot even see with your own eyes?
How was I going to believe in a God that I never saw, heard speak, or see perform a miracle?
How do you believe in a God that is so big?
Is it even possible that He would be capable of caring about each one of us on an individual basis?
The kind of faith described in the verse below leads me to believe that not only does He care about each and every one of us but He expects us to acknowledge that fact.
Hebrews 11:6 – "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
If you also notice that verse says we not only have to believe that He exists *but* that we believe that He is a rewarder to those that seek Him.
So, in order to have faith, we not only to believe that God is Who He says He is *but*
we have to believe secondly that He not only wants to but will reward those who diligently seek Him.
This verse contains TWO requirements that the Bible says are necessary to please God. First we have to acknowledge that He is God and not only that but believe that "He is." It is easy to believe that there is a God out there somewhere. It is easy to believe that God is around somewhere but not know where. It is easy to believe that such a great God does not care about us as individual people b/c He is so BIG. He created the universe, the earth, and humanity. Why would a God Who created all of this....Who has this much power....care about us on an individual basis??
What do our microscopic, tiny lives and all of our personal cares matter to One Who is so BIG and Who would seem to have much more monumental things on His Mind than our personal issues or struggles??
It is easy to say that there is a God but it is harder to believe that there is a God Who cares for us on a personal level.
When the verse says that we are to believe that "He is" it is not referring to acknowledging God is this huge God that is just out there somewhere and we are just here "just because."
I believe that this verse is speaking of a different matter entirely. Believing that "He is" entails more of a personal acknowledgment of Him as a God Who *does* care about our personal lives and what happens in them.
This statement is supported by the second part of the verse that says that He is a "rewarder" to those that "diligently" seek Him.
If God is not personal and does not care whether we acknowledge Him as a "personal God" or not then why does He say that He will reward those that "diligently" seek Him.
You cannot believe in an impersonal God and diligently seek Him. What is the point? If He is so big that He does not care about us or our lives then why does He specifically state that He would reward those that diligently seek Him?
It does not make any sense for us to diligently seek a God Who does not want to be sought.
That is why I wholeheartedly believe that this verse means that we need to acknowledge Him as a PERSONAL God that "Is" *and* that we believe that He will actually WANT to reward those that diligently seek Him.
For a lot of my life, I had a hard time believing that such a God even existed. What was my life or my problems to Him? Yes, I always sought to believe that He did send His Son to die for us...but I viewed it more in a death that collectively redeemed humanity as a whole and not on an individual basis.
So, not only did I have a problem believing that He cared about humanity on a personal level. BUT to acknowledge that a God Who was so BIG would care about individual persons whose lives were so LITTLE was a bit of a staggering thought.
I never understood how (or why??) He would reward those that diligently seek Him b/c I had no idea what it meant to even seek Him....much less to seek Him in a diligent manner.
Hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back...now at least....I can see God working in my personal life. I can see His Hand working in parts of my life that would not have turned out for the better if He did not work them out.
Isn't it odd that we never acknowledge God was there for us until later on in one of those rare moments of revelation that come to us at unexpected moments. When we are sitting alone or are in a crowd and something or someone will jar a past memory of a time in our lives that seemed impossible to overcome and then we realize..."Wait, I did not overcome it...God helped me to overcome it."
With that in mind, allow me to give my personal viewpoint on faith, what it is, and why it is so important to God.
What is faith? What is the definition of faith? Why did Jesus chide, rebuke, and admonish people for their "lack of faith", their "unbelief", and encourage those with "[Oh ye of] little faith" to see more faith?
Faith is described in the Bible as "is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.(Hebrews 11:1)"
What does that mean exactly?
What does the verse mean when it says that faith is the "substance of things hoped for"? I believe that this refers to the things in our lives that we want to happen but see no foreseeable way that they can happen.
These are the things in our lives that we have given up hope on that we will ever see happen. These are the things that we want to happen but seem impossible or next to impossible to accomplish.
These are the things that we have tried to make happen with our own efforts but have failed time and time again.
So to have faith in God means that we first off have to believe that He *personally* cares about these hopeless things in our individual lives [as Hebrews 11:6 states]. We then have to believe that He will answer each of these hopeless requests in a way that first off glorifies Him as well as makes our lives work out for the best. The Bible clearly says in Romans 8:28 that "all things work to the good to them that love God."
You cannot truly love God until you have faith in Him. You cannot truly love God until you submit your will to His and commit your life to Him personally. You cannot love God if you love your own glory more than His Glory.
God will honor those that truly love Him. You cannot truly honor God will honor those that truly love Him. You cannot truly honor you "think that you deserve." You truly love God if you seek to know Him for Who He is not what He has the power to give you.
To sum, I believe the first part of that verse that says faith is loving God enough, believing that He is a personal God Who seeks to have a personal relationship with us, and to believe that He loves us enough to work out everything for the best in our lives. God will not answer every single request we make of Him. If it does not honor Him and if it will hurt us rather than help us, we have to believe that He has our best interests at heart.
God will not honor requests that will only honor our personal wishes and our personal glory but do nothing to honor Him.
James 4:3 says, "Ye ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts."
You cannot put your needs before God's and you cannot seek your glory before His. He will not honor requests that are motivated by self-worship and that are not in His will.
The second part of the verse that describes faith says, "the evidence of things not seen." The second part of this verse perfectly ties in to the first part of the verse that says "faith is believing that God will fulfill what seems impossible and in doing so will give us hope in Him."
Secondly, we have to believe the things of God are not always seen by visible eyes.
The beginning of faith is the beginning of hope. Without God, we have no hope. The things that we "hope" for often seem impossible but when we trust God with the hopelessness of a situation, He will provide "hope" where there was "no hope."
We have to trust God before we even know how or even if He will fulfill the deepest and most hopeless desires of our heart."
When the second part of the verse defining faith describes it as the "evidence of things not seen "it is referring to the final outcome of the hope that we place in God when we trust Him to handle the impossible in our lives. It is referring to the end result of our trust in Him. It is referring to the evidence of His Love and His Power. When God turns the unseen and the unlikely into the seen and the likely, that is when we have "evidence" that He is working in our lives not only for our happiness but for His Glory.
Faith, then, is defined as trusting God with the hopeless things our lives, trusting in Him to fulfill those situations in such we begin to see the "hopeless" become the "hopeful". This is the evidence that He that He wants a personal relationship with each one of us; why else would He personally address our hopeless issues?
These verses of the Bible are all connected.
We cannot please God unless we believe that He is a personal God.(Hebrews 11:6) We cannot expect God to answer requests that will harm us or not glorify Him.(James 4:3). We develop a personal relationship with God when we see that He wants to turn our lives from hopeless to hopeful. (Romans 8:28).
When we begin to hope in God, we begin to trust in God and have faith in Him. When we have faith in Him, we believe that He loves us on a personal level…enough to actually want to reward those who seek a relationship with Him (Hebrews 11:6) with all of their being…heart, soul, mind, body and strength. (Mark 12:30).
It never ceases to amaze me how God ties in certain verses of the Bible that seem to have nothing in common into verses that have everything in common.
I could not go without sharing this part of my heart with you all who read these blogs. I love the Lord so very much and have a passion for His Word that can only come from faith that He put there. Nothing else really seems to matter anymore, nothing else seems to fulfill me as much as a life with Jesus does. If I have Him - what else do I need?? Nothing.
I *eagerly* await the day when I...we...will seem Him Face to face. Can you imagine what that day will be like??? We will finally get to worship our Lord and Savior Face to face for all eternity. Such a inconceivable thought, yet one that is full of Hope and Expectancy!! Praise the Lord!
I will end this blog by posting a beautiful sunset picture I captured while driving home. The heavens really do declare the Glory of the Lord.(Psalm 19:1)
~Please Click Here to see the beautiful Sunset~
Amen and thanks be to God for His everlasting love, faithfulness, and greatness. Thank You for reading and May God richly bless you.....
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