The Faithful

Once I read a comment on a blog from a woman complaining that her church was focusing on faith. “Faith, faith, faith” she ridiculed.

I went to my concordance in the Bible and wrote down the most referred to subjects. A full page of verse references was 3 columns. Here is what I found were the top four words.

Lord – 9 columns

God – 8 columns

Love – 6 columns

Faith – 5 columns

Lord, God, and love are obvious subjects one would find in the Bible but are you surprised to find out Faith is the fourth most used term recorded in the concordance? Obviously, faith is a very important aspect of our walk with Christ. But strangely enough at the second coming of Christ, He will certainly find a lack of faith.

Luke 18:8

“However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Hebrews 11 is known for its teaching on faith and tells us of the people of God throughout biblical history who lived by faith alone.

Let’s see who is mentioned. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the parents of Moses, and Moses.

All of these men are wonderful examples of their great faith and all were tested. None of them saw all the fulfillments of what was promised but they looked forward to the heavenly promises. When we realize that the things of this world are just temporary and we wait patiently for our true eternal home we begin to realize how important it is to walk in faith. Faith is storing our treasures in heaven ( Matt 6:20) where they are not seen with today’s lustful eyes.

We are told in Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” This is one of most important verses in Hebrews.

Lastly, I go to Habakkuk. Once I had my Bible open and someone inquired “What are you reading?” I replied, “Habakkuk,” to which I received a puzzled look in response.

But what do we find! Habakkuk 2:4 says “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous, will live by his faith.” This verse is so important it is repeated in Romans, Hebrews and Galatians.

God is not out of reach for those who walk in the faith of the Word of God. We seek God by prayer, and reading His Word. Be content with what you have, because discontent is really a lack of faith. Expect tests and discipline from the Father who loves us. When a parent disciplines it is because of love, and so it is with our Heavenly Father. If we struggle on this path of faith think of others who also struggle and help them. When our faith strengthens we can take our eyes off of ourselves, put them on Jesus, and begin to help others.