FAITH

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 In the first chapter of the book of James, verses five to eight, says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." This portion of the Scriptures refers to a certain kind of people very common nowadays--people who constantly struggle with lack of or, perhaps, misunderstanding and misuse of faith. By the way faith is not a simple or easy thing to put into action, because it usually means believing something that is contrary to our current circumstances. It often takes a determined effort to act on faith and see things come to pass, especially with the most common types of struggles, challenges and problems mankind has faced throughout the centuries. These common problems are colored in the form of sicknesses, diseases, financial disturbances, family challenges, and many other issues and difficulties. Let's be realistic, we face all kinds of challenges and misfortunes that sometimes hit us so hard that we find ourselves lost in the midst of those events looking for answers, no one seems to escape them. In situations like those we can easily find ourselves plagued by desperation. We, as believers, are accustomed to hearing people teach, preach and talk about faith, it doesn't matter where you go or what church you attend, there will always be teachings on the subject of faith and so forth, but when we find ourselves in situations that require faith to be used we tend to faint and despair realizing that doubt has actually taken over our minds and hearts. Why is that? It is because we have been taught the theory of faith and not the practical application of it. We hear people teach about faith, preach about faith, talk about faith, but we don't see many showing us how faith really works. The Bible actually gives us examples where we clearly see faith being demonstrated by actions--action first, results comes after. The first example I want to point out is found in the book of James, chapter 2:20-22, it says, "You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did." The second example I would like to expose is found in the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark, verses from 1 through 5, it says, "A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralytic was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven'". What lessons can we learn from these portions of the Scriptures? Well, we certainly can see that faith can be more than just an abstract concept. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1. What we see in the above examples of faith in action is that in both cases actions were taken first before the results came to pass. Abraham had to take action against his own will in order to please God, but believing that God was powerful enough to even raise his son, Isaac, from the dead. And in the second example we see four men showing faith through their actions, even to the point of making an opening in the roof of a house just to be able to bring the paralytic to be healed by Jesus. What a great demonstration of faith! It often take a huge effort to act on faith, whereas is does not take any hard work to operate in doubt. Why is that? It's because faith comes from God almighty and doubt comes from the devil, and since "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Rom 3:23, the nature of Satan works in us without much resistance or hindrance, the human race has been, along the centuries, subject to his demonic influences and evil attacks. This causes doubt to work in us rather than faith. The Bible warns us that if we don't change this reality we will live in constant conflict rather than living in the grace of God, which is available to us through Jesus Christ's sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, which summarizes in His free gift to humanity--salvation. "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord." James 1:6-7. Have you ever encountered sick people trying to get healed, especially in church's services or special evangelistic meetings? Most of them go back home the same way they came in, or maybe even worse. There are many reasons or perhaps excuses why people don't get healed when they are prayed for, the most prominent reason is lack of faith--genuine faith! Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.". What happens in the faith process is that we try to put faith to work without having the substance (assurance), that's not going to work due to the fact that we are missing the "front door key". How, then, can we achieve the evidence in order to have the breakthrough? Jesus says in Mark 11:22b "Have faith in God.", in other words, He is saying that, first of all, we need to exercise faith in God by believing that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6). Everything begins by believing in God. In order to believe in Him we must expose ourselves to the reading and teaching of His word, because "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." (Rom 10:17). Once we believe in God things will be much easier to understand and God Himself will be there ready to pour out blessings on us without limits. There are some practical ways that helps accelerate the process of faith in us, for example: reading the Bible--understanding God's ways toward us, praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), fellowship with people of strong faith, avoid hanging out with folks of negative attitude, avoid cursing others, and learning to confess God's promises.