Faith

Faith is being thankful to God in advance.

In other words, faith is thanking God for what He will do in the future.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith believes that there is a God, and that He will do what He says He will do.

Faith is being thankful to God in advance.

Faith believes that God is good, and God is almighty.  Faith believes that God's plans are ultimately good and certain to come to pass.

Faith believes that God exists, that His command created the Universe, and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:3, 6).

God rewards those who seek Him.

The belief in a future reward is a crucial element of faith.  Faith looks to the future and trusts in a future benefit.  Look at some examples from Hebrews 11:

• Noah built the ark amidst ridicule and persecution, believing that it would benefit him in the end, and it did.  
• Abraham left his homeland to go wherever God would lead him, "looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Hebrews 11:10)  In other words, Abraham left a known place, in faith that he was headed to a better place.  
• Moses gave up a position of power in Egypt, believing that God's calling was greater and would result in something much more valuable than the treasures of Egypt.

None of the heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews 11 received their ultimate reward in this life.  Some of them received intermediary rewards, but some did not.   Yet, all who live by faith receive the reward of eternal life with God through the atoning death of Christ.  "Atoning death" means that Christ's death satisfied the justice of God and makes payment--full restitution--for the damages that sin inflicts on God's creation.  In this way, Jesus purchased souls for God.  This is what we mean when we say we have been purchased by the blood of Jesus.

Putting your faith in Jesus means that you trust Jesus to extend His great salvation to you.  You believe in Him and trust that His death clears you from all guilt and condemnation.  You believe that His Holy Spirit comes to reside in your actual body for the rest of your life, changing you and preparing you for eternal life with God.  You believe that there will be a permanent, perfectly restored New Heaven and New Earth where you will live eternally in blissful perfection before the presence of the good God of beauty, light and life.  You look forward to this.  Looking forward to this helps you weather the trials of your present life on a fallen planet, with all its ups and downs, its disappointments, sorrows and separations.  You look forward to the end of sin and trouble.

You look forward.

Faith is being thankful to God in advance.

Faith is very difficult for those who have not mastered the idea of delayed gratification.  If you cannot see how it would benefit you to wash and fold your clothes now so they won't be dirty and wrinkled the next time you need to wear them, you will certainly struggle to understand how refraining from sinful self-indulgence today will deeply bless you later.

The measureless fathoms of future eternity are meaningless to one who cannot see beyond his immediate desire in a moment.  This is sad.  Yet, there is always hope for every person, because faith is a gift from God.  When God grants faith to someone, He enables that person to comprehend eternity and to perceive the reality of his own position in light of eternity.  There is hope for all people, because God has set eternity in the hearts of all people (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

When God gives a mortal the gift of faith and a new, immortal soul, He does it by way of opening the mortal's spiritual vision to a view of Truth.  This is why Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)

Faith is when God grants you the spiritual sight to recognize Truth and grasp the concept of the eternal hereafter.   In a strange way, faith is when God lets you see into the future.  You don't see all the details clearly, of course, but He gives you enough sight to know that something is coming, something vast and momentous, and you realize you need Him desperately to survive.  Not only that, you discern that if you throw your lot in with Him, you are sure to thrive.

Faith is understanding that you need God's grace to survive and thrive.

Faith is knowing that with God's grace, you are certain to survive and thrive.

Faith is being thankful to God in advance.