Faith is relationship with God.
Relationship with God is essential!
And what you get with relationship with god is ever-increasing measures of all the fruits of the Spirit and more! (Including, but not limited to, Peace, Patience, Understanding, Forgiveness, Love, Consideration of the other...)
Relationship with God gives us the wide-open S P A C E S to grow in love with Him.
Relationship with God
Baptism
Marriage
Children
We are safe here to come and go - to come and stay - welcomed by God forever; (welcomed to the point that we don't want to leave and He will never make us leave). But the door is open right now and we can choose to leave relationship with God if WE want to, but God never leaves His relationship with US!
What Is Faith? How do we define Faith? How can we describe it? The author of Hebrews states,
"'Faith is the certainty of things hoped for - the evidence of things not seen.' And in that, you see the balance where you're not being Pharisaical (you're never saying that the things of God aren't true), but you are saying that there's still faith - these things are grasped by faith - 'the certainty of things hoped for - the evidence of things not seen.'" ~Jim Richter
If you've ever thought, "I'm struggling with my faith right now..." that doesn't mean you don't have faith or you have weak faith... it just means you have faith. The struggle IS part of what faith IS! So, rejoice! You have faith! It's not that you are struggling to believe in God - it's more that you are struggling with what He's been asking you to do - struggling in your walk with God as he teaches and challenges and shows us new things that we're not used to.
"To struggle with Faith is part and parcel OF Faith. Faith is not a scientific thing that we experimented with and observed what happened... it's Faith! The very character of Faith tells you that there is going to be grappling with it, just by its very nature... if it's really Faith." ~Jim Richter
"You're walking in Faith and you're struggling... it doesn't mean you're not walking in Faith anymore... You don't leave the family just because you have an argument. God isn't like that. He doesn't ever want to end His relationship with you. He always wants to be gentle with us and keep us, gather us, love us, provide for us, smile at us, inspire us, and grow us. You're still in a relationship with God. Faith struggles are just part of growing up and the continuing journey of walking with God forever in relationship - in friendship - with God. I think people don't understand Faith because they don't know Who God is. I didn't begin to understand Faith in God until I knew Who I was putting my Faith in... Now that I know His deep and never-ending love for me, it's a no-brainer to put my faith in Him." ~Drew Jarrod
"1 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead. 2 Men of God in days of old were famous for their faith." ~Hebrews 11:1-2 TLB
"1 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. 2 The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.
4 By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
7 By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
8-10 By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
11 By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said.
13-16 Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them." ~Hebrews 11:1-16. MSG
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The Living Loved Life Podcast Episode "What Is Faith?" (40:25)
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