God likes faith and you should too! It is by faith we receive God’s greatest blessings. It is by faith that we receive things from Him we could never pay for or ever earn. God has used the way of faith to freely give us all that He has made available by His grace. This process is revealed in Romans 4:16:
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…
God has unlimited wealth to share and He wants to share it with us. Sin made that almost impossible until Jesus came and purchased our redemption. He restored what sin had stolen and made everything God has, all spiritual blessings in heavenly places available to everyone. Grace made it free, faith makes it yours!
Learning to walk by faith, live by faith, receive by faith, and fight the good fight of faith is one of the most enriching and rewarding experiences in life.
God is a faith God
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:3
He spoke the world into existence by faith. The principles of faith have been used since the very beginning of time. By faith the worlds were created. God exercises these principles and He expects us to.
…as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations” in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; Romans 4:17 (NKJV)
The same God who said “Let there be light” while it was dark, called Abraham the father of many nations while he was yet childless. God calls those things which do not exist as though they did. That’s faith in action. He is a faith God and He wants us to be faith people. Abraham followed God’s lead and began to believe and say what God said and it worked!
God is so serious about His children operating in faith that the Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him…” That should settle the issue of faith, if faith pleases God, then sign me up.
“For we walk by faith, and not by sight.” 2 Cor. 5:7 Should be the testimony of every child of God.
Faith makes it fair
There are no special children with special access to God. We are all equal and we all have equal access and equal opportunity. This is insured by faith. Each person in God’s kingdom receives as much of God’s grace as they believe for.
What Jesus spoke to the blind men is true for us:
And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” Matthew 9:28-29
According to your faith be it unto you, according to my faith be it unto me. If two unsaved people went to the same church service and heard the same message and one was saved and the other wasn’t, there is no mystery as to why. The one who was saved didn’t have any special access to God or didn’t receive special treatment. God doesn’t have favorites. He loves everyone, salvation is available to everyone equally. The fact that one was saved and the other wasn’t has nothing to do with God and everything to do with the person. One believed and was saved, the other didn’t and wasn’t.
And He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16 (NKJV)
This principle is true with salvation and with all the other blessings of God, the message goes out to everyone, those who believe receive and those who don’t believe do without. God doesn’t decide who receives and who doesn’t, we do. Faith makes the kingdom fair.
Let’s look at the word whosoever in the King James Version in relation to faith:
Whosover means anyone, no one will be refused. It includes you and everyone you know and those you don’t know.
John 3:15-16:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 12:46:
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Acts 10:43:
To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
1 John 5:1
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Notice in all these verses the whosoever applies to anyone, salvation comes to any whosoever who chooses to believe. Salvation does not just come to whosever, it comes to whosever believes.
God did not want people to have to pay for salvation or earn salvation or politic for salvation. It had to be a free gift available to all.
…it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 1 Corinthians 1:21
It pleased God to save those who believe. Rather than argue with the system which is in place or try to find another way, we should all get with God’s program and learn His ways. His ways are higher than our ways, but His ways are always the best ways.
You can do this
If God demands that I have faith when it is impossible for me to have faith, then I have a right to challenge His justice. But if He places within my hands the means whereby faith can be produced, then the responsibility rests with me whether or not I have faith.
Faith and believing are something everyone can do. It’s as easy as deciding to believe there is a God. Most people on the planet have chosen to believe in a God or Creator of some kind. Those who don’t aren’t incapable of believing they just choose not to.
He who comes to God must believe that He is. Heb 11:6
This is the beginning of faith, step one and the bar is not set very high! How hard is it to believe there is a God? With the evidence of creation all around us, it’s harder not to believe in a Creator than it is to believe in one. In fact, the Bible tells us people who choose not to believe in God have no excuse:
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse… Romans 1:20
If you have chosen to believe there is a God, you’ve already begun this exciting journey into the life of faith. You are what the Bible calls “a believer”. If you are a Christian, the Bible has much to say about you in regards to faith.
Romans 12:3 says, “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”
You have the measure of faith right now. The Apostle Paul said you have the spirit of faith:
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak. 2 Corinthians 4:13
You also have the means to get more faith:
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
Faith is given, faith is dealt, faith comes and you have it. You are a believer. If you’re a Christian, you already believe the impossible. You believe there is a God you’ve never seen, you believe a savior died on a cross you’ve never touched and that death has purchased forgiveness for your sins which you can’t prove and you believe you’re going to die and go to a place you’ve never been and couldn’t point to on a map. This is pleasing to God.
In Mark chapter 9 we read about an encounter Jesus had with a father who brought his son who had a deaf and dumb spirit. While the man was speaking to Jesus the boy had a seizure and the father pleaded for help by saying to Jesus, “But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22) It was clear the man didn’t know if Jesus could or would do anything to help them, that’s not faith. Jesus’ replied by saying, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) Jesus referred to faith as more of a choice than some great feat that only a few are capable of. He didn’t say, “This is going to be very hard for you, only a few people are able to believe like this, you’re probably going to fail…” He made it sound like anyone who chose to could believe God and His question to this man was, paraphrasing, “What about you? Will you choose to believe.” He said, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”
The man’s answer was not what we would consider to be ”great faith”, but evidently it was enough because the boy was delivered. This man had probably never heard any teaching on the subject of faith, he chose to believe God instantly, right on the spot and it worked. If he could do it, we can too! Faith doesn’t put the blessings of God so far out of reach that only a few special people will ever be able to receive them. It’s just the opposite, faith puts the blessings of God within everyone’s reach, because everyone can believe.
Jesus was constantly commenting on the faith or lack of faith around Him. He was interested in faith.
No faith
In the midst of the storm, He asked the disciples, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” Mark 4:40 (NKJV)
Little Faith
When Peter dared to walk on water and then began to sank “immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31 (NKJV)
Faith
When the woman with the issue of blood was healed by touching His garment, His comment was, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction,” (Mark 5:34). Notice, He didn’t say, “Your suffering has made you well or your persistence or your timing.” He noticed her faith.
Great faith
His word to the Gentile woman who insisted her daughter be healed had to do with her level of faith: Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Matthew 15:28
Such great faith
To the centurion who said, “Speak the word only and my servant will be healed” the Bible says, “When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”” Luke 7:9
No faith, little faith, faith, great faith, such great faith, Jesus was looking for faith. He was happy when He found it and disappointed when He didn’t. God likes faith. It is His way of getting His priceless blessings to people. I encourage you to begin to build your faith, examine your faith, and choose to walk by faith like never before. Your faith in God’s word will impact your life on every level. I have a lot of teachings designed to help you in your faith walk and many of them are available free of charge. Or order my new CD Series “God Likes Faith” for a gift of $24 or download it for only $16.