Faith To Change Your World

Chapter 1 : WHAT IS FAITH

"But without Faith it is impossible to please Him: for that cometh to God must believe
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6

What is faith? The dictionary definition of faith is complete trust, confidence, or reliance (Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1979). We could say, "I have faith in her as a leader.", "I trust that person", "You can rely on him". In much simpler words, faith simply means believing, Since we are talking about faith in God, faith means that we can believe God, we can trust Him, we can rely on His Word.

Faith is believing God, trusting Him, and relying on Him no matter what circumstances or situations we may be experiencing. For this reason, God places faith very high on the list of priorities for life. To believe God is to pay Him a high compliment. We affirm that He is trustworthy in our ht. This pleases God. To disbelieve God is to pay Him the worst insult. It is to regard Him as unreliable and untrustworthy. Because of this, the Bible declares that it is impossible to please God without faith.

Anyone of us should understand this viewpoint when we see in the light of faith's definition. We all like to be trusted, and are offended when others fail to have confidence in us. God feels the same way. The difference is that men are often not trustworthy, while God is always trustworthy. Men often cannot be trusted, while God can always be trusted. Many rimes it is dangerous to put our confidence in men, for they frequently fail; but it is never dangerous to put our trust in God, for He never fails.

God declared through His prophet Malachi:

"For I am the Lord, I change not." Malachi 3:6a

He never changes. He is always the same. He is totally responsible and completely trustworthy. We can have confidence in Him and rely totally on His Word.

When the apostle Paul was being taken to Rome by ship, the vessel was endangered by a great storm. Everything on the ship was tossed overboard to lighten the vessel, but this didn't help; the storm was too fierce. Finally, after many days, all those aboard had lost hope of being saved and were preparing to die. But God spoke to Paul and told him that there would be no loss of life, although the ship itself would indeed be destroyed. Then Paul went up on deck and addressed everyone, telling them not to be afraid because God had spoken to him. Paul said:

"Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God,
that it shall be even as it was told me." Acts 27:25

Paul trusted God completely. He was not afraid to declare what he had been told because he knew God to be trustworthy and completely reliable. God does what He says He will do. We can rely on it. He never disappoints our faith. Therefore, the writer of the Book of Hebrews declares:

"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Let us holdfast the profession
of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful that promised)". Hebrews 10:22-23

It took much courage for Paul to stand before all those passengers and crew and make such a daring prediction: the ship will be destroyed, but with no loss of life. This is the nature of faith in God. When you know God and His faithfulness, you dare to risk all for His will, believing that you cannot lose. People of faith are men and women who choose to meet the dangers and difficulties of life with great courage, those who refused to believe Satan's lies, who dare to stand for God, and in the process, who change their world for the better.

Abraham believed God when He called him to journey to a better place that God had prepared for him and his family. Thus, Abraham left his own land and traveled toward the Promised Land to form a new and godly nation, thereby becoming the father of all who believe. Joseph believed what God told him in dreams and persevered through faith to become the prime minister of Egypt and to save the fledgling nation of Israel. Moses believed and obeyed God's word spoken to him from a burning bush, that he should be God's mighty servant to deliver God's people from the bondage of S the Pharaohs.