October 3, 2023
Topic: THE UNBELIEVING BELIEVER
Text: Hebrews 11:1-6
Memory Verse: But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). ask in my name the Father will give you (John 15:16)
Faith is greatly misunderstood and undervalued by many believers. While some see faith as the ATM card to get whatever you want from God, others see it as some fuzzy feeling that only the great men of God possess and the rest of us can go through life without. While one set of believers may try to fake, contort and manipulate situations in the name of ‘walking in faith’, the second set think that it is okay and only human to live in doubt and unbelief. From
our passage today, we plainly see that it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God without faith. It therefore means that a life that will please God must be a life lived in faith.
What then is Faith? A simple definition we can glean from our passage is that Faith is a conviction that God is a living and intelligent being and is everything He says He is and can and will do everything He says He will do. Even when we do not see Him physically, we have evidence from our experience with Him that He exists and oversees the entire universe. This conviction is reflected in the way we conduct ourselves here on earth because we know that one day we will stand face to face with the living God to account for the lives we lived here.
Faith is the first step in the life that is pleasing to God. It is this conviction that brings us to God, keeps us in Him and helps us to live a life that constantly pursues His pleasure. Only God sees the faith in your heart, but you bring Him glory when you live a life guided by faith. This is not about just doing good or living the most moral life, doing ‘good deeds’ will not please Him (Isaiah 64:6) and what ever is not of this conviction (faith) is in (Romans 14:23).A life devoid of a living, active faith in God is a denial of who God is. A life of unbelief makes God look like a liar. A life of doubt depicts an unstable and unreliable person. Such a life is displeasing to God because there is no way you can please God without faith. The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17).
Do you have this conviction and have you come to God based on this conviction? Is your life and the choices you make every day guided by this conviction? If not, come to Him in true repentance today so that you can embark on the most amazing journey of life.
Prayer: Lord God, I come to You today in the Name of Jesus Your Son and my Redeemer. I come fully convinced that You are God, that Jesus died for my sins and that in Him I have eternal life. Forgive my life of sin, of doubt and unbelief. By the help of Your Holy Spirit, I commit to live my life by faith in You, pursuing that which pleases You. Amen.