0
Hebrews 11:1&3&6 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.....By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible... And without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, because anyone who comes to HIM must BELIEVE that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Ok. So. What this is basically saying is that without faith, we can't please God. In fact, it says that is IMPOSSIBLE! So what is faith? This passage answers that too. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. So, to have faith in God is to believe that He exists without seeing Him. And we are Confident in what we hope for. Now, I don't know what that is talking about exactly, maybe it's heaven, maybe it's when Jesus comes back.
Something I thought interesting was the Message's translation of verse 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 out handle on what we can't see.
Stop right there!!! Go back to the part about "is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living." How many of us have thought "What is the use in being alive?" or, "I just wish I were dead" Now, I admit that I have thought these thoughts before, but I don't think I really meant the last one! But, the thing is, that when I thought these thoughts, or maybe said them, I didn't have faith. I was depressed at the time, I felt like my life was not worth living. That's because I didn't have faith!! I was living for myself- and that never works. Never. We have to die to self (Romans 8:13- For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.) And daily crucify self, in order to be alive to God. Does that make sense to you? It might not. I'm going to explain this the best I can, so please bear with me now. Every day, I have to die to my flesh so that I can live for God. The Spirit (Holy Spirit) and the sinfulness of the flesh cannot co-exist. Seriously, if you compromise the Spirit, by only doing some wrong, yet doing some right (and this is on purpose, mind you) then that is not the point. You cannot serve to masters, you will either love the one, and hate the other, or hate one and love the other. (or maybe hate both....lol) So you get my point? In order to die to sin, you need to ask God to help you. You can't do it alone, and if you really train (I like that better than try) and pray, and continually ask God to help, I believe that will help tremendously! You will still fail, but God's forgiveness is always there.
Sorry, this turned out to be longer than I meant it to be!!
Ok. So. What this is basically saying is that without faith, we can't please God. In fact, it says that is IMPOSSIBLE! So what is faith? This passage answers that too. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. So, to have faith in God is to believe that He exists without seeing Him. And we are Confident in what we hope for. Now, I don't know what that is talking about exactly, maybe it's heaven, maybe it's when Jesus comes back.
Something I thought interesting was the Message's translation of verse 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 out handle on what we can't see.
Stop right there!!! Go back to the part about "is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living." How many of us have thought "What is the use in being alive?" or, "I just wish I were dead" Now, I admit that I have thought these thoughts before, but I don't think I really meant the last one! But, the thing is, that when I thought these thoughts, or maybe said them, I didn't have faith. I was depressed at the time, I felt like my life was not worth living. That's because I didn't have faith!! I was living for myself- and that never works. Never. We have to die to self (Romans 8:13- For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.) And daily crucify self, in order to be alive to God. Does that make sense to you? It might not. I'm going to explain this the best I can, so please bear with me now. Every day, I have to die to my flesh so that I can live for God. The Spirit (Holy Spirit) and the sinfulness of the flesh cannot co-exist. Seriously, if you compromise the Spirit, by only doing some wrong, yet doing some right (and this is on purpose, mind you) then that is not the point. You cannot serve to masters, you will either love the one, and hate the other, or hate one and love the other. (or maybe hate both....lol) So you get my point? In order to die to sin, you need to ask God to help you. You can't do it alone, and if you really train (I like that better than try) and pray, and continually ask God to help, I believe that will help tremendously! You will still fail, but God's forgiveness is always there.
Sorry, this turned out to be longer than I meant it to be!!
(Yes, I did read the whole thing 
