“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.” Hebrews 11:6
The most basic principle that you and I can take away from this verse just might be, “When you stop having faith, you stop pleasing God.” Simply put, you cannot please God if you do not have faith in Him. That is a tough one to swallow, because many of you might already be thinking, “But what about all of the good people out there in the world that don’t believe in God? Is He not pleased with them?” Read the verse again for yourself.
“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.” Hebrews 11:6
I can’t help but interpret this as good news! This actually makes it much easier for us if you think about it. Instead of trying to figure out where we fall on the “good deeds” and the “I’m a good person” scales, God makes it quite clear for us here in just this one verse. Faith pleases God. That’s it. Faith in Jesus Christ as God’s only Son sent to earth to die in our place to bring the hope of salvation to a lost and broken world so that we might be reconciled back to our Creator…that pleases God. Good works are nothing more than the natural response of someone who has by grace been saved through faith. When you come to an understanding of what you’ve been saved from, good works will flow from your life because of the overwhelming gratitude and love that you have for the rescuer of your soul.
I’m not suggesting to you today that having faith is easy. Often it’s not. I am telling you today that it’s possible. God wouldn’t ask us to have faith if it wasn’t possible. Faith IS possible. In the face of death, it’s possible. In the face of loss, it’s possible. In the face of a broken heart, it’s possible. In the face of financial ruin, it’s possible. In the face of divorce, it’s possible. In the face of depression, it’s possible. Faith is possible, my friends. Don’t stop now. Keep fighting. Keep clinging. Keep believing. Be reminded today that our faith pleases God so much that He rewards our faith with His blessings. It is the absence of faith that clogs the flow of His blessings into our lives. A life without faith is a life that withers. And when you stop having faith in the God of the impossible, you stop pleasing God.
Thank you for this today! I needed it BIG TIME! I get side tracked into thinking that I on I have Faith.. But do I really have it when things are hard, yeah not so much! Your a blessing! Hugs!
….and what so beautifully dovetails with your wise words is That faith is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast”. It is the only way we can please Him AND it is His gift to us…Our God is so gracious!
Thank you for your blog. Keep up the good work! I pray Gods blessing on you… Leslie