The Pursuit of Faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 ESV

χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον εὐαρεστῆσαι, πιστεῦσαι γὰρ δεῖ τὸν προσερχόμενον τῷ θεῷ ὅτι ἔστιν καὶ τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν μισθαποδότης γίνεται.

Direct word for word English translation:

Without now faith, [it is] impossible to please [Him]. To believe for it behooves the one drawing near to God, that He exists, and [that] to those earnestly seeking out Him, a rewarder He becomes.

It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that He exists and that He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him. MSG

What is faith? (Πίστις / pistis / PIS-tis) This obviously is a big subject. It can be translated and defined as assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity, faithfulness, pledge, and proof. How is faith received? How is faith increased? This subject is definitely worth digging into. Why? If you really want to please God you have to have faith …and understand faith.

Biblehub: “Faith (4102/pistis) is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, 4102/pistis (“faith”) for the believer is “God’s divine persuasion” – and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4).”

Confused? That’s okay – because real faith is somewhat a mystery. We can NEVER produce it – we can only receive it … from God. What is our part? Believing and trusting God. But faith is a God-substance that He Himself places into us. And we receive ‘more’ faith from Him by being obedient to His instructions to us via the Holy Spirit on a continual basis. It is mysterious but a simple thing. It takes us believing … like a “child” that He IS. And that He rewards those who continually seek Him out.

So …what exactly is it? This thing so powerful that 0.002 grams of it could literally ‘move a mountain’? Don’t believe me?

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 ESV

Does the spiritual realm have physical properties that effect this dimension we live in? Definitely sounds like God’s kingdom properties. Something SO powerful and yet still… children can be given it? Do you believe? To what extent? Is there proof of your … belief? Are you continually seeking Him? How much? How much time do you spend seeking His Truth, His Word, His personal instructions to you, His Holy Spirit, and His Presence? How important is this pursuit in your life?

If more faith is your desire … you must continually … seek God and DO what He asks you to do. This takes listening to the Holy Spirit and acting out what He is asking you to do with pure obedience with His Fruit being the atmosphere in which your instructions are carried out. This obviously CANNOT be done without Him. This takes a joined “yoke” with Him. You walking in the ‘way’ He is going, not in the ‘way’ you think or want. You are surrendered to go in the way He is going.

Father – YOUR way is the only way. Jesus… YOU showed us the way. Holy Spirit … direct us in the way. Show us the next step. Enlighten our path and help us go with YOU!