"But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must necessarily believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out." Hebrews 11:6

Faith is absolute trust in God, trust that could never even imagine that He will ever forsake you. The Bible puts it this way; "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1, and in John 20:29, "Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." If you are a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you are blessed because you have not yet seen your Savior face to face. But you know and are assured that one glorious day you will!

Faith is not found in reading secular books or even religious books, it is not found in any one particular denomination, you don't receive faith by osmosis we don't get it through our genes, just because your parents or grandparents are believers that doesn't count as your faith. And if you are looking for faith in the world you will really be confused and disappointed, people put their faith in the strangest things; in a religion, in nature, in a man, in money, in a company or in their IRA, in horoscopes, in fame, power or wealth, or in ourselves, none of which are worthy of our faith. The Bible tells us exactly where we find faith; "So faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the message that came from the lips of Christ the Messiah Himself." Romans 10:17 Amplified Bible

It is through the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, that is how by faith we are born again by putting our faith and trust in Christ alone; His death on the cross for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead. "Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:9-10,13

Now our life of faith truly begins, how then does our faith grow? We grow when we as believers grow in the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus Christ, when we explore His love, the depth, the height, the length and the breadth of that love and while we can never plumb the depths we can come to know the One who died for us. There is only one way to know Christ and that is through His Word, the Bible. Please don't settle for just hearing what someone else (pastor, teacher, friend, writer etc.) knows about Jesus, know Him, seek Him for yourself!! It requires time, there are no shortcuts, daily time in His word and in prayer, when you seek Him with all of your heart He promises you will find Him and He is a man of His Word! Jeremiah 29:12-13 As wonderful as it is, please don't settle for salvation and never know your Savior, what a tragic waste that would be!

Another way our faith grows is through testing. We can have a mind full of faith but until it is tested it is only head knowledge. To get it into our hearts, to really own it we must be tested. For instance, it is easy to quote; "My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19 Until you have been without a paycheck and had a mortgage, and children to feed, you don't truly know from experience the full truth of that scripture. If you can quote Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Can you witness to a stranger or a family member with boldness? Can you know the joy of the Lord in the midst of your deepest sorrow? Can you forgive the unforgivable? Can peace reign in your heart when the market keeps dropping, when prices keep going up and your income is stationary? If you have experienced these things or others like them you can truly know the truth of Philippians 4:13,19 for it has been tested, you have experienced God's provision, His strength, His peace, His joy when under the circumstances none of it should have made any sense. Faith that isn't tested will never stand. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." James 1:2-3