One of the most important topics of the Bible is faith! Without faith it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). The Bible commands us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Yet so many people don’t have a true biblical understanding of faith. We need to open the Word of God and find out what God say’s about faith, not man’s opinion on what faith is.

We need to become like the Bereans and search the Scriptures for ourselves and not be like a bunch of baby birds with our mouths open receiving any doctrine that comes along. The Bible defines faith as being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). That is why we are told to walk by faith and not by sight. The believer has a higher authority when it comes to the things of this world. The unbeliever goes to the doctor and get’s a report of terminal cancer and he has no more hope. But the believer still has hope! (Glory!) That’s what sets us apart from the world; we have faith in God to turn to. There is not a more powerful thing in this world than faith! God tells us that if we have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move! Nothing will be impossible for you! (Matthew 17:20-21) If “mustard” seed faith can say to this mountain to be removed and nothing will be impossible for you then what will great faith do?

I want my faith to increase and here is some good news we serve such a good God that He told us how we could increase our faith! (Glory!) First you should know that we all have a measure of faith and it’s up to us to grow in our faith. (Romans 12:3) God is so good to us that He started us all with a measure of faith and not just any faith, but the very faith of God; the same faith that spoke the earth into existence when it was without form or void. As Pastor David Emigh would say, “that’s what I’m talking about”! God gave us specific instructions on how to grow in our faith. He told us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of God. So if you want to grow in your faith, you can’t sit back and pray to God that He will increase your faith. You have a part to play in this and that is hearing the Word of God. Hearing the Word of God can come in many ways. Meditating in the Word and listening to the Word through a man of God preaching or teaching are ways that you can increase your faith.

I believe the devil’s number one priority is to keep you out of the Word of God. If he can keep you out of the Word then faith will not spring up in your heart when you are going through a difficult time. We know that the truth you know will set you free! (John 8:32) but if the devil can keep you from studying the Word and knowing the truth then he has you. You have to keep in mind that the devil is defeated and the only power he has is deception. If he can keep you deceived then he has you. He will give you every reason and then some to stay out of the Word because he knows that if he can keep you out of the Word than he can defeat you. God loves us so much that He gave us a very specific instruction book. It’s like Christmas time and getting a gift that requires using an instructional manual to put it together, but you decide to ignore it and do it on your own. The next thing you know you have parts and pieces everywhere and it’s a complete mess. The same goes with our lives, He gave us an instruction manual (The Bible) but if we choose not to read it and use it then our lives will end up in a mess. If there is one thing that you should be determined to do in this world, it’s to find out what God’s Word says about you!

You will never possess all that God has for you without faith. We are saved by faith, filled with the Holy Spirit by faith, healed by faith. ALL of our needs are met by Christ Jesus through faith. You would not dare miss a meal in the natural but do Christians feel that we don’t have to feed on the Word of God? The Bible tells us that man does not live on bread alone but every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We have to learn to “feed” ourselves a steady diet of God’s Word or we will become anemic in the things of the spirit. Just as we eat several meals in the natural and snack during the day, we should be feeding upon the Word of God and “snacking” on the things of God on a daily basis! You have to get so built up in your faith that no matter what comes your way in the natural, you look at it through the “eye of faith.” Faith does not look at your circumstances, situations, emotions, or feelings. You can become so built up in your faith that you are not moved by the things in the natural because you know what God’s Word say’s about you and you know that God can not lie! (Titus 1:2) God is so good to us! Not only did He give us faith (Romans 12:3), but He tells us how to grown in our faith (Romans 10:17), and how faith works! (Mark 11:22-24)

We have to learn to step out of the natural and step into the supernatural. It once was said there are two kinds of faith; the Thomas faith and the Abraham faith. The Thomas faith says I won’t believe unless I see and the Abraham faith says I will believe because God says so! God wants us all to grow up to the point where we all walk in the “Abraham faith” and are not moved by the things in the natural. God tells us that if we can just believe ALL things are possible! (Mark 9:23) Paul gives us a couple of great insights to faith when he is speaking to the Corinthian church. In 2 Corinthians 4:13 Paul says that we having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore speak. First of all he is confirming that God has dealt every believer faith and once you realize that, you have to give faith a voice by speaking! It’s not just enough to have faith but you have to speak what you believe. We see that over and over again in Scripture. So many times we are waiting on God to move in our lives but in reality God is waiting for us to exercise our faith. That’s why James tells us that faith without works is dead. It’s not enough to sit back and say that you have faith. You have to put action to your faith and a lot of times that means speaking to your “mountain.”

We have to understand that faith is not a movement, a denomination, or a choice. Faith is a lifestyle and is necessary if we want to receive anything from God, starting with salvation which is the most important decision you will ever make. Salvation comes by faith only. There is no other way to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior without faith. As you can see faith is not only the most powerful ingredient in the world; but it’s the most important thing in the world because nothing is more important than receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and the only way to do that is through faith! (Romans 10:9-10) You can also see that confession is always right next to faith. They always go hand in hand. Jesus tells us that He came that we might have life and life to its fullest! (John 10:10) The only way we are ever going to experience the fullness of God that He talks about is to live a life of faith! Life will always throw us a “curveball” but when we make up our minds that we are going to walk by faith then NOTHING will be impossible for us glory to God and I believe it’s God’s heart that we walk in the fullness of everything that Jesus paid for on that cross!