without faith – Praying Pint

5.c. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him”

Job 9:1 Then Job answered and said: “Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

Psalms 130:3    If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

Psalms 143:2    Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.

Romans 3:20    For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

When you read these verses of men of God you can see the depth of their devotion to and seek Him. They had to be deep in thought about life in the present and death in the future. In their thoughts, they were able to touch the edge of God’s Holiness and Righteousness. In this touch, they were given a glimpse of their sinfulness and asked questions concerning their ability to live and die in such a way to bring honor and glory to God. They rightly asked “Who could stand”, “how can a man be right before God?”, and if a person was able to stand before God and speak “one could not answer him once in a thousand times.” Can you imagine the depth of thought these men were in and coming to a place in this thought where they began to understand it was all in God’s hands and by faith they would try to walk in His ways? Yet, each day they would see time and time again that they failed in this walk. Time and time again they were left with the question of how to be right before God and always falling short.

In God’s perfect plan He brought His law to man to show them of their sin. He showed them the need for forgiveness. He showed them how to be right in His eyes and how to have their sin cleansed. He showed them that is was not the sacrifice that cleansed them but faith in His acceptance of the sacrifice. He showed them it was by faith and not by what they did. Time and time again God did this.

In the fullness of time God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. A once and for all sacrifice that covers all sin if a person believes in the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, confessing their sin, repenting of their sin, turning away from walking in sin, and trusting in, clinging to, and relying on Jesus Christ.

Think about this, there was a time when man knew of their sin and carried the weight of their sin until they could come and make an acceptable sacrifice. They would be trying every single day to walk in such a way to not sin but would fall short of this goal having to wait until the next time they made a sacrifice.

We are walking in a time of God’s great awesome grace, mercy, and love. Our heart, mind, and soul should be humbled, thankful, and ever seeking to walk in such a way to honor, glorify, follow, trust, and obey.

2.n. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’”

2 Chronicles 10:20 Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”

Isaiah 7:9    And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’”

Isaiah 26:3   You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

John 14:1   “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Romans 8:31   What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Luke 16:31    He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Hebrews 11:6    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.

John 5:46-47     For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Belief, non-belief, and somewhere in between. A belief mindset with a whole heart, mind, and soul has visible and unseen qualities and attributes. These qualities and attributes reflect the light, grace, love, and mercy of Jesus Christ. This reflection can be a light on a hill to anyone within sight. This reflection yields to that which honors and glorifies Jesus Christ. The person who yields must intentionally choose to yield. Their light does not grow dim or become overshadowed when the darkness of storms roll into their life. In fact, the light becomes brighter and more visible. This person spends time in God’s word meditating on it, drinking and breathing it in for they seek above all else to hear and be used by God. There is hardly a waking moment where they are not living in a sought after presence with Jesus Christ. They hear, follow, and obey the whispers of the Holy Spirit through His word. They continue to grow in understanding and knowledge of what it means to deny self. They grow in understanding of sin and their sinful nature that keeps trying to take control. They keep their eyes on eternity and humbly walk this life to serve, honor, worship, glorify, follow, obey, trust, and rely on Jesus Christ.

The non-belief mindset gives their whole heart, mind, and soul to do what is right in their own eyes. Their guidance is focused on that which makes them feel good, in control, and false dreams of purpose. Their satisfaction is never satisfied. Their hunger for more pleasing and purpose is never satisfied. They follow their own desires for self-interest. Happiness and joy never last and they move from one thing to the next. They spend their time purposefully without seeking or desiring Jesus Christ. They happily mock and reject Him. They are more concerned with things of this world and deny the creator of it. They are lost and follow the wide path of life that leads to eternity in Hell. They give approval to their lifestyle and others who do the same. There is hope for these and others like them to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved.

Those somewhere in between are the ones who are truly lost. Their belief leads them to think they are right with God but their life has no reflection of the light of Jesus Christ. Their life in outward appearance looks no different than those with no belief. They know what to say and they pretend all that they do is all that is expected in Christian life. They compare themselves with others and perform to a level they think will be acceptable to God. They spend little time in devotion and even less time in the study of His word. They may attend church but display no gifts of the Holy Spirit to edify and grow the body of the church. They have become satisfied with neglect and complacent living. There are much self-interest activities in their life. They allow the busyness of life to take control of their life and give little to no thought of Jesus Christ throughout the day. They are lukewarm and seem to follow the path of least effort when it comes to serving Jesus Christ. There is no growth and they are stagnating. They are no more on the path that leads to life than those with no belief. Because they have once heard and believed but now have chosen to turn their backs to God, His Word, and try to share their self-interest/self-centered heart, soul, and mind with Him. This is a deception. There is no sharing of our heart, soul, and mind. We either give whole to one or the other. These are the worst for they have the appearance of a Christian but have no power and light of Jesus Christ in their life.

Your Face I Seek 1

” For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

“You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek”

Psalms 27:4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Daniel 9:3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Hebrews 11:6 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.

Psalms 63:2-5 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips

We have God’s promises; “Seek and you will find”, “knock and it be opened”. There are qualifiers to these promises. They require 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.” And seeking with all of your heart. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” In our culture where everything seems to be just a click away from finding what we want I wonder if seeking God day after day is even a thought on our hearts and mind. When I think back at the times I have been earnestly seeking God for resolution to something, there were times it was immediate and other times it was only months afterward that I was able to see how God had been leading. God does not leave His children. He is ever present. He will be our rock and our refuge but that would mean we need to turn it over to Him and trust whatever the outcome is and know that it was His plan for us. Faith is required. Trusting is required. Believing is required. Relying is required. Seeking is required. Knocking is required.