Faith is required

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"Faith is Required (if you want to hang with God)"
don’t be a killer expecting to be honored
By Bishop Tony Taylor

" Faith is substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrew 11:1)

"Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (I John 3:12).

Many people consider Cain a murder, a killer because of the physical act of killing his brother, but this scripture reveals that He was a murder before he did the act. It was in his heart why because he was of the wicked one (satan). He was of the wicked one even when he first brought his offering to God. The scripture reveals that God discerns hearts and mind (1 Samuel 16:7) . God knew that Cain’s heart was not right and as the righteous God he is he rejected Cain’s offering. Yet there stood Cain desiring and even more shocking, expecting his offering to be honored by God. A heart of evil (murder) looking for God’s honor!. Cain’s heart was missing something vital something that God requires in those who come to (seek) him, FAITH!

"faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11: 1

This scripture tells us that way god wants us to be in this the kingdom of his dear son and in our relationship him. We are to look see everything through eyes of faith. Faith is from God and let’s us understand God. There is no other way to build a relationship, which is to become familiar, knowledgeable of God. Faith alone let’s accept what we hear through the word about God. If it is not used we can not come to know him or building any relation with him. This was the fate of Cain. His heart not being a place filled with growing faith, it became the only other thing it could be, a haven for the evil one. Shocking how blind he was to his own heart, to point that he would bring that faithless offering to God, at all. He was already contaminated.

Sad to say, many people today are in that same boat. They are doing the same thing and yet expecting God to honor them.

Faith is not an option (2 Corinthians 5:7) declares that we walk by faith, not by sight. When we are "born again" we are given spiritual eyes to see things and understand things that otherwise we could not discern without the Holy Spirit. When we are submitted to the Lord, He then begins to guide and lead us by His Spirit; we follow Him in faith knowing He will not disappoint us or lead us astray. We must learn to obey Him even when we do not see or understand how He is leading.

The Word of God states that "whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23) . When faith isn’t present in anything that thing already sin! This includes our hearts as well. Only those who walk by faith are born again.

"God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Romans 12:3

This scriptures reveals why there can be no excuse for any of us not walking in faith. God has given every not some men a measure of fait, no one is left out. All we need to receive his Word in order for that faith to grow (Roman 10:17) . We must know the word of God for faith to increase. We must not stop at taking a portion of the word we find easy to do, but we must take all the scripture as it comes to us with revelation it we are going to grow in faith.

Hebrews 11:6 says, "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."

We can see by this verse that we cannot please God unless we walk by faith. The dictionary defines faith as (1) unquestioning belief, especially in God

(2) complete trust or confidence

(3) loyalty.

In looking at these definitions, we can take a test and see if we really are trusting God with our lives.

Test question number one:

Do we rebelliously question what God is doing in our lives?
Do we ask God such questions as,

Lord, when are you going to do this thing in my life?

How much longer am I going to have to wait for my answer?

Why haven't you answered my prayers, God?"

All of these questions, if posed rebelliously, are just the opposite of faith they create doubt and are questioning what God is doing in our lives. Also, we are referring to people in this test who have made a total commitment to God and are trying to walk in His will. If we have not surrendered to God, there are things that happen to us that are not His fault because we are in the devil's territory. The Lord does not mind us asking any question as long as we are asking it with a submissive attitude and not questioning His goodness.

Test question number two:

Do we completely trust God and have our confidence in Him to the degree that when we don't see our answer right away, we wait patiently instead of taking the matter into our own hands and doing it our own way?
Do we have confidence in the Lord that He has everything under control, or do we worry and fret and let anxiety rob us of our day?

If we trusted Him, we would believe His Word and not doubt His promises.

Test question number three:

What about loyalty? Are we loyal to Him? We act sometimes as if God were against us instead of for us. For instance:

when we have prayed and asked God for an answer to our prayers but have not received that answer yet, do we begin listening to the devil as he whispers these words to us, "God hasn't answered your prayers; He doesn't really care for you.

You know God has all power in heaven and earth so why doesn't He answer your prayers?" Instead of our being loyal and defending the Father, we end up many times agreeing with the devil by turning to God and saying, "Yes, God, why haven't You answered my prayers?" Our devotion to the Lord should be one of defending the heavenly Father with a statement to the enemy like this,

The correct answer is:

"satan, I don't know why God hasn't answered my prayers yet, but I do know one thing; He loves me and my answers are on the way. If anybody is hindering my answers, it's you, not my precious Father."

In Summary

Faith is not only a gift, but also a fruit of the Holy Spirit plus a part of our Christian armor; so we see the importance of it in our Christian walk (Galatians 5:22) . May we be spoken of as were the Christians at Thessalonica, "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure" (II Thessalonians 1:3-4) .