Having faith in the Lord Jesus is the only way we can have a relationship with the God who created the heavens and earth. It is through our Lord Jesus Christ that God saved us from our sins. When Jesus died on the cross for our sin, He did it all for us. God knew that we couldn’t save ourselves from our sins. There is no amount of good works or spiritual rituals that we can do to be accepted by God. Good works, such as being kind to others, going to church every week, going to Bible studies, reading the Bible, and prayer are not enough to be accepted by God. We have to believe in Him that He is our Lord and savior. Having faith in Him means to believe in Him with all of our heart with the mindset of surrendering our ways entirely to Him.
There is a difference between having a genuine faith in the Lord and practicing religion. Having a genuine faith in the Lord is to believe in the Lord in every area of our lives. We obey our Lord because we trust in Him, even though we might not completely understand what He is doing in our lives. Practicing religion is to do all the spiritual discipline, such as going to church every Sunday, sing Christian songs, go to Bible studies, and pray daily, but there is no complete trust in Him. We still do what we want to do, and we disregard His word in our lives. We use good works to compensate for all the wrong things that we do. For example, we go to church so that God would forgive and bless us, but once we finish our church, we do whatever we want. There is no repentance and remorse for the bad things that we are doing. We ended up using God to do whatever we want.
As believers, God wants us to have a genuine faith in Him because that is the only way we can please Him. And as we walk in faith in Him, God then will bless our lives. God rewards those who trust and seek Him. Look at Abraham. He trusted God completely; as a result, He obeyed God even when it did not make sense. When God told Abraham to kill his beloved son and offer him to the altar, He followed even though it was very confusing and painful for him, but as he was about to kill his son with his knife, God stopped him. God was testing the faith of Abraham, and Abraham passed the test. Consequently, Abraham became the father of the nation of Israel. God knows that we will make mistakes and we will make wrong decisions, but what God wants us to have is to have a repentant heart and the willingness to trust and obey Him even when we do not completely understand.
Write down the challenges that you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Let us ask God to help us to believe in Him with all of our hearts
Father in Heaven, thank you for reminding me today that without faith it is impossible to please you. Please forgive me if I have not been trusting you as I should have. Please help me to trust and follow you with all of my heart. Please change my heart. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.