Believe That He Is

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
[Hebrews 11:6 NKJV]

‘To have faith, you must have faith.’ This was a remark that, as a smart-alec teenager, I had once interjected into a debate on religion ... probably at secondary school, but I now forget where; maybe just in my head. In reality there is truth in it; you cannot manufacture faith; if you did, it would not be faith.

What I failed to realise in my youthful arrogance, was that faith is a gift. If we are God’s chosen from before time began, then it is a gift that lies waiting at the heavenly sorting office for us to pick up, unwrap and try on for size. It will fit perfectly, of course.

This sounds simple and straightforward — it is anything but. If your experience is anything like mine, collecting God’s gift of faith follows many years of tripping up, stumbling and false trails, knowing that there is something that awaits you, even if you do not know what that something might be.

Those lucky enough to have the discovery spelt out for them from an early age, are often somewhat intolerant of those of us who search; maybe because we never really know what we seek until we find. The Lord is faithful and knows what each one needs to be drawn into His gathering of the Saints.

When we find; we know, and can really believe that He is.

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‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit’ [Psalm 51:17] — that of a spirit God has made glad by a great forgiveness. The sign of this kind of broken heart is that the saint is untroubled by storms, and undismayed by bereavement because he is confident in God.
[from ‘Notes on Jeremiah’]

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