CAN'T DO WITHOUT

Credit for these images: Ryan Rotor.
Images published in my book
Sorry to Burst Your Bubble:Life Leadership
Lessons from the Greatest Dreamer

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. 

Whoa, say that again!? 

This must be the Bible’s single biggest truth. Miss it, and you mess and mesh with disaster. Get it, and you’re secure—for all eternity. 

Jesus Himself said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

So if I believe, that’s it—my destiny is guaranteed? 

Pastor March Villareal recently peeled off for us the layers of faith—that faith obeys, affects, blesses and sees. 

Faith obeys. Abraham heeded God’s call to leave his life of comfort to journey into the unknown, yet a land HE promised. 

Faith affects. Abraham may not have experienced God’s promises in toto; yet his faith impacted his son Isaac, then Isaac’s son Jacob; and as if in a relay, passed it down to us who have placed our trust in Jesus, God’s son. 

We’re the last chaps in God’s baton-passing race. 

So, have you relayed this baton to your kids or to everyone in your circle of faith—such that they follow your lead? 

Faith blesses. Does yours add value to others’ existence? Do you persist on being kind, loving, giving, patient, helpful—though troubles hound you? 

“God tests us,” says Pastor March, “but doesn't He know our limits?” Surely, the testing is for us, to strengthen our spiritual muscles, buffing them for heavier loads. 

Remember Joseph? He couldn't have become Egypt’s second most powerful man had he failed his qualifying exams. 

Faith sees. Faith assures us that those things we had hoped for, will be fulfilled—utterly convinced that they will transpire though YET unseen. (Hebrews 11:1)

You’d be the father of many nations, your descendants will be as numerous as dust and the stars in the sky, God promised Abraham in Genesis 11,13 and 15. 

Abraham didn't have Isaac till he was a hundred, his wife Sarah 90 years old! 

Could you have waited, and still believed, like Abraham? 

Blind faith? Absolutely not. Because faith waits, and obeys.

That’s faith in action. Faith does not sit pretty and waits for the apple to fall from its tree. While on wait-mode, it prays, clasps its hands, bends the knees. Pleads, yes. Then believes some more. And obeys some more.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Abraham. Isaac. Jacob. Three generations—flawed as all humans are. Yet God declared them righteous because of their faith.  

God has made believing easier for you and me. The Word, His son—Jesus—became flesh and blood, and demonstrated His love for us through the cross; that through Him, the barrier between God and man may be shattered.

Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Faith is heavy stuff. How can anyone pooh-pooh such life-saving promise? Coming from the One who alone holds our lives in His mighty hand, that’s trustworthy. 

Abraham obeyed. It was credited to him as righteousness. 

It starts with trusting Jesus and His Word. Humbly ask Him, “Save me!” Repent of your sins. Obey Him as your Lord. 

That’s faith in action. He will do as you have believed.