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[momentsoftimz]

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[stavroula96]

[livelife-original]

The Quality of Faith

We have all heard the verse from James 2:17 which said: "Faith without action is dead". The thing here is, a lot of times, we don't even understand the definition of faith. We heard it a lot of times in the Bible, pastors speaking about "having faith", even words of encouragement!. But what does it truly means to have "faith"? What does Jesus said about the faith of a Christian life? in other words, what should our quality of faith be?

Hebrews 11:1 defined faith. "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for, assurance in what we do not see". Faith in godly terms, is believing what you do not see. But developing a quality of faith that God wants from us takes time. It takes a few stepping stones to be able to have a faith that is not only for a wile, but for good. Matthew 17:20: "Because you have so little faith, truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain: Move here to there!". The faith God wants from us is all small as a mustard seed, one which we cannot see, and is not truly visible in the eye. God doesn't require much from us. He doesn't want us to have faith as big as the mountains, instead, it is the other way around. The problem is, we sometimes find it hard to have faith as "small as a mustard seed". We have these boundaries that kept us from having faith more than a seed. The worldly boundaries. 

The first step to having faith in Him more than a mustard seed is the fact of knowing Him. Knowing Him simply every Sunday morning doesn't give in. We need more than that. Knowing Him just by listening to other people's convictions with the Lord is not enough. You must experience His love first-handidly. 

Ways in which we can increase our understanding about Him is by doing what He wants us to do, and that is regularly reading the Bible every single night, not as a routine, but as a passion. It is said: "Do everything for the Glory of the Lord". Do not do something simply because it is "a must" but do it because of passion, longing to know Him more.

 Just like David, He became closer to God because he do what he loves to do, and that is to sing. David praise the Lord with his harp, he glorify God with the songs He wrote. David longs to praise God and God showed His love and promise to David by making him a King. 

Praying is the last but not least things we should do to Know Him more. Praying is not bounded by where you are or what circumstances we are in. We should pray anywhere at any time. By simply praying, we are acknowledging our worries to Jesus, we are confessing our sins to Him, speaking on behalf of what we have done that does not seem right, and what we hope for.

Daniel prayed even when he is in captivity. He continued to pray because He longs for God's guidance when he is under temptation and jeopardy. He knows that when he continues to pray he will be put into the lion's den, and he did. But even that didn't stopped Him. Instead God's guidance was shown inside the lion's den, when God shut the mouth of the lions and kept Daniel safe. 

Knowing Him is one part of the three things in order to have the quality of faith that God intends us to have. Being simply written, Knowing Him should be more than just theoretically, but instead personally. Having a personal relationship is better than having a formal or written one. By knowing Him, what He loves, what He will do, and what He has done, we develop an understanding like no other. 

The understand His promise, we should speak to Him. You can't expect to receive an answer when you didn't ask. It makes sense. And that is what God wants us to do. Is just to simply talk to Him, develop a Father-son relationship in which we can talk to Him about anything, without being judged, and instead, being advised. His advise is a lovely advise. An advise that will bring good to us. So make a decision today, to know Him more, not as "a must" but as you long for His guidance.