Live By Faith

Have you ever thought about Faith?  What exactly is it?  If you look it up there are several definitions.  You will see words like “loyalty”, “trust”, “confidence”.  All of which are very noble and admirable characteristics.  When you think about Faith from a Christian perspective there seems to be more depth to the idea.  Something happens when God gets a hold of it.  Faith is tied to salvation.  And salvation is a gift from God.  Faith has become supernatural! 

About 600 years before Jesus was born a gutsy Jewish prophet named Habakkuk wrote about Faith.  He said, “the righteous shall live by Faith”. (Habakkuk 2:4 ESV). He suggested that in order to be truly alive  - to really live the way God designed us to live - you needed to be full of Faith!  

Habakkuk’s words are quoted or repeated three times in the New Testament.  All to very different audiences. In Romans 1:17, his words are going to a European group.  In Galatians 3:11, to an Asian audience.  In Hebrews 10:38, Habakkuk’s words reach a Middle Eastern crowd.  Then a guy named Augustine took the Jewish prophets words into Africa.  The early church founders built upon his idea.  Now in 2021, it is still being discussed and applied to our lives.  

In order to truly live, really be alive as God designed you and me, to live righteously, we must be full of Faith!  Faith in the risen Jesus, as well as, Faith in what’s to come.  From our Faith comes Faithfulness, the fruit or the result.  Faithfulness is what people see!  It is what causes people to ask questions.  Your Faithfulness opens doors!  Doors to tell the story of Jesus!