Faith is not blind optimism

True Biblical faith is not blind optimism, it is not the absence intellectually of doctrine, and it does not believe in spite of evidence (that would be superstition). True Biblical faith is confident obedience to God's Word in spite of circumstances and consequences.

The way faith operates is simple, God speaks, we hear, we trust, and we act on His Word no matter what the circumstances.

Faith is not a manufactured feeling it is a total response on what God has revealed in His Word. What God promises, God performs.

"Faith enables the [believer] to treat the future as the present and the invisible as seen." - Dr. J. Oswald Sanders

Faith is only as good as its object, and the object of our faith is God.

People put a lot of faith in a lot of things which results in various ways. The Christian believer puts their faith in God for God through His Word and that way the outcome will be God's will.

Moses was reproached in his day and he stood in the strength of refusal faith, not giving in to the circumstances. Question: If reproach is an evidence of true faith, we might wonder how much true faith there is in our country today? Just because you are being reproached does not mean you are walking in faith; you could be walking in your own ideals and agendas and calling them Biblical. True Biblical faith yields itself to the Scriptures and to the accountability of those Scriptures. If we don't we could become self deluded.

"Moses chose the imperishable, saw the invisible, and did the impossible." - Dr. Vance Havner

Faith is not always experiencing the miraculous (certainty of things not seen). The list of those who lived enduring faith at the end of Hebrews 11 is the evidence of this. Conclusion: Though you may not have the deliverance through the miraculous, this does not conclude you have a lack of faith. As a matter of fact, it is evidence that you do have faith. It takes more faith to endure than to escape. Once again, never conclude that the absence of deliverance means a lack of faith. Faith always looks to the future, where lies our greatest rewards.

Faith is not a luxury for a few "elite saints," faith is a necessity for all of God's people. Oh Lord, increase our faith!

Take the challenge to read Hebrews 11, see if you can find the following types of faith:

• Worshipping, walking, working, waiting, warring, winning, wavering-not, and withstanding (enduring). Enjoy your study.

• "Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the certainty of things not seen," Hebrews 11:1,

• Patrick Propster is pastor of Calvary Chapel -Carson City and a member of the Carson City Ministerial Association.