The Friends of God

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6).

In reflecting on the story of Abraham, Paul came to the conclusion that Abraham received the promises of God not by works nor by obeying the law, but by faith, and therefore he is the father of those who trust God---our 'father in faith.'  I remember hearing about faith for years and wondering how one "gets' faith, as though it were something to be obtained by some kind of effort on our part.

Looking back now, I begin to realize that faith is simply relationship with God who loves us.  We "get" it in the same way we "get" all of our relationships---simply by spending time with God.  That is why Abraham believed God---he spent a lot of time in the Presence of God.  He walked with God, sat with God, stood with God.  In fact, when God determined to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He said to Himself,  " Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, now that he is to become a great and populous nation, and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him?

In another place in the Bible, God says, "I do nothing without telling my prophets ahead of time."  (I don't recall the reference.)  And in the New Testament, Jesus says, "I no longer call you servants, but friends, because a servant does not know what his master is doing."  We tend to keep up with our friends; if we do not know what they are doing, even though we may not have spoken in awhile, the friendship tends to dissolve.  Obviously, God honors His relationship with us as friends.   He confides in His friends; He continues to walk with His friends and does not leave or abandon them -- and He tells them what He is doing.

So now we know that faith-- or relationship with God--- is the one thing in our lives capable of bridging the chasm between the visible and the invisible worlds.  Faith is the eyes and ears of the spirit, that see and hear what is not accessible to those without faith, or relationship, with God. 

Faith is real; more "real" than the things we actually see around us, because those things are passing away, but God's reality stands forever.  Revelation of what God sees and hears comes through the Spirit of Jesus still present in this world.  He did not go back to heaven to watch from afar---He still walks with us, talks with us, breathes in us, loves in us, and reveals the Father to us:

 

No one comes to the Father but by me (Jn.6:65).

No one has ever seen God, but God, the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has revealed Him (Jn. 1: 18).

For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God; He does not ration his gift of the Spirit (Jn.3:34).

The father who sent me has testified on my behalf.  But you have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent (Jn.5:37).

The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life (Jn. 6:63).

So faith is not "trying to believe," but it is simply hearing, seeing, receiving into our hearts the very words of God, given to us in THE WORD of God, Jesus Christ.  Isaiah says, If they do not speak according to this word, what kind of wisdom will they have?  If we do not spend time with God, we will not hear the words of God; we will not "see" what He is doing; we will not have faith, no matter what other words or wisdom we obtain. 

If Jesus had not come in the flesh, we would think it impossible to be friends with God, but since He sat down to eat with His friends, since He slept in their boat, since He healed their mothers, sisters, and uncles, and since He taught them in the flesh, we have to believe that He wanted friendship with the rest of us too.