The Definition of Faith Part 2
May 19, 2020
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Dear Visionary Leader:
Faith is not contrary to logic; faith just goes beyond logic.
If I see a ditch that I am walking toward step by step, there will come a point that I must leap over it. The step by step are logical steps in the right direction. Then, I come to a place where logic ends. I need to get over to the other side of the ditch. I need to take a leap of faith. I will cross this ditch by taking a leap of faith. Faith us rooted in logic. Yet, faith goes beyond logic. Faith becomes its own best logic.
 When Jesus was with the people who were following Him, they became tired and hungry. He called Philip and said, “Philip, how are we going to feed these people?” There are 5,000 there. How are we going to feed them?
Philip got out his pocket calculator, and said, “Well, it would take a laboring man a year’s wages to feed these.” Technically, Philip was correct. However, any good atheist could have done the same thing. When Jesus asked Philip, “How we going to feed these people.” He wasn’t asking for information because the Bible says He knew what He would do. He was just wanted Philip to learn something about a miracle.
There was a little boy there with a lunch and fed the whole multitude with that a couple of fish and five loaves. If you’re adding up an equation, you’re never going to get the right answer if you leave out one of the elements. Philip left out God. He figured his numbers without God. Philip was correct logically, but faith is not limited by logic.
Message Continues In Visionary Coaching
 The Persuasive Evidence For Faith
There are things that you will never understand apart from faith.
A. Spiritual wisdom
In verse three, we read, “Through faith we understand….” Don’t you like that? “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” The visible was made out of the invisible.
 God in the Bible is not explained. God is not argued. God is just simply presented. God must be accepted by faith. In Hebrews 11:6, we read, “For without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is…”
We’re talking about wisdom. The skeptic will say to you, “Prove there’s a God.” Don’t ever try it. Because the finite cannot prove the infinite. Just say to the sceptic, “Well, I can’t do it.” He or she will smirk. But, it’s not over yet.
You say, “Now, friend, prove there is no God.” Of course, he or she can’t prove there is no God. He or she accepts by faith there is no God. All people are believers. There are those who believe in God and those who believe there is no God. They are all believers.
What, what is science? Science is the study of phenomena now existing. God asked old Job this question in chapter 38 verse 4: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?”
There were no scientists then. There’s no way they can explain the Universe. How do we understand it? By faith. You say, “Well, that’s takes a lot of belief.” I tell you it takes less belief than to believe that nothing times nobody equals everything.
No wonder the Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.” God is the supreme fact and the man who denies it is the supreme fool. For a scientist to go into the laboratory to try to prove God would be like tearing a piano apart to try to find a tune. Faith is required to understand the orgin and the order of the Universe.
B. Spiritual Worship
 Look again in verse 6. “But without faith it is impossible to please him….”. Worship is pleasing to God. “… for he that cometh to God must believe that he is…”. We might be tempted to say, “God, you prove yourself to me and I’ll serve You.” God’s not going to prove Himself to you. He’s not under any obligation to prove Himself to you. Faith is not a response to proof. That’s what Thomas demanded. Jesus said, “Thomas, you’ve seen and you believe. Blessed are they that have not seen, but they believe.”
What is faith? Faith is the heart’s response to the character of God. When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He left all of the splendor, all of the glory, all of the that in heaven. When he came to this earth he came in a very ordinary, nondescript way.
The Bible says, “when we see Him, there’s no beauty that we should desire Him.” What do you think Jesus looked like? You think Jesus looked like the paintings that the painters paint? Like He just stepped out of a beauty salon? Do you think that’s the way He looked? If that’s the way He looked, then why did Judas have to point Him out so they could take Him away? 
There’s no beauty that we should desire Him. However, there was in Him all of the glory, all of the serenity, all of the dignity, all of the majesty, all of the purity, all of the character of God in human flesh. He didn’t come in a jeweled chariot down to this earth, born in a palace. He was born in a stable. When He did miracles, they were not publicity stunts. Often, He would say, “Don’t tell anybody about this”.
Faith is the heart’s response to the character of God. When your eye is right, it responds to light. When your ear is right, it responds to sound. When your heart is right it responds to God and that response is called F-A-I-T-H.
C. Spiritual Wealth
Look again in Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is….” Now watch this, “… and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
How do we seek Him? By faith. Jesus said, “Be it unto you according to your faith.” Jesus did not say be it unto to you by your fame, feeling, future, fortune, friends or fate. But, according to your faith be it unto you. Faith is the medium of exchange in the kingdom of heaven. If you pray without faith you don’t get an answer. “What things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them.” Pray, believe you will receive. Pray in doubt, you do without.
God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Faith is the dynamic of spiritual wealth. How spiritually strong are you? How wealthy are you? What kind of reserves do you have? It is all according to your faith.
We will walk with the champions of faith. We are going to live by faith and we will not live without faith. You can exist without faith, but you will never live without faith. Jesus said, I’ve come that you might have life. You put your faith where God has put your sins, on Jesus Christ. Until The Last Person Has Heard,
 Dr. James. O. Davis
Founder/President
Global Church Network
Cochair / Global Networking
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