Going to church does not make us righteous.  Reading the bible does not make us righteous.  Giving your tithe to the church does not make us righteous.  Helping the poor does not make us righteous.  No man is justified by the law (Gal3:11) but the just shall live by faith.  Faith makes us righteous.  We receive salvation by grace through faith.  We receive the Spirit by faith.  Without faith it is impossible to please God.  If you think that we can please God by works, no matter how good those works are, like going to church, reading the bible, paying your tithe, helping the poor, you miss the Truth, and are placing your trust in facts.  People who believe that religion makes one holy, that following the Law makes one holy, that their effort makes one holy, miss it, and because they think that they can earn or merit the favor of God, they never receive the Blessing. 

            Most people desire what they can see.  They desire money, a house, a vacation in some beautiful place, a spouse, children, fame, power, in short, the things of the world.  Faith is different.  It is hard for most to put their finger on it.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.(Heb11:1)  Solomon asked for wisdom to rule his people and God was pleased with the request.  Wisdom, knowledge, discernment, prophesy, are intangible things.  That Solomon asked for wisdom was a act of faith and we know it was because the request pleased God and because Solomon did not ask for something from the natural world, God gave him wealth and fame and power.  Jesus put it this way, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. (Mat6:33)  To seek first the kingdom of God requires faith.  Jesus is telling us how to please God.  When you please God you receive the Blessing and when you receive the Blessing, the Spirit of God, God will provide the tangible things. 

            The just shall live by faith (Gal3:11)  Faith does not look at what a person sees.  Faith believes in a God it cannot see.  Faith believes the word of God and confesses it regardless of the human condition, regardless of health, wealth, strength, intelligence, upbringing, beauty, or social status.  When one learns to dismiss what the world esteems of value, to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God, but to place its weight on what is spiritual, that is what pleases God.  God does not look on the appearance, on what is natural, but what is eternal.  “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”(2Cor4:18)

            Faith strives to live in the Truth in spite of the facts.  It does not take in an evil report.  It does not believe in only natural remedies to sickness, poverty, and lack.  Faith believes in miracles.  Faith acts from Truth even when the facts are contrary to the will of God.  Faith believes in and confess the Truth even when all outward signs are to the contrary.

            Faith is belief in action.  Faith without works is dead being alone. Jm2:17  What that means is  that sometimes God uses you to bless others  When you receive the Blessing, God expects you to be an instrument in his hands, a visible sign of the intangible God. A person of faith lives and walks in the Spirit and performs acts of charity as Paul descibes in 1Cor13.

            Faith is the only way to receive the Blessing!  Be a person of faith!  amen