I hear lots of different things on faith, some good and some not so good. So I wanted to share just a few scriptures along with some thoughts on them. My point is simple: anyone can have faith in God. So have faith in God. Trust him. Rest in him. Hope in him.

John 3:16 (NIV)
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Just to emphasize my first point. Anyone can have faith in God. Anyone.

Hebrews 11:4 (NIV)
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Something to think about here, and it applies to all of the examples in this post. Abel was not "saved," he was not "born again," he was not "filled with the Spirit." But he had faith and God spoke well of his offerings because of his faith. Have faith.

Hebrews 11:8-10 (NIV)
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. [9] By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. [10] For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV)
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

One aspect of faith is that we see something beyond where and what we are now. It is the "evidence of things not seen." And because we see something in God that is beyond where and what we are now and we have faith in it God is not ashamed to be called our God. He has a committment towards us and has prepared a city for us. However, if we set our affections on this world, on where we are now, we lose that faith. We start wanting God to bless us where we are now instead of asking him to bless us in our journey to something he has prepared.

Hebrews 11:31 (NIV)
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

Rahab did not have faith because she heard annointed preaching. She did not have faith because she lived a godly life. She did not have faith because she heard the word of God. She simply heard rumors and gossip about a nation and she had both fear and faith in the God of that nation. And God honored her faith.

Matthew 8:5-10 (NIV)
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. [6] "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." [7] Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him." [8] The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. [9] For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, `Go,' and he goes; and that one, `Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, `Do this,' and he does it." [10] When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

Israel was filled with the word of God and God's convenants, but it was a Roman centurion who impressed Jesus with him faith. His faith did not come from understanding the law and convenants of God. His faith was built from a worldly understanding of authority and submission. But when he heard stories of what Jesus was doing he had faith. Even though his faith was based on something he understood, he saw something beyond that in Jesus.

Matthew 15:22-28 (NIV)
A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." [23] Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." [24] He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." [25] The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. [26] He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." [27] "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." [28] Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Here is another person who did not have faith because of the law or convenants of God but heard what Jesus was doing and had faith. Faith to keep knocking and seeking when the door was first closed, or looked like it was closed. Jesus said what he did to her to expose her faith. To the citizens of the kingdom of God, both the Roman and the Canaanite were outsiders. But Jesus and the Father honored them.

We never know how someone will respond to what we say about His mercy, grace, faithfullness, mighty acts, etc. Faith could rise up in anyone, including ourselves. Let faith grow in you. Set your heart on a better county, on a city whose builder and maker is God, on something beyond where and what you are now.

Have faith in God.