Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1).

So many flock to a building every week to give God an hour of their time believing this shows they are people of faith, in Gods eyes faith in Him is shown by us believing and not doubting as when Thomas would not believe and have faith unless he could thrust his finger into the Lords side. Our Lord told him he was faithless and unbelieving (John 20:24-29) But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

A strong faith has many times been the turning point from suffering and being made whole. Unfortunately not all people are as thankful as they should be when they are healed as in the story of the lepers who were healed of their leprosy when only one of the ten healed returned to thank the Lord (Luke 17:11-19) And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Sadly there are times others will hinder one from being healed as we read of the blind beggar who sought the Lord regardless of those who were rebuking him and told him not to bother the Lord. Thankfully he did not listen to the nay sayers, and went on to be healed of his blindness ( Luke 18:35-43) And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

When people are void of knowing God and the power which He possesses they unknowingly set themselves up for their own fall, they serve the god’s of the people and not God Almighty maker of heaven and earth and are known to God as a people without faith (Deuteronomy 32:16-20) They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

We can read of the strong faith of those who believed in the power of the living God in Hebrews Chapter 11, and one key thing here is to see not one of these people of faith had a building surrounding them as they believed, because true faith is not what we can see, but through the eyes of faith believe in the unseen!

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:38,39).