"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  For by it the men of old gained approval."  Hebrews 11:1-2 says something awesome.  That approval, gentlemen, is the approval of God.  This may or may not be a good thing, but I can hardly even imagine the Lord approving of me.  But, He tells us how men have gained His approval:  by trusting Him.  Verse six of the same chapter teaches that "without faith it is impossible to please Him".  That is the one thing that God asks of us, that we trust Him.  Everything else in our lives hangs on whether or not we trust Him.  "But wait, what about Matthew 22, Mark 12 and Luke 10 when Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to Love God and that everything else hangs on that?" you might ask.  My response would be that loving the Lord and trusting Him are inseparable.  If I did not love Him, I would not be able to trust Him.  If I did not trust Him, I could not love Him. Hebrews 11 proceeds to discuss men and women who trusted God and set us an example in doing so.  He pauses in verses 13-16 to point out to us that none of these saints were seeking the fulfillment of earthly desires.  They were not thinking of the "country from which they went out".  "And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared a city for them."  (Hebrews 11:15-16).  God says of those who live by faith that he is not ashamed to be called their God!  (I know I just said that but come on, that needs repeating.)  I'm ashamed of myself more often than I care to think about.  But, the Lord has said that He is not ashamed to be called their God!  (There it is again; I do not apologize for that.)  That's for us!

Understand faith.  Verse one told us that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen".  What is it that we hope for and have not seen?  It is whatever has been decreed by God.  Romans 4:17 ends by saying that God "calls into being that which does not exist."  Yes, we can say that we have seen some of God's Word come to pass, but it is no longer through faith that we trust those Words.  So, faith is the assurance and the conviction in our hearts of the Word of God.  Faith is not the notion that if I believe something hard enough that it will come about.  True faith is my acceptance of what the Lord has spoken.

The end of the chapter tells of people suffering all kinds of persecutions because they live by faith.  In verse 38 God, speaking of such saints, says that they were "men of whom the world was not worthy".   Did you hear that?  The world is not even worthy of those who live by faith!  And, He is not ashamed to be called their God!  I need to go lay down.