Important! Do you have head faith or heart faith?

Faith. It's the key to, not only our salvation, to but our entire walk with God. We must first believe that God exists and that He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sins, die on the cross, and rise from the dead. But that isn't all we must do for salvation. It isn't enough to believe that.

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! James 2:19

You must have faith. What is the difference? It's simple. Belief is in the head. Faith is in the heart. You may very well believe in a fact, person, or thing, but are you willing to completely trust that person or thing with your life?  Belief is human initiated. Faith is something supernatural that only the Holy Spirit initiates. This is why you can't argue someone into the Kingdom. They may believe everything you say, but until they have an encounter with the living God, they aren't saved.

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  Romans 10:9

Notice the word heart in the above Scripture. This is the key. But what does heart mean? It is certainly not that pumping organ in the middle of your chest. No, heart in the Bible has always meant that part of your body where the real you lives, your spirit. Many people describe it as being in the general area of the fleshly heart, sometimes a little lower in the gut area. 

So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31

The problem is that when we read believe in the Bible, we automatically think of head belief because that's what the word means to us. So, we have many pastors who read these Scriptures to people in church and say "All you have to do to be saved is believe that Jesus died for you and put your trust in Him."

Hence, many people say a prayer, believe in their heads that Jesus came, died, rose again and they trust Him for their salvation, but they've never had an encounter with God. They don't know Him. They have little to no zeal for Him or for His Word. They produce no fruit and over the years, there is no change in their fallen natures.  This is what absolutely breaks my heart. Many of these people are completely deceived and have not been taught what true salvation looks like.

I'm not trying to scare anyone here. I'm trying to help some people who might fall into this category.
So how do you know if you only have a head belief and not a heart belief?

A heart belief is unshakable. No amount of arguments or evidence against it can affect it at all.
A head belief can be changed by new evidence or better arguments against it.

In other words, if aliens from another planet suddenly appeared on earth and claimed that they were our creators and there was no God and they could prove it, if you only had a head belief, you would probably believe them if their evidence was irrefutable. If you have a heart belief, you would never fall for such deception.

Another great way to tell if you only have head belief is to sit down and examine yourself. If you haven't already, read my post on how to tell whether you're on the narrow path or the wide path, there are some great questions in there to ask yourself. But in general.

1. Do you have a zeal for God and the things of God? What is zeal? Do you want to know God more. Do you love His Word? Do you strive to follow Him?

2. Do you have a relationship with God? Do you talk to Him? Does He talk to you? (In your spirit, through His Word, through sermons, through other Christians)   Listen, you KNOW if you know someone, right? If a friend asked me, "Hey do you know Bob Jones?"  I would answer yes or no, depending on my relationship with Bob Jones. If I knew him and had talked with him and seen him on various occasions, I would say "Yes."  But maybe I didn't know Bob. Maybe I'd seen him across the street or I'd heard someone else talking about him. Maybe I'd met him once but we never really talked. Then I'd say "No."    So, do you know God? It's really as simple as that.

This has nothing to do with your weaknesses or sins or where you are in your walk with God. It's about a relationship and your heart's desire for that relationship, no matter how many times you've failed.

Moving a head belief to a heart belief! 

The good news is, you can get a heart belief!  It's easy, too. All you have to do is get alone with God and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. But you have to be completely and utterly sincere and completely willing to submit your entire life into His hands. If you aren't, God never forces Himself on anyone.  He loves you and wants to save you, but if you aren't willing to give your entire self, He will remain at a distance.

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.  Matthew 10:38-39

Perhaps you've done that and you still feel like you don't have heart-faith. I suggest that you read the Bible. Designate some time alone each day to get into the Word and don't just read it, meditate on it, and talk to God about it while you're reading. Commit yourself to this and I guarantee, God will meet you there and your faith will grow by leaps and bounds.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. Acts 2:21

Give your self to Jesus! Trust me, it's worth it! It's not always easy, it's not always fun. God's Holy Spirit will take residence in your spirit and He will start changing you into a better person. He will lead you and guide you and give you a spiritual pinch when you're doing something wrong. He will laugh with you and cry with you and NEVER leave you. It's a life of adventure and fulfillment, and when you close your eyes for the last time, you'll spend eternity in a paradise you can't imagine.  

Trust me, it's more than worth it!  In this life and the next.