There are two kinds of faith - natural, nominal faith and real faith.  Nominal faith is based on tangible fact - on what it has been told and what it has seen or experienced. It is faith in the text.

But real faith is not based in text alone - real faith depends on the Character of God.  For the person of real faith, their belief is not based merely in the text of Scripture, but in the reliability of the One who spoke it.

In the life of Abraham, the Bible doesn't say that he believed the text and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.  No, Abraham believed GOD.  It was Who he believed, not merely what he believed that counted.  Real faith rests on God's character - Who He is.

The Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God.  The Scriptures are as powerful today as they were the moment they were first released.  However, those divine Words will be powerless in your life unless you BELIEVE them.

As simple as that may seem, it is actually impossible to believe someone's word without first of all believing in the character of that person.  If you aren't able to believe or trust the person, you won't trust what they say either.  Real faith rests on believing God - then, and only then, will you be able to trust what He says.

Hosea 6.3,6 says - "Let us know, let us pursue the Knowledge of the Lord... For I [the Lord] desire mercy and not sacrifice, the Knowledge of God  more than burnt offerings."

Let us pursue the Knowledge of the Lord.

The "knowledge of the Lord" is knowing Him.  It is understanding God, being intimately acquainted with Him. We are to be zealous to know Him. (Hosea 6.3 AMP)

The Lord said that He desires and delights in dutiful steadfast love and goodness, not sacrifice - and the knowledge of and acquaintance with God, more than burnt offerings.  (Hosea 6.6 AMP)

Why does God desire and delight so much in us knowing and being acquainted with Him, more than even sacrifice and offerings?   Proverbs 28.5 (AMP) tells us that "evil men do not understand justice, but they who crave and seek the Lord understand it fully."  Another translation says that those who seek the Lord understand all things.

The Lord desires us to have knowledge of and acquaintance with Him because, when we do, we will know and understand all things.  The Apostle Peter urged believers to not be led away with the error of the wicked - but to grow both in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord.  (II Peter 3.18)

God wants us to grow in KNOWING HIM.  But how do we grow in our knowledge of God?

 "For I always pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him."    - Eph. 1.17 AMP

God will grant you wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

The Bible is the revealed knowledge of God.  He has revealed Who He is,  what He is like,  and what He does in the pages of His written Word.  All anyone has to do to know who God is and what He does, is to open their Bible and start reading.  It has been revealed.

But did you know that something can be revealed and people still not get it?  God can bring revelation to you and it still not profit you, because there is something beyond revelation that you need.  Revelation by itself is not enough.

Ephesians 1.17-18 says that God will grant you revelation in the knowledge of Him  BY having the eyes of your heart flooded with Light, so that you can KNOW and UNDERSTAND...

In order to understand the revelation - you must have ILLUMINATION.

Revelation is God's given Word.  It is the tangible presence and reality of God in this earth.  Illumination is what makes His revealed Word real to you. It is when your heart has been illuminated (or opened) to His Word that you are able to know what it means.  At that point, the Word to you becomes more than mere text, but a living, breathing  substance - a living reality.

Illumination is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said in John 16.13, referencing the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit of Truth "will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is.  He won't draw attention to Himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I've done and said. He will honour Me; He will take from Me and deliver (transmit) it to you."

Proverbs 1.23 confirms - "Surely I will pour out my spirit upon you; I WILL MAKE MY WORDS KNOWN TO YOU."

The word translated "known" in this verse is the same Hebrew root word, yada, from which "knowledge" of, or "knowing" God is derived in the previous verses.  Yada means to have "intimate knowledge, intimate comprehension of".

The Holy Spirit will make His words known to you, transmitting those words and making them intimately comprehended.  We are told in Psalm 119.130 that the entrance and unfolding of His Words gives Light; their unfolding gives understanding, discernment, and comprehension to the simple.  This word "light" is the Hebrew word owr (pronounced ore), meaning "illumination" or "luminary" (in every sense including light, happiness, lightning, ect.)

The entrance of His word gives illumination.  Another reference of owr is Psalm 19.8 - "the commandment of the Lord is pure and bright, enlightening the eyes."  These verses again reiterate Ephesians 1.18, that God will enlighten the eyes of our understanding.

II Corinthians 4.6 AMP   says that the same God who said -   "Light shine out of darkness" - has shown in our hearts  so as to beam forth the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

By the work of the Holy Spirit, the illumination of the Word, we can be vitally connected to all the knowledge and insight we need.  We don't have to be at a loss over anything, or in doubt about what God is doing.

The things God has planned for our life don't have to remain a mystery to us.  The Scriptures tell us that God has unveiled and revealed them to us through His Spirit, for the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God - the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny.  (I Cor. 2.10 AMP)

God will reveal and illuminate to you everything you need to know by His Spirit.  The plans He has for your life, the wisdom to walk out those plans, and every answer for every situation you face along the way - the Holy Spirit is ready to make them known to you as you seek Him.  He will open your understanding to profound and bottomless things of God, and let you in on the divine counsels and things that are hidden and way beyond the scrutiny of natural man.

Isaiah prophesied - "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.  For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."    (Isaiah 11.9)

The mouth of God has spoken and His Word will be fulfilled.  The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, with not one spot empty.   It is God's desire and delight that we KNOW HIM and understand Him.

His Word is alive and full of power, and it does not fail.  II Peter 1.19 tells us that we have a more sure word, which we do well if we heed as a Light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our heart.

Don't settle for nominal faith.  Rest your faith in the Character of God - the God Who is absolutely faithful to His Word, and faithful to make it real to you.