Faith is probably the most confusing topic in all of Christianity and since Satan is the author of confusion, we can lay the misunderstandings and confusion on him.
Most people think that faith is a synonym for belief... so they think that if they believe something is so, then it will be so. Others link faith with determination... if they are determined enough, bolstered by their faith, then they can have what they are determined to have. You might call such people "white-knuckled Christians". They clench their fists in a strong desire to believe something, believing they’ll get what they want if they're determined enough. Faith is not formed or activated by the power of positive thinking or one's personal will and determination to get what you desire.
Hebrews 11:1 gives us a Biblical definition of faith... "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen". This verse tells us that faith is a conviction that we have regarding something that allows us to be able to act on it as if it were assured of happening. Hebrews 12:2 says "...Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith" and Romans 12:3 says "...God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
These two verses clearly tell us that faith is not something that we do or a presence of mind that we develop, but that faith is a gift from God. Rom 10:17 says "...faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ." So faith is a gift from God that we grow into as a result of hearing and contemplating the Word of God. In 2 Cor 10:15 we learn that our faith can grow, so as we study the Bible, God can add to our faith.
Let me summarize some of the key principles about FAITH gleaned from the articles over the past month.
Faith as small as a mustard seed
Faith even the size of a mustard seed can move the mountains blocking the horizons of our hopes, shadowing the light and beauty of God’s love in our lives, limiting and bounding the scope of our service to Christ. Faith the size of a mustard seed can make the "improbable" possible.
Faith can stand up to and remove [minimize] the things that trap us, the stuff that scares the daylights out of us, the things that test and erode our confidence in God and make us wonder whether God is in fact able to make something of our efforts in Christian living.
In Matthew 10:8... Jesus had given his disciples full authority to "cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons." They had the power to perform healings, cleansings, miracles, with absolute trust, confidence and faith they would be successful in these endeavors!
Yet on one occasion, not long after Jesus empowered and sent them forth, they are unable to heal a small boy. So Jesus had to step in and do what they could not do... because they did not trust their faith and the source of their faith. Jesus in a pointed way confronts his well-meaning disciples by calling them a "faithless" generation.
The words remind us of other events of faithlessness, in particular, Luke 8, where Jesus and his disciples, on a boat on the Sea of Galilee, are caught suddenly by a violent windstorm; and the disciples rush in to wake a sleeping Jesus, crying, "Master, we are perishing!" There, too, Jesus responds by asking his followers, simply... "Where is your faith?"
Frequently Jesus confronts the disciples with that question: "Where is your faith?" He could not make his words any clearer: In Matthew 17:20, he tells his followers, "The reason you could not cure the young boy is because of your little faith."
Nothing is impossible for you
Faith enough to move mountains? Mountains! What kind of mountains? Jesus is not talking about the physical moving of real earth and rock mountains. He doesn’t say that prayer can move Pike’s Peak into the Pacific. Nowhere in the Gospels do we read about Jesus or anyone else rearranging geography just for the sake of testing the power of the promise. There was another, very real mountain looming in front of the disciples that day; specifically, it was the mountain of healing that sick boy that had been brought to them.
Each of us is called by God to do something different. Whatever it is that God has called us to do, God has also given us full authority and the power to do it. What is your "mountain"?
It may be a mountain of sharing Christ with a person very close to you. It may be a mountain of taking a stand for Christ in a new, more powerful way. It may be a mountain of accepting new responsibilities, a role of leadership, in your service to Christ.
It may be a mountain of giving that last little area of your life, the one little compartment that you’ve not been willing to part with yet, giving even that part of your life completely over to Christ.
It may be a mountain of refusing to sit quietly any longer while your colleagues, acquaintances, co-workers, trample the name of Christ.
It may be to accept Christ into your life and be to be baptized [immersed] in obedience to the New Testament plan of salvation.
And there’s even another category of "mountains" that may be standing before you today. These are the mountains which shout back at you... taunting you, even saying, "You don’t stand a chance of getting past me!" Mountains of self-rejection; mountains of low self-esteem; mountains of doubt; mountains of discouragement, all brought into sharp focus by past failures.
Once again, the promise holds: Christ has given you full authority to get past these mountains; and with faith even as big as a mustard seed, you can do just that. You can do it because Christ promises you that you are loved and accepted by Him.
You can do it because Christ promises that he can make all things new–even a life that’s been marked by failures, disappointments, rebellion, anything at all.
God can begin to remove these mountains from before you even today!
Faith, according to the writer of the book of Hebrews, is... "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." The promise of Christ, though, is that we don’t have to be super heros! We simply need to muster up faith the size of these tiny little seeds and the mountains [obstacles] in our lives will begin to dissolve to insignificance.
All that’s required of believers is that tiny amount of faith that allows us at least to say, "I think it’s possible" and I’m willing to follow God and find out! The faith that removes mountains... is a faith that says, simply, "Nothing, nothing can cut us off from God... Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ." Your Faith, the size of a mustard seed, in the steadfast, enduring, tenacious love of God; faith in Christ’s ability to bring to completion whatever good work may be working in you.
Remember... FAITH is the enabling power of God. He equips you [with faith] to overcome the obstacles of life and focus on spiritual things... Him. Use the power he has given you to grow in Him and be all you can be for His will and purpose.
