Moving That Mountain with Your Faith

Lesson 5: Does Faith Make A Difference In Our Lives?

Right from ancient times, faith has been the essential ingredient in getting God's blessings showered upon His creation, mankind. Adam and Eve were privileged to enjoy everything in the Garden of Eden except the fruit from the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. When Eve listened to the voice of Satan, it was the first failure of faith. She didn't believe that what God had restricted was for her own good, because she didn't have faith in His perfect love for her (Gen.).

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God's approval (Heb 11: 1 - 2). It was faith that made Noah heed God's warnings about the things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a boat in which he and his family were saved (Heb 11: 7).

Again, it was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God promised to give him, and it was faith that made Abraham able to become a father in old age. He trusted God to keep His promise that he would be the father of a multitude, and have descendants as many as the stars in the sky (Heb 11: 8 - 12). It was faith that made the walls of Jericho fall down after the Israelites had marched round them for seven days! (Heb 11: 30).

The Old Testament is full of incidents that were brought about only because the Israelites believed in God's Word and had faith that He would keep His promises to them. The New Testament also abounds in miracles that were wrought by Jesus, because of the faith of the recipients, as well as the failures that resulted because of a lack of faith in Him.

Jesus healed the leper who came to Him in all humility and deep faith, saying, "Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out, touched him, and healed him (Matt 8: 1 - 3). Jesus healed the servant of the Roman officer, who begged Him, "Just give the order, and my servant will get well." Although a Gentile, the officer's extra-ordinary faith moved Jesus to heal his servant (Matt 8: 5 - 8).

And Jesus healed the paralyzed man because of the faith of his friends, who lowered him down from the roof unto his presence (Matt 9: 1 - 8). Again, Jesus brought back to life the daughter of the Jewish official, because of the man's extra-ordinary faith, who knelt down humbly before him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and place your hands on her, and she will live (Matt 9: 18 - 23).

But, see what happened when faith was lacking, even among Jesus' own disciples. When Jesus was in a boat on the lake with His disciples, a fierce storm hit the lake, and the boat was in danger of sinking. The frightened disciples woke the sleeping Jesus, begging Him to save them. Jesus calmed the storm, but rebuked them, saying, "How
little faith you have!" (Matt 8: 23 - 27).

Jesus worked miracles everywhere He went, but in Nazareth, his own home town, He hardly succeeded because lack of faith and prejudiced opinions of the local people, made this impossible. They could not accept that anyone who had lived among them, especially a carpenter's son, had any right to preach and work miracles (Mk 6: 1 - 6).

Again, when Jesus came walking over the lake waters to His disciples in the boat, Peter wanted to emulate the Lord. He got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus. But, when he took off his eyes from the Lord, he was frightened by the choppy waves and began to sink. Peter was rewarded with: "How little faith you have! Why did you doubt? (Matt 14: 22 - 31).

Faith is still the only ingredient that can make a difference in our lives. So, how do we get faith? There's only one way. Holy Scripture says that "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the preached Word of God" (Rom 10: 17). As we allow God to speak to us through His Word, we'll not only get faith, but our faith will keep on increasing. God has many wonderful things to give us. But, all His gifts are gifts of grace, and we need faith to receive those gifts. To have faith in God means to trust Him, and to believe what He has said in His Word, in spite of what our feelings may tell us, or what other people may tell us. It's as simple as that.

If you want to share and earn points please login first
Lesson 4: What Is Wrong With Some Modern Translations Of The Bible? (Prev Lesson)
(Next Lesson) Lesson 6: Have You Experienced The Healing Power Of Forgiveness?
Back to Moving That Mountain with Your Faith

No Comments

Give a comment

four × 5 =

s2Member®