Faith
Faith
30/07/09 11:11 Filed in: Thoughts
"Once born of a childlike faith, brimming with belief, typical people begin to lose their faith. Society mocks them. Their friends smirk. They come to change the world, but over time the world changes them. Soon they forget who they were; they forget the faith they once had. Then one day someone tells them the truth, but they don't want to go back, because they're comfortable in their new skin. Being a stranger in this world is never easy."
"You should know that if you walk where I'm going to ask you to walk, there will be a price."
"You're saying that I'll never be normal? That I'll be rejected by normal people. That I was chosen to be an outcast. And that if I manage to embrace this childlike faith of yours, I'll wear my abnormality in a debilitating way?"
"Yes. But you'll have the power to change the world."
From one of my favorite books. Saint by Ted Dekker.
People may make fun of you, reject you, even persecute you for your faith. But with the faith of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. I think this verse is overlooked too often. God would not have said it if he didn't mean it. With this kind of faith you can change the world.
In Acts 4, when Peter and John saw a man crippled from birth begging for money, Peter went up to him and grabbed his hand and told him to get up and walk in the name of Jesus. He has faith to just walk up to the man and EXPECT God to do it. How many of us have the faith to do that? We are afraid...well what if God doesn't do it?! I know I am. I want to have the faith for something like that.
Multiple times in the gospels people went to Jesus EXPECTING to be healed. They had faith. In Matthew 9, the woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years said to herself, if only I can touch the edge of his cloak, I will be healed. And Jesus said, your faith has healed you! Things like this happened so many times with Jesus. And what did Jesus say? In John 14 he says "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Even greater things?
All of these things I have seen and read about in the Bible...the people had FAITH. They EXPECTED God to do these things. Do we really have faith that God will bring the person to Christ we have been praying for? Do we expect it? Do we go to church expecting to see God move in our lives? Do we have faith that he will move the mountains in our lives? God is really convicting me of this...I NEED more faith. With a childlike faith, with faith as small as a mustard seed...we can change this world. I believe we will see miracles! As God to show you miracles...ask him to show up...and expect to see him work! How weak is our faith if we ask for something but then don't expect to see it? "Now faith is being SURE of what we hope for, and CERTAIN of what we do not see."
I can't see how you could have faith without expectation. Not real faith. I had never thought about it before...but do you really have faith in something if you don't expect it to happen? God has been teaching me so much about expecting him to move and to show up. But he wants us to ask! The Bible says in Matthew 21 "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Ask God to move. Ask God to see miracles. Ask him to change you. Ask him for faith. Ask him to see your friend come to Christ. Ask, and expect an answer. Have faith! I am amazed at what God has shown me in such a short time trying this...
With a faith like this, we can see the broken hearted set free. With a faith like this we can see forgiveness take place. With a faith like this, we can see the lost return home. With a faith like this, the church can stand united. With a faith like this, we can see our generation turn their hearts to God. With a faith like this, we can change the world. Do you believe it?
"You should know that if you walk where I'm going to ask you to walk, there will be a price."
"You're saying that I'll never be normal? That I'll be rejected by normal people. That I was chosen to be an outcast. And that if I manage to embrace this childlike faith of yours, I'll wear my abnormality in a debilitating way?"
"Yes. But you'll have the power to change the world."
From one of my favorite books. Saint by Ted Dekker.
People may make fun of you, reject you, even persecute you for your faith. But with the faith of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. I think this verse is overlooked too often. God would not have said it if he didn't mean it. With this kind of faith you can change the world.
In Acts 4, when Peter and John saw a man crippled from birth begging for money, Peter went up to him and grabbed his hand and told him to get up and walk in the name of Jesus. He has faith to just walk up to the man and EXPECT God to do it. How many of us have the faith to do that? We are afraid...well what if God doesn't do it?! I know I am. I want to have the faith for something like that.
Multiple times in the gospels people went to Jesus EXPECTING to be healed. They had faith. In Matthew 9, the woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years said to herself, if only I can touch the edge of his cloak, I will be healed. And Jesus said, your faith has healed you! Things like this happened so many times with Jesus. And what did Jesus say? In John 14 he says "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Even greater things?
All of these things I have seen and read about in the Bible...the people had FAITH. They EXPECTED God to do these things. Do we really have faith that God will bring the person to Christ we have been praying for? Do we expect it? Do we go to church expecting to see God move in our lives? Do we have faith that he will move the mountains in our lives? God is really convicting me of this...I NEED more faith. With a childlike faith, with faith as small as a mustard seed...we can change this world. I believe we will see miracles! As God to show you miracles...ask him to show up...and expect to see him work! How weak is our faith if we ask for something but then don't expect to see it? "Now faith is being SURE of what we hope for, and CERTAIN of what we do not see."
I can't see how you could have faith without expectation. Not real faith. I had never thought about it before...but do you really have faith in something if you don't expect it to happen? God has been teaching me so much about expecting him to move and to show up. But he wants us to ask! The Bible says in Matthew 21 "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Ask God to move. Ask God to see miracles. Ask him to change you. Ask him for faith. Ask him to see your friend come to Christ. Ask, and expect an answer. Have faith! I am amazed at what God has shown me in such a short time trying this...
With a faith like this, we can see the broken hearted set free. With a faith like this we can see forgiveness take place. With a faith like this, we can see the lost return home. With a faith like this, the church can stand united. With a faith like this, we can see our generation turn their hearts to God. With a faith like this, we can change the world. Do you believe it?