Have Faith in God

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him”(Mark 11:22).

No matter how much faith we have that a mountain will move, it will not budge if that faith is in our own fancies, a false god, or even in faith itself. Faith is only as powerful as its object.

Faith is one of the most misunderstood words in Christian vocabulary. Many people think it is believing in something you can’t prove. Others think faith is a kind of mystical power—“just believe strongly enough and it will happen.” But faith is not positive thinking nor positive confession. Throughout scripture, faith is revealed as an attitude of trust in an object, which allows that object to work on our behalf.

We put faith in a chair that it will hold our weight, so we sit down on it. We put faith in a car that it will take us to our destination, so we get in and drive. But it is not our faith that holds our weight, it’s the chair. And it’s not our faith that takes us to our destination, it’s the car.

We may have strong faith, but if it’s in a faulty object , we’ll reap disaster. Let me illustrate.

One April morning 2200 persons boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England. The atmosphere was one of revelry. There was not a shred of doubt in anyone’s mind that they would arrive safely in New York City. Yet, in the early morning hours on April 15, 1912, just two days short of her destination, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank. Because there were not enough lifeboats, only 705 persons were saved. Why so few? The owners had been so certain of the ship’s reliability–after all, it was touted to be unsinkable–that they didn’t see the necessity to bring more lifeboats. Talk about strong faith!

Yet their faith resulted in disaster.

Why? The object of their faith was not trustworthy.

What counts is not faith in faith, nor faith in circumstances, nor faith in the experts but faith in an object that is reliable and trustworthy.

Jesus said, “Have faith in God.” Is He reliable? Absolutely. Paul writes, “God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefore ever true to His promises, and He can be depended on”) (1.Corinthians 1:9 Amplified).

Unless we place our faith in God, He cannot help us. Let me give an example. My children live on four continents, which means that to visit them, I must travel by airplane. This requires a lot of faith on my part since I don’t know the pilot or the aircraft. Still, I buy my ticket, check in my luggage, go through security, and walk down the gangplank to the aircraft. What would happen if I stopped short of the door and refused to enter? Even though the pilot is well qualified and the aircraft is trustworthy, unless I do my part and enter, they cannot help me.

Some people equate faith with a certain kind of feeling. “I don’t feel anything, so I must not have faith,” they say. But faith is not dependent on strong feelings. It’s a choice to go with what God says. Faith is taking a stand: “God, even though I don’t understand or feel anything, I will trust You.”

Going back to the airplane ride: I may be nervous as I enter the aircraft; still, if I find my seat, buckle in, and stay put, I will get to my destination. Feelings merely add to the pleasure of the flight.

It’s not our big or little faith that brings results. Our focus is to be on God and his faithfulness, not on our prayers–how right they are–nor on our own big or little faith. God never intended you and me to have great faith as the goal of our lives. We are to be ordinary men and women who simply place our trust in the great faithfulness of God.”

A friend lamented that God expects blind faith from us. Yes, sometimes we need to take a leap of faith into the unknown, but when you know the Person who’s giving the command and He’s proven Himself to be trustworthy, it’s not really blind faith. It’s like a child leaping into the strong arms of his father.

“The more confident we are in the object of our faith, the less conscious we become of the exercise of our faith,” writes Charles Price of the Peoples Church in Toronto. Therefore, it’s imperative that we get to know God better. How?

1. By learning about His character.

Look up in the concordance of your Bible words that describe God’s character: love, holiness, power, goodness… Write them out. Read them often, out loud. Then thank God for being those things to you now. Verses such as:

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD who has compassion on you (Isaiah 54:10).

2. By acting on what God tells us to do.

Obedience is key to growing faith. The moment you obey, even in the smallest detail, faith blossoms. “The tiniest detail in which I obey has all the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it,” writes Oswald Chambers .

Faith is not waiting with a sigh for a problem to go away. Faith is a choice to go with what God says. It’s taking a stand: “God, even though I don’t understand, I want to trust you with this.” Then acting upon it.

Faith is acting upon your belief that God is all that He says He is. If the emphasis were less on our praying and more on God, there would be less panic and more thanksgiving. More praise. More quiet resting in God. Even small faith in a great God gets results.

Would you like to move a mountain
Then move a little hill.
Does your soul aspire to greatness?
Humbly settle for God’s will.

Tell the Father you will meekly
Little tasks for Him fulfill.
You’re not ready for that mountain
Till by faith you’ve moved a hill.

Viola Jacobson Berg

Who Am I? What Am I Here For?

Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure (Ephesians 1: verses 4 & 5 Life Application Study Bible)

Why am I here? What is my purpose?

Why I chose the Bible Over Self-Help Books

Searching for answers to life I read every self-help book I could find. Each time I would say, "That’s it!" I’d work hard at the suggested formula for success–and fail. As good as the authors and their ideas were, they lacked the power to help me achieve the desired life change. The emphasis was on me–in other words, just believe in yourself strongly enough and you will become that beautiful enlightened person you want to become. It sounded good, except it didn’t work.

Beyond Ourselves

A friend had been coming to Bible study and one day I encouraged her to receive Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord.

"Oh, I could never live the Christian life," she said. "You don't know how miserably weak I am."

Celebrate The Light

It was Christmas Eve in 1944. The fighting was once more dangerously close. Fifteen months ago, my mother, with us four children, had fled our native Ukraine with the retreating German army. Father had been reported missing in action at the Russian front.

Now we were refugees living in a two-room shack in Dieterwald, Poland. Frequent air raids sent us scurrying for cover. Explosions rattled the windows. Army trucks brought in the wounded and the dead. Hay wagons filled with refugees rumbled west; bombers droned overhead and army tanks rolled east. Partisans (underground resistance) attacked innocent women and children at night.

On Children And Daffodils

Through a technicality, my youngest son lost his academic scholarship. Reeling in confusion, he worried how he would complete university. Meanwhile, his older brother, working feverishly on his doctorate in molecular biology, became severely ill and was laid up for awhile.

As a parent, I grieve when I see my children suffer like this. I feel they are too fragile to endure it. I want to protect them, to bail them out, to fix it for them. But even my best efforts cannot save them from life’s hardships. Sometimes I wonder, What is God doing in their lives?

Hope for the Future

Scripture: Jesus said, "I have come as a Light to shine into this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer remain in the darkness. John 12:46

Our world is becoming very dark. Increased violence everywhere, even in my "quiet" home town. Corrupt world leaders care more about their egos than their countries. Justice is turned upside down, when right is wrong and wrong is right. Despite these frightening signs, we can enter the new year with hope. Why? Because Jesus said, "I am the light of the world."

God is Faithful

"God is faithful, reliable, trustworthy, ever true to his promises and he can be depended on" (1.Corinthians 1:9 Amplified).

"God is faithful." We often say the words to each other. But what do they mean? Does it mean that God will shield us from trouble? That He will answer all our prayers?

Take The Panic Out Of Christmas

"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever" (Isaiah 32:17).

The Christmas season has been described as the season of shoulds. We feel we owe it to our family to give them the best Christmas ever. So, we spend too much money. We fuss too much about trivial things. And we work ourselves into a frenzy. No wonder we begin to dread the whole business of Christmas.

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Broken Lives

One day I dropped a treasured vase and it broke in a hundred pieces. Since a dear friend had given it to me, I felt especially bad. Why hadn’t I been more careful?

As I threw the splinters into the trash can, I heard a still, small voice speaking to me: “that’s not what I do with broken pieces.”

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