You of Little Faith
Do you have trouble or joy in your life? Do you have sickness or health? Do you have anger or peace? Do you have hatred or love? Do you have Jesus in your life and is He the Lord of your life or have you pushed Him back on the back burner of you life? It is very difficult in today’s world to put God first in our lives all the time, but that is what He expects. God expects to come first, before your family, before your work, before your processions and before your pleasures. That is hard to do without faith. Faith in God gives us the assurance that God is in control of our lives and that He knows better than us what our needs and desires are. Our needs He has promised to provide and our desires should be to serve Him no matter what obstacles we may run into.
Let’s read:
Matt 13:53-58
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there.
54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked.
55 "Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"
57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor."
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
(NIV)
I have a granddaughter that has such faith in me that it scares me sometimes. She is our only granddaughter out of seven grandchildren. She will climb up on the coffee table, stand up, and turn to face me and jump. She doesn’t ask if I am ready to catch her. She doesn’t even check to see if I am watching her. She has the faith that her Grandpa will catch her in his out stretched arms. Is our faith for our Heavenly Father as great as the faith that this little child has for her grandpa?
Matt 18:2-5
2 He called a little child and had him stand among them.
3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
(NIV)
Have you ever tried to convince a child that something that they believe in is not real? Like Santa. That child’s faith is so great, it is almost impossible to convince them otherwise. My Granddaughter and I were looking at a book with animals. She had just learned how to say the word puppy and she knew what a dog looks like. We saw a picture of a tiger and I asked her what that animal was. She said "puppy". I said no that is a tiger. She said "no, puppy". This went on for a few minutes, when she screamed "puppy" and got up and went behind me and starting beating me on my back while repeating the word "puppy". To her that picture of a tiger looked like a puppy and I was not going to convince her otherwise. Now Bethany didn’t humble herself according to the scripture that we just read, but she did show a strong belief in what she thought she knew to be right. In this scripture, I think Jesus is telling us that we must have faith that is as strong as that of a child’s faith and that our beliefs should be like that of a child’s where nothing can turn us away from the true Word of God.
Do we, here in God’s house today, have the faith that can move mountains or is our faith so little that we can’t even move a grain of salt? Is faith really important? I think it is. Faith is mentioned 254 times in the New Testament. It is mentioned in every New Testament book of the Bible except for 2nd and 3rd John. So faith must be important for our walk with Christ. Let’s see what having faith can do.
1. In Matt 8:5-13 Jesus heals the paralyzed servant of the Centurion because of the Centurion’s faith. Jesus said the following concerning the faith of the Centurion.
Matt 8:10
10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
2. In Matt 9:2 Jesus heals a paralytic because of the men’s faith.
Matt 9:2
2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
3. Remember the woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years?
Matt 9:22
22 Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.
4. Remember the two blind men that were calling out "Have mercy on us Son of David?
Matt 9:28-29
28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" "Yes, Lord," they replied.
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you";
5. Remember the Canaanite mother who asked Jesus to heal her demon process daughter?
Matt 15:28
28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
These are just a few of the many healings that Jesus performed. Do you see something in common with each of the examples that we looked at? Faith! Faith was a mandatory part of each healing. If we ask Jesus for healing and don’t have faith, then we will not be healed. Faith is what our beliefs are based on. Without faith we are powerless. Why then is it so hard to have faith? Is it that our education system has taught us that everything must have a tangible explanation and if it doesn’t then it is impossible? There is nothing impossible for God and if we have enough faith there is nothing impossible for us. I wish I had the faith to move mountains and according to Jesus, I only need faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains. I haven’t moved any mountains lately so I guess I need to work on my faith. I can’t think of anyone else except for God that has moved mountains. If each of us had the faith of a mustard seed think of the millions of unsaved people we could be leading to Christ. How many have you led to Christ lately? Is it because of our lack of faith?
Even Peter’s faith was tested. Remember when Jesus walking on the water came to the disciples in the boat and Peter asked Jesus to call him so he too could walk on water? What happened? Let’s read about it.
Matt 14:25-32
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It’s a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid."
28 "Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
(NIV)
Peter climbed out of the boat and was walking on water until he took his eyes off Christ and began to sink. Peter had the faith to get out of the boat. This meant that he had to leave the safety and comfort of the boat and do something he had never done before. He had faith to do this much. Then Peter stood on the water and took his first step into a new uncertainty. He had enough faith to get this far. Peter was actually walking on water. As long as Peter kept his eyes straight ahead on Jesus, he was fine. But has always when we are doing God’s will, Satan will interfere and try to distract us just for that split second. This was the case with Peter too. When Peter saw the wind, he became afraid and lost faith just for an instant, but long enough for him to begin to sink into the water. Jesus was still in control, because Peter didn’t collapse into the water. The scripture says that he began sinking into the water. This implies that Peter was sinking slowly enough that he had time to call upon the name of the Lord and Jesus reached out and pulled him up. In that short instant that the wind came up, Peter’s attention was diverted from Christ to the reality that he was walking on water which in his mind was impossible to do. How often does Satan pull the same trick on us today?
What happens when we take our eyes off of Christ? The same thing happens to us as what happened to Peter. We began to sink. We began to place other things before God. We start doing what we want in our lives instead of letting God lead our lives. Some people may even begin to doubt their own salvation. We must learn to trust God in everything. He is in control and we need to let Him control our lives, but that can only happen if we have faith in Him. To have faith means that we condition our minds to believe that we can do nothing without God and we can do all things through God. Don’t we trust the Creator of the Universe enough to let Him lead us? Why do we tell God no, I want to do it my way? Are we smarter than God or are we just unwilling to give up our procession to be a disciple of Christ? What did Jesus tell the wealthy ruler, when he asked how he could be sure he would have eternal life in heaven? Jesus told him to obey all the commandments.
Luke 18:21-23
21 "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
(NIV)
Jesus knew that there wasn’t something right in the wealthy ruler’s life. The ruler was sad because he was wealthy, but the fact is, he did not have the faith needed to trust Jesus to take care of him. Many people do not give Jesus a second thought until they are in need. The rich ruler wanted eternal life, but he didn’t want to lower himself to serve. If he sold everything and gave it away then he would have to rely on Jesus instead of his wealth. Plus if he gave every thing away, then he would lose his status in his community. To some people their status among others means more than their status with God. Many people have more faith in their money, their jobs, and their processions than they do in Christ. I am guilty of this also. If it wasn’t for supporting my family, I would quit my job and sell everything that I have so there would be no hindrance to preaching the Gospel to those that are lost and to those Christians that needs a revival in their lives. You see, my faith is similar to Peter’s. I tend to look away and began to doubt whether God will really provide for my needs and my family needs. God has promised to provide for all of our needs and God has never broken a promise nor will He ever break a promise. For God to provide for our needs, we must have the faith to believe that He will. All the people that Jesus healed were healed because they had faith and believed that Jesus would heal them. We must have faith and believe that Christ will provide for us. Sometimes it’s not that we don’t have faith. It is that we want more than just our needs met. We want the best and the best for our families. God wants the best for us too, but He knows what "best" is for us.
The same thing applies to prayer, too. Why do we think our prayers are not answered sometimes? Let’s see what the Scriptures say about this.
Matt 21:21-22
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.
22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
(NIV)
First we must have faith that God hears our prayers and then believe that God will give us what we ask for in prayer. Again we must believe and have faith. The Bible tells us that we are to pray continually, we are to pray with persistence and we are to pray in the Holy Spirit, praying God’s will be done in the name of Jesus Christ. Some times God’s will is different from our own, so God answers your prayer, but the answer may be "no" or "not now". No matter what is the answer to our prayers we must pray in faith and trust God’s answer in faith. There are so many Christians whose faith is lacking. So how can we increase our faith? I don’t think there is a question about life that the Bible doesn’t have an answer for. The Bible tells us how to increase our faith.
Rom 10:17
17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
(NIV)
If our faith is lacking, then we are not spending enough time in Church and not enough time reading God’s word, "The Bible". What we watch and what we hear and what we read influences our lives. Maybe our faith is lacking because we are filling our minds with secular values from TV and fiction books. Paul tells us that we live by faith not by sight. Turn the TV off and read the Bible. It is God’s word and every single word in the Bible is true and is designed to show us how God wants us to live our lives. The more you read your Bible, the greater your faith will become. I don’t care how many times you read the Bible, God will show you something new each time.
Let’s make a commitment today to live by faith, believing that all things are possible with God. That He knows what is best for us and we need to ask Him to lead our lives and have faith to do what He tells us. Don’t do like Peter. If Jesus tells you to come out on the water, then keep your eyes on Him having faith that you can walk on water. He is there always with His arms out stretched waiting for you and ready to catch you if you start sinking. If you need physical or spiritual healing in your life, learn from the examples that we studied today. Healing comes with faith. Believe and you will be healed if it is not contrary to God’s plan. Remember God is the ruler and God is in control. Brothers and Sisters have faith and believe.
If you are here today and don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then He is here waiting for you with out stretched arms, calling you to Him. He loves you no matter what you have done in your life. You don’t have to change your life first. He will help you to do that. You don’t have to run out and buy a suit. He doesn’t care how you dress. Jesus even criticized the religious leaders of His day for dressing so extravagantly. Jesus loves you and will accept you just as you are. The only thing He wants is for you to confess with you mouth that you are a sinner and that you are sorry for those sins that you committed and are willing to change with His help. This will not happen overnight, but Jesus will be there to show you the way. Then believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died on the cross for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead. He is alive and well today and sitting at the right hand of God in Heaven. Invite Jesus to come and live in your heart and be the Lord of your life.
