What is faith? Many dictionaries define faith as "belief, something that is believed with strong conviction i.e. God, the Bible, Jesus Christ,etc.". While studying the Scriptures earlier this afternoon after our sermon on faith I felt God lay this definition on my heart.
Faith= "doing or believing what God tells you even if it seems impossible."
As Christians, we know that it is impossible to please the Lord without faith (Heb. 11:6). Thus it should be vital for us to understand what faith is and how we can gain more of it.
After Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee He turned and rebuked His disciples saying, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?". I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure I would have been just as frightened during the storm as the disciples were. Knowing this I now need to find out how I can increase my faith. Is faith like muscles- the more you exercise them the bigger they get? Or is it like a measuring cup- we must ask God to fill us up? I lean more towards the second option, although I do still believe that we must work out our faith as well. Let's look to the Scriptures.
1. In Luke 17 the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. They asked the Lord and He equipped them. Following this line of logic I believe we too can ask for the Lord to increase our faith.
2. Frequently throughout the Gospels Jesus said after He healed someone, "Your faith has made you well." I wonder if they were healed as much as they believed He could heal them...hmm.
Another thing I learned during the sermon was that God's ability to work is only as much as we believe He can. In other words, my lack of faith can cause the glory of the Lord to not be fully revealed in me. Wow- that puts a lot of impetus on me to believe. Faith, though a little word, is a virtue we all must have and I don't believe we can ever have too much of it!
Now, granted some are gifted with faith (1 Cor. 12) but that does not mean that those of us who are naturally more anxious or fearful should not strive for an ever increasing faith.
Through faith the world was, through faith Noah built an ark even though he had never heard of rain before, through faith Abraham (then Abram) followed God's call even when He didn't know where He was going, through faith Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land, through faith the mouths of lions were stopped, through faith the martyrs of now-a-days go to their death believing in God's promise of eternal life. Such faith is inspiring and desirable.
May we all cry out like the disciples, "Lord, increase my faith!"!
Learning to delight in Jesus,
Hannah :)
Faith= "doing or believing what God tells you even if it seems impossible."
As Christians, we know that it is impossible to please the Lord without faith (Heb. 11:6). Thus it should be vital for us to understand what faith is and how we can gain more of it.
After Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee He turned and rebuked His disciples saying, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?". I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure I would have been just as frightened during the storm as the disciples were. Knowing this I now need to find out how I can increase my faith. Is faith like muscles- the more you exercise them the bigger they get? Or is it like a measuring cup- we must ask God to fill us up? I lean more towards the second option, although I do still believe that we must work out our faith as well. Let's look to the Scriptures.
1. In Luke 17 the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. They asked the Lord and He equipped them. Following this line of logic I believe we too can ask for the Lord to increase our faith.
2. Frequently throughout the Gospels Jesus said after He healed someone, "Your faith has made you well." I wonder if they were healed as much as they believed He could heal them...hmm.
Another thing I learned during the sermon was that God's ability to work is only as much as we believe He can. In other words, my lack of faith can cause the glory of the Lord to not be fully revealed in me. Wow- that puts a lot of impetus on me to believe. Faith, though a little word, is a virtue we all must have and I don't believe we can ever have too much of it!
Now, granted some are gifted with faith (1 Cor. 12) but that does not mean that those of us who are naturally more anxious or fearful should not strive for an ever increasing faith.
Through faith the world was, through faith Noah built an ark even though he had never heard of rain before, through faith Abraham (then Abram) followed God's call even when He didn't know where He was going, through faith Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land, through faith the mouths of lions were stopped, through faith the martyrs of now-a-days go to their death believing in God's promise of eternal life. Such faith is inspiring and desirable.
May we all cry out like the disciples, "Lord, increase my faith!"!
Learning to delight in Jesus,
Hannah :)
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