Teachings of Jesus (Part 33) Enough Faith by Ben Fronczek

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=1925

Teachings of Jesus (Part 33) Enough Faith

Sometimes we are own worst enemy. What I mean is, because of our own doubts and fears we put off doing things or sometimes never go after or do what we dream about doing no matter how good it may be. And until we get past those doubts and fears and simply get going, nothing is going to get done and nothing is going to change in our life, no matter how much we pray about it.

But what I have come to realize from this lesson is that God has given us an amazing power, and amazing gift which we call faith.
Some of us in the church have read and some have even memorized Hebrews 11:1 which say, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And this is a good definition of faith, but I believe much more can be said about faith.

In Luke 17 Jesus taught His disciples that they needed to be forgiving people. Even if someone does something to hurt you seven times and comes back to you and repents and apologizes, He said that we are to forgive them. In another place I, in Matthew, He said that even if someone come backs to you 77 times we are to forgive them.
And in Luke 17:5 one of the apostles responded by asking the Lord to increase their faith. But in a roundabout way Jesus lets them know that they already had all the faith they needed.

He goes on to say, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”

In other words, even if they have a little faith (a tiny bit, even as small as a mustard seed) they could accomplish what may seem like an impossible task; just like telling a tree to be uprooted and plant itself in the sea.

The point is, if you and I have any amount of faith, you have all you need. But the secret or key is, we need to put aside our fears and doubts, maybe even our lazy behavior and get going. We need to tap into that faith and start doing something in line with what we believe.

Someone once said, “Faith is not about our ability to do a job, but God’s ability to do the job through us.”
When we trust God and turn the task over to Him, and then allow Him to work through us, we can do what may seem impossible, even if we only have a wee bit of faith.

This apostle who asked for more faith was asking for something he already had enough of. Jesus knew that these men had enough faith to forgive others; they had the power, they had the ability, they just need to buck up and do it.

Let me ask you this; ‘Do you believe that with God’s help you can do amazing things? Do you believe you the we can do almost anything that God would have you do thru Christ who give us strength?’

If so that’s faith… if you are only 10% sure and put it in God’s hands and allow Him to help you, if it is His will you will accomplish that task and even if everyone else tells you are a fool for trying. Here lies the power of faith.

But just saying we have faith is not how one will accomplish something great, rather it’s more about trusting God enough to step out and do something.
James wrote in 2:14, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?”

In 2:17 he wrote “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

In 2:18 he writes, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

He goes on to write in verses 20-25. “You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?  Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.  You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?  As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

We already have the power to do utterly amazing things.

You may even have in mind what you would like to do. But unfortunately our problem is our own doubts and fears; and sometimes when we share what we want to do, others rain on our parade and discourage us. But we can do amazing things if we just trust God and get moving and do something.

In the next story in Luke 17, Jesus heals 10 men with leprosy. As He is on His way to Jerusalem 10 men saw Him and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.”

These guys wanted to be healed, and so He tells them to go and show themselves to the priests (that is the ones who could declare them clean so that they could go home and be part of the community again).

Even before they are healed they leave Jesus to show themselves to the priests. Their faith in Jesus ability to heal them is seen by their action to move, and somewhere along the way they notice that their leprosy is gone.

I think the lesson here is that we may pray for things over and over to happen, but if we don’t at least take the first steps or start doing something God may not bless our prayers if He knows that we need to do something too.

On a side note, only one of the ten came back to thank Jesus and praise God for his healing, and he was a Samaritan, a foreigner. Even though Jesus seem glad to see this man He seemed a bit disappointed that the other 9 did not also come back and thank Him and Praise God for their healing.

But Jesus does let this one grateful man know that it was because of his faith he was healed (faith that not only led the man to ask Jesus for help but also faith that motivated the man to get up and head off to see the priest.)

Do you remember David, how he took down the Philistine champion, Goliath? He trusted in God and put faith in Him to do the work. He knew what he wanted to do and trusted that God would help him. And even though everyone else did not believe he could do it, and even tried to talk him out of it he walked up to the giant and said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”  1 Samuel 17:45-47

There probably wasn’t a Jewish man on that battle field that had not prayed that God would somehow take care of that giant who for 40 day defied the Lord and challenged them. But here again faith coupled with willingness to get up and move, to take action is what was needed.

Do you have faith and believe in God? I know that you do. Maybe God has put something on your heart to do; maybe something special.
Maybe giving up a bad habit, or starting a business, or going back to school, or getting a new job, or starting a ministry, like visiting the elderly once a week, or teaching a class, or start sharing the Gospel message more with people you know.

We can pray about these things over and over, and drag our feet for years and still not do anything. Maybe God is just waiting for us to start taking some steps toward that goal before He’ll step in and work it out thru us.

Maybe you’ve already thought about something enough, and prayed about it enough; and maybe it is time to recognize you already have all you need to do what you want to do; especially with God’s help.

I believe that faith is a wonderful gift from God, but like any other gift it doesn’t do us any good unless we take it out and use it and learn to enjoy it.
I pray that as God prompts you to do this, that, or the other thing, you will not let your fears and doubts hinder or rob you of what you could or even should be doing.
Yea, you may get a bit anxious, and feel some fear or have doubts, but remember you are not in alone. If something is God’s will, you will also be able to do what may seem impossible, like telling a tree to uproot itself and plant itself in the sea.