God's Faith and Ours

"GOD'S FAITH AND OURS"

"And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall be removed; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matthew 17:20

Have you ever given much thought of what it means to be faithful? To be faithful means to be true, devoted, constant and loyal. It means steadfast fidelity to whatever one is bound by duty. In the Christian life it is what is biblically mandated. To be faithful one must first of all have faith.

Where does the Church fit into the world today in regards to faith?
Matthew 17:14-21 is a picture of the powerless Church today. We have gone crazy! We have psychology, sociology, bingo, dances, weight loss programs, not to mention stay overs, lock-ins, carnivals and the such.

The disciples had been given the authority to do the healing here recorded, but they had not yet learned to appropriate the power of God. Jesus' frustration is with the unbelieving and unresponsive generation. Jesus' purpose was not to criticize the disciples, but to encourage them to greater faith. "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall be removed; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matt.
17:20).
Now let us allow Jesus to teach us something about faith. The boy in this account was very ill and afflicted, not with simply some physiological or mental disorder, but he was demonic. It was a difficult task that the disciples had performed before. But, this time it was not be so. What had gone wrong or changed? They fail to appropriate the power available to them. Throughout the Church the faithlessness, weakness and indifference of Christians have caused many seeking believers to despair of help from God's people.

Plain and simple the disciples failed because of the littleness of their faith. Having littleness of faith is the kind of faith that believes God when you have something in your hand, when God's provision is already made. Great faith trusts God when there is nothing in the cupboard to eat and no money to buy food. Great faith trusts God when all else is gone.

If you are facing a problem that seems like an immovable mountain, turn your eyes from that mountain and look to Christ for more faith. Nothing shall be impossible to you when you prayerfully and persistently trust in God. THOT: GOD'S POWER IS ACTIVATED BY FAITH -- Dr. Henry Lutz is a retired Pastor, and a new contributor to Freedom Fighter

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 12; Psalm 4-6; Acts 17:16-34

Great Quote: “When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. It is not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting believer afterwards. Slavish fear brings not back the backslider to God, but the sweet wooings of love allure him to Jesus' bosom…Whatever good quality there is in divine grace, you shall enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you shall receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched with it: and as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall you be--the thirsty land shall be springs of water.” Charles Spurgeon