HOW STRONG ARE YOU?

Oh I can just hear yall now...thinking if I only knew. I bet I won't be surprised when I ask this next question. How STRONG IS YOUR FAITH? Uh huh...not too good in that area are we? How many of yall work as hard building your faith as you do your body? Not many people think building their faith is important. But I am here to tell you it is. Do you know that faith is mentioned 247 times in 231 verses in the King James? Reckon now God thinks faith is important to us? I know I certainly do.

Let's start with some verses that most of us have heard from our childhood...
Matthew 13:31
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
Mat 17:20
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 remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Mar 4:31
[It is] like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
Luke 13:19
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
Luke 17:6
And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

I think Matthew 13:31 is telling us that he Kingdom of God will have a slow start but it will surely grow as we grow in the Lord. Our faith is small when we first accept God into our hearts but the more often we use it the larger the seed grows. Next time you go to the grocery store take just a minute and look at the leaves of mustards. See how big they can get.

Matthew 17:20 tells us that if we believe we can move mountains. It is our own unbelief that cause us not too. No, I haven't moved any mountains lately. But I do believe if we don't waver in our faith, the mountains that come into our lives are removed. Mine have been moved more than once in my life.
Mark 4:31 is saying the mustard seed is the smallest seed to be planted. But it does grow huge when properly maintained.

Now what do I mean by properly maintained? Plant in good soil, feed, water, keep the weeds from over taking it and some of our time to make sure it is done. So how do we properly maintained our faith? Plant... accepting Jesus makes good soil, feed...stay in the word of God, keep the weeds out...having only positive thoughts.

James 1:6-7
6) But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7) For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Verse 6 tells how unstable we are when we let our faith waver. He who doubts will do without says verse 7. That's easy enough to understand don't you think? I think we all know what it is like to have the doubt start creeping in on our faith. When that happens all we are to do is realize it and rebuke it and continue to expect it to come to us.

In I Samuel chapter one we find Hannah, another woman who was barren, praying before the Lord for a child. Eli the priest was sitting in front of temple of the Lord, where the people went yearly, he saw Hannah pouring out her heart to the Lord for a child. Her lips weren't moving and Eli thought she was drunk. He even went so far as to get onto her for being drunk. Her face was sad and she hadn't drank or eaten with the rest of the people, and she told Eli what she had been telling the Lord. Finally, in verses 17 and 18 we see Eli telling Hannah to go her way in peace and the Lord would grant her petition. So Hannah did go eat and drink and her face was no longer sad.

Can't you just see Hannah dancing, laughing and crying for joy and proclaiming to all, I'm going to have a baby, I'm going to have a baby." I bet she wasn't like so many of us today when we pray turn around and say, "I just asked for my healing and it will be along some day or one day" Or, "I'll just have to wait til God is ready to grant my petition." That ain't faith. Faith is believing right now that whatever you have prayed for is going to be here soon. We expect it, we know it is on the way. Our faith keeps our hands out and ready to receive what is ours.

Hebrew 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

God's Blessings to each of you,
rECj/LJG