Faith: December 13, 2013

TODAY”S WORD FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 13, 2013.

FAITH

DEFINITION:

Trust; reliance; belief; creed; expectation.

SCRIPTURE:

If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Mark 9:23.

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:16

Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:17

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The theme of faith permeated Christ’s ministry here on earth. Jesus highly esteemed the great faith that Abraham had in God. Abraham’s faith withstood severe testing. First God asked him to leave his home and move his family to a place he knew nothing about. By faith Abraham obeyed. God then asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, a real step of faith. Abraham was willing and prepared but God stopped him and provided for him the animal to sacrifice. Abraham passed God’s test. Not many of us have such strong faith. Most people falter when the testing begins.

Jesus spent much time urging those with weak convictions to believe and not waver in their faith. Today we want to share some thoughts to those who struggle with their faith and have concerns about their belief in Jesus.

Jesus understands the weakness of our human nature and knows how vulnerable we are in our faith. We may think we have strong faith but it often does not take much to shake it.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus cited five examples of little faith. First, He speaks of the worry we all experience concerning the everyday resources and necessities of life we need (Matthew 6:30).  When we go through tough times it tests our faith and our faith can falter. Many question if God really cares. Jesus says we are not to worry. Our heavenly father knows what we need and He never stops caring for us (Matthew 7:25-34).

The disciples had the faith to leave everything they had to follow Jesus so it would seem they had to be men of great faith but even they at times showed weakness in their faith. In Matthew 8:23-26 we are told about the terrible storm that Jesus slept through on the boat on the Sea of Galilee. But the disciples, the scripture says, were so afraid that they were going to drown they woke Jesus to ask Him to save them. Jesus calmed the storm knowing the weakness of their faith. Jesus pointed out that constant fear shows lack of trust and therefore a lack of faith. Do you face constant fear?

Peter allowed doubt to take over his thinking when Jesus gave Peter a command to walk on the water toward Him. In Matthew 14:31 we are told that Jesus called Peter to come to Him. Peter stepped out in faith but when he experienced the wind he started to sink because he doubted he was safe. When we take our eyes off Jesus, as Peter did, our faith will waver.

The fourth reference to weak faith in Matthew is found in Matthew 16: 5-12. The disciples failed to reach a correct conclusion about Jesus’ teachings and actions. They were not on the same wave link that Jesus was on. Jesus was warning the disciples to beware of the wrong teaching and the hypocrisy of the Sadducees and Pharisees. Jesus told the disciples they did not need the bread the Sadducees and Pharisees offered. In their weakness of faith they thought Jesus was talking about physical bread because they had not brought bread with them.

The fifth example is when the disciples, who had been given authority to do healing, were brought a man with seizures caused by a demon. The disciples could not heal the man so the man was brought to Jesus and he healed him. Later the disciples asked Jesus in private why they were unable to heal the man with seizures. Jesus answered by saying to them, “because you have so little faith.”

In order to grow stronger spiritually, we must take our eyes off of our circumstances and look to Jesus. By trusting in His character and believing in His promises, we can overcome anxiety and develop greater faith.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I John 3:23.

This is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

PRAYER:

Keep me from worry and doubt that will weaken my faith. Keep me faithful in reading Your Word so that I will know the truth and the promises in Your Word that will make my faith strong. Also help me not to sit back rejoicing in my faith but help me to work daily to share with others my faith and help those who are in need both physically and spiritually.