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The Power of Faith

 
 
 
 
 
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Bible study on using the power available through faith. This Word version is formatted with a bit more color & style than the text-only version, but both have the same information.

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07/26/2008
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crystalwriter 14 days ago

Thank you for the comment, Rose. I'm glad you understand my points. Since I wrote this, God has added even more to my understanding, such as "obedient faith" is the faith that pleases Him. It's that line upon line and precept upon precept stuff, and it's part of what makes it so wonderful to serve a living God.

RoseDQ2878 14 days ago

I think you have explained this very well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

crystalwriter 3 months ago

Thanks for commenting, Paula. It's important for me to know that my point was correctly conveyed, which is, as you said, that we celebrate the Giver more than the gift. I don't know if I found the James 4:3 verse in my studies, but it supports my point as well.

I have just gotten so frustrated with people treating faith like it's something we achieve on our own and using it as a tool to judge others. Because of my frustration, I had to pray, and this is what came forth of the prayer. It helped me battle the false guilt created by those things for which I've prayed (such as healing for my neck) and not received instant and non-surgical healing. I trust God completely and greatly desire to know and heed His voice and direction to me. I hope that if He had said not to have surgery and just believe, I would have obeyed, but that is not what I heard from Him. Those who were teaching the finger growth stuff also told me that if I did not believe in complete healing instead of surgery, my condition would get worse. That was a hard battle to fight before God comforted me with these Scriptures.

SaberTruth 3 months ago

Oops, me and my typos: that should read "Santa Claus", not "Santa Clause".

SaberTruth 3 months ago

Hi Crystal, here are my thoughts on your article. Thanks for asking!

On Mark 11:22-24-- Good point about the nature and object of our faith, that being God and never anyone or anything else. Faith is not a mystical force but a firm conviction in the One to be trusted, the One who has the power. In another incident (Acts 8:18-23) when it was the power that was sought instead, the asker received a rebuke. But if our focus is on seeking God, then "all these things will be given to you" (Mt. 6:33). Looking at the Greek, we see in vs. 22 that instead of the usual verb "to have faith" (as in vs. 23) it is separated into "to have" and "faith". This would seem to give emphasis to your point about the Object of faith.

On Luke 17:7-10-- If it's the Object that matters most, then size doesn't matter. By saying even the tiniest faith had great potential, Jesus was not defining levels of our faith but saying that a tiny faith in the right Object has more power than the biggest, showiest faith in the wrong one. So what the disciples needed was not more faith but a refocused faith.

On Luke 17:7-10-- Another good point about noting the context, but of course we should remember that historians of the time did not necessarily write things down in strict order. Either way, the point remains that faith is not something for us to boast about. A servant is expected to do as commanded without question, and if God tells us to do something we had better trust Him.

On Mt. 17:14-21-- Note that Jesus does not rebuke them for a little faith in the right Object, but for unbelief. We can only speculate, but it could be that the disciples had begun to let the power they had been using go to their heads; their faith had lost its focus.

On Rom. 12:2-3-- There are two ways to look at the phrase about God dealing out "a measure of faith" to everyone. One is that God gives each person a unique amount of faith, such that some have more than others. I have a problem with that view because these other scriptures have just made the point that the amount is irrelevant, and it would in fact lead to the very thing cautioned against: having an inflated opinion of ourselves. Instead, I take it to mean simply that God has given each of us faith. Again, it's the quality, not the quantity or size.

Overall, the article makes a good, concise point about the nature of faith. Too often we tend to want the gift more than the Giver, the power more than the faith, as if God is a giant Santa Clause who can be manipulated into our servant instead of we being His. As James put it, we don't get what we ask for because we only want to indulge our desires (James 4:3). Yet at the same time, I believe God will test our faith on occasion and wait for us to ask for some great thing. So we need to listen for His voice and be careful not to mistake our own desires for God's.