Give God One More Chance
For by grace, you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8,9.
Christianity is based on faith. We are saved through faith, healed through faith, and financially blessed through faith. Faith is a simple belief or trust what God had promised in His Word is faithful, and He has done all of it. It doesn’t matter what the need is-healing, finances, deliverance, peace, or the salvation of loved ones-faith in God is the authentic way to appropriate all of it.
For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. 2 Corinthians 1:20.
Some Christians, however, are not seeing the manifestation of their faith. For a couple of years, I have heard people say, “I just don’t have enough faith.” When I hear this, I am reminded of mark 11:22, where the Bible instructs us, “Have faith in God.”
SIMPLE FAITH
Faith is necessary for Christians to live a triumphant life because, without faith, one cannot appropriate what grace has provided—some intent to prove their faith by demonstrating their strength and words. Instead, however, they move God to respond to them because of what they do and act.
They have moved away from simple faith and trust in God to their physical strength, trying to convince God to move on their behalf by what they do and say. They forget to realize that God has already moved through Christ and provided what we need to live a spiritual and physical life here.
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3.
Having faith in God means we don’t question His truthfulness or His ability to fulfill His promises.
Faith; Walking With Hope and Patience
We don’t have to try to move mountains in our strength and power. Instead, we have to believe that what He has said in His Word is the absolute truth.
God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19.
Many of us are facing financial challenges. Yet, we can tell if we are truly relying on God by how well we sleep at night. Do we sleep soundly or toss and turn all night long?
In my life, the devil usually bombards my mind with thoughts of doubt years ago, when I recently joined my family. The devil would say things like, “You are not going to make it.” “what are you going to do? There is no way to get a job; getting an appointment will be a crime because you don’t have legal documentation. How are you going to support your family as you are the man? Failure was constantly ringing in my mind.
If we can’t sleep because we are worried and fearful, we are not fully trusting God. Instead of tossing and turning, we need to get out of bed, open our Bibles, and meditate on the Word. Some Christians have more faith in the faith of others than in their faith. Although they say they believe in God, they believe in their pastor’s faith. Or their confidence is in their spouse’s trust or in the faith of someone they believe is “more spiritual” than they are.
I have had Christians ask me to pray for them, and I am always happy to pray and join my faith with others. My heart desires to see people walk in the fullness of what God has for them. But as I talk with them, I learn that they have many friends praying for them and have been in many prayer lines in many churches. Everyone is praying except them.
That shows me they don’t believe God will hear and answer their prayers. They don’t have any faith in their faith. But having faith in God is not hard.
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. Matthew 17:20.
A mustard seed is tiny. Jesus said that’s all the faith we need to move mountains. It’s not much at all. When we face adversity, we can make the mistake of putting man’s limitations on God. We can look at the situation and say, “I can’t see how this will ever work out.” And because we can’t figure it out, we think God won’t be able to either.
We can limit God in the same way when it comes to healing. It should not be hard for us to believe that our heavenly Father can heal incurable diseases. The absolute truth is that He had healed us already. Our responsibility is to believe, and we will receive.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24.
How far medical science has advanced doesn’t have any bearing on what He has done. Likewise, humanity’s limitations do not bound God. Remember, whatever is impossible with man is possible with God. (Luke 18:27).
We need to take ourselves out of the equation and have faith in God. The Worrell New Testament put it this way, And Jesus, answering, saith to them, “Have the faith of God. Mark 11:22. We could also say, Have the kind of faith that God has. What kind of faith is that?
When God spoke, it happened. When He said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), the light immediately came into existence. God didn’t wait an hour for it to show up. He didn’t have to fast, pray, or cry before light manifested. Instead, it appeared just after He spoke.
We shut down His flow when we figure out how God will move or how a situation will work out. Our part of faith is to believe God for what He has said will come to pass. Then, it’s up to Him to work out the details. We don’t have to know the steps He will work it out.
When we are confident that God is working on the problem, we won’t be moved by what we see when things don’t look right. Everything may appear to be falling apart around us, but we can rest in a peace that passes all understanding when our trust is in God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7.
God is good. He wants us healed, prosperous, living in freedom, and filled with peace and joy. His words are a living force. His words give life if it’s activated by faith.
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63.
