Category Archives: faith

Great Faith, Miracles Occur – Matthew 8:10

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“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel.” Jesus was amazed because a Roman army officer requested Him simply to speak words of healing for his servant from where He was at rather than coming to the sick servant. While the officer’s faith was pretty amazing, so was his perception of Jesus. The Roman officer recognized that Jesus had the power and authority of God. Jesus recognized that the officer had the prerequisite faith to receive God’s help. This faith had a certain quality/quantity because it is the kind of faith that sets in motion the power of God. It is great faith; it is supernatural power-activating faith! In addition to the great faith of the Roman officer with a sick servant there are several examples of people who exercised great, supernatural power-activating faith:

  • a woman who had suffered with constant bleeding for twelve years (“Your faith has made you well.” – Matthew 9:22)
  • two blind men who followed Jesus and shouted out for Him to heal them (“Because of your faith, it will happen.” – Matthew 9:29)
  • a Gentile woman with a possessed daughter (“Your faith is great.” – Matthew 15:28)
  • some men who let down a paralytic man on a mat through the roof of a building where Jesus was teaching (“Seeing their faith…” – Luke 5:20)

These all did something and/or said something that demonstrated a level of faith that caused Jesus to acknowledge their faith and take supernatural action in response to their faith. When you have faith that can be seen, it commands God’s attention. And when there is great faith, miracles occur!

We Shall Overcome – 1 John 5:4-5

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“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” The Apostle John reiterates what Jesus told His disciples in John 16:33. Jesus said that He has overcome the world and so John says that everyone who has faith in Jesus also overcomes the world. Our faith in Jesus is the basis for a right relationship with God and, therefore, directly connects us to His overcoming power. We overcome the world because Jesus already did. Although we encounter adversity in this world, we enjoy victory over the adversity because we now live in a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Receiving is Believing – John 1:12-13

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“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Have you ever tried to give someone advice and they were not interested in your help? You give the advice but it is not received. And if your advice is not received, then it must not have been believed in the first place. Although a person may know about Jesus, that person must receive Him to become a child of God. Whether or not John is saying in these verses that “receiving” is the same as “believing,” the point is that the right to become a child of God is bestowed by Christ based on an act of faith—believing that Jesus is God and that He came into this world as a human being and died as payment for your sins and was raised from the dead to eternal life so that you can receive eternal life.

Fighting Faith – I Timothy 6:12

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“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” Faith is a fight, no a battle, no a war. You have to fight for the faith and sometimes people get hurt; sometimes people get killed (see Hebrews 11). But it is a fight we should engage in, we must engage in because it’s a fight worth having–it’s a good fight. Fight to stay faithful to God and in so doing, take hold of eternal life–grasp on to eternal life and don’t let go. Fighting for the faith is a matter of fleeing from sin and vigorously pursuing godliness. You are fighting for faith in the One Who holds eternal life, “who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality” (vs 15). Contend for the faith because its end is eternal life with God, “who gives life to all things” (vs. 13).