The truth about faith

When I moved to Lynchburg, from the Washington, D.C., area, by way of the military, to pioneer this wonderful ministry called Family Life, it was total trust in God and on His Word.

When we moved into our first building to hold worship services with a few members, it was total trust in God and His Word.

The purchase of 34 acres of land for the ministry and not having the money at the time was total trust in God and His Word.

The Bible calls it faith. The theme of faith is intertwined throughout the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Even though faith appears throughout the Bible, it isn’t the only thing in the Bible.

Think about this: how many times do you read about grace in the Word? What about mercy? How about God’s love?

On the other hand, even though faith isn’t the only topic in the Bible, it seems to be mixed up with just about everything else in there. Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision but faith which works by love.”

So even though faith isn’t the only area, you need to study the Word, it is crucial to your success as a believer. It is God’s will for you to be a successful Christian.

Whatever challenges you may be having in your life right now, faith is God’s key to breaking the power of natural laws. There is a connection that takes place when the Word of God stimulates the measure of faith inside of you. Matthew 17:20 says, “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief for verily I say unto you, if you 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.”

Jesus said you could move something as large as a mountain with something as small as a mustard seed. Your problem is no match for mustard seed faith. Jesus used the analogy of a mustard seed because it was the smallest of the seeds people planted in His day. It is tiny. You practically have to squint to see a mustard seed.

But a mountain, you can’t even see around it, because it’s so big. Compare that mountain to a seed so small you’ve got to squint to see the details of it. Big difference, right?

Well, that’s the ratio Jesus laid out between faith and your problems. Even if you’ve got to squint to get a look at your faith, it’s enough to plow through a gigantic problem. I want to encourage you today, whatever mountain stands in your way, exercise your faith by speaking to that situation, regardless of the size of it; your faith has power to remove it. Faith requires words and believing. You have to speak faith-filled words in your situations to overcome them.

A lesson I learned years ago is to be positive in negative

situations. Mark 9:23 says, “All things are possible to him who believes.” What a great declaration for those who have learned to take God at His Word and live by faith.

But even words as encouraging as these can sometimes become hard to grab hold of when you’re faced with tough times, and nothing seems to be going right. Your success begins with putting your faith and trust in God.

The truth about faith is that it works.

What is faith anyway? The Bible calls faith the substance of what we hope for and the evidence of what you don’t see. That’s what you call trust. You’re trusting that God’s Word will work for you. All you really need to know is that God’s Word is for you and if you believe it, it can simply work a miracle for you, regardless of the complications of the matter.

Life is so much better when you are living it by faith.

The Rev. Ray McQueen is co-pastor of Family Life Christian Church International.