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Can I Increase My Faith?
By Annagail LynesHow do I increase my faith?
We already have the measure of faith. According to the writer of Romans 12:3, when we are Born-again, each of us is given the measure of faith.
Some people say, "I can never have the faith that Jesus had or that Billy Graham or Creflo Dollar have."
However there are not varying degrees of faith. We all start out with the same measure of faith.
God doesn't say, "I think I will give this one more faith than that one." No, He gave us all the same measure of faith.
This is good news because if Billy Graham, Creflo Dollar and countless others throughout history can have great faith, so can we. If we started out with the same amount of faith as they did, then we can develop our faith to that level as well.
Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 that" 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."
Our mustard-seed-size faith can grow, just as that small seed does, into something large. The small mustard seed grows into the largest plant. Our faith can grow into something great as well.
What is faith? The author of Hebrews writes in chapter eleven, verse one, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
I've also heard faith described as believing even when our common sense tells us not to, but I love one quote that I found in a Christmas catalogue: "Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that He will."
Many of us know God can do it. We have no doubt of it, but we wonder if He will do it for us.
Yes, He will if we believe. Many of us have been taught that we must be good enough for God to perform on our behalf. We fear we have not earned enough brownie points to earn our miracle or for God to supply our needs.
Again I have good news. God doesn't want to come through for us because of anything we do or say. Not because we are good enough. Not because we deserve it. Not because we did anything. It is because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross.
Jesus died for us. God judged Him for all our sins. Jesus bore stripes on His back for all our sicknesses and diseases. He redeemed us from the curse of the law. He has taken every effect of the curse for us--poverty, sickness, mental anguish. Jesus took these things, so we wouldn't have to.
Most of us still live under the effects of the curse. God describes in His Word how we should live as children of God, yet we still live below His description. He says we should live in health, prosperity, as the head and not the tail, as victors instead of victims, that we should triumph every time. Unfortunately, most of us don't live like that.
Why is that? For some, it is because we don't know we are supposed to live like that. For others, we know we are supposed to live like that but don't know how. For still countless others, we don't believe we are to live like that.
Remember the story of Jairus' daughter? A man named Jairus came to Jesus because His daughter was very sick, to the point of death. Jairus knew that if he could bring Jesus to his daughter, Jesus would heal her.
How did he find out about Jesus? Probably by all the others Jesus healed. Maybe from rumblings of the Pharisees in the streets. In any case, Jairus heard of Jesus and knew that Jesus could heal his daughter.
As Jesus and Jairus walked back to Jairus' house, one of Jairus' servants came to them. The servant announced that Jairus' daughter had died. Jairus' heart probably sank. Maybe he thought, "This is it. It is over."
Jesus told him to only believe.
What is this man talking about, perhaps Jairus thought. His daughter was dead. There was no reason in the natural to keep on believing. Death was final, and common sense said to stop believing.
Remember our definition of faith? Faith is believing when common sense tells us not to.
What happened to Jairus' daughter when Jesus arrived at Jairus' house? Jesus raised the child from the dead to the shock and amazement of the people who were outside probably planning her funeral. God came through for Jairus and his daughter just as He will for us.
Mark 11:22 tells us to have faith in God. Earlier translations show that we are to have the faith of God.
I know. I know. You think that I am being sacrilegious, but I am not. We are to have the faith of God.
In Hebrews 12:2, Paul tells us that God is the author and finisher of our faith.
We need to let God's faith flow through us. Just like His love must flow through us to forgive others and to love our enemies. It has to be His forgiveness that flows through us to forgive those who have hurt us, especially those close to us.
When we accepted Christ, we exchanged our faith for God's faith, our sins for Jesus' righteousness. We exchanged all of our works and effort for His.
We cannot have faith on our own. Our faith will get us nowhere, but God's faith will catapult us to places we have only dreamed about.
With God, all things are possible. With us, nothing is possible. To hear the Word of God and to practice using God's faith instead of ours are the ways we increase our faith.
We must allow God to work through us in every thing we do. Now that we are Born-again Believers, Christ lives in us.
We need to yield our lives to Jesus and let Him work through us to do what we cannot do on our own, which is the definition of grace.
Now repeat after me: "God, flow through me. Let Your love, Your light and Your faith flow through me to do what You want me to do with my life."
Then yield to the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit. This is how we increase our faith.
Annagail Lynes is the author of many e-books, such "Wisdom From The Word", "Do You Have Issues?" and "The Heart Of God Devotional."
Find out more by visiting http://www.annagaillynes.net or email us at publisher@annagaillynes.net
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com