We have talked about “No Faith” and having “Little Faith”. What I want

you to recognize through it all, is that we all have faith. It is must take

the steps to grow our faith and then recognize that there is a greater

spirituality out there that we have yet to tap into as Christians.

However, as “believers” in Christ Jesus, must know and understand that

we are spirit men, living in natural bodies. Let me say it again, the

spiritual realm is something we must know and understand. Growing

our faith takes a greater understanding of the Holy Spirit’s work within

us. Trusting what the Word says and walking it out by faith. We do this

by trusting the Holy Spirit within us and the angelic host that supports

us, along with our words that are spirit and life. And then by observing

the results of our faith and growing stronger in what we believe.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to

God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who

diligently seek Him.

Faith takes diligence and perseverance to get what you believe. As soon

as you set your heart to pray, there is an “Opposer” that comes to deter

your dreams, prayers, and plans. The moment that you made Jesus

Christ the Lord of your life, your spirit’s light came on in darkness.

Even the smallest of lights can be seen in the dark. You are a little light

now, but the last thing Satan wants to have is you being a bigger light

for the world to see.

The Word says in Hebrews 11:6, … for he who comes to God must

believe that He is, …

We can have faith in a lot of things. We can have faith in our parents,

friends, mentors, and even ourselves. Having faith in people can only

go so far. It leads to an emptiness that only God can fill. Many times,

we don’t understand the emptiness even when we have things like nice

homes, a stable marriage, successful children, and plenty of money,

yet our hearts often ache for more. I can not tell you the times that this

has been told to us as pastors. This faith can only be found in our

hearts and not in our abilities or in the abilities of others.

It is learning like Paul to be content no matter the state that I am in

because I have Christ. He is our “anchor” and our “sail.” He settles us

when things get out of hand and he moves us in the right direction,

always at the right time. Trusting Him and having faith with every move

and/or stalemate. (Philippians 4:11-13)

The Word also says, … and that He is a rewarder of those who

diligently seek Him.

Great faith comes with knowing God. Great faith comes when you know

that when you diligently seek God, the answer is just a moment away.

Great faith is developed when we learn the importance of having faith

even when that moment takes longer than we think.

Luke 7:9

When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around

and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found

such great faith, not even in Israel!”

Read Luke 7:7-9, you will get a better understanding of the reason why

Jesus marveled.

Since Jesus marveled you know that He must have read the sincerity of

the man’s heart and recognized something special that He had not seen

in all of Israel. I always want Him to read that same sincerity in my heart

as I step out in faith.

When we seek God with all of our heart, with diligence, and with

determination to know the Father intimately, our faith will grow

by leaps and bounds. Stay consistent and determined and there will be

very little that the “enemy of our souls” will be able to do to stop us or

to waiver us in our faith.

Seek God with all of your heart and soul and grow your faith to Great

Faith!

Join me next week with:

The Building Blocks of Faith –

“The Renewing of Your Mind”

Romans 12:3b

…, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

We understand from last week that we have the measure of faith that

God has given to every person. So, if you ever feel down on yourself,

feeling like you have “no faith”, remind yourself that you do! Like

muscles in a human body, faith must be built upon and grown up to

maturity and strengthened. We must do the same with our faith.

Some people think that Jesus was exempt from working to

build and strengthen his faith because he was both all God and all

man. However, he is also our great example of a man living a life of

submission and power. Having to use His faith the same way we do.

This was when Jesus was 12 years old and he decided to stay behind in

the temple to spend time with the priests.

Luke 2:46-47

46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple,

sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking

them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His

understanding and answers.

For Jesus to ask such questions of these men of authority, he

must have been studying the Word of God for himself at a young age

and seeking answers from God. He was also building upon his faith and

receiving great revelation each day. So much so that the teachers were

astonished at his answers and the knowledge of such a young boy.

It does not take much to grow your faith a little bit at a time. It requires

staying consistent in the Word of God and then your passion for the

things of God, along with your faith, will grow.

Matthew 8:26 (NKJV)

26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then

He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great

calm.

Just like we talked about last week, fear is an enemy of faith and must

be dealt with immediately with the Word of God! Fear can bring “great

faith” to “little faith” in such a short moment when fear is

entertained in our minds. When fostered in our minds, this fear moves

ever so slowly to our hearts and begins to convince us of who we are

not. The fear begins to tell us that we will fail, die, sink, drown, and

many other negative thoughts that it can produce to feed the fear and

cause us to go on a downward spiral. Here’s the remedy…

Immediately begin to open your mouth and speak the Word of God. I

didn’t say think, I said SPEAK!!!

“God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound

mind.” ( 2 Tim.1:7)

“…I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Rom 8:37)

“…greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world”. (1 John 4:4)

“I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me”. (Phil 4:13)

Let everything around you, demonic forces, angelic host, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Himself

hear you. One way that your faith is built up and

activated is by hearing the Word out of your mouth.

Romans 10:17

So then, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Let your spirit come alive by hearing your voice activate the Word of

God. Your seemingly “no faith” will quickly become “little faith”. And

even a little faith can move mountains. Don’t underestimate the power

of the Word of God spoken out loud. The Word of God is living and it will

instantly bring things to life and/or bring light to the darkness. Darkness

tries to invade you when you are overcome with negative thoughts, but

the Word of God instantly brings light and expels the dark thoughts. It

is something that you cannot see with your natural eye, but spiritually

you know and sense the change immediately. God is not going to make

you believe, you must choose to believe, and your faith will grow.

John 20:29 (NIV)

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed;

blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Blessed are those that see the goodness and glory of God because they

believe before they see. They pull on the “coattails” of God with their

faith and God does not disappoint. He is moved by their faith!

We will continue to discuss;

Growing Our Faith – “Great Faith”

Romans 12:3 King James Bible

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among

you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to

think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of

faith.

That’s great news! Each one of us has faith. God has dealt to each one

of us a measure of it, now what will we do with it? Sometimes we can

allow our faith to lay dormant and inactive to the point that it looks as

if we have “No Faith”, but God says He has given Faith to each one of

us.

Let’s see what happens when our faith lies dormant and inactive in our

lives. I believe the disciples depended on Jesus more than the faith that

God had given them.

This is how Jesus saw the disciples that day as they tried to activate

their faith.

Mark 4:37-40

37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so

that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a

pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care

that we are perishing?”

39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be

still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said

to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

Fear stops the flow of faith. It doesn’t mean that the disciples did not

have faith to stop the winds, but rather they allowed fear to enter in

and that fear stopped their faith from working to the level that it could.

Usually, when fear comes into play in our lives, it will stop the “force of

faith” from accomplishing what it is supposed to do. When fear begins

to rise in your heart, stop it immediately with the Word of God. The

Word is the only thing that can stop the “force of fear.”

Romans 10:17 ESV

So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

When I begin to remind myself and meditate on what Jesus has spoken

to me through His Word, my faith is strengthened, and it grows to

defeat the spirit of fear. My faith overpowers the fear! My faith in the

Word and my faith in God empowers my faith and casts out fear. You

will be victorious every time, as your faith conquerors your fear of

defeat or failure. Constantly remind yourself, “…I am more than a

conqueror through Jesus My Lord.” (Romans 8:37)

1 Corinthians 2:5 ESV

That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power

of God.

Many times, our biggest mistake is resting in our own wisdom or the

wisdom of others. The disciples in the boat thought they could figure

out something naturally to get out of the situation that they were in,

but in this case only God could do this. This is when your faith must

kick in and take over. Jesus had to wake up and take authority with the

faith that He had in the God on the inside of Him. Actually, they

should/could have done the same thing with their own faith.

Many times, we don’t realize the power of the faith that we have on the

inside of us. Jesus said “…if you have the faith of a grain of mustard

seed that you could move a mountain.” (Matthew 17:20) This is that

measure that God placed on the inside of all of us. However, when fear

attacks our minds and hearts, it freezes our faith and stops the power

from being produced. Stop the fear! Recognize it and cast it out and

say only what God says and it will activate your faith. (Mark 5:35-42)

This scripture is a great story about standing in the midst of fear and

hearing only Jesus. Take some time to read it.

Romans 12:3 ESV

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think

of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober

judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has

assigned.

God has given to each of us such great power and ability, but not for

ourselves only, but for others as well. It is also given to us, to show

forth the glory of God in the earth so that people would believe.

Use your faith and shut down the fear so that God will be glorified; and

so that many people will come to believe. They will begin to see how

powerful each one of us is through Christ and the power of our God

that we believers serve.

Always remember, you have great faith!

Next week we will be discussing:

Growing Our Faith – “Little Faith”