FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS MOVE MOUNTAINS

Keep on speaking God's word over whatever it is that needs changing in your life and if you are faithful you will see God begin to work in your favor.  Grant Dean

It is true that a prayer that comes from the heart can move mountains; it increases your faith, and brings you closer to God. Rebecca Small

FAITH THAT MOVE MOUNTAINS

“Have faith in God! If you have faith in God and don’t doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith.” Mark 11:22-24

Faith opens the door to miracles. If you study the Bible and history, you find that every time God moves on Earth and does a miracle, it’s because somebody believed.

Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24, “Have faith in God! If you have faith in God and don’t doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith” Faith can move mountains!

God has set up the universe in a hierarchy of laws, and the law of faith is actually a higher law than the laws of nature. That’s where miracles come in. Because when faith is used, the law of faith goes into practice, and the law of faith can actually do more than the laws of physics.

Every time you stretch your faith, God does miracles — every single time. My question for you is this: What’s the mountain in your life that needs to be moved? What’s the thing you’ve already decided will never change? That’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. How do you know it won’t change? Maybe God wants your faith to supersede the law of nature. He has in the past, He is doing it today all around the world. God is in the mountain-moving business. Do not doubt or underestimate what he wants to do in your life.

DOESN’T OUR FAITH MOVE MOUNTAINS?

Twice the Lord told his disciples that if they had faith like a mustard seed they could do jaw-dropping things.

In Matthew, mustard seed faith is tied to expelling a demon, Matthew 17:20. 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, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove from here to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”  

In Luke, those with mustard seed faith will be able to forgive those who sin against them since such faith can pluck up mulberry trees and cast them into the sea Luke 17:6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

FAITH THAT ENCOURAGES

In the stories recounted in both Matthew and Luke, the disciples long for more faith. Then they could do great things for God. Then they could cast out demons and forgive a brother or sister who’s especially annoying. Jesus tells them they don’t need great faith; they need just a little faith. He clearly speaks of a small amount of faith since the mustard seed was the smallest seed known in his day. Jesus also informs his disciples that the kingdom of heaven is as small as a mustard seed

Matthew 13:31-32 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

We’re prone to think if we just had more faith, then God could do amazing things through us. But Jesus tells us something quite astonishing. The issue isn’t whether we are full of faith but whether we have any faith. If we have the smallest amount of faith, God works on our behalf. Jesus stops his disciples short and asks them: Do you believe in me at all? Do you trust God at all?

Why is Jesus’s answer encouraging? Because we don’t get caught in the morass of thinking about whether we have enough faith. When facing a given situation, we call out to God to give us faith—no matter how small. A small amount of faith is sufficient because the focus is not on our faith but its object.

Why is it true that mustard seed faith can move mountains and uproot mulberry trees? Jesus plainly tells us. It isn’t because of the quantity of our faith but the object of our faith. If our faith is in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, then it has a great effect. Our faith makes a difference not because it is so great but because God is so great, because he is the sovereign one who rules over all things. Our faith doesn’t thrive when we think about how much faith we have; it springs up when we behold our God—when we see Jesus as the One crucified and risen for us.

FAITH THAT STANDS ON PROMISES

Still, we have questions about this verse. Does our mustard seed faith Move Mountains and uproot mulberry trees? Do we see this happen today? Are prosperity preachers right in saying that if we had more faith, we wouldn’t get sick and would enjoy the riches of this world?

First, it’s critical to note Jesus is using an illustration. He’s not literally talking about moving mountains and uprooting trees. There’s no example in Scripture of mountains disappearing because someone had faith. Jesus is teaching that stunning things happen if we have faith. The question is, what kind of stunning things should we expect?

Faith isn’t abstract; we put our faith in the promises of God, in the truth he has revealed. Scripture never promises believers they will be healthy or wealthy. Paul’s thorn in the flesh 2 Cor. 12:7-10 was probably a physical disease, and though he prayed three times for deliverance, God said “no.” Similarly, it wasn’t God’s will to heal Paul’s ministry partner Trophimus 2 Timothy 4:20 and it wasn’t because Paul lacked mustard seed faith! Additionally, Timothy wasn’t healed miraculously and instantaneously of stomach ailments, but was told to take wine to settle his indigestion 1 Timothy 5:23. Certainly Paul believed God could heal Timothy, but God had determined he would not be healed. Moreover, Romans 8:35-39 clearly teaches some believers are persecuted, and some suffer from lack of food and clothing. God never promised us a comfortable life.

Faith isn’t abstract; we put our faith in the promises of God, in the truth he’s revealed. Scripture never promises believers they will be healthy or wealthy.

Mountain-moving faith, then, must be based on God’s promises—on what is revealed in his Word—not on what we wish will happen or even fervently believe will happen.

We must ask first, then, whether one’s faith is truly based on the Word of God. Otherwise, it rests on the vain imaginations of man.

FAITH THAT SANCTIFIES

The question remains: What is mountain-moving faith? Notice what Jesus says in Luke: Those who have faith like a mustard seed do great things. They have the faith to forgive brothers and sisters who sin against them repeatedly.

The illustration Jesus provides, then, is enormously helpful. We know it’s God’s will that we forgive those who sin against us. Yet when we’re faced with actually forgiving them, we often struggle because the pain is so severe.

Mustard seed faith, then, is faith that kills works of the flesh Galatians 5:19-21 and produces the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23. Love, joy, peace, and patience are mountains that can only be climbed by faith; faith, after all, expresses itself in love Galatian 5:6. Mustard seed faith believes the gospel will go the ends of the earth and triumph over the gates of hell. And the clearest evidence of mustard seed faith is whether you love God and your neighbor.

Our greatest enemies are not outside of us but within. Our greatest foe is the hate and rebellion that overtakes us, and mustard seed faith—because it is placed in Jesus Christ—gives us the victory over our sin.

Yet we are freed from the sin that enslaves when we rely on Christ and not our own strength and works. Mustard seed faith is enormously powerful—not because of our faith, but because it unites us to the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

 By William Augustine