So on Tuesday, my pastor gave his not-very-admired morning-before-the-evening-service surprise call of “Temi-you’re-leading-Bible-study-this-evening”. While the physical, ordinary-human Temi isn’t a big fan of that at all (as it gets my mind racing as to what exactly to teach on); the spirit-man Temi seems to like it and sees it as a challenge and an opportunity to lay aside my own knowledge, and tap directly from the Holy Spirit inside of me as He inspires me through the Word.
Well, as soon as the call ended that morning, of course, I was ready to begin racking, “what do I teach now?” But this time, without even thinking, I received the topic, “Exercise Your Faith.” “Hmmm,” I thought.
God has been teaching me a lot about faith, and trust me, I’m still learning. Last month, I wrote on here about how I saw my faith growing and working for me. I sensed God wanted me to teach His people some of what He’s taught me so far. We are in a long period of fasting and praying in my church, and a topic as this couldn’t have been timelier.
So, I picked my pen, and began to write. I’d like to share what I taught at Bible Study that night. Please, read along and share your thoughts and comments on the bottom of the page. By the way, my church members loved it (All Glory to God). I hope you do too! J
I got my main text from the popular faith scripture, Mark 11:22-24.
“22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
In the above scripture, Jesus didn’t say that what gets the mountain into the sea if it is commanded to go into the sea is the power of God. No, He didn’t. He said, what will get a mountain into the sea is YOU having faith in God, and believing that what YOU say will come to be. The ability of God is indisputable. He can turn the world up-side-down with the snap of His finger if He desires to. But what makes it capable for you to do “greater things than these”, as Jesus puts it (John 14:12) is your faith. Your faith activates the power of God in your situation. Even Jesus highlights the importance of faith throughout His three years of ministry. Let’s look at a few case studies from the gospel books:
1. My best one is the story of the woman who had the issue of blood. She believed in her heart that if she could only touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be made whole. She did, and she was made whole. (Mark 5:24-34) Something to note in this passage is that of the many people who thronged Jesus, as stated in verse 24, only this woman was able to tap into the power that resided in Jesus (verse 30). I’m sure that there must’ve been some who needed healing among the multitude. Don’t you think so too? But only she received a healing. In the end, Jesus was careful to mention that it was HER faith that made her whole. His power was available to everyone there, but HER faith made it work for her, while it didn’t work for others.
2. The Centurion’s faith is one that is also very much admired. In fact, Jesus referred to it as “great faith” which he had not seen in Israel before. His story is found in Matthew 8:5-13. The interesting thing is that Jesus never even mentioned the servant’s situation at all. He just said, “Go your way. Receive what you want as you have believed” – Matthew 8:13. Apparently, Jesus doesn’t see the type or size of your problem, He sees your faith, and that’s what moves God.
3. Another one I like so much is a story found in Luke 5:17-26. Four young men broke into the roof of a house where Jesus was teaching. They wanted a miracle for their friend by all means.
Something very interesting in this passage is in verse 17. It says, “And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.” That is, before these four young men showed up with their friend, the power of the Lord was present in that room. For what? The bible was careful to mention that it was for healing; meaning that some in that room needed healing. But of the many people there, only one man received his. Why? HIS and HIS FRIENDS’ faith. Simple!
4. In this next case study, the Bible actually said the unbelief of Jesus’ countrymen surprised Jesus (Mark 6:1-6). They lacked faith so much that all Jesus could do there was lay hands on a few sick people, and teach. Jesus who had the Holy Spirit without measure (John 3:34; Acts 10:38) went to His own country and couldn’t do anything notable there, because unbelief tied his hands. Sad, isn’t it?
5. I love the Syrophoenician woman. First of all, it took me a wonderful long time to get how to pronounce Sy-ro-phoe-ni-cian right. Now that I can, even though she’s referred to as “the woman of Canaan” in Matthew 15:22-28, I still like to call her “the Syrophoenician woman.” Her daughter was possessed with a devil, and she wanted a miracle at all cost, to the extent that she didn’t accept being ignored, and she didn’t mind being referred to as a dog. Boy, was her faith daring! Again, Jesus didn’t even acknowledge the problem. He didn’t rise from his seat. He didn’t cast out any demon. He didn’t even refer to her daughter at all. He just said, “O woman, great is THY faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt…” – Matthew 15:28. He saw her faith, not her tears. Are you getting challenged? Two more case studies…
6. We all know the story of Bartimaeus. I just don’t know why people still refer to him as “Blind Bartimaeus”. The guy didn’t die blind, people. His faith worked for him. Mark 10:46-52. Again, this story mentions that a great number of people were with Jesus, but only Bartimaeus got a miracle. Something interesting happens in verse 50. He cast away his beggar’s garment. It was as if Bartimaeus knew that as he was rising up to go to Jesus, he was never going to go back to sit in that same spot to beg. Before he received his miracle, he believed he had gotten it. Did I hear someone quote Mark 11:24 there? And when he got to Jesus, as usual, Jesus said, “Go thy way; THY faith hath made thee whole…” – Mark 10:52. No touch. No drama. No spitting in the mud. Nothing. Just go your way; your faith has made you whole. Hmmm…
7. Finally, something I’ve learned about God is that He won’t tell you to do something that He hasn’t done before. This brings me to one of the most are-you-kidding-me stories in the Bible: – Jesus slept in a boat filled with water on a stormy sea, and he even was careful enough to remember to use a pillow. A pillow! In a rocking ship on a very troubled sea! Seriously??? Mark 4:35-41. Of course, the disciples were mad at Jesus, “You’re sleeping? Man, you have got to be kidding me! Don’t you care that we perish? What in the world is wrong with you? Why can’t you take dire situations serious for once, Jesus?” Jesus got up, stilled the storm, and then expressed disappointment in their lack of faith. What does this mean? God expects us to have faith in Him and be calm (exercise it) even when the world doesn’t expect you to; even when the situation demands something else. I’m guessing Jesus just went right back to sleep. What do you think? LOL.
To Be Continued…
