Monday, February 04, 2008

Enough Faith

The following thoughts appeared recently on David Jeremiah's TURNING POINT online devotional:

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." -Luke 17:6 NIV

Many Christians know that George Müller cared for more than 10,000 orphans in his lifetime in England and was a man of astounding faith. But not all know that he was not always such a faithful man. His early life in Prussia was marked by lying, gambling, drinking, and imprisonment for fraud. At age fifteen, he gave his attention to cards and drinking with friends while his mother lay dying.

This is also the same George Müller who, later in life, would sit his orphans down at a table with empty bowls and thank God for the food He would provide. And God always did. George Müller's life goes to show that faith is a learned discipline. Faith does not come naturally but supernaturally. The natural man believes when he sees, but the supernatural man sees when he believes. And Jesus taught that it does not take as much faith to see as we might think - faith as small as a tiny seed can see mountains moved.

If you are lacking great faith today, exercise the faith you have and then ask God for more. Faith, fruit, more faith, more fruit - believing God is a self-perpetuating experience.

Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation. - D. Elton Trueblood

1 comment:

Douglas Case said...

"The natural man believes when he sees, but the supernatural man sees when he believes. And Jesus taught that it does not take as much faith to see as we might think - faith as small as a tiny seed can see mountains moved."

This struck me as one of the most succinct statements about faith that I've seen. Of course it could be too that I really needed a reminder this morning.

Why is it that I always seem to forget the beauty of this foundational principle for walking with Christ? (A rhetorical question :)