Faith

Faith is the foundation of our Christian lives. We must believe in order to be saved. We trust in God's goodness and promises. We know that without faith it is impossible to please God (cf. Hebrews 11:6). Understanding all of this, it is amazing to observe the wide range of different faith levels among believers. Jesus highlighted this during his ministry when he repeatedly pointed out others' lack of faith or great faith. What does it look like to walk in high level faith? I believe it is when we begin to do the works Jesus did and commanded his followers to do and also to take risk in attempting the greater things.

An example of a "greater thing" would be a fulfillment of Jesus' words that we would have the ability to move mountains. Matthew 21:18-22 says:

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Jesus curses the fig tree

I do not believe Jesus was speaking metaphorically. The withered leaves of the fig tree demonstrate how real and powerful Jesus' words were. It takes a high level of faith to do what Jesus did to the tree but seemingly greater faith to tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea. There is a day coming when the Church will possess this type of mountain-moving faith. Can you imagine after the 9.0 earthquake hit Japan and tsunami sirens were blaring, a group of believers walking to the water's edge? They see the monstrous wave rising up before them but say, "No! Mountain, go throw yourself into the sea!" and an entire city is saved. God is waiting for a generation to believe His divine promises, embrace their authority, and walk in faith-filled power as children of the King. I pray it is our generation.

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20