20. How Do I Live By Faith? (Part 1)

Posted by Conrad on 03.08.11 in Devotionals.

What does it mean when the Bible says, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed… Nothing will be impossible for you,” (Matt 17:20)?  So if I have the faith larger than the size of a mustard seed that I would become a cheeseburger – it would come to pass, right?   But unfortunately it hasn’t.

The reason why I haven’t turned into a cheeseburger at this point isn’t the size of faith I have, but rather the definition of faith.

Faith is not simply belief – which is the most common definition in peoples’ minds.

I believe that God will let me win the lottery.  I believe that God will give me a unicorn.  I believe that God will go back in time to prevent Spielberg and George Lucas from ruining the Indiana Jones franchise.

Faith is not belief.  A belief in nonsense.  Faith is based in truth.

And what is the only thing that we can be sure is truth?  God’s Word.

But faith even goes beyond simply believing God’s Word.

Just because I believe that God told me to “love my neighbor” doesn’t mean that I do it. (Just come over at midnight and listen to neighbor’s dogs barking and you’ll know why.)

Yeah, it doesn’t count if you say you believe in something but you don’t actually do it.

Think of a someone with great physique (like me).  Do you think I’ve gotten as buff as I am today by simply believing in the truth that working out will make me huge?  No.  I had to do it.

So faith really is three things combined and can be written as this equation…

Knowing God’s Word + Believing God’s Word + Doing God’s Word = Faith

Let’s take the “Love thy neighbor” verse and see what it takes to ‘live by faith’.

My neighbor dogs endlessly bark at midnight.  I know that those words “Love thy neighbor” appear in the Bible.  I believe in those words and want to do it.  I then go out and do it by forgiving them and making them a cake.

Only after hitting all three have I actually lived by faith.  A real, true faith.

So now, let’s go back and look at the initial verse, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed… Nothing will be impossible for you” and paraphrase it this way, “If you know, believe and obey God’s Word, which means you’re doing His will, you will for sure be successful in carrying out His Will.”

That’s what faith is.  Faith is living God’s Word.

And hopefully God’s Word wants me to call the cops on the neighbor’s dogs or else I just didn’t live by faith.

MT 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, 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. “

Take Time To Pray: Ask God to help you live by faith by grounding what you know, believe and do in His Word.