THE GOOD NEWS COMES CLOSER

 

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33

Introduction

Generally, a decision to walk with God or deity in this life calls for some measure of faith. That is why we refer to religious bodies as ' faith-based'. Faith is basically a step of trust and confidence a person makes in another person, a deity, or a thing. A person weighing the amount of faith in another is actually risking his trust in that being.

The Hebrews writer explains, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. [For instance,] By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." Hebrews 11:1-3 (ESV)

What people trust, with the assurance of what they hope for in life carries their measure of faith. For instance, people trust in their wealth, properties, knowledge, personalities, gods, God and etc.

As Christians, we stand with the Psalmist who says, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright." Psalms 20:7-8 (ESV) We have our confidence in God Almighty, the author and finisher of the universe including all that is in them. Jesus says to Peter, "O you of little faith" (Matt. 14:31). Faith is obtained and grows depending on some basic factors. Let us discuss some of them.

Obtaining Faith

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."

Romans 10:17 (ESV)

Paul explains righteousness by the law and of faith. Righteousness by the law is brought to us for our obedience and shall be credited as righteous. Meanwhile, the righteousness based on faith says, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)" Romans 10:8 (ESV). Faith is what we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts. Then, how do we obtain faith?

Moses had written to the people of Israel that by the law, they can come to righteousness with God. But today, we have heard and seen the mighty works of God which bring us to faith (Rom. 10:5-7). 

Paul says, "Faith comes from hearing". It is practical with us that, some good marketers and advertisers can make you trust and buy their product when you do not even have a need for it. The description and testimonies from their usage alone grow a level of faith in their product. Meanwhile, no matter how good a product may be when you do not have any word of it, you will always pass by them.

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" Romans 10:14 (ESV). The opportunity to hear and see, and in fact, experience an encounter with Christ bring us to faith. This is how we obtain the faith. 

Permit me to share an experience with you.

I bought a product online to use after watching convincing videos and reading about it. I had built great faith in the product so much. But on the day it was delivered, a friend visited so I showed him the product. Just a few words from him about the product killed every drop of confidence and hope in me. I never used the product. Later, someone who had used some before lifted my hopes and confidence again with his testimony. 

Our Christian life does operate in the same manner as my experience. We hear messages about Jesus Christ, in whom what He can not do does not exist. Our hearts yearn to trust in Him in faith but we turn around and see our life challenges as our own and put Him away.

Faith must always be backed with favourable action to be counted as righteousness unto us. Any faith without action is deemed as dead faith (James 2:17). According to Romans 10:9-10, our faith must be a saving faith. Our confession about Jesus as Lord and the belief in our hearts brings us salvation.

Faith Grows

Jesus, on the sea, commanded Peter to come to Him, which He did. "But when he [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”" Matthew 14:30 (ESV).  In exercising faith, fear, generated from a sense of doubt must be far away from us. 

One thing that antagonizes or militates 'faith' is 'fear'. Fear is explained as a natural and primitive human emotion. It involves a universal biochemical response as well as a high individual emotional response. Fear alerts us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or spiritual, or psychological. It is either one of them; growth of faith or growth of fear. 

At every moment of time, the one that you give attention to and concentrate on becomes the ruling agent. Peter began with faith occupying his attention until "he saw the wind and his fear took over from his faith and then begun to sink.

We should learn from Peter who openly confessed to Jesus Christ saying, “Lord, save me.” (Matthew 14:30). And immediately Jesus Christ reached out to him and saved him. 

Precious one, I am inviting you to have faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Saviour of our souls by confessing to Him to save you now. He is reaching out to you now.

As we confess to Him over every situation in our lives, we openly declare our faith in His authority over our lives every day. By this, we will continually see the evidence of His saving grace every moment of our lives.

For the faith we have received in Him to grow, we must stick ourselves to the Word of Him in our daily lifestyle so that we do not lose faith. I lost my faith in the product because I lost focus on all that I had read and seen about it. When we distance ourselves from His Word, our faith in Him grows weak to become a lost faith.

Jesus saw how weak the disciples' faith in Him was and by that, they could not do many things Christ was expecting from them. So He says to them, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). I believe Jesus Christ was looking for a deep, wide, and high level of faith because of what they have seen Him do and say. As He sent to John the baptizer, "“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” Matthew 11:4-5. With these, doubt about Him as the Man of impossibilities should have been far off from them, but no.

Many of us are very active in church but still live with little faith. You consult diviners, and soothsayers for their help. You cut paths with Christ when things go wrong for us. We chose the worldly ways of doing things when fear grips us with what they tell us. You covert others' property, lie, kill, steal, deceive, and back-bite others out of fear, Oh! you of little faith.

This is the exactly what caused the brothers of Joseph to plan on killing him and later settled on selling him. They saw him as an impediment or a stabling block in their future. "They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”" (Gen. 37:19-20) 

Because of our little faith, we sometimes conclude that our success is only possible if we can take some people away. But, life is not like seasaw. God never makes a mistake to send your blessings to another. We must have great faith in Him at all times. 

If someone's is progresssing now I must hold on to God, my time will surely come. 

Grow your faith by;

• keeping the Word in your heart always (Psm. 119:11)
• walking in faith in all your ways (2 Cor. 5:7).
• constantly depending on and trusting in His directives (Prov. 3:5)
• openly declare your faith in Him to ward off doubts (Rom. 10:9-10)
• meditating on His goodness always (Jos. 1:8)

Faith shrinks to be little for many reasons. 

- When we forget about all the good things God has done and is doing for us. Just before the walking on the sea incident, Jesus had fed 5000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, but the disciples still doubt Him. "They cried out in fear" for they had filled themselves with the fear of ghosts (Matt. 14:26). They still had doubt even when Jesus said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Matthew 14:27. Faith dies in our state of fear.

'Aseda', a song by Nacce draws our attention to how we lose sight of God's capabilities when we are in difficult times. We grumble and even speak against God. Think of it.

- Our doubts are so real with us than our faith. With boldness, Peter stepped on to walk on the sea, meanwhile, he was still growing his doubts to sink. We always raise doubts and diminish our faith even when God's hand is working for our good. 

- When we put our future into our own hands. Even Christians are heard saying, "Heaven helps those who help themselves" (unfounded Christian principle, avoid such axioms). They say this to take steps on their own without Christ at the center. Never assume that you can help yourself in any way, Christ must be the center of the future and nothing else. The statement should rather be, "Heaven helps those who have their faith in God only."

Conclusion

Christian faith comes by hearing the message of Christ. We develop this faith by constantly being with Him and learning from Him in all our ways. With this, our faith in Jesus Christ becomes our personal experience with Him but not what others say about Him. Our personal touch with Him will always grow assurance of things to come without doubt and fear. Amen!

Shalom aleichem.