Reference: James 2:17, 26
There are many scriptures in the word ofGod that deals with the subject of faith. Jesus, in many instances found in thefour gospels, is referring to the disciples as having either no faith, orlittle faith, or weak faith. To the woman of Canaan he told her that she hadgreat faith when she told him that the dogs eat of the crumbs that fell fromthe table. To the Centurian Christ said that he had not seen a greater faith inall Israel. According to what the word of God says about faith, it is evidentthat faith has varying degrees of strength. The word of God also reveals thatthere is only one faith which is stated in Ephesians4:5. This one faith is the type offaith that is pure and it comes from God. Anything that comes from God is pureand holy. The faith that a person may possess cannot be measured in weight norcan it be seen with the natural eye. Many people think that a person canpossess faith in quantity meaning they either possess a little bit or a greatdeal of it. This is not so because there is only one faith and this faith ispure and it is not given out in certain amounts being a little amount or alarge amount. Faith can be termed as being weak or strong, but not termed asbeing a small amount or a large amount compared in a measure of volume orquantity. Jesus said that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed you cansay unto a mountain for it to be removed and it shall remove and nothing shallbe impossible unto you...(Matthew 17:20) The word of God tells us that to every man God has giventhe measure of faith.
This does not mean that God gives us a certain amountbeing either a little bit or a great amount. This faith given to every man ispure in substance and can be increased in strength making it stronger until wecome to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto aperfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Thefaith that you may possess is either weak or strong. If your faith is weak thenyou can increase the strength of it by your obedience to what the word of Godsays about it. Many people when they are faced with a certain situation thatmay arise, such as being sick and desiring healing, they will tell you thatthey must not have any faith or else they would not stay in the condition theyare in etc. My friend, if you say that you have no faith you are actuallysaying that you have no confidence in God. If you say you have no faith thenyou are disbelieving what the Bible says about giving a measure of faith toeveryone. If you can't trust God fully for your deliverence from whatever youmay be going through, then it's an evident fact that your faith is not what itshould be. Your lack of faith my friend, is actually a worse condition than whatyour sickness or trouble may be, because the word of God says that withoutfaith you cannot possibly please God. Instead of your worrying about yourcondition why don't you get more concerned about your weak faith? Your weakfaith can never bring your deliverence from your problems that you will befaced with in this life. Your faith can be increased, but you must understandhow this can be done and you must be willing to submit yourself to certainconditions that you will find yourself in. The word of God tells us that we areto count it all joy when we fall into divers trials and temptations. Thesetrials and temptations are for the sole purpose of strengthening your faith sothat you can be able to withstand the storms of life and the wiles of the deviletc. The Bible tell us that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word ofGod. Are you aware of the fact that if things do not seem to go right in yourlife this does not mean that you are out of the will of God? Did you know thatyou must be tried to come out victorious? Your faith can only be increased byyour overcoming the obstacles of the things of this life. The word of God saysfor us not to love the world nor the things that are in the world. Yourabstaining from the things of the world will crucify your fleshly desires butthis process will actually strengthen your mind and increase your faith. Whenyou face a certain situation that you cannot handle, you must know what theword of God has to say about it before you can conquer the problem. The word ofGod tells us that there is no temptation but such as is common to man: but Godis faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able tobear, but will make a way of escape that we may be able to bear it. Now youmust realize that God has promised to provide a way of escape from whatever youmay be going through, so why should you worry about what you are going to doabout it? Your worry is all in vain because worry cannot solve any problem.Faith and fear cannot work at the same time. If you find that you are alwaysbeing controlled by fear, not being able to resist its force, then you are notobeying God somewhere in your life. You cannot have faith if you do not receiveand obey what the word of God says. Your yielding to sin's temptation is notcrucifying the flesh in these certain points of your life. Obedience to theword is the only way of strengthening your faith. The word says for you not tosin. The greatest factor in causing faith not to be increased is to fail to overcomethe situations that seem to be going against you as being a Christian. Mostpeople are led to believe that when they confess to be christians that thingswill be much better than when they were in sin. My friend, when you were in sinthe devil did not fight against you because he already had you in his grip. Ifyou ever want to become a christian, this is when Satan will begin to fight youwith all his fury. A person that truly repents of sin and begins to seek God,they will find out that everything will seem to go against them. This isbecause you have waged war against the flesh that loves the pleasures of sinmore than the things of God. When you begin to desire the things of God andobey righteousness you will find that the flesh will try to pull you back intothe natural life. The pull of the flesh cannot overpower you if you are awareof what the word of God reveals. The word of God reveals exactly what begins totake place in your life and it also reveals to you what you as a child of Godpossess to fight against Satan and his evil forces. Your ignorance of theknowledge of God's word will leave you prone to Satan and his power that willactually cause you to be a leaf in the wind not being able to resist his powerand force. Your faith and trust in the word of God is what will strengthen youspiritually and increase your faith. Dead faith is a faith that's beendestroyed by false teachings of a perverted gospel. False doctrines of devilswill sear your conscience leaving you helpless against the wiles of the devil.When you are faced with certain conditions that you can't overcome, all youwill be able to do is to worry yourself sick about it. A dead faith will leaveyou helpless. A dead faith has confidence in the things that are seen and cannothave confidence in things that are not seen. If your faith is weak then youmust begin to overcome your trials and temptations believing that God willprovide a way for your escape. You must go through these trials to increaseyour faith....