Great faith or 'mustard seed' faith?

Jesus commended people for having great faith. It is therefore vitally important to understand what great faith really means. The problem is that we have other verses that seem to suggest that a little faith can do great things. We have Peter telling us in 2nd Peter that we have all received faith of the same kind as theirs. How do we put these all together? 

I believe the problem with our faith today is not a lack in the measure of faith but a lack in adding to our faith. Our faith in God has to begin with complete reliance on God and His promises. But that does not mean our faith is maturing. A deepening of our faith takes place when we build walls around our faith. We have to strengthen our faith not just by continuing to yield to God but by intertwining it with other virtues so that it can stand strong. Jesus spoke of a ‘mustard seed’ kind of faith twice in the gospels and if we look carefully we would find that in both the instances, there is a ‘but’ at the end of that teaching on faith. A very important lesson for us indeed. He is showing us that we may not have a lack of faith by itself but our failures are going to be because we have not worked around it to reinforce it.

Teaching, teaching everywhere and not a drop to drink!

We are living in a time period where there is no dearth of teaching in almost any subject or topic in the Bible. Various mediums in the form of books, messages and media can bring teaching to the believer almost anywhere on the globe and sometimes the seeker can be more confused at the end of it all than when he first began.However in the midst of plenty, there is a deep lack of being taught by the Spirit directly. Don't get me wrong here. It is not that the Spirit is unwilling but there are so few who are willing to take that journey with Him. The Spirit teaches step by step and He makes sure that the lessons are learned. They are learned not in the armchair but in the situations and circumstances of life. He uses the Word to carve the flesh out of you.

Most believers do not understand that gaining knowledge about spiritual truths is different from assimilating those truths and living them out. There is only one litmus test and that can be done only when troubles come our way. The test is - How do we react to them? Do we speak to the wind and the waves or do we tremble when they come our way?

Where does my (financial) help come from?

One of the reasons many servants of God struggle in finances is because they look to man instead of God. A lack of waiting and hearing from God can make things more difficult than we realize. This is one area where we have to literally die to ourselves in every sense of the term. The devil would repeatedly tempt us to turn our stones into bread meaning why wait on God when we can let others know our needs. Now I am not being judgmental but I am taught this lesson again and again by God (not just on a personal basis) and some lessons are not that easy to learn. But God is a master teacher and praise God for His patience. Trusting God for finances is one of the greatest lessons we need to learn on a priority basis and our dependency has to be on Him and Him alone. Deceit is not allowed in any form and it will only make things worse. Our God is a good God.

Wholesome-ness

Physical health is always in proportion to spiritual wholesomeness in the life of a believer. The distinction between healing and health has to be carefully maintained in our minds. We may receive miraculous healings and deliverances which may not be an indicator of our spiritual status. However to walk in health has to include both our physical and spiritual aspects and we cannot afford to ignore the one or stress on the other. To give an illustration, our train of health and wholesomeness has to keep moving. Once in a while, we will arrive at stations and physical evidences like miracles or healings can be like a sign to encourage us and boost us on in our journey. But that does not mean that our train should remain there till the next miracle happens. The apostle Paul put it in focus for us when he says in 1Th 5:23 - Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Divided we stand?

I have been recently thinking about the trouble we take to define ourselves inside the body of Christ. To see myself as part of a denomination is actually quite a grievous thing in the heart of God because I am dividing the body of Christ. It is one thing to use a functional term to define myself, for instance - I call myself a charismatic to declare that I believe in the charismata of the Holy Spirit but to label myself as a Pentecostal or a Brethren means that I am accepting an identity which is not accepted in heaven. I am accepting a way of life whether I subscribe to it fully or not. I am hindering fellowship with others in the whole body of Christ. I am allowing to world to know that we are divided. And worse, I am passing on a heritage to my children that is spiritually unhealthy. 
My slogan should be - I am a Christian, pure and simple. I may have an understanding of the Scriptures that may be different from other believers but I am not willing to form a boundary wall around it. May that attitude remain in me till the end.