As a child of God who wanted to learn more about faith, I went into the life of Jesus on earth and sought to see His interactions with people and noticed how impressed He was with the faith exhibited by some people. As we keep learning about faith, I believe it is important to also learn about these interactions and exhibitions of faith that caused Jesus to stop and move in action.
‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’. Hebrews 11:1. Faith is the building block and the foundation for the creation of the world. God spoke the world and everything in it into being by faith. As children of God, faith is the building block of our lives. We create and bring into existence whatever we believe and have faith in. If we don’t believe, it will never happen and this comes from the word of God and the promises of God moving from being high value (i.e., what we hold on to) to being core value (i.e., what we believe to be the utmost truth in our lives).
Therefore, today’s post is to look into some of these exhibitions of faith that moved Jesus, to understand and try to apply a few of these examples into our lives.
Luke 5:17–20: This scripture speaks to how a paralyzed man was healed by Jesus. Jesus was in an enclosed space preaching to the crowd. The people who brought this paralyzed man tried to get to Jesus through the crowd, but that did not work. Therefore, they found another, not very conventional way to get to Jesus. They made an opening in the roof of where Jesus was and let the man down from the roof on his bed, landing him in the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, He said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven, my friend.” From here we can see that one kind of faith that moved Jesus was faith that did not give up or succumb to failure or fear. The faith of the friends allowed them to push through the crowd and, though that did not work, they found another alternative by going on the roof to get to Jesus.
As a child of God, it might never be easy trying to believe and have faith in positive things or blessings to come our way. We might try one way or the other, maybe by consistently praying and fasting, paying our tithe, attending church service, serving in church, or going by all the Christian principles we know, but we may not see any open doors. Just like the friends, we are being encouraged not to give up at this point. This is rather where we should still push ahead, looking only unto Jesus and removing the tiles on the roof to get to Him. This is the faith that moves God: faith that does not give up.
The other type of faith that moved Jesus can be found in Luke 7:1–10. Verse 9 of this chapter says, “Jesus was surprised when He heard this: He turned around and said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!’” In the scriptures, we see that faith that moved Jesus to action was faith found in the authority of God. The centurion believed that Jesus could and had immense authority to heal his servant without even being close to the servant, and this was so true. If this was true then, this is also true for us now with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God residing inside us. We actually have the presence of God with us 24/7 and should therefore expect complete miracles and healing when we pray, fellowship with God, and exhibit our faith. The Holy Spirit in us gives us the power and authority we need for miracles, signs, and wonders. True faith that moves God and causes complete change is faith that believes completely in the power and authority of the “I am that I am.”
We see also in Luke 7:36–50, the story of a woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, cleaned the feet with her hair, and broke and poured an alabaster jar full of perfume on Jesus’ feet! Wow! What love! What humility! What surrender! Faith that moves Jesus comes from a heart that loves God. It was so clear that this woman was unbothered by how people saw her but wanted to fully demonstrate her genuine love for Jesus. She probably loved Jesus in private but now decided to demonstrate it by this singular act regardless of what people thought about her. A heart that loves God and seeks to please God is a heart that is near to God. I can’t imagine that anyone else aside from Jesus’ parents had gotten as close to Jesus as this woman did, and this moved Him greatly. God wants our complete heart and love for Him. He seeks our devotion, humility, and closeness to Him as we love and serve Him wholeheartedly. From here, and very clearly, faith that moves God comes from a heart that loves God, seeks the giver and not just the gift, seeks closeness with God, and seeks to serve God. Can we strive to get here in our Christian walk even as we seek various blessings, miracles, and gifts from God? I believe this makes a world of difference.
I don’t think I can talk about the demonstration of faith in the Bible without talking about the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8:40–48 and Matthew 9:18–26. The scriptures say that she had this issue for over 12 years and that was how she was identified by people and was in hiding for the most part. However, this time she decided to step out in faith regardless of what people knew or said about her and found a way to touch the edge of Jesus’ garment, and guess what? She was made well, and healed completely and instantly. Now in Luke 8:45, Jesus seeing that power had left Him, asked who touched Him even before seeing the woman. Powerful! This is faith that calls the attention of Jesus. Faith that takes power out of Jesus without even looking at the person. Faith that draws power out of Jesus without His effort. This is powerful faith and what can we learn from this woman:
· First of all, she knew exactly what she wanted and what she had to do and did not look around at what other people thought but rather forged ahead looking and focusing on the master, Jesus.
· Secondly, she knew and acknowledged the immense power and authority of Jesus Christ, knowing that even by touching His attire she was going to be healed.
· Additionally, she knew she didn’t need so much to receive her healing. She said, “If only I touch His garment, I will be healed.” “If only.” She held on to just that little thing, touching His garment, and that made all the difference in the world for her. For me, this stems from her view of Jesus. She viewed Jesus in all His might, splendor, and superior power over all things. Therefore, that faith was all she needed as she had contact with the edge of Jesus’ garment and received her healing. I choose to believe in the word of God and the promises of God. That is the garment for me and as I hold on to it, it would be more than enough to turn things around for me to receive my supernatural breakthrough in all areas of my life. What is the edge of the garment you hold on to? What is that one thing that assures you that God is going to take care of you? Find it and hold on to it.
Additionally, in Luke 17:11–19, we also see how ten lepers were healed by Jesus, but only one came back to show his gratitude and his gratitude moved Jesus as He said, “Get up and go, your faith has made you well.” From here also, we see that faith that moves God is from a heart of gratitude. Our thanksgiving moves God to do more things in our lives that are beyond our imagination. When we thank God, He moves to do even things we haven’t asked to the glory of His name.
In summary:
· Faith that moves God is faith that does not give up
· Faith that moves God is faith that takes a step of faith (move in faith)
· Faith that moves God is faith that believes completely in the power, authority, and sovereignty of God
· Faith that h moves God is from a heart of humility and service to God
· Faith that moves God is from the heart that seeks closeness, intimacy, and fellowship with God
· Faith that moves God is from a heart that is filled with gratitude
· Faith that moves God is wholehearted
These are not steps to get God to move in our lives because there are no easy steps per se in Christianity though there are divine principles. As we draw closer to God, he reveals deeper things to us on how we are to live our lives to please Him and have Him move in our lives. What we need as our main step is complete devotion, surrender, and intimacy with God. All these however are here to shed light on how we can build our faith and hold on to that faith in Christ as believers. I believe it’s time for us to move to deeper dimensions in Christ, to challenge the status quo, and get deeper with God and this can only be possible as we build our faith and fellowship more with God. God loves us so much. Let’s get closer.