Faith That Is Wide And Deep
By Naomi Cassata
What does it mean to have faith? It's not something we can see
plainly with our eyes. Although, we can see the fruit of it. I
used to think faith was limited to only believing Jesus was
God's son and he died for our sins. I thought that was the
definition of faith. Although, once a Christian, faith can be
taken even wider. It reaches further than we can reach on our
own; it overcomes obstacles we could not face alone and even
gives us understanding our minds could not think of
independently.
I remember talking to someone who had not been to church about
having faith in God. It's funny how with our Christian lingo, we
assume everyone knows what we are talking about. Puzzled, she
responded, "what is faith?" I was shocked when she asked me this
question because she genuinely didn't know what I was talking
about. I proceeded to explain the meaning. Later, I thought
about how many times we hear biblical words over and over again,
and yet, never really know what they mean.
Hebrews describes faith in this way. Now faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (v.11:1)
There is a whole another world out there we can't see with our
physical eyes. It's a system that runs on the spiritual. Faith
is a part of that system and it takes faith to tap into that
world. Faith is believing that what God says is true and
applying it to our lives. It's actually believing more so in
what is unseen than what is seen. What do I mean by this? The
Bible uses Abraham as an example of faith. God had a plan for
Abraham and his future decedents. He was to move him and his
family to an unfamiliar land and God would create a whole nation
from Abraham's seed. In the natural realm this looked absolutely
impossible, and it was! But the Bible says, Abraham believed
God. That was all it took for the impossible to vanish. Abraham
didn't doubt God's promise to him.
The Bible is full of God's promises to us. Yet, when we read
them, we really don't believe we will see the fruit of them in
our own lives. We think they are for others. Jesus said in
(Matthew 9:29)according to your faith will be it be done to you.
We will only progress spiritually as far as our belief in God
stretches. If you only believe a little of God's word, you will
only see a little of his promises. If you believe a lot of God's
word, you will see more promises of His word.
Salvation is where faith begins. We must believe that Jesus was
sent from God and His blood covers our sins, but faith doesn't
stop here. I used to think it did. I didn't realize faith in God
can spill over into so many other areas of our lives, such as
peace of mind (Isaiah 26:3) You will keep in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.; trusting
in God (Romans 8:28) And we know that all things work together
for good to those that love God, to those who are called
according to his purpose.; healing (Isaiah 54:17) No weapon
formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that rises
against you in judgment you shall condemn There are just a few
of the areas that if we have faith in God, we will see results.
We must clear our minds of negative, destructive thinking. We
can't fill it with the world and the word because these two
conflict. We must be focused on God's word, that the pattern of
our mind flows in His promises.
Naomi Cassata
Email: iluvjc079@yahoo.com
