What kind of Faith do you have in God?

I was intrigued and very inspired by yesterday's sermon at my church. It moves my focus to another new level. I guess when we are blinded by life's obstacles, we can't help to lose faith at times and doubt Him.

This was actually the part II for "faith that marvels". The context was about how Jesus marveled at the faith of the people for Him.

Matthew 8:5-13

5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

The Centurion, which refers to the Roman officer seek help from Jesus to heal his servant. Despite being a man of power, influence and being highly educated, he humbled himself to ask for help. Back then, Israel was under the Roman Leadership.

What we can learn from this Roman officer is that "great faith says I need God." There is tremendous power in an "ask". When we ask, it means that we admit that we need God. We have no answers and we truly surrender to Him for answers as we don't have any solutions.

It takes a lot of humility to bow down to Our Holy Father and say, "God I need you." The book of Matthew has this bible verse that I was drawn to.

Matthew 7:7

Ask and you shall receive.

Seek and you shall find.

Knock and it shall be opened.

It's true that some blessings and things are given to those who are willing to ask.

Ask - speech

Seek - sight

Knock - strength

It will change the way we speak, see and do.

Faith changes us. Faith is not passive, it is active. It puts down our pride.

Great faith is birthed out of a burden.

It's true that when life is smooth-sailing, we start to be indifferent towards daily blessings. We start to forget about gratitude and take things for granted. When we don't have a burden, we will not recognize a blessing. For instance, when your business is doing great and you have money, it's unlikely that you will have a great faith as compared to someone who was declared bankrupt. We should have a bigger heart for others, to carry burden for people in our life. When we live beyond ourselves, miracles start to happen. In the house of God, when we believe and pray together, things start to change.

Question is: Are we willing to give up our comfort in exchange to carry a burden for others?

What is the burden that you want to see God move in your life? The centurion had such a great faith. Matthew 8:5-13 only speak a word

He had such strong faith that Jesus could heal his servant with a word.

Great faith is based on God's word.

It is not positive thinking nor is it wishful thinking.

Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

The pastor used a simple metaphor to let us understand the concept. For instance, we have the faith that jets can fly and the ship won't sink. It is because we understand and trust in the law of physics.

God's word is more than the law of physics. Let there be light and there is light. Let there be creatures and all creatures were formed. So how can we not have faith in our creator's Word?

We must remember to base our faith on Word of God. When we face troubles in life, instead of texting our friends to seek help, we should text our God about it through prayers and worships.

Faith is the substance. In Greek, substance refers to hypostasis which has a legal meaning to it. In olden days, it refers to the title deed that someone owns. It could be a contract, land or even property. Title deed is the document that is signed off by authorities with the owner's name on the document to serve as a proof.

Likewise, people may question your faith. Devil will make you doubt your faith. In this sermon's context, the title deed is the word of God. We should anchor on what God is speaking.