“But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11
Throughout the scriptures the Lord emphasizes the importance of using our faith. In Habakkuk 2:4 He states: “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” You will notice in this scripture that the Lord makes it personal by saying “his faith”. He is emphasizing the importance of a personal faith walk on the word of God. In Hebrews 10:38-39 the Lord again emphasizes: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back; my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” The very next chapter is the Hall of Faith which describes various faith victories that the heroes of Faith accomplished. (see Hebrews 11) As you can see, our faith is of great importance to God. He places a high value on our faith. The great news for Christians is that Faith is a fruit of the spirit. (see Galatians 5:22-23) We have been given faith as part of our salvation package, so we don’t have to get faith…we already have it. We just must use the faith we have already been freely given!
Since faith resides on the inside of us, all that we must do is use and develop it! When a baby is born, he has the exact number of muscles he will have when he’s a grown man. However, if you were to look at that baby when he is 25 vs. when he is 5 months old, you will see a huge difference in the look and feel of the muscles. The 25-year-old would appear to have more muscles than the baby. However, in fact, they both have the same number of muscles (around 600)! The difference is that those muscles are now developed through years of use. In addition, that same 25-year-old, if he is a body builder will appear to have even more muscles than an average man of the same age. Yet again, all that has happened is that he has spent time developing and working the muscles that he was given at birth.
The same is true of our faith! In order to develop greater faith, we need to work our faith muscles! Just like a body builder eats the right amount of food to nourish and “bulk” his muscles, we need to eat the right spiritual food to develop our faith muscles. We need to feed on the word of God by putting it in our eyes, our ears and allowing it to come out of our mouths. As we do, we develop our faith. We are weightlifting. The next step is to actually do the work of faith. Body builders don’t just eat the right foods. They also work their muscles through lifting increasingly larger weights. As we use our faith for even small things we need in our life, we are working our faith muscles. As James 2:17-18 declares: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works; shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” In order to grow our faith, we need to put action to it. For instance, if you are believing God for a baby, then put some action to your faith. Begin preparing for the baby’s arrival. Purchase baby clothes and prepare your home for the child’s arrival. You may need to baby proof your home, or purchase a crib. Take that step of faith to put action to what you are having faith for. When Peter told Jesus to tell him to come to him on the water and Jesus responded: “Come”, Peter didn’t just stand in the boat and talk about how he was going to walk on the water. He actually put action to his faith and stepped out of the boat and began to walk on the water! If he had stayed in the boat, he never would have experienced his miracle. He put works to his faith!
As you exercise your faith, you will continue to experience greater victories, which will continue to increase your faith. As your faith increases, you will get to the point where you have faith to move mountains. The impossible will become possible and nothing will be impossible to you! It’s time for mountain moving faith, so let’s build those faith muscles!
Further reading: Hebrews 11, James 2, Romans 4, Galatians 5:22-23, Mark 11:22-25
