The Promise & The Word

Got Faith?
By Brendalyn Crudup Martin

"Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matt 17:20

Jesus often spoke in parables and used the mustard seed as an example of faith because it starts out as a tiny seed and grows into one of the strongest trees.

That is how our faith should be. As we grow and mature in our Christian walk, our faith should also grow and mature until it becomes the strongest factor in our lives.

Instead, we often drown our faith in self doubt, anger, regret, pity and so many other negative emotions. When our faith is weak, we are attacked on all sides. We become prey to the wolf who sniffs out all our weaknesses, and if we are not careful, will devour us.

We must hold firm to the promises of God and stand on and believe in His Word and our faith will increase. Like the mustard seed, we need to grow tall and strong, giving shelter to others in need.

We will all face adversity at one time or another, but instead of allowing it to pull us down, we must reach out for God’s Hand and allow Him to pull us to our feet. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, but we lean not on our own understanding, but on God’s.

Life may be lacking in some area. Something is wrong or missing and we may not know what it is, but Jesus understands what we are feeling.

I come that they may have life and have it abundantly John 10:10

Some of us only exist, or just survive. We're on the edge but feel we have not accomplished enough, seen enough, spent enough money or known true love. We're just on the edge of living. We make excuses; my ship will come in, by and by this will happen.

Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Ephesians 6:10

Jesus knows our hearts and we need to tell Him that we want to live and not just have hell on earth and die. Many things hinder our faith. Some of us blame lack of money for unhappiness or blame some person for our failures. What really holds us back is fear.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Life is not worth living if we are afraid to speak, face someone or go out of our house. We limit ourselves when we live in fear. We miss out on the other areas of our lives. Fear is the devil. Perfect love casts out fear. God is perfect love. When we have the confidence that God is watching over us and protecting us, we have no fear.

The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27 1:1

Ignorance also hinders our faith. Discipleship means we must study and learn. When our mind is so closed that we cannot learn and grow, we are dead inside.
We learn from our experiences, trials and hardships and mistakes. Then our faith will grow strong, like gold tempered by fire.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6

Guilt also hinders our faith. We do wrong and feel guilty, then do wrong again. Some people constantly say "I'm sorry." We should be confident enough in God's grace to know we are forgiven.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Hatred also smothers our faith. We must have Jesus living in our hearts. We need to check our hearts and be honest with ourselves. We must face the fact that someone has hurt us and we resent it or it can turn to hate. God called us to joy and happiness and we cannot sink in our bitterness. We must keep God’s Word in our hearts

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17

We cannot be perfect in this life but we can lean on God's grace. We let guilt pin us in and may give up, thinking we cannot do right. God is the only righteousness. His hand of mercy is always held out.

We did not get this far on our own resources. It was by faith, faith that God would provide for us in good time and in bad. Faith that God still has a plan for us and that despite what we see in the natural, a blessing is in store for us.

But in order to believe, we must have faith, for the Bible tells us that it was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith

God made Abraham a promise that he would be the father of many nations. Abraham was almost one hundred years old when that promise was fulfilled. God could have done it at any time but He chose a time when Sarah was well past the age of conception. Abraham did not waver in his belief in God’s promise. Instead, he was strengthened by his faith and gave glory to God. That is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. Romans 4:16

We have been justified by our faith, faith that allows us to rejoice even in our suffering, for we know that it creates perseverance, which creates character; which creates hope.

We rejoice that we have a redeemer who is faithful, whose Word says that He will never leave us and never forsake us. But we only know that if we’ve got faith.

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Brendalyn Crudup Martin is an Ordained Deacon in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) and the Senior Associate Assistant to the Rev. Felix M. Jones, Pastor of Phillips Memorial CME Church in Phoenix, AZ.

She is a wife, mother and grandmother and a published writer of poetry, devotionals and personal experience articles. She is also the Poet Laureate of the Arizona Supreme Court.