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Authors: Casey Treat

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3
Faith Changes Things
G
ood thing the guy on the television couldn’t see back at me because I was acting like a crazy person. When I hear Christians talking about how miserable their circumstances are and then begin blaming God for them, I just about lose my cool. And this time was no different. It was a Christian program, and the person being interviewed was saying things like “Why has God caused this to happen to me? Why hasn’t He stepped in and saved me from all of this? Where is God when I need Him the most?” To all of this, I started yelling, “Use your faith! Where’s your faith? You are not helping our cause here.
Use—your—faith!”
This kind of thing gets me all fired up because there are so many Christians who love the Lord but are only experiencing a fraction of the kind of life God designed for them. Simply because they either have never learned to use their faith or they have chosen to not believe in the message of faith, they can’t experience God’s best. The real bummer is when they get themselves into bad situations and then blame God for not magically making all their problems disappear. These people just do not get it, and if you have friends like this—get each one a copy of this book.
So many Christian people choose not to spend the time to build a relationship with Jesus, and they live their lives on their own, by their own strength and their own wisdom. Only when they come to a place where there are no answers and they feel there is no way out do they turn to God. They say, “Hey, God, why’d You do that to me?” And this is God’s reply: “Don’t blame Me, I’ve been doing exactly what you have been expecting Me to do in your life: nothing! You have decided to be out there on your own, and you created this mess all by yourself. However, if you want Me to intervene, then all I’m waiting for is you! But here’s a clue: use your faith.”
I’ve already written this in the first chapter, but I’m going to repeat it here—God cannot do anything in our lives except for those things we have the faith for Him to do. Every blessing, every promise, every aspect of God must be accessed by our faith. We cannot change the negative things in our lives simply because we don’t like them or wish they were different. The only way we will be able to change and to overcome the problems, the bad habits, and the outside circumstances in our lives is for us to learn to grow and to use our faith.
Then
amazing things can happen! Your faith can change
anything
that is negative in your life.
We cannot change the negative things in our lives simply because we don’t like them or wish they were different.
According to Your Faith
When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened. (Matthew 9:27-30)
Faith will change the negatives in your life, but it is according to
your
faith. Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and if He were here today, He’d say the same thing to us as He said to those blind men. If we said, “Jesus, can You help me get out of debt?” He’d reply, “Do you believe that I am able to do it?” Some of us would say, “Yes, Lord,” just like those men. But some of us would say, “Well, in this economy, I’m not too sure. I’ve been figuring out the numbers for quite a while now, and I think, man, if you’d have just shown up a year ago, maybe so.” To both groups Jesus would say, “According to your faith, let it be unto you.”
Here’s another example of what I’m talking about:
And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [Here, Jesus is referring to the fact that He was sent to minister to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles.] Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matthew 15:22-28)
In other words, Jesus says to her, “Wow! According to your faith!” Do you have the kind of faith that even surprises Jesus? That’s the God kind of faith I’m going for! This woman was bold, and even after basically being called a dog, she was not going to give up. When Jesus used the word
dogs,
He was talking about a theological comparison between Israel and the Gentiles and in essence was saying, “You are not really who I’m ministering to right now.” But this mom was tenacious and came right back with “Don’t give me your theology. I need help for my daughter, and I know you can get the job done.” Her faith went beyond the adversity, the rejections, and the hurdles. Her faith overlooked all those setbacks and believed God would still work on her behalf. She aggressively believed Jesus was going to make it work, and His reply was, “Great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire!”
Even when the world is mocking us and calling us foolish dogs, we need to persevere with our faith and never give up the pursuit.
When the doctor gives the bad report, when the banker starts to list off the interest rates and the debt ratios, and when your child seems like he will never turn around and live for Christ, we need to be like this woman. Our faith must overlook the obstacles existing in the natural realm and continue to see with eyes of faith. Even when the world is mocking us and calling us foolish dogs, we need to persevere with our faith and never give up the pursuit. Faith can change the negatives in our lives, but it is according to
our
faith.
Faith Can Even Sneak Up on Jesus
So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him. Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.’ Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.
And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My clothes?’ But His disciples said to Him, ‘You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, Who touched Me?’ And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction. (Mark 5:24-34)
Her faith made her well! By her faith she believed what she heard about Jesus, her faith got her out of her house, her faith made her fight through the crowd, her faith reached out to receive her healing. I wonder how she did it. In that day, a woman having a condition like this would have been considered ‘unclean,’ and would have been forbidden to be out in public without wearing the proper identifying garments and keeping a fair distance from the people. If she had been caught, she could have been stoned to death, but her faith didn’t care about the dangers. She probably got down on her hands and knees and crawled through the throng. Her faith caused her to do whatever she needed to do. She saw Jesus’ hem, and she went for it.
I just love this part of the story: Jesus stopped and said, “Who touched me?” The woman had so much faith that she got what she came for, and Jesus didn’t even know who she was yet! She snuck up on the Son of God and grabbed her healing, and Jesus wasn’t aware of it until the moment He felt power going out of Him! That is amazing to me, that we can have the kind of faith that can reach up and receive the blessing without even asking for permission first. She had heard about Jesus, and had gotten the revelation that if He would do it for them, then He would surely do it for her—even if she had to sneak up on Him to get it.
That is amazing to me, that we can have the kind of faith that can reach up and receive the blessing without even asking for permission first.
The disciples were confused; with hundreds upon hundreds of people pressing in on them all, how could Jesus ask, “Who touched Me?”
Everyone
was touching Him. But Jesus sensed something different. You see, a lot of people hang around Jesus, a lot of people are trying to get something from Jesus, but few people truly believe. Every single one in the multitude could have received whatever they wanted from Him, but they weren’t using their faith to receive. That’s why Jesus was able to perceive the smallest touch from the woman as her fingers grazed the fringe of His garment. That tiny gesture of faith made more of an impression upon Him than all of the other hundreds of people who were thronging Him.
Wow, let’s be like this woman and have the kind of faith that stops Jesus in His tracks! Let’s do whatever we need to do to receive from Jesus, even if it means taking big risks and crawling on our knees to navigate through a crowd. Let’s use our faith so we can hear Jesus saying to us, “Son! Daughter! Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
What Do You Want?
Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus [that is, the Son of Timaeus], was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:46-52)
This is the story of Blind Bart. This guy inspires me for many reasons. First, he wasn’t just sitting around like a victim someplace bemoaning the fact that he was blind. He was determined to do whatever he could with this life, and in that day and age, his option was begging. However, even in this, he was not content. He was always keeping his ears tuned to hear the chance for a better opportunity, and today was his day.
Just like the Gentile mother and the woman with the issue of blood, he does not allow religion, theology, or the acceptable social norms stand in his way. He starts to yell for Jesus to come to him, but he is quickly told to be quiet by the people around him. As he heard the steps of Jesus getting farther away, he yelled all the more. Finally, Jesus stopped and asked for the man to be brought to Him. The same people who had just rebuked him were now rallying him with shouts of “Be of good cheer!” and they led him to Jesus.
Blind Bart was like a person on the
Price Is Right
game show who has just been told to “come on down!” He knew he was going to be the guy who won the new car
and
the Showcase Showdown because he immediately threw off his garment and came to Jesus. Back in that time if a person was ill, they had to wear a garment that identified their ailment. This allowed the Jews to know who was unclean and who was not, and who was therefore allowed to be among the people. Even before he met Jesus face to face, Bartimaeus knew he would not need that sick robe any longer. He was about to get his miracle.
When he got to Jesus, the Lord asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” I wonder if there were any snickers heard in the crowd. Wasn’t it obvious what Bartimaeus wanted? But Jesus could not do what
He
wanted to do for the blind man or what anyone else wanted, for that matter. It’s only by
our
faith that God can move in our lives. Bart could have said, “Can you give me a new job?” or “I’ve been looking for a spouse—whom would you suggest?” And Jesus would have said, “According to your faith, let it be done unto you.” But Bart got it right. He asked for his sight—and immediately he received it because that’s what he believed by his faith that Jesus could do.
What do you want Jesus to do for you? Believe by faith and receive it. It’s all according to your faith. What is your faith saying today? Is your faith saying, “I’m healed, I’m prospering, and I walk in the favor of God?” Then receive it. Is your faith saying, “My marriage is blessed, and my kids are growing up to love and serve the Lord?” Then receive it. If you agree with the world, and the prophets of gloom and doom, then please don’t blame God when your life becomes gloomy and doomy. But if you will agree with God’s Word, stretch your faith to receive the blessings found in His Word. Then you will experience the abundant life Jesus died for you to receive!

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