A GREAT OR A SMALL FAITH?

__________________________________________________________________________ “But Jesus, aware of this, said, ‘You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’” (Matthew 16:8-11) Jesus spent time developing His disciples’ faith because He knew it would be essential for the tasks ahead of them! For over three years, they attended a “school of faith” with Jesus as their instructor, and Scriptures as their textbook! Sometimes Christ used verbal instruction to teach, but many of the lessons were taught through demonstrations…He healed the sick, brought life back to the dead, cast out demons, fed thousands, and calmed the sea; their training even included tests revealing if they truly believed He was the messiah! At times the disciples’ understanding was slow and faltering, but Jesus Christ never gave up on them! He reproved them when they exhibited a lack of trust (Mark 4:40); but He also commended them when they showed signs of progress (Matt. 16:15-17)…Jesus’ objective was to firmly establish their faith so He could accomplish His work in and through them! After His ascension, He commanded His men to spread the gospel of salvation to the remotest parts of the earth – WITHOUT FAITH, THEY WOULD HAVE FAILED!! THE LORD HAS THE VERY SAME GOAL FOR US!!!!! That goal is to increase our faith so we can do the work He has planned for us!! If our faith is great, He will entrust us with challenges and achieve amazing things through us!!! BUT, small faith limits God’s activity in any believer’s life! HE WILL USE US ONLY TO THE DEGREE THAT WE TRUST HIM!!!!! FAITH BUILDING IS ESSENTIAL IN A BELIEVER’S LIFE, AND GOD HAS TWO PRIMARY MEANS OF DOING THIS: 1)SCRIPTURE – It tells us what to believe about God and Jesus Christ!! We MUST read God’s Holy Word to build our faith!!! 2)TESTS – They place us in difficult situations and circumstances that stretch us to believe and rely on GOD, instead of relying on our own understanding! Each time we believe HIM, our faith grows!!! GOD HAS A GOAL TO INCREASE OUR FAITH AT OUR LOCAL CHURCHES, AS WELL, SO HE CAN DO THE WORK IN US FOR OUR COMMUNITIES HE HAS PLANNED! IF OUR FAITH IS GREAT, HE WILL ENTRUST US WITH CHALLENGES & ACHIEVE AMAZING THINGS THROUGH US!! THE QUESTION IS, "IS OUR FAITH GREAT OR SMALL?" --- YOU MUST DECIDE!!