faith... a beginning

In the next few paragraphs, let's stroll down a path that has multiple steps along the way. These are the steps of faith; the ones we always hear about. In this journal entry or entries, we are attempting to showcase ‘faith’ and the what, how, and more please of it. Let’s get going…

And Mary said, “May everything you have said about me come true (Luke 1: 38).” Amen. May everything you have said about me come true… What a statement of faith! To believe what was spoken without question is quite the triumph. God’s angel then departed after her statement. It was the expanse of a normal pregnancy that Mary delivered into this world the Savior of it. What a testimony she has and is!

Then after her delivery she had some interesting visitors that told of a heavenly visitation that pointed them to her child. Mary listened and pondered in her heart what had been said by the shepherds (Luke 2: 19). This is something to find a faith so novel and trusting. The spoken word that was received became a fulfilled belief. “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’) (Isaiah 7: 14).”

Mary had a delicate and strong faith. When Jesus was around 12 years old he didn’t follow his family home from the temple, but stayed talking with the religious teachers asking and answering questions. Jesus was perplexed when they came looking for Him as if not knowing He’d be there. But Mary listened to her young son and stored it up in her heart (Luke 2: 42-52).

Looking back at Mary’s journey we can see and hear her faith. She stored up these beliefs that were shared with her in her heart. Words of faith had been spoken to her and she believed them. What words have been spoken over you? Are you ready to have one spoken over you?

In Jeremiah, we find that the Lord has plans for us. Ones that are for a better and brighter future (29:11). And in Romans we find that we have been made right in His eyes. This covers it all from the beginning to the end by faith (Romans 1: 17)… In this manner Mary believed and had faith. If Mary had faith to believe the impossible spoken by Isaiah the prophet being announced to her by the angel Gabriel, then shouldn’t we have it too?

To have it, maybe we should start with what it is, faith. Hebrews describes faith as the reality and evidence of things we hope for but can’t see yet (11:1). I would say faith is the process of an expectation that finds clues or has clues pointing the way forward. It involves movement, participation, and action by the person using it. Mary believed and her body reassured her with clues that she was holding the Word, literally! So the spoken word became belief and stored in her heart.

Now Mary’s faith started by hearing the word spoken from the angel Gabriel. And Paul tells us this too: “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ (Romans 10: 17).” Then faith is something we participate in. It is real but not quite seen, an expected hope, or belief. Faith has to be heard and planted, but not just in the mind, in the heart too.

Here is another take on faith, according to Jesus, it is like a seed.

Talking with crowds and disciples, Jesus drew comparisons of faith to a seed, this particular story was about a mustard seed and it had great potential. The seed would become the largest of plants in the garden, in fact, it would become a tree where birds would make their homes (Matthew 13: 31-32). Then the Lord drew another comparison of seeds of faith. If your faith was the size of the mustard seed, it could move a mountain (Matthew 17: 20).

Inside your heart is a garden of fertile soil or ground. This is where faith is planted and allowed to grow or die. If the ground is taken to by a gardener with plows, water, fertilizer, and such, it can flourish when the seed is dropped. But if the seed is scattered on the footpath it is like being snatched away. The seed will never take root. If it is tossed on rocky ground it will wither quickly. But if the seed lands on the tilled ground where the gardener had prepped, it will succeed marvelously (Matthew 13: 18-23)!

Jesus knew how to relate complex topics into the simplest of stories for the people to digest. I’m thankful for that! So faith is a seed with the belief of something greater to come. Hope will feed the seed and help it grow. Sometimes it will be pruned by the gardener to allow it to expand even more. Remember in the book of John, Jesus tells us that He is the vine and Papa God is the gardener (15: 1-2). The job is His and we just receive what He does.

Sometimes faith grows but doesn’t manifest and this is problematic. Jesus gave a parable about a fruitless fig tree in Luke and that tree was on the cusp of being removed (Luke 13: 6-9). James backs up this parable with saying, “faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless (2:17).” Again the apostle John warns of being lukewarm, or what I would say is fruitless faith, if you were found lukewarm, God would spit you out (Revelation 3: 16).

Take heed to have a fruitful and enlivened faith that bears fruit, period. James said that he would show you his faith by the deeds he did (2: 18). It is time for us, to hear the word the Lord is speaking. Hold on to it with an expectation, then be fruitful. “…may He equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen (Hebrews 13: 21).” Faith is an expected hope!

Godspeed, The Journeyman

Ps. This entry begins the initial steps of what faith is. Just believe. Sometimes it is difficult understanding these mysterious principles so using stories helps illuminate the hidden meanings. There be other parts of this topic, one which preceded this entry.

Isaiah 7: 14 NLT “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”

Jeremiah 29: 11 NLT “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’”

Matthew 13:31-32 NLT “…The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

Matthew 17:20 KJV “‘You don’t have enough faith.’ Jesus told them. ‘I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

Luke 1: 38 NLT “Mary responded, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.’ And the angel left her.”

Luke 2: 19 NLT “…but Mary kept all these things in her heart and though about them often.”

Luke 2: 51 NLT “…And his mother stored all these thing in her heart.”

Luke 13: 6-9 NLT “Then Jesus told this story: ‘A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’” “The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not , then you can cut it down.’”

Luke 17:6 KJV “And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.’”

John 15: 1-2 NLT “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the. Branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

Romans 1: 17 NLT “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 10: 17 NLT “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

Hebrews 11:1 NLT “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”

Hebrews 13: 21 NLT “may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.”

James 2:17-18 NLT “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ But I say, ‘How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.’”

Revelation 3:16 NLT “But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”