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Faith the invisible force

Hebrews 11: 1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." How can we make our faith grow stronger?

To believe in God given abilities to do powerful things and that miracles really do happen. We must look deep within ourselves. How much hate , unforgiveness, greed, selfishness do you have lurking there? These types of things do not make good bedfellows with the invisible force of faith.

2 Timothy 2: 22 "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteous- ness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the lord out of a pure heart." This is the rich soil for growing in faith. Another great source of growing in faith is believing that God is All-in-All... That Jesus is his only begotten Son. That Jesus died on the cross that we may have eternal life. Many more miracles happen in the third world than they do here because the ones accepting the Lord are not steeped in doubt, unbelief and sophistication. They come to Christ as little children. At times we are too engrossed in what's going on around us to really step into that invisble world of faith.

The scriptures have a perfect example of this. Millions of people are familiar with the happenings at the crucifixion of Jesus. I'd like to return to that scene of long ago. A fabulous lesson of growing in faith awaits us.

The scripture tells us that Jesus talked often of his rising from the grave in three days:
Matthew 27: 62&63 "The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priest and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 'Sir,' they said, 'we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' "

Mark 8: 31 & 32 "He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again." He spoke plainly about this. Why then did Jesus's deciples and followers who knew him as the Son of God, watched him heal and raise people from the dead, not believe him?

I'm using the text found in Matthew: 27, We find Jesus before Pilot. Pilot believes Jesus is innocent but for political correctness he has Jesus condemned to be crucified. He also washes his hands of any innocent blood as if he could cleanse himself of guilt. To make matters worse, he has him flogged before he hands him over to the soldiers. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and set it on his head and took a staff and struck Jesus on the head again and again. Can you possibly imagine how deep those thornes were drivens into Jesus skull? I believe now Jesus was so blinded from his blood pouring into his eyes he couldn't see to carry his own cross. His back was so flayed, a man named Simon, was forced to carry Jesus's cross.

Jesus was led to Golgotha. There the soldiers lay him down on the waiting cross and began pounding the nails into his hands and feet. This being accomplished they picked up the cross and dropped it into the hole prepared for it. The jolt had to be excruciating. Jesus languished on that cross for many hours. Did this son of God feel this pain? Yes, because he was also Mary's son, the son of man. During all of this agony was there a time of dispair? Yes, He had to feel dispair because he was human as we are. He cried out to his father, 'My God, my God why have you forsaken me?' When Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. After Jesus died one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear bringing a sudden flow of blood and water (John19:34).

The body of Christ when taken from the cross was a bloodless corpse. He had poured out all of his blood that we might have eternal life. After watching this devastating scene and seeing Jesus's ravaged body, his loved ones mentally moved from things hoped for but not seen to the here and now. The promise of I will rise again was placed in the realm of the impossible. But in three days Jesus was alive and well, seeking out his deciples to prove that he always kept his promises. Even then some of them doubted and Jesus said, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." John 20:27

When the storms of life pour in upon us. The struggle of life and death, sorrow, dissapointments, sickness, heartbreaks... we begin to lose sight of the promises of Christ. We are consumed with the impossible just like the deciples of long ago. Our deliverance will come from faith, 'the invisable force.'

Heb.11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

MATT.17:20 "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. 21:22 "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask in prayer."

These verses are only the tip of the iceberg. Search the scriptures, you will be amazed. My next article is about a family who used these faith principles during a time of great tragedy.