‘And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health and complete wholeness in your presence.”
Acts 3:16 AMP
We read in the book of Acts about a miraculous healing of a man begging in front of the temple gate. What a picture of the failure of an established system of self-righteousness! Daily those who claimed to be worshiping God ignoring the needs that were right in front of them! James addressed this issue in his Epistle,
“What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient–genuine faith produces good works.] 15If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and lacks [enough] food for each day, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do? 17So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].”
James 2:14-17 AMP
I often hear, “I wish I had that kind of faith to see a lame man healed.” My answer is always the same, “you do!” Let me ask you a question, “did you go to bed last night believing that the alarm clock would wake you in time to go to work?” “Did you set the timer on the coffee pot to ready your morning brew?” Did you plug in the coffee pot believing that electric would be present to turn it on?” “Did you put coffee in the basket believing that it came from a safe and reputable source?” I think you get the idea!
Almost everything we do in life involves some degree of exercising faith! Living on this side of the world, it takes more than 12 hours of flight to reach the boarder of the United States. I can’t count the number of times that I have made the trip. Talk about a step of faith! Get in a metal tube, strap yourself on 100,000 lbs. of flammable Jet-A fuel, let a person you have never met lock themselves in a room at the front of the plane and accelerate down the runway at 180 mph, climb to 35,000 feet separated from suffocation by 1/8” of aluminum, have a meal and drink hot Starbucks coffee and then tell me you don’t have any faith? Really? We need to see the reality of the amount of faith we truly demonstrate! That trust then based upon the factual truths of laws that govern the universe.
Apollo 11, July 16-24, 1969, the United States succeeded in landing a man on the moon. This feat was accomplished using a primitive tool called a slide ruler and man’s brain power. With less computer power than what is in your mobile phone, the goal was accomplished. It was possible because of the uncacheable laws of physics, mathematics, and science. If then, we can trust and rely upon the rules of the corporal world, how much more can we trust the unchangeable laws and principles of the One who established those things?
Notice that in our opening verse the condition of the miracle to happen; “And on the basis of faith in His name.” It wasn’t something they had to work up, it was simply they accepted what Jesus had told them and then acted upon it! Faith then is the fuel of our actions and obedience. It the two, faith and actions working together to produce good fruit for the Kingdom of God! Each time we chose to act in faith it gives us more and more strength. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, faith is building greater and great each and every day. Just like those planning the moon shot, we must take small steps that ultimately leads us to the successful launch! Many failures and problems were encountered but the men and women involved believed in the truth and kept on the journey. If that can be done in the physical world just think about the possibilities in the Spiritual world! Have a blessed day, Pastor Ken