“… I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Luke 7:9).
When the other disciples told Thomas they had seen Jesus, he said, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25) When Jesus showed up, He said to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing” (John 20:27).
Thomas was “faithless” meaning he had “zero faith”; he had to see the Lord first with his physical eyes, and touch Him with His hands before he could believe the Lord had risen from the dead. Thomas exhibited faithlessness—“zero faith,” which in reality is no faith at all because faith is the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
When Jesus came walking on the water to His disciples, Peter asked Him “…Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water…” and Jesus said to Him “come” (Matthew 14:28)! Peter came walking on the water, until he saw the winds and waves and began to sink. The Bible says immediately, “Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (Matthew 14:31). That’s another category of faith—little faith.
Little faith is the result of insufficient information from God’s Word. The less of God’s Word you hear, the less faith you’ll have. Little faith exhibits fear and doubt. Little faith may get the job started but chickens out in the face of adversity. However, the Lord wants you to be like the centurion, of whom Jesus said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Luke 7:9). The centurion had said to Jesus, “Master, you don’t have to come to my house; stay where you are and speak the word, and my servant will be healed” (Luke 7:7-8). He had absolute confidence in the Word of the Master; that’s great faith.
Great faith is the result of more accurate information from God’s Word. So, don’t be discouraged if your faith has been little. What you need do is to grow your faith through the Word! You can place your order for teaching tapes, DVDs, books and other materials by Pastor Chris and Pastor Anita, that’ll help build your faith strong, log on to www.christembassyonlinestore.org.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for imparting faith into my spirit by the Holy Ghost, and teaching me the way to increase my faith daily through your Word, so that it becomes great faith which can accomplish much. I ask that you help me increase my appetite for your Word so my faith will grow to be strong and effective all the time, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Further Study
Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”
Matthew 15:28: “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour”
(Taken by permission from Christ Embassy Church , aka Believer’s LoveWorld Ministries , Lagos, Nigeria. www.ChristEmbassy.org )
