The Measure of Faith (1/23/12)

Shalom,

Please begin by reading Rom 12:3-8.

We need to begin by saying that faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. We've all heard some people brag about their faith, meaning they've attained to some high level of faith through their personal efforts.. Some "faith" teachers even try to convince us that we can create faith, somehow tapping into a great reservoir of supernatural powers. We need to be aware of 1 Cor 4:7. "What do you have that Yahweh hasn't given you?" If faith is a gift from Yahweh, how can we get puffed up as if it's our own doing which brought about our spiritual ability?

Faith is of the Holy Spirit, and according to Rom 14:23, "whatever is not of faith is sin." There's nothing of the Spirit which is accomplished by the efforts of our flesh or mind. Only the Holy Spirit can produce the gifts of the Spirit within us. We can't somehow work up more faith by our personal efforts. We must be obediently following our Lord and Master before we can expect to grow in faith. Yes, our efforts to be obedient will help us grow in faith, but it's more about our Father's faithfulness than our human efforts.

According to verse 3 Yahweh has given all Christians an adequate measure of faith. Measure means "what is apportioned." We each receive an adequate measure, a due portion from the hand of our Lord. All individuals in the Body of Christ have a measure of faith which is adequate and sufficient to meet our every need. It's not necessary for us to generate more faith. What's required is that we access and use what's already been provided to us.

We need faith to live properly in this world. Thanks to our Creator, we've all been given enough faith to please him and serve him. The most common teaching about the measure of faith is that it's the amount of faith necessary to get saved. This teaching states that everyone gets the same amount of faith to enable everyone to get saved. The problem with this definition is that we're all individuals and we need differing amounts of faith to account for these differences. Different people have to come through different circumstances and situations than others. And this teaching only refers to the measure of faith given to help the lost understand the Gospel, where Paul is applying it more to the maturing walk of Christians.

A better definition is that the measure of faith is the amount of faith necessary to do whatever Yahweh expects us to do. How can we be held accountable for something Yahweh hasn't given to us? Jesus could ask the disciples, "Where is your faith?," because he knew his Father had given them the necessary amount (Luke 8:22-25). Somehow they'd misplaced it or laid it aside or placed their faith in something else. If we're walking in right relationship with our Lord and Master we should always have the measure of faith necessary for the situation we're in.

And because we can't build up our own faith, there should be no comparing ourselves with other people. Faith is the power of Jesus at work in you and through you. It's not about what other people are doing, or how they do it. We need to ensure that we're responsibly using the measure of faith which our Father has given to us. There's no contest to be won for having the most faith. There are heavenly prizes to be won for being obedient in using the gifts provided for our Kingdom work.

The measure of faith comes when we hear the Holy Spirit speak a word to us right now. If you've been reading your Bible, listening to good preaching/teaching, and seeking the will of your Father in heaven; you should be able to fully understand these timely instructions from the Spirit. Rom 10:17 tells us that "Faith comes from hearing the message of the Word of our Messiah." If we want more faith, we need to have more of Yahweh's Word. There are numerous admonitions within the Bible telling us to hide the Word in our hearts or learn its precepts. So why do we insist on other ways of acquiring faith?

This passage from Romans is written to Christians, part of our instructions for right living. The measure of faith we should be concerned with right now is the one which gives us exactly what we need to accomplish the tasks our Lord assigns to us. All of us, all born-again believers, have already received the measure of faith necessary to believe in Jesus as our Savior. Now we need to access the measure of faith necessary to be good workers in his Kingdom.

What happens to the measure of faith given to us is fully dependent on what we do with it. Little faith means we used less than the measure provided. If Jesus were to ask any of us, "Where is your faith?," it would be evidence of the fact that we've failed him somehow. It also points out that we didn't use the measure of faith provided for whatever Jesus is speaking to us about. Like the disciples, we most likely doubted it was good enough to do the task or we set it aside and didn't have it available to complete the task.

Faith doesn't become strong or great until it becomes NOW faith. NOW faith does what it should right now. We often ask for more faith for the future. We should be asking for more faith right now. We should be wanting to affect our world right now. We should be desiring to do miracles right now. Trying to build up a reserve for the future is the wrong way of doing this faith thing. Applying what's been provided in the moment is how we'll learn to handle more of what the Holy Spirit's trying to share with us.

Our problem really isn't that we don't have enough faith, but more that we don't access what's been provided. If we've been assigned to do something for our Lord, we've already been given the adequate amount of faith to complete the task. Just being assigned to do something should bless us. No matter what we think about our abilities, our heavenly Father believes we're ready for the task. We need more trust and obedience, not more knowledge or understanding or faith.

In spite of the fact that we don't like to hear this: Strong faith is built in Christians through tough experiences. If something is easy, the level of faith necessary will be equally small. If something is more difficult, the level of faith required rises as necessary. The ability to handle the amount of faith necessary to take on tougher tasks is built into us through our experiences, through our efforts, through our ongoing attempts to pleasingly serve our Lord and Master. The only way to increase our faith is to use it as it's provided, so we can learn to handle ourselves in ever-increasing levels of difficulty.

Faith is always good for one more time. You know there's no anointing for parking yourself and avoiding the tough traffic of life. Don't expect the Holy Spirit to work through you until you get your motor running and put your engine in gear. The measure of faith is already available. There's enough fuel in your tank to finish your task, or more will provided when required. Quit trying to tell Yahweh how to do his business. He knows each of us well enough to know what we're capable of doing. We need to trust that he's not leading us into failure.

Don't forget yesterday's encounter with Yahweh. Expect it to help you deal with your next situation. Learn from your experiences, the mistakes and the triumphs. What you've already faced has prepared you to take your next step, to go to the next place, to deal with the next person. Your Master is teaching you how to be more like himself. You're his apprentice, learning his ways for an eternal purpose. And he has great and amazing plans for all of us.

Too often we waste time speaking evil over situations. We're filled with doubts and misgivings about these situations. Look to Jesus and find his source of faith. Find the measure of faith which has already been given to you to overcome this situation instead of wallowing in emotional weakness. Encourage yourself and others by your words and actions. Believe what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, and faithfully speak encouragement to yourself. Don't let the counterfeit lion, the devil, make you lose sight of the Lion of Judah.

Keep growing and learning. Our education in Christ our Lord never stops. The restoration of spiritual fullness to true followers of Jesus never stops. None of us should come to the place where we don't understand what others are talking about when they're discussing Kingdom business. None of us should be lagging so far behind to be clueless about our Father's business. Don't be lagging behind by your own lack of personal effort.

Each of us has the measure of faith necessary to move to the next spiritual level, and the next level and the next level. If you feel you're being left out, access what's already in place for your use. Do what you're able to do through the measure of faith your Lord has given to you. That measure of faith is always sufficient for the task at hand, if the task is Spirit-led.

Blessings & Peace, Mike