When Barnabas visited the church at Antioch, he saw the grace of God and was glad. (Acts 11:22,23) Obviously, for the grace of God to be visible, their faith was alive and evidenced by good works. Remember how the four men brought their hurting friend to Jesus? The Bible speaking of this event says that Jesus saw their faith.
True faith, living faith is one of substance. It’s an active verb, not simply a passive thought. The object of our faith is God. So, when we comprehend the grace of God, it will inspire a living faith in God. This living faith allows us to follow the footsteps of the saints of old that trusted in the Lord. Yes, “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” This faith in Jesus gives us a boldness even in the face of life’s “Goliaths!” Whenever we are choosing to believe in Jesus and not our conflicting feelings or thoughts, that’s a living, ‘walking’ faith.
It is not a matter of ‘if you have faith’, because every child of God has been given “a measure of faith.” This means the Lord measures enough faith to meet whatever the challenge. No, the question is whether or not you will exercise your faith, as did the woman with a twelve year bleeding problem. Remember also the spies who were defeated by doubt, not by the giants. A living faith believes the promises of God against all odds.
As we believe in Jesus, His mighty Spirit will stir us up to develop an ever increasing faith on a moment to moment basis. This growing faith will enable you to be glad because you know that God has begun a work in you, and He’s not about to quit!
