Mark 9.22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Jesus spoke these words of our devotional title to many people in the gospels. He was speaking of their faith in Him, not faith in their faith. Faith in God must be exercised if one is to experience the power of God. This woman who was diseased for 12 years had obviously heard about Jesus and His healing power. But she put her faith in Him into action. Jesus acknowledged such faith in Him. A faith that made her whole. Beloved, nobody else can develop your faith for you or me. Nobody else can put my faith into action but ourselves.
Faith to forgive, the faith to give, the faith to resist temptation or the faith to pray for others must go beyond the realm of doctrine to the realm of action. Faith in God build arks, it doesn’t simply look at the blueprint. Faith in God is always expressed by action. Faith in God is a verb. It can be seen. It can be heard. To the woman of ill repute who trusted in the forgiveness of Christ, and demonstrated that forgiveness by her lavish love for Him, Jesus said, thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. There is no such thing as faith that does nothing but dream. James tells us that faith without works is dead. Inactive. The Christian life from start to finish is a life of faith. From the faith in God to save my soul, to the faith in God to provide all of the grace that I need to walk with Him all of my days, to the faith in God to carry me into His presence in glory.
Beloved, we walk by faith, not by sight. Faith in God sees the invisible. Believes the impossible. Does the incredible. Whatever lies before you today, have faith in God. Faith to make that phone call. Faith to carry out that task at work. Faith to sit still and watch God work out that sticky situation. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Thus, to please God, and to receive those special blessings from God, we must reach out in faith and trust Him completely, both to will and to do of His good pleasure in our lives.
Great reminder. Needed that today.