FAITH IS GOD'S GREATEST GIFT

FAITH IS GOD’S GREATEST GIFT
This message may shock some folks and I am praying with all of my heart it will. There are all kinds of faith and we use them constantly. For instance do you ever get in an elevator? I was stuck in one recently and for a while my faith in its ability to take me up and down was in severe doubt. Even now I pray when I get in, “Lord, let this thing work.” My faith in it was greatly shaken. Have you ever experienced something similar?
The measure of faith all are born with is the same. I can see and touch the elevator but I can’t touch God or His Son Jesus. God is Spirit and Jesus is at His right hand interceding for us. When Satan comes to accuse our Advocate is there to defend us. Isn’t that awesome?
Now this isn’t true for everyone. It’s the result of our giving up of our lives for His, using our faith. It’s the Spirit of Jesus now in us that makes us God’s property. We were able, at some point in our lives, to hear and understand the Gospel message. As sinners we understood, again by God’s grace, that we were lost [separated] from Almighty God. We needed help and Jesus was revealed as the Only One who could and would clean us of a sinful attitude and the record of our sins. When we came to realize He had to die for us, something special happened in our hearts, we felt remorse.
Remorse led to an appeal for God’s forgiveness and instantly we had it Not only did the Lord forgive us but He had the record of our sins removed from the Books to be opened on Judgment Day. And to top this, He instructed an angel to write our names in the Little Book of Life. This is the listing of those who will live in Heaven as adopted sons and daughters of God.
This happened for me on May 23rd in 1971, easily the best day in my life. Since that day I’ve wanted everyone to experience God’s forgiveness. He chose me to do write and for over 30 years I’ve written what He places in my heart. Once written and shared, it’s like the parable where Jesus said the farmer cast the seed and some of it falls on good ground, rocky soil, thorn bushes and the hard path. Only on the good ground can it take root and grow. As it grows it is to reproduce. Jesus said 100, 60 or 30 times as much. I asked for a million times and if He tarried and I got my million I wanted another million. You see, I was forgiven much and I love much.

How about you? Do you have the assurance that Jesus hung on the cross in your place? Until you do, how in the world can you surrender your life to an invisible Jesus? To be honest, you can’t. What you will end up with is religion. True Christianity isn’t a religion but an intimate relationship.
I lived in it for nearly 33 years and know the difference. God gave me “extra faith” after claiming me. He placed an insatiable appetite in me to read the scriptures. Getting up an hour early [4:30] I would read 10 chapters from my Bible after asking the Holy Spirit to teach me. This went on for decades and even this morning I spent time in His Word. There is no way I want my faith to weaken. If you feel weak in your faith admit it to Him and ask Him to give you a hunger too. I love the Amplified Bible!
There’s a special faith imparted by the Holy Spirit to do miracles. Did you know Jesus told His disciples, “The things I do you will do and even greater things shall you do. For I go to the Father that the Father may be glorified in My Name?“ I suspect greater here means “more” for what can be greater than raising the dead?
I’ve seen and been a part of God miracles. I even received one when He healed my dislocated knee while riding in a game warden’s truck. Moments before the pain was unbearable, now it was gone. All I did was witness to the guy how Jesus had healed a cousin who had been hit by a car. I repeated her words to her husband and sister who knew she had to be dead. “I’m OK, Jesus is here with me.” She knew Jesus and He knew Peggy who trusted Him.
I cried out to him when I hit the ground. The limb I was sitting upon broke and the fall of about 8 feet was enough since my leg was under me. I can’t begin to describe the pain and how it increased when I was able to get my knee to “pop” back into joint. Instantly all pain left and my confidence in God’s willingness to heal His children was confirmed. I was desperate and when I called to Him for help, He was there, “all the time”.
Do you use desperate faith? He will be there for you too, “all the time“. Remember, faith like love is a verb, an action word.
In His Service,
Capt. Ben Marler captben61@gmail.com