FAITH CAPSULE: Answering to title in and out of the church is not an evidence of faith.

Luke 17:11-19

Faith is responding with action to His command, while we are yet to receive our request. It is recorded that when Jesus entered a certain village ten lepers stood afar off lifted up their voices calling for mercy. Jesus responded, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.” (Luke 17:14) The lepers acted faithfully when they were redirected from crying out their request to go and show their bodies to the priest without having got their healing. Their healing came only when they were on their way (…it was that as they went, they were cleansed). Evidently, it is faith to respond by acting to have received request when answer to request is yet at hand.
Obviously, volumes of book will not be enough to identify great exploits that were faith rooted in the Bible. Operating faith is God provoking agent because the word makes us to realize that without faith God is not pleased. (Hebrews 11:6) If without faith God is not please, operating faith is what pleases God. Imagine what a father that is constantly pleased with his child will do to a pleasing child. In living life, there is no substitute for faith and let there be no backup plan in the place of faith.
Constant engagement with the source of faith (word of God) is what keeps faith growing and alive. A faith that is alive and growing is the kind of faith that God is looking for in us. Man’s title or position in or outside of the church is not the evidence of faith. Truly, faith is alive in many with title but busy programs are hindering spending time on the source that makes faith growth. Jesus addressed the issue of the quantity of faith in His conversation with His disciples. It is written, “And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 16:5-6) A mustard seed is a very small seed and when it is alive and growing it grows to become big. Do you want an increase faith just like the apostles? Titles will not increase faith; running of program at the maximum level or running from program to program is not a source of growing faith. Increase in studying the word; more attention to the word increases faith. Be faith-full and be pleasing to God in your walk of life.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace that causes man not to stop desiring for more of the word.