Bright Hope For Dark Days, Pt. 3

Matthew 17:20 “If you have faith…nothing will be impossible for you.”

VIDEO

Warren Wiersbe said, “It’s not the fact of life that determines hope, but the faith of life.”

Rock solid faith is needed for the dark days we live in and I believe that rock solid faith helps to bring light to anyone’s life – no matter what! Please don’t think of strong faith as a nicety for life, but rather a necessity for life! When the bottom drops out of life, rock solid faith will support us every time!

The scriptures teach that no one can really say they don’t have faith, because Romans 12:3 tells us that “The Lord has dealt to every man a measure of faith.”

Please don’t think faith is some card game to God! He takes faith, strong faith, rock solid faith very seriously in our lives!

Maybe someone here today feels like this 4th grade boy who was riding the bus home from church feeling very proud of the big card he had made, which had a picture of a sunny sky and a caption that read: “Have Faith in God.” Then all of the sudden the card slipped from his hands and flew out the window of the bus, then he yelled out, “Stop the bus! I’ve lost my faith in God!’”

Hebrews 11:6 “For without faith it is impossible to please God.”

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves, it is a gift of God.”

The CHALLENGE is - if we can place faith in Christ as a saving Savior for eternity, why can’t we place faith in Christ as a sustaining Savior for every day?

1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your cares on the Lord, for He cares for you.”

• “Casting” = continuous action of throwing something.

• “Cares” = anxiety

• “Cares” = intense concern

BALL ILLUSTRATION thrown to the audiance. Now notice what I can’t do – grab them back!

So you can literally read that verse like this: “Continually throw anything far way that causes anxiety, because God is intensely concerned about your life.” PDV-Pastor Dave Version

If you want to get rid of a hurt – you have permission to throw it on the Lord!

If you want to get rid of anger – throw it on the Lord!

If you want to get rid of anxiety – throw it on the Lord!

If you want to get rid of depression – throw it on the Lord!

If you want to get rid of an addiction – throw it on the Lord!

If you want to get rid of fear – throw it on the Lord, He’s intense about you!

It’s the greatest transfer we can ever experience!

Another reason solid rock faith is so important is because it affects 3 major areas of our relationship with God:

• Our loyalty to God.

• Our labor with the Spirit.

• Our legacy in Christ. Abraham, David and Paul’s example!

LIFEPOINT: God’s responsibility is to give us a “measure of faith”, while our responsibility is to go with whatever “measure of faith” we have!

Rock Solid Faith Comes Through:

1. The Object of Our Faith. Vs. 1-4

Faith is never any better than its object and the object of our faith is GOD! That means our greatest ambition in life is to know God and the better we know God the more solid our faith will be!

Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.”

Fix your eyes on just how great and awesome He is!!

Psalm 9:10 “Those who know His name will put their trust in Him.”

Daniel 11:32 “The people who know their God shall be strong and hold fast their faith.” CEV

Side note: strong faith is not positive thinking about self, but powerful thinking about God!

Matthew 17:20 “…if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” NIV

The object is not in the size of your seed, but the size of your God!

FOLKS: here’s the key - you can have the biggest faith with the smallest God and get nothing done or you have the smallest faith with the biggest God and nothing is impossible!!

This is no excuse to neglect the development of your faith! Faith is a dynamic muscle that has to grow!

Seed has its stages just as our faith has stages of growth over time.

2. The Origin of Our Faith. Vs. 8,14

So if the object of our faith is God then the origin of our faith is His word!

John 17:6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”