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(John 2:1-9) “On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, why do you involve Me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water;” so they filled them to the brim. Then He told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.”
I. How Strong is Your Faith
II. Growing Your Faith
III. Walking in Faith Continually
I. How Strong is Your Faith?
How strong is your faith? Do you truly believe that God will answer your prayers?
(Hebrews 11:1) “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
The Word of God says that if you believe you will receive what you are asking for. Do you truly believe? Are you truly believing that God will answer your prayers? Or is it hope?
(Mark 11:24) “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
As a child of God, saved by grace, you have peace with the Father knowing that by the blood of Jesus Christ, He has purified your heart. You can go to Him with confidence in knowing that He loves you. (Romans 5:1-2) “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
You are saved by grace. Through that grace and the love of your Heavenly Father, He gives you a faith and trust in Him. This is just one way in which God shows His love for us.
(Romans 12:3) “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
II. Growing Your Faith—How do you grow in faith?
1. As you read the Word of God and do His will your faith will grow.
(Romans 10:17) “Consequently faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.”
2. As you go through trials your faith is increased as you learn that God is there for you and wants the best for you. Even in difficult times, God does understand if at times your faith is weak. For someone who is a new Christian, the Lord will show in ways special to you, that He is there for you to build up your faith. Even the disciples had trouble with that, and they lived with Jesus.
(Luke 17:5-6) “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
3. As you act in faith, and dare to trust God; start small, and He answers your prayers, your faith and trust in God will bring you peace, and your faith will grow. Where there is complete trust, there is no worry and where there is no worry, there is peace.
(Romans 15:13) “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
As you trust in God you will know that He will always be there to lead and guide you in all circumstances.
(Proverbs 3:5-6) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
As you trust in the Lord you will know that you can cast all your burdens on the Lord and He will take care of them. He does this because He loves you.
(Psalm 55:22) “Cast all your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you, He will never let the righteous fall.”
(Isaiah 46:4) “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
III. Walking in Faith Continually
There is only 3 things to keep your faith living daily in complete trust.
1. Stay close to God—prayer, word, devotion, church.
2. In trials keep going, knowing “God is faithful toward all of His promises and loving toward all He has made. (Psalm 145:13)
3. Do NOT put God in a box, give Him a time limit expecting Him to answer in a certain way or time frame. HE is God and His ways are higher than ours, He knows exactly what to do, when to do, and what WE need to learn through it or before He can answer it.
In II Kings 1, there is a story about King Ahaziah and the accident that took him to his sickbed. What stood out to me the most in this story was Elijah's faith. He gave a word about King Ahaziah that he would never leave his sickbed because he sought Baal-zebub god of Ekron instead of God. Ahaziah did not like that word and sent a captain and 50 men out to retrieve Elijah. He did this 2x and each time Elijah called down fire from heaven. That is what stood out to me --it was Elijah's faith to call down fire from heaven on them not once but twice and expect without hesitation and it happened. A captain and 50 of the king’s men were out to retrieve him for the king and he was not scared but had complete faith in God. He had so much faith and confidence that there wasn’t even a little bit of fear. (Hebrews 10:35-37) “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.”
I want that kind of faith and I am still on my way to it. I must admit there are times when I am surrounded by trouble and fear tries to rear its ugly head and I have to remind myself that God, “will never fail or forsake me” and “If God be for us then who can be against us.” (Romans 8:31)
In II Chronicles 20, 3 vast armies were coming against Jehoshaphat, and the Lord told him that it was HIS battle and not Jehoshaphat’s. They were to do nothing but march out and face their adversaries and praise God. Then God did all the rest and they got to keep the plunder! Your greatest battle will turn out to be your greatest treasure if you stay in faith. Faith takes action, sometimes it is doing something, like going about your daily business trusting that God will come through and sometimes it is patiently waiting in faith without fretting and knowing that any day your provision will come. (Psalm 37:3-4) “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” “Do good,” means to keep about your daily business and proceed as if you already had the manifested answer to your prayers. It means to listen to your heart and proceed as God directs your heart. (Proverbs 20:24) “
A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can any man understand his own way?”
Elijah prayed for rain after he killed the 450 Baal prophets and prayed for God to burn up a totally drenched in water altar. It did not come right away he kept praying and sent his servant out to keep watch. His servant came back 6 times and on the seventh--when he went back he saw a small cloud in the distance. This means that just because you go through one day in the midst of your turmoil in complete faith, to keep going. It may not happen the very next day so go through the next day and the next and the next and so on until it finally comes to pass. God is faithful and will answer, (Psalm 145:13) “The Lord is faithful to all of His promises and loving toward all He has made.”Don't always look for the answer to come in big bold ways but look for it in small blessings. "Do not despise small beginnings." Sometimes they will grow into bigger opportunities if we stay in faith. Sometimes God's deliverance is a progression that not only provides for us but in the process we grow and learn just as the blind man who Jesus healed. His sight was given to him gradually. At first, it was "I see people walking around as trees." God has always been faithful to you and took care of you, you have made it through every storm you have endured so far? He became your Father the moment you received Jesus as Lord. Did He quit? No! He is always your Father and will always provide and protect.
(Philippians 1:6) “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Ask God in this trial, "What are You trying to teach me?" Then it will turn into a treasure instead of a trial when you learn the answer and God will move you on. There is a season for everything.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1) “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
If you are still in the trial, then there is more for you to learn.
(I Peter 1:3-9) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Trust God through the storms; He will not leave you nor will He forsake you and He will fulfill every promise and He will deliver you safely. You will come through it and be blessed beyond measure for trusting Him and allowing Him to mold you through the storm.
(II Chronicles 20:21-26) “After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
“Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. So, Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. On the fourth day, they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah to this day.”
Berakah means “blessings.” Jehoshaphat had 3 vast armies surrounding him and he sang praises to God instead of marching out in fear and instead of complaining and feeling sorry for himself. Trust God through your storm and like Jehoshaphat, the valley of your greatest trial will turn out to be your greatest blessing!
Through every burden you have, you know that you can go to the Lord with confidence knowing that He will help you. What an awesome show of love! God promises to take care of your needs, all you have to do is love, trust, and obey Him. His work seems to be a whole lot harder, because, talking from experience, we sure can make a mess out of things.
(Psalm 68:19) “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”
When you pray in faith and walk in that faith as if you have already received your answer, praising and worshiping God for the answer, it will pull the answer from the future into the present as it was done for Mary, mother of Jesus. Your faith will bring it to pass.
(Matthew 15:28) “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”