The Faith that Jesus Called Great Faith

By David Frobisher

There is a certain kind of faith that Jesus described as being great faith.  It meant that there were other kinds of faith that were not great.  This great faith as described in this book came from recognizing the heavenly spiritual authority to intervene in the worldly uncontrollable affairs.  It takes character to

• Language: English
• Publisher: Upfront
• Release date: Jan 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781780351650

Book preview

Introduction

In modern society, how Man came into existence is debated. Many theories have been and gone, yet Man is continuing to realize his full potential. Some believe that Man came into existence by a mistake or accident that happened deep in the atmosphere causing a big bang. Well, there still remains the mystery of how an accident could create a brain as intelligent as that of Man.

If we consider Man from the Stone-Age era, he started using stones as a tool to create other gadgets. There were no schools for training; all these technologies were acquired on a trial and error basis. The cold weather then seems to have been a stinger and chilling to the very bone. But Man invented a way to get around that also. He found a way of covering himself, still being propelled by a mystery, an inner drive. Some may call it courage, confidence, ability, creativity, but I choose to call it faith.

Faith is an eye that sees the unseen. Faith is the hand that touches the invisible. Faith is the seed that turns a barren woman into a mother. Faith is an extract from a plant that produces a cure for the incurable. Faith is the invisible blue print that produces the visible masterpiece.

There is a certain culmination, an urge to reach the highest point of altitude, if you may. We all have an internal urge to reach an upper level in life. If it is in sports, we compete to stand highest on the podium. In education, we study hard to achieve the highest grades available. We always tend to do more to be promoted to higher positions at work. It has been and will always be our hearts’ desire to reach the higher things in life.

Man has endeavoured to connect spiritually, and in some cases physically, to find those perceived higher celestial or divine beings. At one point in time, people tried to build a tower that was intended to reach into the heavens.

Genesis 11:4

And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’

NKJV

I believe that the faith within was attracting them to a divine being whom they had not seen but felt existed. We read in:

Acts 17:22-23

"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.’"

NKJV

They made an altar for Him yet they did not know His name. They were worshipping Him yet they had never seen Him. However much we distance ourselves from God, we will always be drawn to reflect on Him, whether through nature, consciousness or judgment. You might wonder how they knew He existed!

Man had sensed and had encounters with a foreign being or power, although he had not known Him by name. Man has always looked up to heaven in anticipation of finding answers from that foreign power. He started calling those floating things in the air gods. He called the sun a god of light, and the moon a god of darkness and so on. He named many gods according to the assumed provisions he got from those celestial bodies. The sun provided both light and heat. The sky provided that much needed rain so Man felt a certain connection between himself and what was happening above. Man was enthusiastic to ascertain His dealings in all things that were around him.

Man’s inventions continued to develop at a terrific speed, and he named animals and every child who was born into the family. Well, Man knew that there was a being above without knowing His name. Today, we pay very little attention and significance to the names we choose for our children. We create names that may sound unique, whether they make sense or not. One family made up a name for their son to involve the mother, father and their deceased dog’s name. The mother was Diana, the father was Martin and their dead dog was Tez. They named their son Dimatez after their dead dog.

During the time of a man called Moses, this divine being approached him. It was a taunting situation; a mixture of fear and amazement. God was sending Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt. Moses grew up as an Egyptian without knowing this God.

However, the children of Israel knew this God through their ancestors. Here we see a man who did not know this God who was sending him. He was being sent to the people who had known this God from their ancestors.

Nevertheless, according to the question Moses put to God, it seems to me that Moses knew that without him being able to tell others the name of the God who had sent him, the mission would be placed in jeopardy. Unlike in other peoples’ fables, the children of Israel knew the God of their forefathers. It also appears to me that by knowing God’s name, Moses would also have so much revealed about God’s character. The name can tell much about a person and we should pay particular attention to it.

Exodus 3:13-14

Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, what is His name? what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. NKJV

However, cunningly, man has tried to distance himself from this foreign divine being, the faith within man attracts him back to this God like a magnet. Just because you divorced your parents and cut off all communication, doctors may still find some health conditions that could link you back to them. We were created by faith and that faith will always link us back to God who created us by faith. Remember, a fruit will never be independent from its seed, however established a fruit may appear. It will always carry the genetic make up of the seed that it proceeded from. Join me on this journey I have called great faith. Our ancestors found it, walked in it, practiced it and never regretted it. They practiced faith because faith has to act according to circumstances.

James 2:17-18

Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. NKJV

FAITH

Hebrews 11:1-3

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it (faith) the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things, which are seen were not made of things which are visible. NKJV

These are some of the cornerstone verses of our faith as Christians. These are some of my favourite verses in the entire Bible. They teach us that God created us with a creative power already residing in us, as we will see and discover. Jesus went on to affirm that in:

John 14:12

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. NKJV

That is a promise and the promises of God are Yes and Amen. It up to us to believe these promises and walk according to what we have believed.

Matthew 16:8-10

But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? NKJV

Little faith is so dangerous because it builds a failing attitude and puts God in the same category. Little faith or a lack of it, contemplates that conditions that could destroy a person might even destroy God in the process. Little faith can cause a person to utter things, and yet the heart is not in line with what the mouth confesses.

Jesus wondered how long he would be with His disciples who only ever had little faith. If you have a child showing no progress academically or mentally, but growing physically, you would begin to wonder how he would live should something bad happen to you. Jesus noticed this condition in His disciples because their faith was not growing. For all they had witnessed, they had not grasped that the creation could not destroy the creator.

Matthew 8:23-27

Now when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing.’ But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. NKJV

Faith perceives triumph when tragedy strikes but the natural law sees failure in a disaster. The disciples put Jesus on the same footing as their little faith.

Faith has nothing to do with how many years you have walked with Christ. You do not have to be a Christian to exercise your faith in the word of God. If we consider a light switch, whether it is a cat that has flipped it, or a man, the light will come on. God put faith principles in place and they are activated by whoever walks in them. The disciples walked with Jesus but their faith was so little that it could do nothing to counteract people’s challenges. There is a saying in Christian circles that, Confession brings possession. Faith is not something you confess frequently. Faith is a heart-felt, undiluted, uncompromising, unwavering belief in God’s promise concerning an issue. Faith can more easily be articulated than exercised.

According to Webster’s Universal Dictionary, Faith means "trust or confidence in a person or a thing, assurance, reliance and truthfulness". Anything less than this is doubt or disbelief. Doubt means "a lack of confidence in something, to be suspicious, to distrust, to be uncertain". Unbelief looks like a twin brother to doubt because unbelief means scepticism.

People who are so sophisticated, with a substantial educational background, find it baffling to believe in God because the more they study, the further they drift away into scientific findings and jargon. They conclude that, if something cannot be proven scientifically, then it is not a fact, and that is science. They rely on scientific findings and jargon for explanations. The problem is that God cannot be found by mere study, He can only be believed in. When we survey history, God has mostly worked with non-educated, unsophisticated people because they tend to believe whatever God says in His word. They believe whole-heartedly without being sceptical. God will never be found through scientific examinations because He is Spirit.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."

NKJV

Men did not believe in Jesus since they expected the miracles he did to proceed from a more appropriate source. They anticipated that these wonders should come from a more sophisticated family. How could this carpenter draw such a crowd rather than someone educated? Smith Wigglesworth was always scorned for not speaking with the right grammar, but he shook nations through his faith in God’s word. Diseases and demons do not understand grammar. The language that works is a language of faith in God.

Let’s look at:

Matthew 13:54-57

"When he [Jesus] had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? ‘Where then did this man get all these things?’ So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘a prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house.’"

NKJV

What makes you stand out in the supernatural is not how lettered you are. What makes you stand out is faith that breaks through the impossible. You may not have good spoken English; you may not have an American or British accent. Faith can position those with better accents under you, seeing that you can look into their future through faith. I do not desire an accent that will not cure my affliction. I do not care how eloquent you are if I am going to return home with my sickness after you preach a nice sermon to me with an American accent. It is only faith that will cause a change. Hallelujah!

At one time Jesus said in:

Matthew 17:20

"So Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief, for assuredly, I say to you, if