).png)
Faith That Can Move Mountains - Part 1: So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 (NKJV).
While the Bible is God’s revealed Word, it is revealed to us by way of language. God condescended, while He lowered Himself in order to speak to us in ways in which we would understand. Consider a father trying to communicate with his young child. The father has to condescend in order to be understood by the limited intellect and understanding of the child. “ On the days when nothing seems to go right, when the world seems entirely stacked up against you, when you feel you’ve lost all hope, it’s important to remember this passage and reflect on just how small a mustard seed is. In fact, it should be noted that mustard seeds are roughly 0.079 inches in diameter. And mountains? The smallest mountains are still over 1,000 feet above sea level. And as Jesus posits in this verse, faith the size of a mustard seed has the ability to move mountains. God wants us to pray to Him, but don’t pray if you have impure and unjust motives. Believers should start each day with out ocuses on not only your faith in God, but also about how we are supposed to have what is known as “mustard seed faith”. He will lead you and empower you to live in favor and blessing in every area of your life. We oftentimes let our “mountains” get the better of us, but if we have faith in God then he will help us move past our mountains and onto the life He has in store for us. As God faithfully pours out His grace upon us in the midst of each fiery trial, we can endure hardships and overcome the enemy in God’s strength.“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” Philippians 3:8-10 (NKJV).
Faith That Can Move Mountains - Part 2: “So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” Mark 11:22-23 (NKJV).
Faith that can move mountains is not meant to imply a faith that can literally move literal mountains. The point Jesus was making is that even a little bit of faith, which implies that faith the size of a tiny mustard seed can overcome and overtake mountainous obstacles that come to test and try your confidence and trust in the Lord. This type of faith that is greater, to be able to say to Mount Everest move from here to there and have it obey you; or to be able to move the Creator of the universe to intervene in a situation through prayer, and faith in His compassion, mercy, and grace. Therefore, it is clear from the context that Jesus does not intend to assert that mustard seed-sized faith can literally move mountains. Rather, the expression Jesus uses was a common colloquialism of that day; to a Jew of Jesus’ day, a mountain is a metaphor signifying a seemingly impossible task. God has assured us that He will not permit us to be attacked with trials or temptations that are too overwhelming for us to handle. He will grant us grace to be overcomers. No matter the size of your mountains, there are three simple ways that you can move mountains with faith alone:
(1) Your Simple Prayers Can Move Mountains:
In the darkest of times, it’s hard to imagine how prayer could do much good. When you’re down in the dumps and life still seems to be kicking you, it can be so easy just to resign yourself to that downtrodden fate. But, that’s not at all what God wants for His children. God is love, and He wants His children to live purposeful, meaningful lives. When it feels as though no one is on your side, and everything is going awry, reach out to your Heavenly Father. Your simple prayers can move mountains.
Faith That Can Move Mountains - Part 3:
(2) Your Positive Words Can Move Mountains:
Perhaps it isn’t you that’s suffering. Maybe it’s a friend, a co-worker, a spouse, a parent or a child. Whoever it may be, your positive words can move mountains for them. If you speak from the heart and communicate that you have faith they’ll make it through their dark time, you have the ability to turn their entire perspective on its head. Sometimes, all anyone needs is a little positive encouragement. With your faith the size of a mustard seed, you can be that font of hope and that beacon of wisdom for them.
(3) Your Faithful Deeds Can Move Mountains:
In word and in deed, your faith should always be evident. When you’re going through the desert, or you notice a fellow traveler is experiencing strife, take a moment to slow down. Meet that person where they are and offer a helping hand. When words fall short and prayer is not quite enough, sometimes faithful deeds are all that can lift someone out of a bad situation. Whenever you can, lend your gifts and your time to those in need, and you may just be surprised by how many mountains you can move. God was faithful then and He is faithful now. All Christians go through times of shaking, when the Lord causes us to refocus on Him, to become more dependent upon Him. These are times that are faith is refined into pure gold. The things that are shaken are physical; the things that will remain are spiritual. It is time to focus on things that we cannot see with our physical eyes, but only with the spiritual eyes of our heart.“Now it shall come to pass in the latter daysThat the mountain of the Lord’s house. Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills;And all nations shall flow to it” Isaiah 2:2 (NKJV). Mountain-moving faith, then, must be based on God’s promises on what is revealed in his Word, not only on what we wish will happen or even fervently believe will happen.
Faith That Can Move Mountains - Part 4:
“Before the mountains were brought forth,Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” Psalm 90:2 (NKJV).
For too long now we have been looking at problems that are bigger than us as mountains, and they appear as mountains if you focus on them. When you focus on the problem God looks small, when you focus on God the problem looks small. The truth is your problem is a speck of dust, and maybe even an illusion, but Jesus and His Kingdom are the Mountain. A mustard seed was one of the smallest known examples that Jesus could use as an illustration during that time. Throughout Scriptures Jesus was not teaching that they needed more faith, but rather where to place our confidene, faith and trust. Since faith as small as a mustard seed will move a mountain and nothing will be impossible, just a little faith focused in the right direction will cause God to move in a situation. Their focus was on themselves and the same was true with the father of the boy who came to the disciples first. Faith in God’s compassion and mercy, for only His grace can move any size mountain, which is Christ and His Kingdom. How is your life a living, holy and acceptable sacrifice to God? Our greatest enemies are not outside of us but within. Our greatest foe is the hate and rebellion that overtakes us, and mustard seed faith, since it is placed in Jesus Christ, which gives us the victory over our sin. Does a heart of faith shine through your actions? How are you an example of faith to your family, your friends, and to the world around you? Lastly, if you speak from the heart and communicate that you have faith they’ll make it through their dark times in life. We’re prone to think if we just had more faith, then God could do amazing things through us. But Jesus tells us something quite astonishing. The issue isn’t whether we are full of faith but whether we have any faith. If we have the smallest amount of faith, God works on our behalf. It isn’t because of the quantity of our faith but the object of our faith. If our faith is in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, then it has a great effect. Our faith makes a difference not because it is so great but because God is so great, because he is the sovereign one who rules over all things. Yet we are freed from the sin that enslaves when we rely on Christ and not our own strength and works. Mustard seed faith is enormously powerful, yet not because of our faith, but because it unites us to the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.