“Because you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.” (Matthew 17:20 The Message Bible)
This is the last of three meditations, inspired by my recent purchase of three T-Shirts at a local retail store. The embossed letters, found in the center of a royal blue background, inscribed on a white circle say. “Faith can move mountains.” After a depiction of a mountain range, in large print you find the name, “Jesus” in bold blue print.
If you have been keeping up with Mark Writes the last three days, you are probably hoping that you had found these three shirts; lightweight clothing that brings heavyweight messages. Putting that comment aside, I am hoping that this meditation, along with the scriptural references, will have a positive impact on you and be of perfect use for you when you face obstacles of any kind in your life. Notice, while Jesus referred to a mountain, the third T-Shirt referred to mountains and presents the image of several peaks that make up a mountain range. In life we will face many obstacles. Sometimes they will come one at a time, and other times it seems like the obstacles are multiple. Nevertheless, be powerful and tell your mountain or mountains, whether they be physical, relational, educational, emotional, economical, psychological, spiritual or a melting pot filled with more than one of the obstacles that I just named; tell your mountain(s), “Move!” Tell your mountain(s) that your faith will help you overcome the mountain(s); that your faith will be the main reason the mountain(s) cannot stop you; that your faith will enable you to remove the mountain(s) in your life; and you will never give up making things betters. And make it known to your mountain(s) that because of your faith, ain’t nothing stopping you. You see, you take God seriously. Your mountain(s) ought to tremble when you let them know that the one and only, all-powerful God is on your side; the true and living God; the One of whom makes the impossible, possible; the One who gives you victory over every ridge of difficulty that comes to a peak in your life.
And listen, please don’t say you don’t have enough faith. The opening verse let’s us know you have enough faith! You just have to use your faith in the Lord that you do have! Great results will come about! The mountain(s) will be under your feet, and not the other way around! So use your faith! Verbalize it to the mountain(s)! Act on it and see if you don’t find reason to rejoice as a believer.
Have a great worship experience this morning! Have a better day than you thought you would have as you confidently have the victory over your mountain(s)! Fight every piece of doubt, big or small; doubt that tries to convince you that it will never be alright! Let your faith do the talking, the walking, and the accomplishing! It will be alright! Be blessed!
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see. By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice. By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God. By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God. By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.” (Hebrews 11:1-12 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King