Flat Lined Faith

And Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief: for truly I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder place;' and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you."  Matthew 17:20

 

Are you facing any obstacle that seems impossible to overcome?  Has this caused you to feel "negative" and view life through the eyes of a pessimist? 

See no evil; See nothing BUT evil; Half-way-see-no-evil!

 

Jesus told his disciples to SPEAK to "their mountain" even with faith the size of a tiny mustard seed.   What words are being uttered from your mouth today?  "This is impossible."  "I can't do this."  "This is totally unfair."  "This makes absolutely no sense."  Negative thoughts that are "uttered into the air" are pollutants, aren't they?   Of course they are!  They not only make living difficult for others around us, but the negativity also causes our faith to flat line...just like the negative (-) sign is a small "flat line." 

Look at Mark 16:3 "And they SAID among themselves, 'Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?'."   They were anticipating a potentially REAL problem.  Heading out to the tomb, they anticipated the huge stone being there and them not being able to move it.  How many of us borrow trouble?  And when we borrow trouble, we not only get trouble, we are charged lots of interest in the form of stomach ulcers, lost sleep, family problems, anxious spirits, and unconfessed sin in our hearts from a lack of faith in God. 

Read the very next verse (Mark 16:4) "And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great."  So, once they were within "viewing distance" from the tomb, they realized the problem was NO longer a problem...it had been rolled away. 

Are you looking into the foreseeable future and anticipating a huge obstacle?  I have been too.  But, let's not question the size of the problem, okay?  We can at least admit that there's a "P.P.O." ~ "Potentially Problematic Obstacle," but still have faith that God is already aware of and has already remedied the problem.  All we have to do is keep on walking in that direction. 

Let's look up to the LORD, and view this from the perspective of the cross.  The LORD overcame death and our sin just so we can face any problem in life, through the power of His shed blood on Calvary.   Is there anything that is impossible for our God?  No, there is nothing that He can not and has not already overcome. 

Isn't it special that when we look to the LORD and the cross on Calvary, we can now see a positive sign? +
No more flat lined faith!!! :)

Number 13:30 gives us a wonderful example of positive faith! "And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it'." 

There's a mountain that God wants you and I to overcome this very day...this very hour.  It could be a matter of obedience to a calling, or a need to overcome a particular stronghold...either way, let us go UP (and that's a positive thing to do) AT ONCE, and possess it!  He's already given it to us....all we have to do is claim this particular victory as ours and then go UP at once and possess it!  We are WELL able to overcome it. . .

but not by OUR might...but by HIS Spirit!  (Zech. 4:6)

Infuse the air around you with positive faith and not "flat lined faith."   Having trouble finding something positive to say?   Psalm 34:1  "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth."   Commit that verse to memory and quote it, out loud, over and over, believing that HIS Praise shall be in your mouth---and that takes the pressure off in case you're having trouble finding the right "praise words" to speak.  He'll give you the words to praise Him and speak to your mountains in faith! :)

What a gift!  God will give you the praise and faith
to speak to those mountains!
Whatcha waitin' for?  Time to start talkin'! :)

What's that I hear?  
The sound from the rhythm of a heart beating once again!   

Oh Father, we ask for You to place Your praise on our lips and keep our mouths full of Your praise, continually.  THANK YOU for giving us the faith to speak to these "mountains"...believing that when we arrive, we'll find the obstacle already removed!! 

In Jesus' Name, Amen!