The Gold that Turns People into Diamonds

UV 1400/10,000 The Gold that Turns People into Diamonds
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Matthew 21 v 21

Faith is the ability to overrule fate. It is the ability to see what others cannot see. It is the ability to see into the supernatural, the spiritual and the eternal realms. Our stance of faith determines our circumstances. Faith is an either –or situation, implying either we believe the Lord completely or we disbelieve Him. There is no mid-way position. If our stance or the mental position we take is firm, if we do not entertain doubts, if we are not swayed by fears and emotions, nothing can shake us. Faith without an iota of doubt is certainty of hope and belief, trust in the Lord and His Word, in the guarantees and assurance His promises give us. It starts as small as a mustard seed but grows to be the greatest of trees. Can faith and doubt co-exist ? Thomas the apostle doubted the resurrection of Jesus. He believed Jesus enough to follow Him for three plus years but not enough to follow Him to the cross and beyond. He did not have enough faith to believe that Jesus would rise again as He said He would on the third day. Yet once his mountain of doubt was removed, his faith in Jesus was completed, consummated or perfected. Sometimes, the Lord takes us through a process of doubting or questioning before we discover faith. It is natural to doubt. It is supernatural to believe. The Word compares faith with gold. The purer it is, the more authentic, the more valuable it is. True faith is the gold that changes people into diamonds or multi-faceted people- people with the weight of character or cut, the nobility of calling or the carat, the authority of power or the colour and the clarity of vision.

Faith releases power and authority in the natural world, in the supernatural world and in the spiritual world. Faith releases power to dislodge the deep rooted in our nature, in the supernatural and spiritual realms. Faith comes with an expectation of fruitfulness, usefulness and all round excellence and integrity. This is the reason that Jesus cursed the fig tree that was fruitless and it withered instantly. Faith gives us the authority to command illness to be removed from our bodies, to cause conflicts to be resolved. Faith gives us power to command persons, institutions and forces of much greater weight than ourselves to do the bidding of the Lord.

Faith establishes the unseen but eternal kingdom of God among mankind. By faith we are surrounded by the mountains of the Lord. By faith, we can command the mountains of the world- the hostility, the threats, the big issues that affect our peace to be removed. Every believer is a mover and shaker of the world. His power is derived from the Word. The Word is the fuel that feeds the fire of faith. Our prayers have powerful effects on the world though we may not see it with our natural eyes or even in our lifetime. Faith is clinging to hope against hope. It is clinging to the promise of the Lord, knowing that He is a covenant-making and promise-keeping God. It depends on who God is and not who we are. Our background, qualifications, abilities and deeds do not determine the impact of our faith.

Prateep V Philip