Mustard Seed

Matthew 17:20

And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Pastor Mike Todd-Transformation Church 

When  you hear the word, faith, what do you hear? What is your definition of faith aside from the scripture Hebrews 11:1 that says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen?" What does that even mean? Can you show me how the substance of things hoped for showed up strong in your life? Can you specifically tell me how the evidence of things unseen got you here reading this post today? How has faith made an impact and imprint in your life? When's the last time you had to use faith? When was the last time your faith was really tested? When was the last time you felt like your faith had been used up? Is it a such thing as using up all of your faith?  What would have to happen for you to lose faith?

I just asked you a lot of questions, didn't I?
Well a wise person once stated that, "If what you believe is true, then it should be able to stand up against questioning." 
I personally believe that a lot of believers would not be able to answer these questions without either getting super off topic or super defensive basically because faith to them is an enigma. They don't really know what it is or they equate it to a balled up handful of watered down cliches handed to them by an older saint and some irrelevant experiences that merely scratches the surface. 

I like watching people and observing how they manage life. I especially like watching fellow believers during various seasons. Imagine watching little toy sail boats being tossed to and fro in a body of water. That's what I see.
The season we're in right now is a very FAITH trying one. And with watching others, I feel like I'm watching a re-run because they're responding exactly how they've always responded, faithfully, faithless. 

"Oh ye, of little faith," says God.

A few posts ago, I touched on the subject of fear in It's Just an Illusion.  I encourage you to read it when you get some time. Listen, faith is none other than the absence of fear. It is the opposite of discouragement. It is the opposite of anxiety. Faith is even the absence of insecurities and low self esteem. Not to be confused with the overestimation of strengths but it is the active acknowledgement of weaknesses and the deliberate decision to press on despite of. Faith says, "This thing is much more bigger than me. But I'm going to move it out of my way." Faith supersedes belief because as in James 2:19 says that even demons BELIEVE! 
You can believe in anything but don't necessarily have to operate in it or practice it. A lot of people say they believe in God but they do not act like Him. 
Faith is a propeller. Faith turns a stormy ocean into a boardwalk and says, "Go!" Faith hears unfavorable news and asks, "What are we going to do to get around this." 

The reason why without faith it is impossible to please God as Pastor Mike Todd pointed out a scripture in the video above, is because you need faith in order to interact with Him. You need faith in order to submit to Him. You need faith in order to obey His commands. You need faith in order to love Him which is the greatest of all commandments and to love your neighbors as you would love yourself. Why? Because you can't see Him. 
Faith is the wi-fi code to get access to our Father which art in heaven. Ha! 
Did you catch that? 

Now this part you're not going to like, faith is never revealed until a situation has arisen to incite, fear, panic, worry, stress, anxiety etc. You will know you have faith when the opposite appears and you're not consumed by it or feel the pressure to move in tandem with it. So that's what I've been seeing recently. Believers waltzing with fear, worry, strife, anger. practically holding hands with everything that's opposite of God's nature. Faith is committing to a monogamous relationship with the promises of God while standing in the face of a world that wants to convince you to cheat. 

I must also tell you this, you're not going to wake up everyday feeling like being in a relationship with the promises of God especially if they have yet to come to past. It's going to boil down to choice! Faith is a choice. You're not going to find it in a jar in the organic aisle next to the Nutella or almond butter at a produce store. I dare you to go to your nearest grocery store right now, you're not going to find it. 
BECAUSE FAITH IS A NOT AN OBJECT, IT IS A CHOICE! 

In Matthew 14:29 onward, Peter made a choice to step out of the boat when Jesus bid him to come. FAITH! Peter made a choice to walk on water to get to Jesus. FAITH! But Peter also made a choice to look at the wind chopping up the waters and guess what happened? 
I don't know. Go read it for yourself. 

Where love is a person and an action, faith is a call and a demand. It's calling forth what you know about God and demanding that it takes you into to the things of God when everything around you is contradicting the promises of God. 
You should take a walk down the Hall of Faith one day to get an even better understanding.  You'll find some amazing accounts there.

In the meantime in between time, understand that as long as you're breathing, this world with the enemy as its sponsor, will try to do everything in its might to get you to relinquish your mustard seed of faith. Because this little small matter is jam packed with so much power that if you would just activate it in the places where all hope seems to be lost and defeat is a culture, you would be responsible for overturning every lie, fairy-tale, and fantasy that has held you and the people connected to you captive! Even greater, your mustard seed combined with another's and theirs combined with someone else's can produce a whole forest that would be a force to be reckoned with! Can you imagine that? 

If you're reading this and you can honestly say you're struggling with faith or you've lost faith, I challenge you to go back to the last place you left it or lost it and plug it back into the WORD which is The Source!