Your faith or Jesus' faith?

Mark 9:
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.


The usual interpretation for this verse is this:

If you can believe, if you have the faith, all things are possible.

My Pastor sees it differently though. To him it means this:

You believe that all things are possible to JESUS who always believes.

IOW the focus is not on how much faith you have but how perfect Jesus' faith is and that it is His faith that will make the miracle happen.

So, with the little faith you have, just use your faith to believe this:

THAT JESUS HAS ALL THE FAITH NEEDED TO PERFORM THE MIRACLE YOU NEED. IT IS HIS FAITH THAT WILL BRING ABOUT THE HEALING, NOT YOUR FAITH.

Another way to say it is like this: Use your small faith to hook up to Jesus' perfect faith.

Just believe that Jesus CAN and IS WILLING TO heal that sickness. Dont stress yourself out over whether you have enough faith or not to have your miracle.

any thots?

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Just believe that Jesus CAN and IS WILLING TO heal that sickness. Dont stress yourself out over whether you have enough faith or not to have your miracle.


To a certain degree I believe this.. I have asked my self on certain things I'm praying about, "do I have enough faith for this?" and sometimes I have answered myself back, thinking, "I dont feel I do".. But then when I ask myself "does Jesus have enough faith to believe for this?... Immediatly, my answer is yes, then all of a sudden I am able to pray in great confidence. The faith that we are given is His faith to begin with. Every man has been given faith, we certainly cant "muster" it up on our own, outside of His Faith.

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So, Jesus is kinda like a nitrus oxide boost for our punie faith! I really don't get it from that verse but I DO believe that Jesus 'can' and 'is willing to' as you stated.

Really this hits at the foundational truth of WOF
Definately our faith
Does that mean that Jesus plays no part? Of Course not. Jesus part has already been played.
"Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith". He is not the substitute for it.
"By His stripes you were healed"
Jesus said "..whoever speaks to this mountain..."
He does not say "..whoever asks me to speak to this mountain on their behalf...."
Didn't Jesus gently rebuke His disciples on occasions when they found themselve inadequate to deal with situations.
If we think that somebody is going to step in when the challenge faces us, are we going to be very diligent about our own preparation. (If you are unsure of the answer to that, ask an athlete)
Just a few of my thoughts
Ossie

Lets see if I can add to this at all. When it comes to gifts I always have this short little portion of scripture in mind:

1 Cor 4:7
7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

Now I think we can all agree that the gifts of God, including the gift of faith, can be increased or decreased in intensity or effectiveness at God's own will. I do think that our response to His love for us and our submission to that love has a great deal to do with it, but not all. In some of my worst spiritual states God has used me in a big way. After all, He is God and I'm not. I'm just His adopted kid. That doesn't make me a begger in the Kingdom, just a grateful brat kid. LOL

Now look at this very familiar passage with eyes of gratitude for the gift we have been given:

Heb 11:1
11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

That's not where you would expect a person to bold words is it? The faith you have "is the" proof of our position in the courts of Our Lord. Having faith is "the" evidence of this fact though unseen.

My point is that God wishes to give us the full measure of everything He has. Every gift, every grace, every perfect thing.

So submit to His lavish gifting of faith and it will be more than overflowing. It's a hard thing for us to do, being the prideful, selfsufficient, boneheaded sinners we can be sometimes!...LOL

Great answer A4C

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"Jesus I am so in love with you" "Keep The Faith"
"Who will go for me: Sent ME" " I will stand in the gap"

Deu 32:20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end [shall be]: for they [are] a very froward generation, children in whom [is] no faith.

Hab 2:4 Behold, his soul [which] is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Mat 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith?

Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard [it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Mat 8:26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

Mat 9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

Mat 9:22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Mat 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

Mat 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth [his] hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Mat 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great [is] thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Mat 16:8 [Which] when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

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

Mat 21:21 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.

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Mar 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Mar 4:40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

Mar 5:34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Mar 10:52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Mar 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Luk 5:20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

Luk 7:9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Luk 7:50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

Luk 8:25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

Luk 8:48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

Luk 12:28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [will he clothe] you, O ye of little faith?

All of these thought in their hearts If I can just get to Him, I shall receive what I'm asking for.
Our faith is directed to the one that can do all things. Jesus said to believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. We do the believing we shall recieve them part, and Jesus does the shall have part.

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Brethren,

I'm not saying that we dont use our faith at all. I'm saying that sometimes, the breakthrough comes when we shift our focus from OUR faith to HIS faith.

Instead of focussing on whether we have or have built up enough faith for our miracle (based on all things are possible for the Christian who can believe the most), we simply trust Jesus. Trust that He can and He will, that's all, and rest.

IOW what I am to believe and confess is this: Jesus can, Jesus will. He has all the faith needed.

As opposed to: I can if I have enough faith.

The problem with WOF sometimes is this: We turn confessions into formulas which we put our trust in. eg if I keep on confessing the word "By his stripes I am healed", maybe 100 times, it will happen.

So the focus or problem becomes faith or trust in our own faith or our own works/methods/formulas. It is no longer trust in Jesus' goodness.

If you look at some of the miracle healings that Jesus did also, eg the woman with the issue of blood, they were not conscious of THEIR faith but simply believe that Jesus was good and kind enough to heal them. That's why they sought him. They believe that Jesus was gracious and merciful, that he can and he would heal.

That was their faith -- belief in a good God. Not belief in a confession routine or methodology.

My pastor puts its this way: See God's grace and God sees your faith. IOW, God says to you "Great is your faith" when you say to him "great is your grace".

anybody comprehendo what me trying to say?

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The way I see it is that we dont overcome by the faith of Jesus - we overcome by the faith in Jesus
I dont think that we should be outside the temple waiting for the Holy Spirit to stir up the waters and receive of God through His grace, rather we should approach the high priest with our sacrifice and blood offering knowing that our sin is dealt with by the scapegoat.

Ossie