March 2, 2025
And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength"
- Acts 3:4-7
We are familiar with the description of faith in Hebrews 11:1 as being “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This concept is expanded in Hebrews 11:3a (NLT), where it states, “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command.” This tells us that faith operates not only on an earthly level but also on a cosmic scale.
In Hebrews 11:33-34, we learn more about the operations of faith. It is described as a subduer, a worker of righteousness, a promise obtainer, and a stopper of lions' mouths. It is also a quencher of fire, an escaper from danger, a strengthener of the weak, and a ‘resurrecter.’ These descriptions underscore faith as an active, dynamic, and powerful force.
Faith can be likened to a force in the sense that it propels us from stagnation to action, from undesired paths to righteous ones. It’s the spiritual equivalent of an external force that changes our life's direction, akin to the concept of force in Newton's first law of motion.
The healing of the lame man in Acts 3 exemplifies faith's transformative power. Born lame, he had adapted to his condition, but faith changed his destiny. His encounter with faith, as shown in Acts 4:22, demonstrates that faith is not just for managing situations but for radically transforming them.
In our own lives, faith acts similarly. It's the force needed for significant changes, as promised in Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Let us embrace faith, allowing it to work in us as it did in the universe and as it did for the saints in Hebrews 11. By faith, may we experience its transformative power in Jesus' name, Amen.
Song of Worship
I must tell Jesus – 2x
I cannot bear this troubles alone
I must tell Jesus – 2x
Jesus will help me, Jesus alone
Prayer - Father, I change for good, every unpleasant and undesirable situation in my life; the ones that plague me since birth, the ones that came up along the way, the ones I am currently managing, the ones that have been there for long, I change them all with the force of faith in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!