GracegiversSample

And when He saw their FAITH…You know, as Christians, everything we do for God and for others is motivated by only one thing: our faith in Jesus and in His work of redemption.

Starting with the work of salvation that He accomplished in our lives one day, we read:"For by grace you have been saved through faith!"

Faith—such a small word, yet so powerful!

This is what truly makes a difference in our lives; our works are nothing more than a consequence of our faith in Jesus.

And it is this faith that drives us to perform extraordinary actions.

It is written that Jesus sawtheir faith—not their organization or their goodwill, but their faith. A shared faith in Jesus that pushed these guys to bring that paralyzed man before Him, completely sure and certain that Jesus would do something for him.

Now, this is a point that touches me deeply, because these guys didn't have a single doubt that Jesus would intervene. They literally took on a responsibility by bringing this guy before Him and overcoming so many obstacles.

So I ask myself: when I talk to someone about Jesus, do I truly believe that Jesus can do something for them? Do I have the certainty that, one way or another, Jesus will intervene? Whatever problem is afflicting that person, do we manage to be that certain of Jesus' intervention?

It often happens that when we face massive problems, as in this case, we don't want to overextend ourselves, so we prefer to tread carefully—bypassing the problem or maybe just offering a few words of comfort.

I say this because often, while being in the hospital with my son, I have found myself looking at children suffering from severe, rare conditions. And believe me, it is truly overwhelming to face such serious and insurmountable problems. Words fail you, and it feels like every word you say is trivial and out of place.

And it is in these situations that I realize how small my faith actually is!

Lord, increase our faith!!!

My prayer is that my faith may become more and more effective so that, as it is written, we may acknowledge every good thing which is in us for Christ's glory! (Philemon 1:6)

A faith that pushes me to take action every day, toward anyone I might meet on my path. A practical faith that makes people recognize the work of Christ in my life and in our lives. It is written that faith is both CERTAINTY and DEMONSTRATION.

May the Lord help us, first of all, to be more and more rooted in Him, cultivating our personal and daily relationship with Him through prayer and the reading of His Word. May this CERTAINTY grow as we know Him more each day, so that we can then DEMONSTRATE it through the good deeds we can do—ensuring that ours is not a dead, worthless faith, as we read in James.

Someone once said that there can be works without faith, but there can never be faith without works!

Lord, help us!