Great Faith

Great Faith (by David Peterson at The Rock Of Jesus Church)

While in the area of Tyre and Sidon, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Jesus had occasion with a Gentile woman from Canaan. She claimed her daughter was demon- possessed and she repeatedly asked for His help to cure this little girl. Jesus was moved by her faith and humility and He said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at once (Matthew 15:28). Jesus acknowledged her faith through her unrelentless request to heal her daughter.

Concerning a grand faith like hers, Jerry Bridges, an evangelical Christian author, wrote; “God does not believe for us, but He does through His Spirit create spiritual life in us so that we can believe. Faith is a gift of God. It is part of the whole salvation package that God gives to us through the work of Christ for us and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. It is not our contribution, so to speak, to God’s great plan of salvation. God does it all. Faith is part of the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Bridges reminds us that our faith is a gift from God.

Thomas O. Chisholm wrote “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” in 1923 and the first verse and refrain is;

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

there is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;

as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:

great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Chisholm writes about God being faithful to us but it is God who provides that faith. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8 that faith comes from God in the form of a gift.

Let us pray: Dear Father God, thank you for filling our hearts with your love and faith. Without this gift of grace we would not know your Son, Jesus. May your gift of great faith be exercised in every way with all glory to you God. Amen.