Recently I believe the Lord revealed a great truth to me. It concerns the formation of living faith within the believer. 

The scriptures teach us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Words of Jesus. However, many that read the Bible faithfully do not seem to operate in the realm of faith. 

If you listen to them, you will hear them express doubt and fear just like those who do not claim any kind of a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Hopefully, what you will learn here will cause you to become a man or woman of faith. 

Jesus asked before He ascended back to the Father, "will the Son of Man find faith when He returns?“ 

By carefully reading the scriptures you will see His own disciples were often not men of faith in the beginning. 

How do we go about accomplishing this important task? Faith?  

Want to know more?  Read on with expectancy! 

Ben Marler, Jr 

I believe we must read the Bible daily with a single-minded attitude. Our goal must be to know Jesus. St. Paul was very determined to know Him even in His crucifixion. I think we only want to know him during the good times of His ministry. We should want to know Him intimately.

I believe God is showing me our problem of our little faith is the result of reading the Bible with prejudice. This judgmental attitude seems to destroy the faith building mechanism that God put within His Word, as far as we are concerned. Do we not read the scriptures in light of our own experiences, or past teachings? This is only natural but certainly not right for faith building.

If the scriptures tell us, “I AM THE LORD THY GOD THAT HEALS YOU”. We tend to remember many who have been prayed for and died or never seem to get better. Of course we judge it is all God’s fault and not the lack of faith within the one needing a touch from the Master. We have fallen guilty to the deceiver’s lies who is quick to tell us that God makes us sick for our own good or His. Does this not border on blaspheme? Our God and Heavenly Father would not make us sick any more than we would make our own kids sick in order to teach them a lesson. Sickness is the result of sin. Healing is placing our trust in the painful stripes of Christ inflicted by a Roman soldier’s scourge.

Once while reading the account of the 5000 being fed with a few loaves of bread and a few fish my mind said, “who counted them?” At once, the Holy Spirit said, “I did”. I quickly asked the Lord for forgiveness. Of course the Word of God is true. If there had been only one thousand or as many as twenty God would have said so. If you are unable to accept all of the scriptures as the Word of God, then you know what I have written so far is true. May I ask this question? Who are we, or anyone else for that matter, to question or challenge the architect and builder of the universe? Sin began in the Garden when Satan beguiled Eve.

If you want your faith to increase in quality after reading God’s Word I 
think this what you must do. You should first pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and then read the scriptures carefully but quickly. I learned this by accident. Many years ago, when the Lord saved me, I was blessed with an insatiable appetite for the Bible. He led me to a discipline of reading ten chapters a day. This discipline caused me to read from both the Old and New Testaments. I would arise an hour earlier than normal, about 4:30. Afterwards I would stop at the church for 20 minutes of so of singing of praises and prayer. Then, I would go on to our pier to operate our deep-sea fishing business.

Many times people would comment on my faith. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but as I look back now I see I did operate with an assurance that annoyed a lot of people including some of my friends. You know they use to say, “Ben has a Holy Boldness.” In truth it really was the gift of Faith. You can have it too! Do you want it?

One of the other benefits of reading the scriptures prayerfully and quickly is the greater comprehension you will acquire. This method requires a higher level of concentration than just plodding along while reading the Bible. Now, I am the first to admit that habits are hard to break and most who read this message would probably say something like this, “I’m happy with the faith I have and this probably won’t work with me anyway.” Don’t look now but you just made Satan have a great day! You have limited your usefulness to God!

May I ask you a few questions? 

Are you on the other end of God’s hotline? 

Does He speak to your heart to accomplish His labors here? 

If not, do you suppose it could be He knows you wouldn’t do them? Or if you did, you would be timid and fearful? 

I can’t remember a single time when Jesus was nervous about the “works of the Father.” I know God will put you on His hotline if you will make a daily commitment to do what He has for you. Please read Ephesians 2:10. "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."   I’ve found this is where God has placed the greatest amount of His Joy for us.

Try to remember, we are in the process of being changed into the image of our Savior and Lord. God has made this not only possible but more than probable by giving us His Holy Spirit to live within us. I believe it would also be helpful to think of Jesus trying to manifest Himself in the same way a chick comes forth from an egg. We received Him by faith as a Breath of Life when we were born again of His Spirit. Now as we allow Him, He begins to reveal Himself through our lives. Our will or self must crumble just like the shell of the egg.  John the Baptist said “I must decrease and He must increase.” Amen.

He also places us within the Bride of Christ or the Church. One day, the 
Bridegroom will return for his Bride. He has said she will be without spot or blemish. Trust me this has already been accomplished for us at Calvary. Thank you Jesus. 

He tells us He is coming like a thief in the night and He wants us prepared. 

Please read Matthew chapter 25 or you may not be ready. 

Please try this method of reading the scriptures for seven days and see if you do not receive a greater relationship with Jesus. I know you will, as He is no respecter of persons. He loves you as much as anyone. He paid the same price for you at the Cross. So let’s get on with it. Start right now. You can do it and He will help you. I promise! Please memorize and hold close to your heart Hebrews 11:6.   "So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him."

For more on Faith click here: What Is Faith?   How Can I Be Sure of My Faith?    FAQ  FAQ2

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If you desire to know more about this Jesus Christ who loves you, and you want to ask Him  into your heart, receiving His Saving Grace please click on this Salvation Prayer