“The FACE of FAITH is CHRIST!”

Matthew 8:5-13                                                  (ESV)
“5 When HE had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to HIM, appealing to HIM,
6 "LORD, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly."
7 And HE said to him, "I will come and heal him."
8 But the centurion replied, "LORD, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I too am a man UNDER authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
10 When JESUS heard this, HE marveled and said to those who followed HIM, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found SUCH FAITH.
11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13 And to the centurion JESUS said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.”

Hearing older, wiser, people talking about people of FAITH since I was a child, I just always presumed that the object of the FAITH they were speaking of was FAITH IN GOD?  In a conference last week, a talk was delivered about “The FACE of FAITH is CHRIST!”  Now we all have faith that the chair we sit in will hold us from crashing onto the floor, or we probably wouldn’t sit in the chair?!?  But true FAITH is that JESUS CHRIST is GOD, and that HE is our ONLY HOPE for eternal life!  Eternal life not only is everlasting, but it begins when we are CALLED out of the darkness and into HIS marvelous LIGHT!

And before we get too caught up in what we Believe, JESUS says in John 15:16a “You did not choose ME, but I chose you and appointed you...”!  In Acts 9:15-16, JESUS instructs Ananias "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of MINE to carry MY name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.  For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of MY name."  Once converted, Saul/Paul became a great man of FAITH, but he had to STUDY, even though he was a proven Pharisee!  He had to allow THE WORD to mold his life.

Our FAITH, or lack of it, will determine what manifestation of JESUS we see.  In Matthew 9:29 JESUS tells two blind men “According to your FAITH be it done to you.", and they were healed.  They were healed because they BELIEVED!  Not because they believed, but because of WHO they Believed in!!!  “The FACE of FAITH is CHRIST” should be the the fire that causes us to LIVE.  Paul says to the Greeks in Acts 17:28 “IN HIM we live and move and have our being”, so why do I act according to my own wishes so often?  If my FAITH is IN HIM, why don’t I live that FAITH???

Although I fail HIM daily, my desire is to live for CHRIST just ONE DAY totally sold out to JESUS!  HE chose me, NOT to make me healthy, wealthy, and wise, but to reflect HIS Glory to a lost a dying world.  For me to exhibit just 24 consecutive hours that “The FACE of FAITH is CHRIST” would be a great place to start!!!