UNVEILING THE DEGREES OF FAITH By Bishop David Oyedepo

Welcome to another exciting day. I hope you were blessed by the previous devotionals on this blog. Today, we shall focus on: Unveiling the Degrees of Faith!

From the scriptures, we discover that faith is in degrees. We may wonder why some people’s faith produces and others don’t. The reason is that Bible faith is in degrees!

In Matthew 14, Jesus was walking on the sea towards His disciples, who had earlier left in a boat. Peter saw Him and said, ‘Lord if it be Thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.’ Jesus said, ‘Come’ and Peter began walking towards Jesus on water.

But when he saw the boisterous wind, he was afraid and began to sink. Then, he cried, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said, ‘O thou of little faith, wherefore, didst thou doubt?’ (Matthew 14:27-31).

The dimension of faith required to keep walking on water was not in Peter; so he began to sink. We must understand that our level of insight determines the degree of faith we operate in.

What Then, are the Degrees of Faith?

Little Faith: This degree of faith cannot confront challenges. That’s why we have to accept the responsibility of building our faith. Little faith is susceptible to doubt, when confronted by great challenges.

The Bible says in the last days perilous times shall come. That is, the world will be confronted by the worst of challenges. That also goes to explain why Jesus said: I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8).

The challenges will be so enormous that only those who have paid attention to developing this vital aspect of life will be found standing. As it is written: If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small (Proverbs 24:10).

Thus, little insight is the reason for little faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

Engaging the Power of Sanctification for the Fulfilment of Destiny Required Faith in God!!!

Great Faith: Great faith will always have it the way it wants it. Jesus gave us an introduction to great faith in Matthew 15. Responding to the Canaanite woman’s insistence on getting even the crumbs in her request for deliverance for her demon-possessed daughter, Jesus said: Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour (Matthew 15:28).

Also, we read of great faith in Matthew 8, where a centurion came to Jesus, seeking healing for his servant. The Bible records: And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel (Matthew 8:7-10).

It will always deliver great victories, and command signs and put us in command. Great faith is a degree of faith we operate in when we become addicted to discoveries in the Word. We become unshakeable in any challenge of life. Great faith is taking deep root in the Word of God.

The Spirit of Faith: The God-kind of faith is when we begin to operate by the Spirit of faith. As it is written: We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak (2 Corinthians 4:13).

hen we operate by the Spirit of faith, we begin to command the faithfulness of God at will. At this level, we begin to speak things naturally; we are not confessing them but simply proclaiming them. For instance, Joshua and Caleb operated by this spirit. When the other ten spies began to give the people evil report, they shut them up.

The Bible records: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land where into he went; and his seed shall possess it (Numbers 14:24).

The Spirit of faith is a reactionary force that can’t stand anything contrary to it. In the Spirit of Faith realm, we operate in the violent dimension of faith where we look at challenges and deal with them as if they do not exist. Thus, the Spirit of Faith is a speaking faith.

CONCLUSION

Faith is a growing force. The Bible says: We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith growth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounded (2 Thessalonians 1:3). Thus, faith has its source and strength for growth in the Word of God.

In other words, our labour in the Word of God is our access to growing in faith. However, the new birth is a fundamental requirement to operate in the realm of the Spirit of faith. Are you born again? If you are not, this is an opportunity to do so.

Simply say the following prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me for my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, I accept You as my Lord and personal Savior. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now, I know I am born again!