Have Faith in God

The podcast discusses the importance of having faith in God and the power of prayer. It references a verse in Mark 11 where Jesus talks about having faith and believing in the power of prayer. The speaker also discusses the significance of a fig tree in the context of this verse and relates it to the importance of bearing fruit in our lives as believers. The podcast emphasizes the need for the church to bear good fruit and challenges listeners to examine their own faith and the fruit they are producing. It also mentions the relationship between faith and healing. Welcome to CCI Fellowship's Podcast, thank you for joining us. At CCI Fellowship, we are reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching our community. We pray that this week's message challenges you in your walk with the Lord, causes you to grow in your faith, and encourages you in your love for the Word of God. Now open your Bible to Mark chapter 11, that's better, verse 22 to verse 25, and we're going to go over this specific verse, let's read it, and we're going to pray afterwards. So it says, this is Jesus talking, it says, have faith in God, Jesus answered. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, go and throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in the heart, but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. Before praying I just want to ask you, if you are personally having, at this point in time, having a mountain in your life, a difficult situation you're going through, and if I ask you to raise your hand, don't raise your hand, but we'll see that mostly everyone here will raise their hands, because we're having situations, we see mountains, we see situations each and every day. So we're going to go over this specific verse, and that the heart after death is to nurture your faith, to remind you to keep praying for it, and to know that you will receive it from God. But let's pray first. Heavenly Father, thanks for your presence in your house, thank you for letting us worship with other people, with our family, Lord, that we may grow together, that we may seek you. Father, we just need you, we're so desperate for you, Lord, and this is my prayer today, Lord, that you may speak loud to our hearts, our minds, Father, and that we may get out of this auditorium from your house with faith, with peace that surpasses all understanding, and definitely your presence in our lives, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. So we're going to do an exegetical study about this verse, this means to extract the goodness of this verse. The opposite of doing exegesis, it's doing eisegesis, which means reading meaning into a text that is in there. So there's the difference of getting into scripture, you can extract, as I like to call it, exegesis, to the definition of exegesis, it's to extract the goodness of a verse. But also we can see a lot of people doing teachings or making comments about a verse, a specific verse in scripture, but they're putting their revelation, we can say, or their insights over a scripture, and that's where we have difficult, different situations or different understandings of scripture, but as our pastor has taught us, the best comment on scripture is scripture itself. So in the context of this verse, what's happening in the Gospel of Mark, well, Jesus enters as a King, we can see during Yisrael, we go over this image of Jesus entering Jerusalem and the people is exalting the King, being glad that their Saviour comes, they were singing Hosanna in the highest, they were very euphoric about this, and days after they were crucifying them, but it's a good reminder of this, then to spend the night Jesus went to Bethany to spend the night, and then the next day leaving Bethany Jesus was hungry, this caught my attention, have you ever thought of Jesus being hungry, and like eating, and like, hey, I'm starving, and Jesus is the one who did a 40-day fast, and the enemy presented to him, offering him bread and everything, but it caught my attention this also, that he saw a fig tree with leaves, but when he approached it, there was no fruit in that fig tree. I don't have a big study about plants and agronomy or something like that, but it caught my attention why Jesus approached this fig tree, and that's a whole new message, but the thing, to make a point over this, is that when a fig tree has leaves, it's supposed to already have fruit, so when the leaves are visible, the fig tree already has fruit. But when Jesus, in Mark 11, 17, verses before, says that he, I'm speaking in English, he with the maldijo, the fig tree, he shares the fig tree, and this is the only miracle that we can call it as a destructive miracle from Jesus, we can see Jesus over the gospels healing people, delivering people, but he just cursed a fig tree, then in Mark 11, 17, it says that Jesus entered the temple, and we see a different also, part of Jesus having that seal of the house of the Lord, and we can see Jesus turning tables, and he says my house, and he taught them, and he said, it is not written, my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers. In the morning when they went through the same path, and saw the fig tree withered from the roots, Peter remembered this and said to Jesus, Rabbi, look, the fig tree you cursed has withered. And after going over this, Jesus answered exactly what we read in verse 22, has faith in God, Jesus answered, but it called my attention to why did Jesus use a fig tree to bring a teaching to his disciples. Maybe we can leave of having an insight that Jesus was hungry, as most of us are when we are hungry, we are not in a very good mood, but the next day Peter saw that fig tree that was withered. So we can, as I said, it is a very interesting topic, but we can see Jesus here also as a prophet he was. Having an example of the fig tree of the temple of the believers of the ones who said they loved Jesus, definitely they were having leaves, but there was no fruit in them, and this was an example of the fig tree symbolizing the temple and what happened in the year around the year 70 AD, the temple was destructed by the Roman Empire. And we can see also that last Sunday we talked about the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the way that they thought that they were following God and having fear of God. And also what I want to note here is that, and we can see Paul approaching this topic, we can see it in Revelation and a lot of topics, and sometimes we as church, and it is very hard for me to say this, and I am not saying this church, but we can see, we can be as that fig tree having leaves. We are having service, we are having worshipping time, we are having a message, we are having leaves, but where is the fruit of what we do every Sunday here in church? I know that, and why am I saying this is to encourage ourselves and ask yourself, what is the fruit that is coming through you? And as we as a church together, what is the fruit of what we are doing here? And for example, for me, I don't want to call myself an evangelist, I don't know what's happening today. As an evangelist, I really enjoy meeting people and inviting them to know Christ, but for example, for me, that's a duty. I need to have someone new every Sunday here, and that will be a good fruit. And I know they become the nation over me, but also it's a good motivation to bear good fruit, but I'm not getting into that today. So, people is hungry and thirsty of the Word of God. As I said, they can see a fig tree, they can see a church with leaves, as I said before, but what happens to a tree that doesn't bear good fruit? We can see the Scripture. It happened to this fig tree, it withered. But there are some key points that I want to go over. There are four specific points that I want to go over this verse. The first key point is have faith in God. The definition of faith, we can Google it, and it says complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Also, a strong belief in the doctrines of our religion, based on a spiritual conviction rather than proof. It caught my attention also that last Sunday we go over different beliefs and different doctrines and religions around the world. But here the question is, what does the Bible tell us about what is faith? Let's go to Hebrew 11.1. It's a very famous verse. It says, Now faith is the substance, the substance means realization, of the things hoped for, the evidence or the confidence of things that are not seen. Let's go over Hebrews 11.1 in the amplified version. It says, Now faith is the assurance, the title deed confirmation, of things hoped for, divinely guaranteed, and the evidence of things not seen, conviction of the reality, faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by a physical sense. That's what the amplified version says. While writing my notes, I just put it here that healing has a very strong relation to faith. I'm just going to leave it here then we're going to go over this topic. But healing has a very strong relation to faith. Every time that we pray for someone that is asking the Lord for healing, I love to ask them before praying, do you believe that Jesus can heal you? Sometimes people doubt. I don't know if Jesus can do this. But also I've heard people confessing with their mouth saying, yes, I do believe in getting healed. For example, I don't know if I told you this, but it was a miracle that I lived with my grandma about 10 years ago. She was having some situation with her knee. We were only the two of us at my mom's house. I just asked her, do you believe that God can heal you today? She was like, yeah, I do believe. I prayed over her. We prayed together. My grandma was healed that exact same moment. There are a lot of miracles that I've experienced in this way, but healing has a very strong revelation to faith. Let's go to Matthew chapter 22, verse 34 to 40. Sorry if I'm going a little bit fast. If you want to have it in your notes, there's the You version also. But I'm going to go over different scriptures through the Gospels. In Matthew 22, verse 34 to 40, it says, the Sadducees asked Jesus about the afterlife and with whom a person will be married in heaven. While reading this, the first time I was already married, and I was telling my wife, well, babe, do you remember, in heaven we're not going to be married to each other. But then the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question, Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? And Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. It caught my attention also that this was given in the law, and you can read it in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 5 to 9. It's an instruction of the Lord to His people. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. In Deuteronomy, I don't know if that's for me, there's an image of Mesusa. If you have watched some Jesus films, when you can experience something about the Jewish culture and what was living during the Jesus world, when Jesus was living here on earth, you can see that at that time, and still at this time, when Jews enter or go through a door, there's like this, this is called a Mesusa, in which they just touch the door, they just touch it, and just make a symbol like their heart or their mind. And that's sarcastic because in Deuteronomy, specifically it says that put this commandment in your doors and in their minds, in their foreheads, and they did it literally. But it caught my attention, that also we can just get into this instruction of the Lord, just doing it like a checklist on our day. Like, I'm doing this because I love the Lord, and I'm just going to touch, I'm going to... It caught my attention, there's a very special significance, a good reminder of that in the doors, in the Jewish culture, but also it's a good reminder for us that everywhere we go, everything that we are going through, have this written in our hearts, in our minds. And I'm just going to read it again. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. In the Mesusa, actually, it's written, handwritten, this command, and it's put under there, and they put it in the doors, so every time it's a good reminder for them to love their God. It's amazing, it's very interesting, it caught my attention. But sometimes also, if we're speaking about our faith in God, our faith in God is not only for the things that we are doing, or customs, or just things that we do on our checklist, our morning prayer, or our daily devotional, but are we having faith in God? Our faith is getting nurtured. Do not lean on your own understanding. In Proverbs 3, it says to be confident in Him. Do not lean on your own understanding, on your mind. Do not be confident in finances. Do not be confident on a relationship or a specific person. Do not be confident on the stages of life. Just simply trust in God. As a testimony, and I won't stop saying this, it's a testimony that the Lord changed my mindset. At one point, I thought that my confidence was in how much money was in the bank, but now we know, during this time we've processed with my wife, we can gladly say, and praise God for this process, we can say our confidence is not in finances. My wife's confidence is not in me, it's not in our relationship, it's not in our marriage, but it's in the Lord. So Jesus is calling to have faith in God and to be confident in Him. And think about this, just as a reminder, that we're loving and we're nurturing our relationship with Him, with the same God that opened the Red Sea. The same God who sends fire by night and dust by day, while His people were in the desert. The One who created heaven and earth, and the One who saw you in your mother's womb, is the same God that is capable to move mountains. What does verse 23 say? Mark 11.23 says, Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, Go and throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in their heart, but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. I've heard this story about, I don't know if it's just to make a point or actually happen, but this famous story about a town praying for God to rain. And they set a specific date and time to go to over a mountain and pray for God to bring rain. And all of them were there, and then this kid came with an umbrella. The only one who had the faith to bring an umbrella, because they were praying to God to bring rain, for Him to bring rain. So that's the faith that moves mountains. That's the faith that if you're asking something to God, it will happen. As I said before, what mountain is in front of you today? A few weeks ago we were with a friend in the mountain. We went to a men's camp with our church that invited us. And when we were there, and we didn't expect to go over a mountain. They had a very big coffee plantation, and they just told me we're going to walk over 10 miles, and we're going to go over a mountain. And we were like, okay, let's go. But actually for my friend, it was very difficult for him. He was not used to, well, any of us were used to, don't think that we were like old feet or something like that. But for him it was extra, extra difficult. But I love the fact that my friend was walking slowly. I was with him. And then, well, at the end when we get to the mountain, even going up to the mountain was very hard. And in the middle of that mountain we saw the man. We prayed over him. We motivated him. And at the end he did it all the way to the top of the mountain. The most interesting fact about this is that at the end of the mountain, at the top of the mountain, there we had Tuvalu'a for us. So praise God for it. It was a very good moment. But I saw this guy actually having faith, despite his conditions that every day maybe they're talking to him, you're not going to do it, you're going to do it. And I know that this was something very special for him. So even despite a mountain, despite a difficulty that we're going through, even mountains will give glory to our God, and will mold us and will lift us up. Let's go to Matthew 17, verse 14-20. It's the same teaching but a different context. When they came to a crowd, a man approached Jesus, and knelt before him. Lord, have mercy on my son, he said. He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire and into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him. You unbelieving and perverse generation, Jesus replied. How long should I stay with you? How long should I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me. Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, why couldn't we drive out? And he replied, because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have the faith as small as a mustard seed, you can stay to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. In Luke 17, it's the same teaching, definitely it was a teaching that Jesus brought to His disciples. In Luke 17, verse 5, it says, The Apostle said to the Lord, increase our faith. Maybe by hearing all these verses and hearing the word faith, maybe you're asking yourself today, Father, increase my faith today. And Jesus replied, He replied, If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can stay to this mulberry tree to uproot it and plant it in the seed, and it will obey you. This is basically the same principle, not a mountain but a mulberry tree. And a mulberry tree can get up to 60 feet tall and 40 feet wide. It's a very big tree, right? But what Jesus is saying, Jesus is comparing the mountain or a mulberry tree to the things that you may think are impossible to happen. Examples, healings, deliverances, forgiveness, financial freedom, and the list may go on depending on what you're going on right now. Even if that mountain or problem is the result of that decision, the Lord tells us that there is no condemnation, as Romans 1 says. Get out of there. It's time for the Lord to take all those burdens over your life today. While I was writing my notes, and I wrote it here, I could hear the Lord saying, like Lazarus, speaking to Lazarus in that tomb, Lazarus, come out. I can hear the Lord saying, each one of you, or someone that feels that there's no way out, or there's a big mountain in front, I can hear the Lord saying, your name, come out of that mindset and have faith. The prayer that moves mountains is a prayer that asks for the kingdom of God to be truthful. How does my request or prayer glorify God? And here's where I say the difference between exegesis and esochesis at the beginning, that this could be a verse taken out of context, and say to you, pray whatever you want. If you want a Ferrari today, God can give you a Ferrari. That's a prosperity gospel, and that doesn't point to God. It doesn't mean that God wants you to be shy to ask for things, as we're going to in the third point. But the thing is, when you have this prayer, how that mountain or that situation, how does your prayer may advance the kingdom of God to be fruitful? Amen? And how does my request or prayer glorify God? The third point says, it will be done. In Mark 11.24 it says, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in for prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Can I ask for anything, really? Like, for anything? The Lord will never contradict His word. In James 1.5-8, and we can see it in Proverbs also, it's a teaching, it says, If you lack wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. These are very hard words, and it kicked me, like, in my heart, when I was studying this, like, how many times have I doubted? If the Lord can do it. And it says in verse 7, That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. In Matthew 7, verse 7-8 says, Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks, finds. And the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Some Christ followers are shy to ask the Lord for a well-being, or simply ask the Lord for peace that surpasses all understanding, or ask the Lord, shy about the Lord, Lord, please heal my knee, or, for example, or please bring provisions. Sometimes we think that, well, yes, let the will of God be done, but also His will is already written in Scripture. It says that He's always going to provide, and He's nurturing, He's inviting us to ask today. But also, but some things that we're asking for, in the most famous example, it's finances, that we may be asking the Lord to bless us financially, but what will happen is the Lord knows our hearts even more than what we know ourselves, and He knows what's better for us. But what will happen when people are asking for finances, turns out that finances will turn their God, and they will forget that the source of all is the Lord. And whatever will happen, this is a teaching that we have learned, and we're continuously knowing about, that if we have finances, it's not for us, but to advance the Kingdom of God. Amen? In Matthew 7, verse 11, a few verses afterwards says, If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him? So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. For this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Remember the verse that we're studying right now. So it calls my attention that also, when we're asking the Lord for something, if we are having faith in Him, do not pray for selfish motives. Pray to advance the Kingdom of God. And it calls my attention also, that in all these teachings, that Jesus is being asked, and it will be given to you. Don't be shy about this. But also, if you're going to ask, and this is the fourth and last point, the key to an answered prayer is a forgiving heart. I'm going to read that again. The key to an answered prayer is a forgiving heart. Mark 11.25 says, And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in Heaven may forgive you your sins. Matthew 5.23 says, Therefore, if you are offering your gifts at the altar, and there, remember that your brother or sister has something against you, and says, what's the instruction? Go and fix that situation. I'm paraphrasing it. Also, in Matthew 6, when the Lord, at the Lord's Prayer, where He's teaching us how to pray, also, it reminds us, in Matthew 6.12-15 says, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others' sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. There's a story that maybe we have five minutes to go over it, but in Matthew 18, verses 23-35, there's this story that Jesus is talking about that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. But before going over this, there's another idea or point that the Lord wanted me to say to you today, that it requires faith to forgive. I've experienced this with, I didn't know about this, but at one point in time, I knew I had a resentment against my dad for his alcoholism and all those things since I was a little kid. Maybe this is something that you have gone through, and it's like, how am I going to forgive this person that it's been so bad over me or different situations? But it requires faith to forgive. I've heard a testimony of a guy who definitely blew my mind because he was serving the Lord and bearing so much fruit for God's Kingdom. And saying that his mom, he was the fruit of his mom being raped. And his mom didn't decide to abort him. And how even he's saying openly the Lord taught me how to forgive my biological father. And I'm not carrying that around anymore. That was so amazing, that was so eye-opening to me and it definitely gave a different perspective on the different situations that we can say, no, my situation is so hard, so different from others, that I cannot forgive this person. It requires faith to forgive. It says in Matthew 18, it says, Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him 10,000 bags of gold, it's a lot of money, if we exchange it today, it's a lot of money, was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debts. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged. And I will pay back everything. The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But when the servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 silver coins, not even compared with the debt that he was forgiven, right? He grabbed him and began to choke him. Pay back what you owe me, he demanded. His fellow servant fell on his knees and begged him, be patient with me and I will pay it back. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debts. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. And what happened? Verse 32 says, Then the master called the servant in. You wicked servant, he said, I canceled all that you debt of yours because you begged to me. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger, his master handed him over the jailers to be tortured until he paid all that he owed. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forget your brother or sister from your heart. Sometimes we act the same way as the servant. Our master forgives us but we cannot do the same with others. As it says in the instruction, love others as yourself. Forgive and be set free. I don't know if the worship team may come to the altar and making a summary of the four points of this specific verse. Number one, have faith in God. Do not lean on your own understanding. Faith in God alone. God is possible to move mountains, to move mulberry trees, in your life. Also, be confident that it will be done. If we pray with the right heart, we are praying what the Lord is praying into our lives in a specific moment. And also, the key to an answered prayer is a forgiving heart. And I felt strongly, and I've lived this before, how amazing it is to forgive someone. And it's very difficult to do it daily. Or if someone hits your face with the other cheek, it's very difficult, I know. It requires faith. So, let's pray. Let's ask the Lord that if you're lacking faith today, if you're having mountains in your life today, He's the one able, as impossible as it seems, a mountain going to the sea or a mulberry tree, the Lord can do it. Amen? Lord, thank you for your presence. This place, your house, Lord. Lord, I pray that first of all you may turn our heart to you, Lord, that even the things that we pray for, Father, are not with a selfish heart, but knowing what you want us to pray, that we may know your will for our lives each and every day. Father, if someone is here to take decisions, life-changing decisions, Father, that they may know that you're the one who's going to speak to their lives, to show them which path to go, Father. Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit may pour it in each and every one of us. And if there's something, Lord, that we have something against someone, maybe a family member, a mom, a dad, an uncle, or even someone in this church that is our second family, Lord, or even at work, I don't know, Lord. In the name of Jesus, we pray that we may forgive. Forgive and be set free, says the Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, because it is done, and we believe it. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. If you are ever in the Tegucigalpa area and looking for an English-speaking congregation, please join us on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the main auditorium of Iglesia CCI in Colonial Trepichi, just off Boulevard Cuyapa, near UNA. If you'd like prayer or more information about our church, contact us at fellowships.cci That's fellowships.cci Or follow us on social media. We hope to see you. We're here for you, too. Blessings.