Faith of a Mustard Seed

This issue of faith of a mustard seed troubled me till no end. I do not agree with healers who say to those that did not receive healing that it was because of their own lack of faith. It is heart wrenching to know these people want healing so badly but did not receive healing. So, I was very excited when I read Kathryn Kuphlan’s book and saw her same struggle. It haunted her for weeks!

She wrote:

“I waited expectantly for the answer, and it came. …….
I listened now, as the little woman spoke “As you were preaching on the Holy Ghost, she said, telling us that in Him lay the resurrection power, I felt the power of God flow through my body. Although not a word has been spoken regarding the healing of the sick, I knew instantly and definitely that my body had been healed. So sure was I of this, that I went to the doctor today and had my healing verified”

"The Holy Spirit then was the answer, an answer so profound that no human being can fathom the full extent of its depth and power, and yet so simple that most folks miss! I understood that night why there was no need for a healing line; no healing virtue in a card or a personality; no necessity for wild exhortations “to have faith”. That was the beginning of this healing ministry which God has given to me; strange to some because of the fact that hundreds have been healed just sitting quietly in the audience, without demonstration whatsoever, and without even admonition. This is because the presence of the Holy Spirit has been in such abundance that by His Presence alone, sick bodies are healed, even as people wait on the outside of the building for the doors to open. …….."

She went on to explain the concept of Holy Trinity to help us understand how healing takes place and that we are to look at Jesus.

She wrote:

“The three persons of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost are a unity. They are co-existent infinite and eternal. …..But although the three work together as one, each has at the same time His own distinctive function.”

I summarise:

1. God the Father planned and purposed the creation and the redemption of man. We cannot come before God on our own because He is so holy. Remember God spoke to Moses out of the pillar of cloud in Exodus 33:9 assuring him that His Presence would be with the Israelites? Remember in verse 11 God spoke to Moses “face to face” out of the cloud, but when Moses asked to see God’s glory, God told Him: “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (in verse 20). This will always be my favourite passage to remember how awesome His glory is, how we CANNOT stand before a Holy God, NOT EVEN if we think we have done enough good deeds, enough charity etc. We will DIE if we stand before Him without Jesus.

2. Jesus purchased our redemption at Calvary. His death on the cross made possible God’s eternal plan for us. All that we receive from the Father MUST come through JESUS, and that is why at the very heart of our faith is JESUS. When we pray, we come before the Father’s throne in Jesus’ name.

3. The Holy Spirit is the power of the trinity. It was His power which raised Jesus from the dead. (Romans 8:11 "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.") It is that same Resurrection power that flows through our physical bodies today, healing and sanctifying. In short, when we pray in the Name of Jesus, the Father sees us perfect, holy and righteous BECAUSE Jesus paid the price in full for our redemption, and in JESUS, lies the ANSWER to every human need.

She continued “God honors the redemptive work of Jesus by giving to us through Him, the desire of our hearts. Thus, while it is the Resurrection power of the Holy Spirit which performs the actual healing of the physical body, Jesus made it perfectly clear that we are to look at JESUS, the son, in faith, for He is the One who has made all these things possible.”

And in that context, that is all we need - a faith of a mustard seed.

Faith is NOT presumption. Kathryn describes many misconceived faith as follows – I picture a witch brewing her potion.

“There are many who mix the ingredients of their own mental attitude with a little confidence, a pinch of trust and a generous handful of religious egotism. They proceed to add some belief, along with many other ingredients, and mixing in a spiritual apothecary’s crucible, they label the total result faith. Actually the consequence of this heterogeneous mixture is more likely to be presumption than faith”

Our faith is not in the words “In the name of Jesus!”. Our faith is not just in rebuking and casting out evil spirits. Our faith is in JESUS, the One who has made all these things possible, the One that will meet our heart’s desire, including healing. We won’t go wrong when we look at the cross.