June 2023
The message of faith and confession that I teach is based on true principles from the Bible. When these principles are misunderstood, some people attempt to believe God for millions of dollars when they haven’t learned to believe God for the money to pay their light bill. Some have overloaded their faith. Some are operating on little faith and trying to believe for millions. To be successful in life we must learn to operate on our own level of faith.
I think this is why some have caused problems in churches. They have gone to a seminar, where they heard someone teach, “You can have what you say.” But they only got a part of what was taught, and went home thinking they were a “three-day wonder.”
They did all kinds of foolish things and called it faith. Then their Pastors had to sweep up the pieces and try to put them back together. They overloaded their faith and made a big splash, but they couldn’t walk on water! It’s important to understand that you as a Believer must learn to operate in your level of faith!
The Bible teaches us in Hebrews 11:1, that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The Bible also teaches us that there are different levels of faith for instance, when we look at the story of Jesus as He walked on the water, then the Apostle Peter sees Him and asks Jesus if he could come to Him, and then Peter got out of the boat and came to Jesus walking on the water, but when he saw the wind boisterous, he began to sink. Jesus’ response was stunning, as He reached out to catch and save him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:28-29)
Isn’t it interesting that as Peter had just walked on the water to go to Jesus, he sees the wind boisterous, and then began to sink crying out to Jesus to save Him. Before we criticize Peter, and want to tell people how great our faith is, fill up your bathtub with water and see just how many steps you can take walking on the water in your bathtub.
As we study the Word of God, we can see some of the different levels of faith. What we must do is to find out just where our own level of faith is, and then begin to exercise it and develop it according to Word of God. These are some of the levels of faith that I have researched and found from the Bible.
- Little Faith—Matthew 14:28-29
- Great Faith—Matthew 8:5-13
- Full of Faith—Acts 6:1-6
- Strong Faith—Romans 4:17-21
- Unfeigned Faith—1 Timothy 1:5
- Shipwrecked Faith—1 Timothy 1:18-20
- Wavering Faith—James 1:5-6
- Rich Faith—James 2:5
- Perfect Faith—James 2:22
- Victorious Faith—1 John 5:4
- Exceedingly Growing Faith—2 Thessalonians 1:3
These are all levels of faith that we can study to find out where each one of our own level of faith actually is, but we must be honest with ourselves, because if you cannot be honest with yourself, then you will never be honest with anyone else!
As Believers, we must all learn to operate within our level of development, and we can grow from these. But you always have to start where you are. That may sound elementary, but many will be helped by understanding that. You can’t build a second story on a vacant lot!
Start where you are and add to your faith by confessing God’s Word. Jesus said that no man would start to build a tower without first counting the cost. This is good advice, but sometimes, when people get turned on to faith, they fail to count the cost of what they are confessing!
I want to encourage you to spend time each and every day, praying in the Holy Spirit, stay in faith, stay in the Word, keep speaking the right things and making the right confessions of faith, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and remember “God loves you; we love you and JESUS IS LORD!”
In the Service of Our King,
Darrell G. Harrelson
