HOW GOD WORKS

WEEK 2
Jesus’ lesson to His disciples on faith began the previous day: “…as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. Then Jesus said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat your fruit again!’ And the disciples heard him say it” (verses 12-14).
In that moment, Jesus had spoken, releasing the God kind of faith through His words. We first learn about the power of God’s Word back at Creation. Repeatedly, God spoke His will into existence in Genesis 1:

• “Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (verse 3).
• “Then God said, ‘Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.’ And that is what happened” (verses 6-7).
• “Then God said, ‘Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.’ And that is what happened” (verse 9).
• “Then God said, ‘Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night…’ And that is what happened” (verses 14-15).

Five more times throughout Genesis 1 God spoke and the world became. Think about that. God created and evoked change through His words. He had no doubt that His words would do what He wanted them to do. And Jesus was no different.
When Jesus spoke to the fig tree, He was doing what He had seen His Father do and saying what He had heard His Father say (John 5:19). He was speaking God’s Word and trusting it to be fulfilled just as He wanted it to happen.
As imitators of Christ, we’re called to do what we see Jesus doing, and to say what we hear (or read) Jesus saying (Ephesians 5:1). We have to release our faith through our words, too…words that reflect and repeat the Word of God. This is a key element in developing the God kind of faith.