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Faith in Action from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

One day when Jesus came ashore after crossing the sea of Galilee, Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, came to meet Him. Jairus begged Jesus to come and heal his daughter, who was at the point of death. Jesus went with him, but on the way, a life-changing event happened for someone else.

There was a woman in the crowd who had been hemorrhaging blood for twelve years. She had spent all she had in doctors, yet it grew worse. She said within herself, if I can only touch His clothes, I will be healed. So when Jesus came by, she slipped up behind Him in the crowd and touched His clothing. The moment she did, she was instantly healed. 

(Mark 5:25–34 NKJV)  Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?" But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?' " And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

There was a huge crowd following Jesus that day, as He had been out of the region and just returned. There were many needs among the people. Yet, there was one woman who put her faith in action by actually doing something.

Jesus felt the healing power go out of Him, so He stopped and asked, "Who touched My clothes?" The woman knew she was healed, so she came out of the crowd, fell to her knees, and told Him the whole truth.

Then Jesus said something very interesting, "Daughter, your faith has made you well." What faith was He talking about that made her well? It was her act of touching His garment. She believed enough in the unseen to take physical action.

Jesus accompanied Jairus to his house, though his daughter had already died. When messengers brought them the news of her death, Jesus told Jairus, "Don't be afraid; Only believe." Keep believing enough to move forward. When they arrived at the house, Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead and told them to give her something to eat.

(Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The word "substance" here means "being sure." Faith is being sure enough of the things we hope for to take action, even though they are invisible. Remember the woman in the crowd reaching out to touch His garment? If I can only touch His clothes, I will be healed. Then she did and was.

(Hebrews 11:3 NKJV)  By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Today, we know that the things around us are not actually solid but are made from tiny building blocks called atoms. Everything in the universe, except energy, is formed by atoms. Though invisible to the human eye, the word of God causes them to take any shape He wishes.

Jesus "passed through" angry mobs actively trying to stone Him and walked across the top of liquid water (Luke 4:30, Matthew 14:25). He was "transfigured" into another being in front of Peter, James, and John (Matthew 17:2).

Things like that are probably trivial when you control the atoms around you. Jesus was quite possibly the burning bush that spoke to Moses, at least the fiery part. I believe Jesus could have just as easily changed into a giant robot like Optimus Prime on the Mount of Transfiguration if He had wanted to.

Back to the message, seeing the invisible enough to do something. Jesus told us when you give, when you pray, and when you fast (Matthew 6). All of these things mean you believe in something enough to take action on it. Those are all things His disciples are supposed to do, not just say. If you want to see something new happen, then try something different.

Let me give you an example from our life. When Sylvia and I started Refreshing Hope, it was through an email devotional. As the devotional went out, we would sometimes receive 200 replies and prayer requests a day. We tried to answer each one by hand, and it took all day. We found that many of our readers were those who had fallen through the cracks of the church. Many had been hurt and forgotten by churches. Many were alone, disabled, and home-bound.

Shortly after I became a pastor, the Lord impressed Ezekiel 34 on me, and it would be the focus of our ministry. At first, someone emailed it to me. So I printed it out and thumbtacked it to the wall beside me. The next morning when I came in, it was lying in my chair again. This happened a few times. In short, we would reach His scattered people right where they are, even if they are lying in a hospital bed in another country. Here is just a couple of excerpts:

(Ezekiel 34:6 NKJV)  My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them."

(Ezekiel 34:11 NKJV)  'For thus says the Lord GOD: "Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.

It was amazing at times and almost scary. We got letters from people about to commit suicide when our devotional popped up in their email. They didn't even remember signing up for it, but it was a word directly for them. The Lord was speaking to His people electronically, and His sheep recognized His voice.

(Now, I am just happy to be on the bus and here for such a time as this. For it's all the Lord making it happen. I am nothing but a water hose He chooses to flow through occasionally. )

We met so many people who were connected to us, but not to others. So the idea came to us that we could connect these people together with an online church. They could have other Christian friends who would pray with them and encourage them without leaving home. We prayed about it and felt this was the way forward. We would call it "Refreshing Hope."

Sylvia and I sat down together and calculated what we would need to get started in an excel spreadsheet. We decided that if we re-purposed some old equipment we had left from our computer business, we could get a community online for $2,500. That was a whole lot of money for us! We were about the only tithers to the ministry then, and though we accepted donations, they were often between $5 and $10. It would take a lot of those.

We prayed about it again and felt the Lord say yes. So I pulled a 10-year-old Dell Power-edge 2850 server out of the closet, put it on our kitchen table, and began formatting in and installing Linux. Within thirty minutes, someone came to our website and donated exactly $2,500. We had not told a soul what the Lord had put on our hearts.

Signs follow those who believe, and it is our faith in action that causes miracles to happen. Don't be afraid; only believe. Yet, what if I don't know what He has for me? This is how I find my way:

(Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV)  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

When I put Him first, I find that my paths are automatically aligned for me. Old doors close, and new doors open as they are needed. I don't always understand why something is happening, but I find I don't need to. I only need to center my life on Him, and the other things fall into place. Don't be afraid; only believe.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please direct my paths. Help me to include You in whatever I am doing. I want to see my faith in action. Here I am, Lord. Use me. What can I do for You today? In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!