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Faith is not defined in the Bible. It’s described in many
ways but it is not defined; faith is looking, faith is trusting, faith
is eating, faith is drinking, faith is receiving, faith is abiding.
It’s so big that it’s hard to say, “This is the foundation.” So, I
thought I would share two stories with you. The first story, in
my understanding, describes what faith is and what it is not.
The second story describes how I know that I’m trusting God.
How do I know that I have faith?
The first story that describes what faith is and what it
isn’t is the story of the disciples on the stormy sea. That’s in
Mark 6. In the second story I’ll only be looking at one part of
it; the woman that touched the hem of the garment of our Lord
Jesus.
Mark 6:45-52, “And immediately He made His
disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side
to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the multitude
away. And after bidding them farewell, He departed to the
mountain to pray. And when it was evening, the boat was in
the midst of the sea, and He was alone on the land. And seeing
them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at
about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking
on the sea; and he intended to pass by them. But when they saw
Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and
cried out: for they all saw Him and were frightened. But
immediately He spoke with them and said to them, ‘Take
courage; it is I, do not be afraid.’ And He got into the boat with
them, and the wind stopped; and they were greatly astonished,
for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the
loaves, but their heart was hardened.”
They did not learn the lesson of the loaves. So, there is
a connection. The boat ride on the stormy sea was supposed to
remind them of the lessons of the loaves. I don’t want to spend
time on the feeding of the five thousand but I want to give you
the lesson. It’s described in Mark 6:37, “But He answered and
said to them, ‘You give them something to eat!’ And they said
to Him, ‘Shall we go and spend two hundred denari on bread
and give them something to eat?’” There were five thousand
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