“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt. 17:20)

“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 17:6)

I must preface this writing by saying that these Scriptures are not a blank check from heaven to order anything you like. A person asking things from God in order to merely gratify the pleasure of the flesh is not under the blessing of God; he is asking amiss (James 4:3). We know that greed is wickedness and living for selfish pleasure is sin.

However, these Scriptures contain some beautiful truth we don’t want to miss or set aside just because some teachers have attempted to twist their meaning.

Many Christians have mountains and trees in their lives that desperately need to go. And even a tiny amount of real faith can make them go. God has made his empowering grace accessible to the weak. Only believe.

The mountain has accumulated over a long period of time, and has become of such a monstrous nature, it appears immovable. It is some besetting sin, practiced so consistently it has become a habit. Perhaps it is an ungrateful, negative spirit that blocks others’ view of the sky and casts a dark shadow of gloom upon them. Perhaps it is a habit of speaking angry words, or being too unyielding and unforgiving of the minor faults of others.

The mulberry tree might be the habit of impatience with the children or spouse or coworkers. Everything they do gets under your skin, and you quickly snap. You’ve been this way all your life, so you think you can’t change. Sure you quit drinking, fornicating, lying and stealing when you made your decision to follow Christ, but can He really uproot this other thing from your life–this thing that has deep roots in your soul and seems to be an integral part of your personality? The answer is yes. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, this tree can be uprooted and planted in the sea of God’s forgetfulness. It can be forgiven and utterly removed from your life and character. Do you believe?

The grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11-12). That means the teaching we need is available to us; it is for us to submit to the teaching and obey it. Wisdom in how to apply and work out our own salvation is available for the asking (James 1:5). We can and must learn to live soberly, righteously and godly in our present-day homes, fellowships, neighborhoods, and work environments. The mountains and trees that seem they are here to stay must be uprooted and moved, and nothing shall be impossible for the one who believes. Just as the face of the earth is always changing–deserts become lush gardens and gardens become deserts–so God’s will is for the spiritual wasteland that is our past life to be renewed and replenished and made fruitful in the present. We must become co-workers with God to that end, sowing consistently to the Spirit and refusing to sow to the flesh. With patient continuance in this endeavor, we can trust a harvest of righteousness will come. Just as a sinful habit was created by a continual making provision for the flesh, so a holy habit can be made by a continual denial of the flesh and a deliberate sowing to the Spirit of God.

When the twelve spies were sent to search out the land of Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb came back confident that the land could be taken with God leading the way. The rest brought an evil report of giants, and the dismal view that overcoming the land was impossible. Their view infected the whole camp like a disease, and the people rebelled against God, accusing Him of bringing them gloriously out of Egypt only to fail and end in defeat. This faithlessness was so abhorrent to God that He had a mind to disinherit the people! (Num. 14:11-12)

We need to be like Joshua and Caleb, men of faith in God. If God says the land can be taken, it can. If God says that mountain can be made to move, or that tree can be uprooted and thrown into the sea, they can. He will lead the way, and give patient instruction and supernatural power; only continue to live by faith in His words and do not draw back, lest He have no pleasure in you (Heb. 10:38 ).

There are too many teachers who are like the 10 faithless spies. They drum an evil report into the ears of their congregations–”We will all keep living in sin as long as we are in the flesh. Nobody is perfect; the best we can hope for is to have a positional righteousness in Christ even while we are losing every battle in our lives and sin is still our master.” Don’t give heed to this faithless and wicked report no matter how spiritual the teacher appears to be; he is a hireling who has a form of godliness denying the power thereof. Shun this teacher like the plague; he speaks for the devil to keep you in bondage. If he has no power in his own life over sin, how can he teach you to overcome anything? The best he can do is preach a message of faithlessness and surround himself with other powerless people who are satisfied with equally powerless lives. This is deception, and is NOT a manifestation of the true Gospel, which makes men new creatures and sets them free to run in the paths of righteousness. The sons of God have a glorious liberty; their chains are broken. When they recognize an area of bondage in their lives, they know from past experience that this hurdle too can be overcome.

I was gloriously set free from fornication, drunkenness, potty-mouth, and a host of other sins at my conversion. However one besetting sin that I struggled with for a while was losing my temper with my children. I had been short-tempered for so long, I didn’t understand how to ever stop and wasn’t convinced it was possible. Satan would tell me it was just my personality and I had to accept it, and so did they. But the Spirit of God was also speaking to me, calling me to lay aside the weight of this besetting sin so that I could run my race more effectually (Heb. 12:1). There was alot at stake. Not only was I a poor example to the children to whom I was working to impart the Gospel, but I was in serious danger of becoming a castaway if I did not get control of my emotions and behavior. I remember the day I came to this verse, and my whole world stopped. It was as if God’s voice suddenly magnified when I read–

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (I Cor. 10:13)

Leonard Ravenhill once quipped, ““One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it, and believe it.”

When I read that verse with a heart that wanted deliverance from my besetting sin, I was simple enough to believe the Word of God exactly as it was written. I believed that every temptation I experienced, including the well-established habit of lashing out at my children, was completely withstandable and conquerable. There was a way of escape provided for me, and it was my duty before God to take that way of escape from now on. There could be no more excuses, for I had been given precious promises that would enable me to partake of the divine nature of holiness and escape the corruption in which I had been entangled (2 Pet. 1:4). From that point on, I began to catch myself about to make provision for my flesh, and learned through consistent practice to make my frustrated thoughts obedient to Christ and keep my flesh disciplined and in subjection to the Spirit of God (2 Cor. 9:27; 10:5). There is truly victory in Jesus to the one simple enough to believe that there is power over sin and death in Him, and persistent enough to practice what He teaches until the victory is complete.

Dear follower of Jesus, allow me to tie together the testimony of Joshua and Caleb with the truth of I Cor. 10:13: there is no giant in the land of your life except such as commonly faces all men, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be faced by a giant stronger than you can withstand with the strength of God in you, but in every single case will provide the way to overcome and get the victory. There is neither ominous mountain nor stubborn tree that cannot be made to move out of your way, so that you can run your race with the endurance necessary to reach the finish line–if you have faith as a mustard seed. Grab hold of the precious promises of God and believe them. Make straight paths for your feet to walk in, so that your lameness may be healed (Heb. 12:13).

Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith (I Jn. 5:4). Amen. God be with all–and empower all–who love the Lord Jesus in truth.

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Nice compilation. Keep up the good work

"With God all things are possible", Jesus commanded a tree and it obeyed

Sorry, it's too large and heavy to read.

Ptolomeus: Sorry, it's too large and heavy to read.

yeah man.frosbel you can partition it you know,

I liked the following pdf.