UNITY WAY

July 4, 2004

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Secrets of Faith

by Andrei Yashurin

As we read gospels, it is easy to imagine Jesus as some kind 
of healer and miracle-worker, who went about and performed 
marvelous works. The reality, however, is more complex. 
Jesus was primarily a teacher - a teacher of faith. He 
encouraged people to have faith, and even criticized His 
disciples for their unbelief. He emphasised faith as an 
essential key to all positive manifestations of God's power. 
The Bible says that on one occasion He could not heal 
the crowd because of people's lack of faith. 

"According to your faith let it be to you" (Matthew 9:29). 

People were driven to Jesus by their various needs, and 
being moved by love and compassion, the Master was eager 
to help. But He was aware that answers to those needs required 
active human participation, that is, development of their faith. 

I've read that in Greek the word "crisis" means "judgment". 
At the same time, in Chinese the word "crisis" also 
means "opportunity". I believe that all these ideas are true. 
When we found ourselves in a challenging situation, we may 
be confident that it is a wake-up call. We are reaping bitter 
fruit of certain seeds which we planted in the past. It is 
up to us to trace all negative manifestations to their roots, 
and to deal with those roots. But this is not the only thing 
we should do. If we are not careful enough, self-analysis 
will make us negative. We need to use our crisis as an 
opportunity to stretch forward, to enter into a new dimension 
of faith. Greater faith is required for building of greater 
future. 

"Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24), cried out 
a desperate father of a sick boy who came to Jesus for 
healing. Sometimes, we may pray in the same mood. We have 
enough faith to seek the Divine help, but apparently not 
enough faith to receive the desired answer. But, as we move 
into the right direction, our faith will increase. 

According to Paul, every person has a measure of faith. 
Modern spiritual teachers express this thought in this way: 
we all use laws of faith in our daily life, whether 
consciously or unconsciously. Our goal, therefore, is 
to become conscious creators of our life through the power 
of faith. 

Faith is not a deep mystery, revealed only to few 
"enlightened ones". Let us repeat it again, everyone has 
faith, and everyone is able to develop faith. But faith 
does have its secrets. Once we know them, the process of 
our faith-building becomes a joyful adventure. 

Faith to move mountains begins as a grain of mustard seed. 
This is the first lesson of Jesus on faith. 

Faith is a living, growing thing, which is subject to laws 
of growth. In truth, it cannot be "obtained" or "inherited", 
as we sometimes say.

If we do not know something today, we may rest in hope that 
it shall be revealed to us tomorrow.

If we are unable to overcome our challenges today, we may rest 
in hope that the necessary wisdom and strength will be ours 
tomorrow.    

Christ abides within us as the fullness of wisdom, as the 
fullness of faith, as the fullness of creative potential. 
But this inherent potential becomes outwardly expressed only 
through gradual, orderly unfoldment. 

Superficial reading of gospels sometimes stimulates people 
to search for miracles, for quick and easy answers to their 
needs. But as we look deeper at what Jesus really said, we 
become willing to accept our responsibility for building 
of mature faith - which is the only guarantee of our lasting 
happiness and fulfillment. 


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Andrei Yashurin: pczine@yandex.ru

http://pcjournal.ru/talks Talks on Truth

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All messages (c) 2004 by Andrei Yashurin