“Have Faith in God” (Mark 11:22): My Bible Verse for the New Year!

Every year, several people have a verse, a word or a theme to guide them throughout the year. About two years ago, I had a Word, “HOPE,” and it was so good when the Lord confirmed it at a Global Impact conference.

Last year, I chose a theme based on Philippians 3:12-14: “God’s goal for us is Christlikeness and we are most like Christ when we are making disciples who make disciples.” This theme was helpful to me in focusing on the Lord and on His discipleship mandate throughout the various activities of the year.

At the beginning of this month, I struggled a little bit figuring out what should be my verse, word or theme for 2017. Of course, our focus should always be on Jesus, but it is also life-transforming to have a specific area on which we purposefully focus our prayer and service opportunities.

One time, during an online chat, I asked a friend what His verse for the New Year was and He informed me that it was Deuteronomy 28:12: “The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow” (ESV). He also informed me that his theme for 2017 is “honoring others in Christ.”

When my friend asked me, “and yours?” I wished I could articulate it as well as he did. I simply responded, “Thank you for asking! I am still in the clarification process. Please pray for me. Normally, I choose a verse or a word for the year...In November, I took a 40-day prayer challenge but by the second day, I sensed the Lord saying, “It is not about completing some timeframe. It is about spending time with me [daily] and listening to Me."

Following the chat with my friend, he encouraged me to “keep listening” to the Lord. As I listened to the Lord over the next few weeks after the chat, He directed my thoughts to Mark 11:20-25, especially verse 22:

²⁰ In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

²² “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (NIV).

A Great Guiding Theme

The central theme (Bible verse) I anticipate guiding my thoughts, study, and conversations with others in 2017 will be “have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). The Bible verse will be both my aim or default position as well as an exhortation to share with others.

This morning, I shared my Bible verse for 2017, with an OASIS (Older Adults Still In Service) group at Community Church in Guthrie, Oklahoma. I made a conditional statement with regards to my central thought/verse as follows:

If we have faith in God, He will make a way for us, He will move mountains that stand in our way, and, in response to His great deeds, we will magnify Him and exalt His name together.

Points to Ponder

There are three main points contained in the central idea above which result from our choice to have faith in God. I will elaborate on each of the points here. I hope they encourage your heart and build your faith.

1.    He will Make a Way for Us (Psalm 32:8)

One of my favorite songs make it clear that, “God will make a way where there seems to be no way; He works in ways, we cannot see—He will make a way for me!” In the same way that He made a way for the Israelites across the Red Sea, I believe He will make a way for those who believe in Him.

As the Israelites headed to the Promised Land, they had to cross the Red Sea and, with Pharaoh’s army with their horses and chariots coming after them, everything looked disastrous and dark—practically impossible. Some of the Israelites probably thought they were going to be driven to their deaths in the sea in front of them. That would have been bad news and would not have been consistent with God’s plan to liberate His people from bondage. The Good News though is that God had a different plan from the one that the Egyptian soldiers had in mind.

God used His servant Moses who stretched his shepherding rod to cause the water of the Red Sea to part and form a wall, thus allowing the Israelites to cross on dry ground. However, when they got to the other side of the sea, Moses stretched the rod again and this time, the waters came together and destroyed the Egyptian army that was seeking to destroy them. This reminds me of the lyrics of another old song titled, “How Great is our God” :

How great is our God!
How great is His Name!
He’s the greatest One! Forever the same!

He rolled back the waters,
Of the mighty Red Sea,
And He said I’ll never leave you,
Put your trust in Me.

The Israelites put their faith (trust, confidence, hope) in their God who was yet to accomplish His purposes through them. The Lord still had things for them to do—to make them a blessing to the Nations as He promised to Abraham, one of their patriarchs.

The Lord wants to make a way for us, too. But we must ask ourselves these questions: “Are we willing to trust Him to lead us?” “Are we ready to count on His promises?” For instance, in Psalm 32:8, He makes a promise to us, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (ESV).

2.    He will Move Mountains for Us (Mark 11:23)

In Mark 11:23, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.’"

Mountains are obstacles or things that stand in the way. They impede our progress as we seek to do God’s will or to fulfill His purposes. Through our prayers, accompanied with faith in God, they can be removed and cast into the sea. Believing (having faith) in God will accomplish the impossible.

Generally, when God is about to present something like in a theatre, He moves things around. Sometimes, God’s plan requires a move as Abraham had to make a move when God called him out of the land of Ur. Any change or move can be like a mountain, but if we trust in God, He will move the mountain, thus making possible what seems impossible.

Sometimes when something major happens in our lives, we don’t know what to say, think, do, or feel.  It is at such a time that we need to remember what God’s Word says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Like the children of Israel, we must encourage ourselves with what the Word of God says: “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And He thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy’” (Deuteronomy 33:27, ESV).

We should also recall God’s promises when faced with difficult situations. It is comforting to know that the Lord is our refuge and strength and that His everlasting arms will hold us up and not let go (cf. Psalm 46:1; Deuteronomy 33:7). Similarly, like King Jehoshaphat we should demonstrate our confidence in God when faced with circumstances that seem insurmountable or impossible for us to solve. However, to God, all things are possible. Let us, therefore, express our faith in God as King Jehoshaphat did: “We don’t know what to do but our eyes are on You" (2 Chronicles 20:12). 

3.    We will magnify Him and Exalt His Name Together (Psalm 34:3)

Once the Lord has made the way for us and removed the mountains that stand in our way, we should in response, magnify Him and exalt His name with others. The psalmist captured it so well in his call for us to join him in praising God. He issued the call in this way:

“Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together” (Psalm 34:3, NKJV).

When we are united in praise to our God, it is a powerful thing. In fact, Psalm 133:1 bear this truth: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is; For brothers to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1, AMP). The New Living Translation uses the word, “harmony” for “unity,” in Psalm 133:1, which then recalls how a choir works hard to ensure that they have good harmony as each singer plays their part well. There’s no competition involved, the choir members seek to be in sync with each other and the Lord.

There are diverse situations we will face in 2017 and singing is an excellent way to weather any storms. I’m encouraged that the Lord “giveth songs in the night” (Job 35:10). May we heed what the apostle Paul wrote while he was in prison:

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:4-6, NKJV)