If we take Jesus seriously about really believing in God to the extent that we can move mountains, do we end up moving mountains? Jesus did not, as far as we know from good accounts, during his years of public ministry before the cross, move any mountains. How much does this matter? Was he at all hypocritical about faith in God? He did calm a storm, the gospels tell us, and he did walk on the water of an inland sea during a storm. He even taught his leading disciple Peter to have faith and walk on that same stormy water, as far as Peter could focus on faith, not on the waves. Peter got a fair way before his faith gave out. So Jesus not only showed in those times that he had faith to do such things, but could guide or coach a leading disciple to do the same, to some extent. He also taught tens of his disciples to use faith in God to do great things, such as healing the sick, doing exorcisms, and perhaps other miracles too. Then, once Jesus had risen from the dead and gone to the Father, even greater things were done by his disciples. Peter and Paul even raised the dead, like Jesus had done with Lazarus. This is seen as ultimate kind of miracle. Yet nobody is recorded in gospel accounts, nor the book ‘Acts’ about deeds of disciples after the resurrection, as having moved a mountain. Jesus had taught that after he went to the Father the disciples would do even greater things. Did they? Personally, I was challenged in my teens and early twenties about the extent to which the teachings of Jesus include working of miracles by faith in God. There is no getting away from it, Jesus did teach it, and seeking to follow him ought to include it too. So we have, if we set about learning to practice what Jesus taught, to include this too. We need to know if Jesus meant it. Did he merely say it rhetorically to challenge his hearers? He indeed challenged his disciples, who were learning from him, to have real faith and use it, even in a storm. He then practiced what he taught by calming the storm himself. So he meant it. He showed it is serious, to be taken seriously. Over the years I came across a decent honest teacher who might not have learned that kind of faith, but who did not deny Jesus taught it. Listening to him, I tried it. I put faith in God into practice while listening to this teacher, secretly so nobody would notice. I did not want the extra challenge of people watching. It worked. Over the years I tried it more and more, still in private. It usually worked. Things happened as I told them to happen in faith, by faith in God. More and I more I tried it. Storms were calmed instantly, almost always in privacy but twice in the presence of others. It got bigger. I got bolder. I started telling others. I learned to teach others that kind of faith. Then came a challenge. Could it stop a hurricane? I pondered this. Nobody had mentioned such a possibility in scriptures. Only in the Book of Joshua is a miracle of huge cosmic scale ever mentioned: The pausing of the sun traversal of the sky to allow a battle to be won in a day. Today we might ask if it meant the earth paused, but whatever happened, the people witnessed what they needed to have happen for their victory and survival. But is Jesus telling us we can stop a hurricane if we have the faith, and that we ought to have the faith. I would say yes. Hurricane Milton threatened to destroy many, many lives in USA. I was sure faith could stop it. I went on a chat group run live by Fox News covering the hurricane, and mostly the participants were from Florida and in its path. I challenged them openly to have faith and practice it by commanding Milton “Calm down!” using their faith. More and more joined in, saying to Milton to calm down, to reduce in strength. Over ten minutes or so of this, the effect showed. It calmed down. It was at the point where landfall was calming it a little anyway but only from category 5 to category 4. Still very deadly indeed. That had happened an hour previously. Suddenly it calmed down as we commanded it, live there on the live chat. It calmed to just category 3. No longer deadly. Many were asking what was going on. What did we all mean by “calm down Milton!”, “No Milton! naughty Milton!”. Those who were doing it did not really explain, we just kept commanding, believing, saving by God. I knew it ought to be possible. This assured me. Many might doubt it and say it was going to happen anyway. No it wasn’t. It was faith. I truly believe that. I think many in that live chat believed this too. Have faith in God, and encourage believers to do the same. Jesus is no hypocrite. He meant it. He does it to show us. He trains us to do the same.
