The Faith That Moves Mountains: How to Have It, How to Use It, and How to Protect It

By Arisnel Mesidor

The Faith That Moves Mountains: How to Have It, How to Use It, and How to Protect It is a Christian nonfiction book consisting of a theological reflection on Mark 11:2025. If you feel like you have a huge and intimidating mountain standing in front of you, if you feel like a huge wall prevents you from entering into your promised land, if you are currently facing a situation where you feel blocked from realizing your full potential and fulfilling your God-given destiny, this book is written for you.

The purpose of the book is to reassure you that God has not forgotten you, even if it feels like so at times. That you have found yourself in precarious situations at one point or another in your life is not a result of Gods indifference toward you. This book reminds you that even before God brought you into this world, he made provisions in order for you to be able to deal with such circumstances. You must never lose sight of the fact that God loves you and his plan is not for the mountains of life to remain in your way forever without you being able to do something about it.

In this book, I will teach you about the nature of the faith that moves mountains. I will try to explain the nature of that faithhow to have it, how to use it, and how to protect it. I want you to realize that you dont always have to put up with things that prevent you from moving forward in your life and toward your God-given destiny. I encourage you to keep this in mind: not knowing whether or not something negative is happening to you is part of how God is working in your life. You need to pray and make your desire known to God. As Gods servant, you never need to hide your frustration from him and shy away from letting the one who loves you know what you need.

My prayer is that, after realizing how powerful faith in God is, you may put yours into good use. God did not put us in this world without carefully equipping us for every challenge we would face. God has not created us either as simple tools he can use whenever or for whatever he wants. Rather, God has made us acting beings able to do thingsand in fact the things which he himself does. God created us in his image and has made us his associates in looking after everything he created. Discover the power of faith in God, and triumph over the mountains of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543445046

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Copyright © 2017 by Arisnel Mesidor.

ISBN:                        Hardcover                        978-1-5434-4502-2

                                   Softcover                          978-1-5434-4503-9

                                   eBook                               978-1-5434-4504-6

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From the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Rev. date: 08/21/2017

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Contents

Special Dedication

Special Thanks

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1   MOUNTAINS CAN BE AWESOME AND AWFUL AT

THE SAME TIME

Chapter 2   TWO KINDS OF FAITH:

NATURAL FAITH AND FAITH IN GOD

Chapter 3   THE NATURE OF THE FAITH THAT MOVES

MOUNTAINS

Chapter 4   HOW THE FAITH THAT MOVES MOUNTAINS

WORKS

Chapter 5   BLOCKAGES TO ANSWERED PRAYERS AND

MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH

Conclusion

Bibliography

Special Dedication

I proudly and wholeheartedly dedicate this first book of mine to the following most important people in my life:

My beautiful and lovely wife, Syvelie Mesidor Vaneus (BB), who suffered quite a bit while I was writing this book and who did not hide her feelings;

My two amazing children, Joshua Arisnel Mesidor and Medjine Joanna Mesidor (mes Babangs) who sometimes think that I am the best dad in the world;

My father and mother, Anel Mesidor and Lamercie Petit-Pha, who invested all that they had in me and made sure that I had the best education possible.

Above all, this book is for the glory of almighty God. In Him I live and move and have my being. May it remind all readers how powerful and good God is!

Special Thanks

I want to sincerely thank in a special way the following people:

Keith Poysti for his incredible encouragement that he showed especially by accepting to write the foreword for the book.

Professor Pierre Gilbert who was my academic advisor and mentor when I was attending Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) and Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary (MBBS) for my graduate studies. Pierre is also a friend and he shows his support by providing one of the endorsements for the book.

Fenel Pierre, a long-time friend who has also been a source of inspiration for me because of his unrelenting work ethics and discipline. I am grateful for his endorsement of the book.

²⁰ In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ Then Peter remembered and said to him, Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered. ²² Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. ²³ Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. ²⁴ So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

²⁵ Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

—Mark 11:20–25 (NSRV)

Foreword

One of the penetrating questions Jesus asked his followers during his earthly ministry is recorded in Luke 18:8: And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Faith in God, Jesus seems to intimate in this text, is our most precious earthly treasure, especially when viewed in light of eternity.

It is a worthwhile enterprise, then, to try to better understand this faith that Jesus identifies as so crucial to his followers; to understand how to find faith, how to put it to good use, and how to hang on to it even in the face of stubborn obstacles is a lifelong pursuit. Arisnel Mesidor—pastor, educator, and a good friend—attempts to answer these and other questions concerning faith. He helpfully defines faith through careful use of biblical texts and delineates the difference between natural faith and supernatural faith. Arisnel describes the mountains, or obstacles to faith, and how faith is something that actively engages the believer in removing those mountains in order to enter into the reality of what God has promised.

Drawing examples and analogies from personal experience, the natural world, and history, Arisnel vividly illustrates the truths that he so passionately believes. His style is reminiscent of Watchman Nee’s writings, always practical and down-to-earth, scripturally based and drawing us deeper into the heart of the issue. Arisnel’s writing style is inspirational, at times humorous as well as imaginative. But don’t think for a minute that this book is a simplistic piece of fluff advocating faith as positive thinking! For example, just when one may be tempted to wonder whether Arisnel’s explanation of human nature is too simplistic, Arisnel plunges the reader into an erudite and complex discussion of theological anthropology in the very next chapter. At several points in the book, Arisnel seems to anticipate the reader’s objections and deftly counters them with logic or biblical exegesis.

One may not agree with all of Arisnel’s conclusions about the nature of faith in God—careful readers, however, will find themselves pushed to think more deeply about their own faith. My prayer is that these chapters will encourage the kind of faith that enables Christ’s followers to move mountains and to remain faithful until Jesus Christ returns!

Keith Poysti, conference pastor,

Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba

Life is hard! And sometimes it can be downright brutal. Regardless of who we are, each one of us will one day face a challenge that will test our personal resolve and profoundly undermine our sense of well-being. How are we to respond to such situations? How are we to go on when the road is obstructed by what seems like an immovable and overwhelming boulder? How can we persevere when all hope seems lost?

In his book, The Faith that Moves Mountains, Arisnel Mesidor offers a profound reflection on the kind of faith that does indeed move mountains (Mark 11:20-25). Mountains are a normal part of life. There is no use wishing them away or pretending they weren’t there. The real issue is how we deal with them.

Whether it emerges as a financial or health crisis, a mountain can destroy our hopes and aspirations. But it doesn’t have to. Through a study of Mark 11:20-25, multiple examples from the Bible, and various real-life situations, Arisnel leads the reader on a journey that sheds light on the special kind of faith in God we need to overcome the mountains that so often loom before us.

Arisnel is careful to point out that the faith that moves mountains is ultimately dependent on who God is: his power and his character. That kind of faith isn’t contingent on what we offer. Faith that moves mountains is based on the very promises of God as found in Scripture. It is faith that takes God at his word, and the kind of faith that gives us the will and the strength to risk all for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

The Faith that Moves Mountains will inspire those who seek to have a closer relationship with God. It will give them insights into those attitudes that can obstruct true faith. And it will equip them with respect to acting on the kind of faith that does indeed move mountains.

Pierre Gilbert, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Bible and Theology

Canadian Mennonite University

Introduction

Have you ever felt like having a huge and intimidating mountain standing in front of you? Has anything in your life ever felt like a huge wall preventing you from entering into your promised land? Are you currently facing a situation where you feel blocked from realizing your full potential and fulfilling your God-given destiny?

Friend, if you answer no to each one of these questions, I would like to join you in giving thanks to God for having protected you in this regard thus far. If you have, however, answered yes to at least one of these questions, I would like to reassure you that God has not forgotten you. That you have found yourself in such a situation at one point or another in your life is not a result of God’s indifference toward you. In fact, even before God brought you into this world, he made provision in order for you to be able to deal with such circumstances. God loves you. His plan is not for the mountains of life to remain in your way forever without you being able to do something about it. God’s plan for you is just the opposite.

You may be facing a mountain in your professional life. At work, you may be dealing with a very difficult and even ruthless supervisor who never misses an opportunity to make your life miserable. Not only is this person making your life difficult for no apparent reason, he or she has also vowed that you will never receive any promotion despite your competencies, discipline, and hard work. When you think about it, as far as you are concerned, this person is on a mission and you don’t seem to have any way around it.

You could be having a health challenge. Let us say that you are at a fairly early stage of your life and you are full of energy and passion. Your dreams are big and many. You have a lot of things you would like to realize in life. You have a full bucket list. But a particular health challenge stands in your way. You want to accomplish all these things, but your health is not being your best ally. In fact, it is a blockage, a mountain between you and your goals.

Spiritual, physical, emotional mountains are a part of life. Sooner or later, one will face them. They will take one form or another. The mountains in our lives can be very intimidating. They can threaten many aspects of our existence and cause us great concerns and even fear. The great nation that was handpicked by God, the people of Israel, was faced with mountains on their way to the Promised Land. As they were heading to Canaan to enter the land that God promised them through their forefathers, they had to deal with several mountains. Among the mountains the people of Israel had to deal with on their way to their destiny were the Red Sea, the Jordan River, and the walls of Jericho. The Israelites journey to the Promised Land was not an easy and smooth one. This will often be the case for you and for me as well.

But do you know that the mountains we are faced with in our lives don’t have to stop us? No! They don’t. In fact, they can’t. The mountains with which the people of Israel were faced certainly did not stop them from entering into the Promised Land. We serve a God who controls the mountains. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom we serve, is a God of miracle. He can do the impossible. The best news of all is that this God lives inside of us and he wants to carry out his unlimited power through us. The apostle Paul reminds us that our God is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine and his power is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).

Friend, as real as the mountains of life are, they can move. God can move them. But not only can God move them, he has also equipped his servant men and women to do the same. Yes! You and I have mountain-moving power. There is a special tool we can acquire and with which we will be able to face the mountains in our lives and command them to move out of our way. What is that tool? you ask. This is exactly what this book is about. In this book, I tell you exactly what this tool is, how to use it, and how to care for it.

The content of this book is a theological reflection on one particular teaching of Jesus to the early disciples. This teaching of Jesus is the one found in Mark 11:20–25. This is a wonderful passage from the Bible, one I am very fascinated by. This particular teaching of Jesus is one that all Christians desperately need. Jesus knows that, and that’s why he made sure that his beloved disciples heard it. This teaching is about the most fundamental aspect of the Christian religion—faith in God.

We all know that faith in God is the means through which we have received God’s free gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8). But faith in God saves us not