A small seed produces a huge tree, so in paraphrase, Jesus said, "If you had faith like a seed that would grow, you would say to this obstacle, be plucked up by the roots, and be planted in the sea, and the obstacle should obey you."

Referring to problem areas in our life, Jesus tells us that by the authority of His Word to say to a situation, "Problem, you are a thing of the past. You are pulled up by the roots and planted in the sea and you will never hinder me again."

Notice, "planted in the sea", not, "cast into the sea". Anything cast into the sea can eventually wash up onto shore and become an obstacle again. By planting your problem into the sea, it takes root there and will never be seen again.

Today, when faced with obstacles, many believers fall short of the Word because they ask themselves, "Now, what would Jesus do?" (WWJD) Ok, so what DID Jesus do? Jesus did the WILL of the Father. What did Jesus tell believers to do? Jesus told us to do the same, to continue in His Word, "If you continue in My Word, then you are my disciples indeed; and you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)

That day, the Apostles learned that faith works like a seed -- faith seed is planted by speaking it. They learned that they didn't need MORE faith, which implies a piling up of new faith onto old faith (no such animal). They learned that they needed to GROW the little "mustard seed" faith that they already had. If a tree can't grow in our garden unless we plant a seed, we can't grow faith in our heart unless we plant the Word of God, daily. "Faith comes by hearing; and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17) More Word, like fertilizer, the stronger and taller the faith grows.

Faith doesn't come by asking and sometimes getting, but by hearing the spoken Word of God over and over until it becomes part of us. Then after faith arrives and begins to sprout, we will be fully persuaded the Word is true regardless of what we are facing in life.

Each believer begins with the seed of faith in his heart upon confession. It is planted through belief, confirming the blood of Jesus for salvation. What we do from there determines our life on earth and our rewards in heaven. Further instructions are in the Word of God, water and fertilize that seed daily, lest it stunt or die.

To maintain our Christian walk, the bottom line for every believer is to do what Jesus SAID to do.

The things that happen to us do not and can never change God's Word. But if we plant God's Word in our heart, God's Word will eventually change what happens to us. We'll have the faith that takes.