How can we have 'great' faith?

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We have seen what ‘no faith’ does, and we have looked at ‘little’ faith. But oh, that we could have ‘great’ faith. Jesus tells us what that looks like.

Matthew 8:5-10 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, ⁶  And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. ⁷  And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. ⁸  The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. ⁹  For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. ¹⁰  When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Observe here what causes Jesus to proclaim He has seen ‘great faith’. Notice how great faith has a humble foundation. The Centurion said, “I am not worthy”. Great faith looks up to the one who has all power. The one who oversees all. The one who created us and holds us in His hands. Great faith comes to God acknowledging His power and authority. Great faith also gives us the strength to trust Him in the good times and the not so good times.

The Centurion believed that Jesus had all power and that He cared enough to heal his servant. That was why he came to find Jesus and begged for His help. Great faith will lead to you and I to ask for things others will think is crazy! Noah believed God so he built the ark. Abraham believed God so he left Ur of the Chaldees. Abraham trusted God so he offered up Isaac. Moses walked through the Rea Sea because he believed God would keep back the waters.

We need some great faith in these times we’re going through. Let’s put our Savior to the test. Call out to Him for your need. Trust Him with your family. Ask Him to heal our nation. He has all power and authority and He’s the only one who does!

In Him,

Steve

Do you have a 'little' faith?

Hebrews 11:1 says, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Faith is what keeps us going. Faith is the thing we cling to when everything is so dark around us. Faith is believing that God will take care of us in each and every trial we face. Yesterday we saw how the Apostles had ‘no faith’ in the storm. Today we will look at how Jesus characterizes those who have a ‘little’ faith. Look at His words.

Matthew 6:25-34 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ²⁶  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? ²⁷   Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? ²⁸  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: ²⁹  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? ³¹  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? ³²  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. ³³  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ³⁴  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Notice their chief concern is on the outward things of life. They’re worried about where they will get the food needed to continue. They’re not sure if they will have the necessary clothing to wear. They’re not even confident they will be able to find any water to drink. To put this in modern day terms, we worry about our finances. We stress over our health. We anguish over our future. How is this virus thing going to end? How we will be able to live in this ‘new world’?

Jesus reminds them that our Heavenly Father takes care of the birds of the field. He watches over the flowers and blesses them with beautiful colors. His instructions are to "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness"! When our focus is on Him and His will everything else will fall into place. We need to be as the Apostles when they asked the Lord to ‘increase our faith’ (Luke 17:5). He understands ‘little faith’. Trust Him. Today. Tomorrow. Always. He’s got this.

In Him,

Steve

What kind of Faith do you have?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). It is the foundation of our walk with Jesus. We look forward in faith to an eternal life in Heaven. Faith is the evidence in our lives that we have a relationship with God. It is truly the evidence of our salvation. There are three kinds of faith Jesus mentions in the Gospels. One is found in the following passage. It is what He describes as having no faith. Let’s look at this one today.

Mark 4:35-40 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. ³⁶  And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. ³⁷  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. ³⁸  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? ³⁹  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

Notice how He characterizes them as not having faith. He’s with them, but they aren’t trusting Him. They question whether He really cares for them, “carest thou not that we perish”? But He does. The bottom line is that when we aren’t trusting Him, we begin to think He doesn’t care, which leads to a life of fear.

The cloud of this Pandemic that we are living under right now creates enough stress and problems without us creating more. Health issues, loss of income, how to do schooling at home, childcare, working from home, and the simple logistics of obtaining what we need daily, while keeping our social distancing, is enough. We don’t need to add a lack of trust in our Heavenly Father to add to the chaos. The devil wants us to think Jesus doesn’t care. Jesus cares more than you and I can ever know. Satan wants to paralyze us with fear. Jesus doesn’t want us to fear. He asks them, “Why are ye so fearful”? He’s asking ‘why’? He’s implying that they really don’t have a reason to fear. I haven’t left you. I’m here just as I have always been.

Let’s take this to heart today. He wants us to trust Him. He wants to know He cares. He doesn’t want us to be afraid. He can calm the wind and the waves. Have faith. Believe in Him. Trust in Him. He’s with us in this Pandemic.

In Him,

Steve

Trust Him in the Trials!

One of my favorite passages of scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6. I’m sure it is for a lot of you too. In these verses there are three instructions and one promise. These really present a firm foundation to stand on in this day we are living in. Listen to this as you read it.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Let’s break God’s guidance down.

1) Trust in the Lord with all thine heart
The issue of trust is really a matter of the heart. The heart is the seat of who we are. Our hearts can be deceived by this world. Our old nature is present in our hearts to deceive us (Jeremiah 17:9). The voices around us can cause us to doubt His goodness. And probably worst of all is that our hearts can be divided. Our loyalties are so mixed right now. What do I believe? What do I see happening in my future? What is going to happen to me and my family? What about my job? Who and what among all the voices do I trust? Let’s trust in our Savior with all of our heart. He loves us too much to abandon us now.

2) Lean not unto thine own understanding
Life is hard to figure out sometimes, sometimes it doesn’t make sense. Especially in the days we are living in right now. We try to use our human reasoning to decide what’s best. That’s not always a good way. Lean on His ways. His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Read His word. Depend on His guidance. Trust His wisdom.

3) In all your ways acknowledge Him
Let our actions and our attitude both reflect our confidence in Him and His word. Why don’t we pray these verses back to Him when we rise in the morning? Lord, help me to trust in you with all my heart. Help me not to lean on my own understanding, but on you. Lead me in everything I do today to acknowledge your love and mercy toward me and this world I live in. I’m trusting you to direct my step and life today. Thank you Jesus.

4) And He shall direct your paths
If someone blindfolded us, spun us around, and then asked us to point to the north, we wouldn’t have a clue where north was. That’s kind of where we are today. We’re not sure what to do. Even our leaders are groping for wisdom in this pandemic that we are in. God promises us if we will trust Him, lean on Him, acknowledge Him, that He will direct our paths.

God says trust in Him, trust in His Son Jesus, He will guide you. He will catch you.

In Him,
Steve

Anchor Yourself in His Power!

Acts 27:29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.

Today we are looking at the fourth spiritual anchor Paul depended on to get him through the storm. To review, remember Paul anchored himself in God’s promise that he would go to Rome and witness to Caesar (Acts 27:24). His second anchor was that God’s presence was there with him in his storm (Acts 27:23). Our third anchor was that Paul knew God would fulfill His plan for him to be a witness to Caesar.

Our last anchor, and maybe the most important one, was that Paul was anchored to the power of God. In Acts 27:23-25 we read, “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, ²⁴  Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. ²⁵  Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.”

What did Paul believe? That God would bring them all through the storm. Paul remembered that God had brought Noah through the flood. He had parted the Red Sea for Moses and the children of Israel and they walked through on dry ground. He had delivered Daniel out of the lion’s den. He was with the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace and brought them out of the fire. He had calmed the sea with His voice for the Apostles. Paul believed His Savior would bring them through this storm.

Notice something about those trials. God did not keep them from experiencing the pressure of them, but His power was with them and He brought them through. Noah and Moses didn’t drown. Daniel wasn’t a midnight snack for some hungry lions. The clothes of the Hebrew children weren’t singed, nor did they have the smell of smoke on them. The Apostles had a story to tell about how He stopped the wind and quieted the waters. If they had not gone through it they would have never witnessed His power. Sometimes the only way we see His power is through our pain and hardship.

We’re praying God will stop this virus. We’re praying He will heal all those infected. We’re asking Him to keep our families and all the medical workers safe. He may not deliver us ‘out’ of this, but He has the power to bring us ‘through’ this! Believe in His power. Trust in His love and mercy. He can deliver through the fire and through the flood. He will bring His children through this too. We serve an all mighty Savior! To Him be the glory!

In Him,

Steve

Anchor Yourself in His Plan!

Acts 27:29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.

Today we are looking at the third spiritual anchor Paul depended on to get him through the storm he experienced. To review, remember Paul anchored himself in God’s promise that he would go to Rome and witness to Caesar (Acts 27:24). His second anchor was that God was there with him in this storm (Acts 27:23).

Our third anchor was that Paul knew he would fulfill God’s plan for his life. In Acts 23 Paul has given his defense before the Council. As he waits for their verdict we read Paul’s account in Acts 23:11 “And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome”. Jesus said, “cheer up Paul, you’re going to Rome”!

Paul never forgot that. In Acts 27:23-25 we read, “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, ²⁴  Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. ²⁵  Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” God reaffirmed His plan that night on the ship. Paul was anchored in God’s plan for his life. Paul repeated Christ’s word to ‘be of good cheer” to the sailors.
That’s what faith is, anchoring yourself in Christ’s plan.

I don’t know what God is doing or going to do with this virus, but we can rest assured that He will work all things together (good and bad) for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). Jacob thought everything was against him (Genesis 42:36). He thought he had lost Joseph, Simeon, and Benjamin. But he would shortly realize that God was protecting him and providing for his family during the famine.

God sees the beginning and the end and everything in between. We don’t. I have a difficult time understanding the past much less predicting the future. God as the creator, sustainer, and redeemer of all mankind is going to work this out in a way that will astound us. Can we hear God’s words to Habakkuk in Habakkuk 1:5 “Behold ye among the nations, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you”.

Get ready, be ready, stayed anchored in Christ. God is working out His plans and they’re good!

In Him,

Steve

Anchored in His Presence!

Acts 27:29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.

Yesterday we read where Luke had written about the storm he and Paul went through. We read that Paul had some spiritual anchors that kept him grounded in his faith in Christ. It seems that every day we are given an update or change in what we should do in this pandemic. We desperately need some anchors to keep us stable in our walk with the Lord. We need to be anchored in Him so that we do not crash on the rocks of doubt and despair. I certainly do. The winds and waves of this virus has blown and battered everything we took for granted.

Yesterday I gave you the first anchor in Paul’s life that gave him confidence and peace in his storm. That anchor was God’s promise that he would go to Rome (Acts 27:24). He was not going to die in this storm but would take the Gospel to Italy.

Our second anchor is His presence. It also is found in Acts 27:22-25 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. ²³  For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, ²⁴  Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. ²⁵  Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Paul told his fellow shipmates that God was standing with him and them in this trial.

Remember what Jesus said in John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; ¹⁷  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Jesus said He would give us His Holy Spirit. He said He would be with us forever. He said He would dwell with you and in you. The only requirement for this was to be born again of His Spirit (John 3:3) by repenting (turning from) of our sin and receiving (turning to) Jesus as your Lord and Savior. We have His presence with us. Keep trusting and believing. He will not abandon us.

In Him,

Steve