Faith is Important

So what does Friday, the 13th mean for you?  Are you extra careful because it is an "unlucky" day?  Rebuke and bind that thought or belief right now. You cannot believe in God and think that the days that He created bring any kind of luck-good or bad.  With God, there isn't luck-there is purpose.  This is a good day no matter what, because the LORD has made this day for you.  So rejoice and be glad in it.

PRAYER: Thank You, LORD for an amazing day.  Today is another opportunity for me to grow closer to You.  To discern and learn Your ways.  To fill my heart with the concerns of the LORD and to remove more of what is inside of me that is not of You.  LORD, thank You for continuing to change and transform me into the person I am meant to be.  I am blessed to be able to see things on spiritual level, beyond what the world sees.  You provide me with wonderful insight into not only my own circumstances but I'm sensitive to the circumstances of those around me.  This sensitivity gives me the opportunity to serve others in the way that You have commanded me to.  Thank You LORD, for rebuilding a servants heart within me.  I desire to serve You and Your people in godly ways.  In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

MATTHEW 17: 14-21

THE HEALING OF A BOY WITH A DEMON: 

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."

"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

The disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

He replied, ''Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Have you accepted Jesus as your personal LORD and Savior?  If the answer to this question was "yes," then you have a gift.  You have faith.  It takes an answer of faith, no matter how small or big-to respond to God's call for your heart.  Accepting Jesus begins your relationship with God.  And through this relationship, your faith is tried and tested in order to grow. 

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  In the NIV text it reads, Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

How would you measure your faith?  Is it weak?  Is it strong?  Is it wavering?  Does it come and go depending on the situation?  Faith is IMPORTANT ladies and gents.  I have learned that a right relationship with God is based on faith.  Come on, lets be honest, too many people think God is an imaginary being-it takes faith to believe that He is real and trust Him with our life.  Abraham is a great example of faith.  He was told that he would be the father of many nations (all who believe in God), he was told that he would have a son with his wife Sara-even in their old age.  When there was no hope, Abraham kept believing, his faith never wavered, it grew stronger.  God counted Abraham righteous and Abraham received the gift of God's favor.  Not as a reward, we don't work for God's favor.  God presents it to us as a gift.  This is what God desires to provide to us.  But it depends on our FAITH.  Faith is the foundation of our relationship with God.

We have discussed this before, how our faith is central to everything we do as believers.  Faith is why we fast, pray, study the Word, pray in the spirit, claim our healing, rebuke demons and evil spirits.  The devil is and will always be after our faith in order to hinder us.  In the above gospel, the disciples had been given the authority to do the healing, but they not yet learned how to appropriate the power of God.  Jesus' frustration is with the unbelieving and unresponsive generation.  A generation that showed a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that was unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences.  His disciples were merely a reflection of that attitude in this instance.  Just think if Jesus was frustrated then, how frustrated He must be with our generation today.  But Jesus' purpose is never to criticize us but to encourage us to greater faith.  Jesus wasn't condemning the disciples for substandard faith.  He's straight-forwardness (which I love) may seem that way, but He always acts in love.  He was trying to show how important faith would be in their future ministry.

The disciples were unable to cast out this demon, and they asked Jesus why.  He said that their faith was too small.  It is the power of God, plus our faith-our belief in His power, that  moves mountains.  The mustard seed was the smallest particle imaginable.  Jesus said that even faith as small or undeveloped as a mustard seed would have been sufficient.  As humans, we always include ourselves.  It's not by our power at all.  The disciples were trying to cast out the demon with their own ability rather than God's.  There is great power in even a little faith when we trust in God's power to act.  It takes time to learn this, so don't be discourage if you don't totally get it right now.  If you feel weak or powerless as a believer in God, take time to examine your faith, making sure you are trusting Gods power, not your own ability to produce results.  If you are facing a problem that seems as big and immovable as a mountain, turn your eyes from the mountain and look to Christ for more faith.  Only then will you be able to overcome the obstacles that may stand in your way.

I would like to share something personal.  God has called me to make another HUGE move in my life.  And while there are many critics about my decision, I know I can trust God completely.  I will be honest and admit, there are times that I ask myself "What am I doing?" or "But what am I going to do."  This is when I look away from my mountain and I turn to God.  I know I can stand on the Word of God.  I know for sure that God spoke to me.  And I know that God will never leave nor forsake me or allow me to be led in the wrong direction, as I take action to continuously check my steps with Him.  And through this my faith is being tried and tested, but I know it's becoming stronger with every faith move I make.  I encourage you to take some steps in faith.  Not my steps exactly, but ask God what He wants you to do.  Because I know there is so much more He wants to show you and places that He wants to take you.  But are you going to trust Him?  Are you ready to be sure and certain of what you hope for and cannot yet see?

PONDER THIS:

DO YOU VALUE AND PROTECT YOUR FAITH?

ACTION:

CONTINUOUSLY PRAY THAT YOUR FAITH NEVER FAILS!