Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – September 9, 2020
Because you have so little faith. I [Jesus] tell you this: if you had even a faint spark of faith, even faith as tiny as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and because of your faith, the mountain would move. If you had just a sliver of faith, you would find nothing impossible. Matthew 17:20, The Voice
In our current culture’s reality, faith is underrated while science and technology are at an all time premium. Faith is only important on an as needed basis. As long as life is running smoothly no need to bother God (if there is a God), but as soon as sickness strikes, death snatches a life, a job goes away or a child has issues—then call out to the Lord—“God’s on call”. But what if we took a different approach? What if we made faith the foundation of our life, and lived in this reality every day of our life? Each decision, every relationship and our perspective is focused on the unseen faith world in real time, not on the limited perspective of what we think we can control.
To illustrate faith, why does Jesus use the imagery of a mustard seed and a mountain? The Lord is more concerned with the quality of our faith than the quantity of our faith. Just as a smaller diamond that is 100% pure in its cut, clarity and color—is superior to an inferior larger stone, in the same way small faith totally trusting the Holy Trinity can displace difficulties—move mountains. Masterfully, our master Jesus Christ, in a jarring manner, reveals effective faith. Not trust in the certainty of my situation, but total trust in our unchanging Christ—the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. A tiny sliver of faith focused on our Creator can experience His underestimated outcomes.
“What if my faith is strong enough to scoop a mountain from its bedrock, yet I live without love? If so, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2, The Voice).
Is your bedrock faith in Jesus full of love? Faith motivated by love not only moves mountains, but in the process gives God the glory. So loving, faith filled teachers are complimented for the caring way they help their students become the best version of themselves. Because of their faith in Jesus, they have faith in their students to be their very best. In the same way, loving faith filled parents are patient with their child to outgrow their immaturity and develop into a mature follower of Jesus. Love is patient to wait on God to work out His way in His timing. Loving faith gets the right results in the right way. You don’t have to force what you want to happen. Lovingly trust.
Where do you start in having quality faith? Start by placing your faith in Jesus Christ alone as your Savior and Lord, for the forgiveness of your sins and for life eternal. If you are a follower of Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to grow your faith to become more uncomfortable with the sins of pride and self-righteousness and more comfortable with the mystery of God’s love for you that replaces fear with love, lust with love and greed with love. The quality and quantity of your faith grows as your capacity to be loved by the Lord and to love for the Lord grows. Loving faith moves mountains for the glory of God and gives others the faith and love to do the same.
“Here is another of his illustrations: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds but becomes the largest of plants, and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter” (Matthew 13:31-32, The Living Bible).
Prayer
Dear Lord, grow my faith to be focused on you and motivated by love, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
What does loving faith require of me with people or situations out of my control?
Related Reading
Psalm 25:10; Psalm 100:5; Proverbs 16:6; Galatians 5:6; Philemon 1:5
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