Saying You Have Little Faith Isn't A Rebuke!

'You of little faith' isn't a rebuke... It is a compliment.. everyone but Jesus is a person of little faith but 'that believing'... this believing... is miraculous... God is saying, 'You are a believer now! That means something has been born in you that KNOWS God is going to come though.'

Trust in that. 

Matthew 8:26 ESV — "And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm."

Luke 12:28 ESV — "But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!"

Why is this taught as a rebuke?

Perhaps because we think of God as disappointed that we are not doing more when in reality God is thrilled when we take one small step toward Him and agree with Him even for a moment. 

Yes, there is this passage...

Matthew 17:16-21 NKJV — "So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief (little faith); for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”"

Jesus is rebuking those who had no faith... His disciples were praying and many people were benefiting from their ministry... Jesus sent them and they were believing... this situation was just beyond them... only Jesus could do that because of who He was how He was living His life... He wasn't rebuking them... they asked and He was explaining the dynamic to them... their 'little faith' got that man in front of Jesus. 

I've never seen Heaven. Tonight I'm happy I have any faith... Yes it is small but one day it won't be... this little faith enables me to see the smile on God's face when others see a frown. I am just the way He wants me to be. My 'little faith' says 'It is finished!'.

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Choose Life

This passage convinced me long ago that God has a 'permissive will'.

"Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, NOR DID IT COME INTO MY MIND" - Jeremiah 19:4-5 ESV

God created a 'sandbox' for us to play in. We can do all sorts of things... helpful and harmful.

God also has a perfect will. 

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live," - Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV

His perfect will is both a path winding through this sandbox that can be taken by groups and individuals and certain events that God has decreed. History is like a river. It is going to flow into the ocean at a certain place and time.

This leads me to conclude that i want to 'choose life and live' but if i or others don't it will not affect the overall outcome.

"Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." - 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 ESV

Jesus is the embodiment of God's perfect will. He is the red thread that run through history. He is why humanity has hope. I want to be as close to that thread as possible. Trusting in Him not imitating Him. Believing, deciding, rebounding, pointing to Him and talking about Him. That is the way to live and to get back on track when we have wondered off to play in other parts of the sandbox.

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Learning and Turning

In seasons like this I often think 'Am I going through this so I can unlearn something?'

I know many people are looking to learn from circumstances, but that smacks to me of this need to always have accomplishment and continue to accomplish and accomplish and accomplish. But what I know about my life of faith is that it's really not about my accomplishments. It's about His (The Father, the son, and the holy Spirit).

If anything perhaps I'm like the addict whose life is starting to get bad because of his addiction but he hasn't gotten to the end of himself yet. The answer is never me doing better. It's about me giving my all in a surrender to Christ's supremacy in my life while I'm doing the next thing with all my strength as unto God.

Jeremiah 31:18 ESV — "I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God."

The KJV says 'turn me and I will be turned'. I like that translation better.

My prayer today is that my life would glorify God and that I would unlearn anything that's in the way of me walking by faith.

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Preparation Not Punishment

When a coach tells you to run twenty laps is it because he or she is punishing you? No. Good coaches do that because they are training you to be a player with more endurance so the team can have a player with more endurance. 

Hebrews 12:6-7 ESV — "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?"

Hard things are not punishment. They are training. It is that way with EVERY child of His... not just you... the twenty laps are not your identity... you are on the team... you are in the family... you are accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6)... you are loved... God boasts about you... He sings over you and laughs with joy.

Jesus got punished for us. God isn't punishing us. He is training us to reign.

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Being With Hurting People

The thought i had that i have today is...

'Be present with those who are in pain.' and just 'Be with people when you are in pain.'

The problem is often that people can amplify or minimize pain that others are having. They 'write it off' or 'focus to much on it'. So people want to withdraw.

Also... hurt people hurt other people. They lash out at times... can we endure that... absorb that.

People grieve
People who were wronged are genuinely hurt

Forgiveness is real and possible... Heaven is real.... hurt is also real.

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." - Isaiah 53:3 KJV

That is Jesus in prophecy.

"But of the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.'" - Hebrews 1:8-9 ESV

That is Jesus also but i love how it says, 'of the Son' because we are adopted children in Christ and we can 'love righteousness' and be exalted also. He already is exalted and we can experience that in Him.

"As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.' " - Matthew 9:9-12 ESV

Jesus loved righteousness and sat with people at the same time.

I practice confrontational evangelism but I'm not that way when it comes to healing... that takes time, kindness, laughter (if possible) and love.

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King David As A Worship Leader

 David as a 'worship leader'...

1 Chronicles 29:10-20 ESV — "Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.” Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the LORD your God.” And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king."

Yes. David worshipped God with His words. He sorted through the dirt and garbage of Israel's history and found the gold... the signal not the noise... and gave them that and that created a capacity for the assembly to worship.

We need 'worship leaders'... not people who can just sing skillfully... we need to be led into worship by example.

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The One Who Bought The Pearl

Matthew 13:45-46 ESV — "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

Isaiah 53:10 KJV — "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."

The cross was the ultimate manifestation of Jesus' heart to 'sell all that He had' to win our lives back. His heart won the Father's heart and His shed Blood satisfied the Father's justice and holiness.

Jesus. Faced with paying the ultimate price... paid it... He did not back down... a second Adam who is a quickening Spirit.

Sin is paid for but will we believe and then be made alive to enjoy the benefits of being alive? If we never believe we stay spiritually dead.

Mark 12:27a ESV — "He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

John 14:6 ESV — "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

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