Category: Faith of a Mustard Seed

²³ And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ 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. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” ~ Matthew 8:23-27

Jesus and His disciples were in the ship, crossing over to the other side. These men weren’t men who had never been in a boat before. These men weren’t men who weren’t used to rough waves and weather. These were seasoned seamen that were with Jesus. They were crossing the lake when a tempest, or a huge storm, arose and threatened to sink the boat with them in it. I presume the disciples were rowing and bailing out the water from the boat to no avail.

So, they went to the back of the ship and woke Jesus up, asking for help. When He helps them by calming the storm, they marvel. They could hardly believe what they had just seen. Maybe it took them by surprise because they were not expecting that. Maybe they were expecting Jesus to grab a bucket or pan and start bailing out water. Or grab an oar and start rowing. Whatever they were expecting, it certainly didn’t seem to be that. That didn’t expect Jesus to stand up and speak to the storm and the storm obey Him. They weren’t ready.

Some of us are where these disciples were so long ago. We’re seasoned in our position, and then, out of nowhere, a storm hits, and we panic. Imagine how much more God will do for us if we cry out for help expecting the impossible. Think about it. The disciples were saved in such a miraculous way that they were shocked, meaning this wasn’t how they were expecting to be saved. So then, how much more will God do the impossible if we pray and expect the impossible?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Expect The Impossible.

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⁵ When He had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, appealing to Him, ⁶ “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” ⁷ And He said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” ~ Matthew 8:5-8

Look at the faith the centurion had. And he wasn’t even a Jew. He wasn’t even a follower of Jesus. Yet he put his hope completely in Jesus. His servant was sick. He heard all about Jesus and His mighty acts of healing. So, he himself went to see Jesus. He didn’t send someone else. Many Christians won’t pray for themselves, and others won’t even pray at all. They would rather someone else to labor in prayer on their behalf.

Now, I want to be clear. I’m not in no way discounting asking for prayer. Please, pray for me. If you can do anything, please remember me in your prayers that the LORD will open up doors and opportunities for us. That the LORD will always lead us in all things. But that doesn’t release me from the necessary task of praying myself. Jesus prayed for Himself. Paul prayed for himself. Both changed the entire world.

We have to be like them if we want to see a change in our lives. We have to be like the centurion who didn’t rely on someone else to do what he knew he ought to do if we want our loved ones healed or saved. We have to take it upon ourselves, just as that centurion did, if we want to see miracles, changes, and answered prayers in our lives. He wanted his servant healed, and he believed, and he knew Jesus could do it, so he himself went to ask.

• Your children aren’t serving the LORD?
  • Ask Jesus
• Are your children in unhealthy relationships?
  • Take it to the LORD in prayer
• Someone you love or know is sick?
  • Pray the prayer of faith
• Are you called to do something? And you sure it is the LORD and not the enemy distracting you?
  • Ask for confirmation from the LORD.
    • Remember, not every opportunity is of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Have The Faith of The Centurion.

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²⁸ And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” ~ Matthew 14:28-33

Sometimes we are in that same boat. Life’s fierce winds are howling all around us, blowing over 100 miles an hour. The waves of the cares of this world are crashing against our ship and breaking over the bow, threatening to sink our ship. The lightning is flashing across the night sky as the deafening thunder crashes all around us. The ship is filling up with water faster than we can bail.

• Of course, we are saved
• Of course, we are serving Jesus
• Of course, we know He is our all sufficiency
• Of course, we depend on Him
• Of course, we know He is all powerful
• Of course, we know He can do all things
• We know the Scriptures we can quote
• We have the head-faith
• What we don’t have is the faith of a mustard seed
• We must get it from our heads and into our hearts
• We can confess it with our mouths, but until we confess in our hearts, there is no true faith

The thing is, when life’s storms begin to rage, our boat threatens to sink, and there is no land in sight. It is not that easy to put down the bailing pan and cast our cares and worries and fears on Jesus.

It’s just not that easy.

In times like that, we forget that He is all-sufficient. We forget that He is Almighty God. Why? Because we are looking with our natural eyes. So, we have a need to control the situation ourselves instead of casting our cares and burdens on Him because He cares for us. In other words, we have to stop looking with our natural eyes and start looking with our spiritual eyes. Sometimes it needs prayer in order to open our spiritual eyes, just as Elisha had to pray for his servant. Sometimes it just takes a change of focus through reciting Scripture. Either way, we must focus on God, for the waves cannot overtake us as long as our focus is on Him because what we focus on is whom we have our faith in.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Never Forget Whom You Serve.

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⁴³ So the Lord gave to Israel all the land He had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. ⁴⁴ And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. ⁴⁵ Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything He had spoken came true. ~ Joshua 21:43–45

All of God’s promises are yea and amen. If He has promised, you can believe and stand on the promises of God. There will be many obstacles standing in our way. There will be many roadblocks that you will have to go around and maneuver through, even hindrances, but none can prevail against the Word of the LORD. There is nothing that can stop the hand of God. Nothing that can cancel His words or prevent His promises but you yourself.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Stop His Promises.

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¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem He was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance ¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ~ Luke 17:11-14

Ten lepers came to Jesus begging for mercy. They came to Him in faith and humility, crying out with a loud voice. They even declared who Jesus was by calling Him master, but none of that mattered until they obeyed in faith and walked away. It wasn’t until they stepped out in faith and walked to the priests to be checked that they were healed. See, even though they went to Jesus in faith, they had to first leave Jesus in faith in order to receive their healing.

When they left to go present themselves to the priests, they were still sick. They were still ten lepers when they left Jesus; it wasn’t until they started walking a little distance that they received their healing. It was a test of their faith. This is how it is with some of us today. Some of us are at Jesus’ feet, begging for our healing, declaring who Jesus is, crying out for mercy, while Jesus is telling us to get up and show ourselves to the priests. Go to the doctor. Get your checkup. But we’re still at His feet, begging for healing and mercy. So, many of us miss out on our healing because we’re too afraid to leave Jesus’ feet in faith. Sometimes, this is the only way we can be healed, so don’t let fear or doubt keep you from your healing. Walk out in faith.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Leave His Feet.

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² Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to Him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” ~ Matthew 11:2-6

John was sent by God to prepare the way for the LORD. He proclaimed to the masses that Jesus was the Messiah. That Jesus was the promised Christ. Even though John had preached to the masses and baptized many, his faith was shaken when he was at the end of his life. See, Jesus was healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and preaching love everywhere He went while John was chained up in prison. The Jews had preconceived ideas about who the Messiah was and how He was to save or redeem Israel. They expected the Messiah to overthrow the Roman Empire that was oppressing the Jews and to take His rightful place as King of kings and LORD of lords, yet Jesus didn’t do this. This caused many to doubt Him, including John, who led the way for Him and even baptized Him.

Today we face this same dilemma. We have our own preconceived notions of who Jesus is and how He would react to things without first taking the time to get to know Him. We no longer search for the Truth; now, we search for those who tickle our ears and validate our own biases. We’d rather stay chained up in a spiritual prison than to seek the Truth of God that will set us free because we don’t want to give something up. Oftentimes, we ignore the Truth of who Jesus is because we don’t want to fight the good fight. Because we want to stay in our own filth and muck where we’re comfortable and have a false sense of safety.

Other times it’s because we desire a Jesus that will bring judgment and punishment on our enemies, as I believe John did. It’s easy to be upset with God when He seems so distant, and everything around us seems like it’s falling apart, but always remember that God works all things out for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Don’t allow your own idea of who you think Jesus should be cause you to miss out on who He is and be caught unawares and sleeping when He returns.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Trust Him Even In Prison.

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