MOVED ANY MOUNTAINS LATELY?

Matthew 17:14 and when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." 17 And Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

How big is your faith? Is it like the grain of a mustard seed? If so, why are you not moving mountains? If not, why not?

These are questions we must ask ourselves. If any of you are like me, sadly you have not seen many mountains moved. We must go before God and ask Him to help us.

Another thought came to me while reading this - if I am not moving mountains then I must have a faith that is smaller than a mustard seed! How sad if that is true. Especially considering that Jesus called the mustard seed,

"the smallest of all the seeds on earth"

On another occasion the disciples were overwhelmed by their lack of faith,

"The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!. "And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

Lord, it would appear that at times we have faith that is less than a grain of mustard seed. Increase our faith! Lord, we believe but, help us in our unbelief! Help us to focus on you the One whose faith never faltered. The One whose faith sustains us even now. All Praise goes to you Lord Jesus, to the glory of the Father!

THE GOSPEL - CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL

Feb 25 2010
The Gospel Is For Christians

by Tullian Tchividjian

The great theologian B. B. Warfield on why the gospel is needed for believers:

"There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be trust as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest."

I thought this quote used by Tullian Tchividjian in his post was worth passing on.
The extent of the Gospel's effect does not end with an initial salvation experience, with sins forgiven and heaven waiting for us. As B.B. Warfield says, "Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing".

In Colossians 1:3-6 we have a good description of the gospel at work:

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing--as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth"

I would also suggest the reading of Philippians 1.

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER!

Psalm 35:12 They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft. 13 But I, when they were sick-- I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.

In care group last night we were discussing what many have dubbed the Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. It was pointed out that the admonitions to love are in the context of the church, our brothers and sisters. But as I read this passage I was convicted. There are times in which my love, specifically in prayer, for my brothers and sisters is far less than it should be.

This passage shows the depths of love the psalmist had for his enemies. How convicting it is to read that, in the midst of being repaid evil for good, the psalmist repays the evil with good, even praying for them as he would for a brother, sister, or his mother. Jesus himself said,

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven."

The psalmist grieving for his enemies, and laboring in anguished prayer for them, in itself is convicting. Then add to that the weight of Jesus' very words coming from his own lips. So I ask myself, if this is the way we should pray for our enemies, how much more should I labor in prayer for my brothers and sisters who are in Christ?!?!

"THEY PUT THEM AT HIS FEET"

Matthew 15: 29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

In light of this passage, I have been thinking (and praying for) the various people in my church family who had/have serious illnesses.

The Holy Spirit has impressed upon me this thought: The bringing of the sick and diseased to Jesus was an act of worship. These phrases caused me to see it this way:

1. "great crowds came to him, bringing with them"

• Do we not bring to the Lord, not just our sick, but, all things that we can do nothing about. Worship recognizes the One with whom nothing is impossible. Worship confesses our helplessness and His great power to, save, heal, change the course of events, etc.
  

1. "and they put them at his feet"

• Is this not a recognizable act of worship. We lay things at Jesus' feet all the time. I have prayed and heard others pray, "Lord we lay this - whatever - at your feet."
  

1. "the crowd wondered, when they saw"

• Is not worship a time of wonder and awe at the mighty majesty of the Lord. We see him high and lifted up in all his mighty deeds.
  

1. "And they glorified the God of Israel"

• And now they respond in the only way that would be appropriate, they glorified God.

Is there anything too hard for the Lord to do? Don't hesitate, bring those hard things and place them at his feet. Then be prepared to wonder and and glorify the Lord of Israel!

IMPLORING FAITH!

Matthew 14:36 “and implored him (Jesus) that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.”

What kind of faith only implores “that they might only touch the fringe of his garment” in order to be healed? Apparently the kind that receives the fruit of imploring! Matthew confirms this as he records, “as many as touched it were made well.”

It truly is amazing that such a simple imploring request should reap such wonderful results.

Lord Jesus, I pray that you would grant the same healing to all who implore “that they might only touch the fringe of (your) garment”. Thank You Lord!

HAVE YOU HEARD OR DONE ANY GOOD BOASTING LATELY?

Psalm 24:2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.

Usually the word boasting conjures up images of the proud and arrogant, but in this context it is not something to be rejected. Why? Because of the object of the boast! If my soul boasts in my accomplishments what do I have? If God’s word is any indication, what I am boasting in is “filthy rags”. If I boast in my position in this life what do I have? It means nothing since all are under the judgment of God, both the rich and the poor.

Even a Christian has nothing to boast about in his or herself. As Paul says in scripture, For what do we have that has not already been given to us. He also said this (paraphase), who am I, who are you, but those who sow and water. But God gives the increase! Everything in this life owes itself to One being and to Him alone.

But now, what if I boast in the Lord? Now that is a different story. Why? As I said before, because of the object of my boast! He is worthy of all boasting, He created me, I live, move, and have my being because of Him, He chose me before the foundations of the world, He died for me, He lives and intercedes for me, the list could go on and on!

The Psalmists makes clear by his choice of words that his soul boasts "IN THE LORD".

And in the second portion he speaks of the humble, “let the humble hear and be glad.” Humble people are the opposite of the prideful and arrogant. They are the only ones who hear and are glad when the Lord is being boasted about.

Have you listened to some good boasting lately? Have you done any good boasting lately?

O YE OF LITTLE FAITH!

Matthew 14:28 “And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."

Peter asks; “if it is you” do this.

He asks not out of strong faith. In fact it reminds me of Gideon who put the Lord to the test with the fleece. But while I am not sure that I would recommend Peter’s questioning way, I have observed that one, the Lord did not rebuke him for doing so, and two Peter did not sit quietly idle. No one else was saying anything. And Peter was the only one who was asked to come out and walk on the water with Him.

His weak, and in fact lack of faith, continued and is recorded, But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus (did not hesitate but) immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Jesus, instead of a strong rebuke, makes a mild rebuking observation (“O you of little faith”) and asks a stinging question (“why did you doubt?”).

O brothers and sisters let us not fail in our faith, leaving ourselves open to the Lord's rebuking observations and His stinging questions. But rather let each with grains of mustard seeds move mountains, for the glory of the Lord, for his glorious kingdom's advancement!