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LUKE’S GOSPEL…FAITH IS – 44c

Bible Study, ,

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There is a final facet of faith that we, as westerners who think and have a world view that is different from that of the ancient Hebrews, do not understand when we read the Bible. We tend to inject our philosophical and abstract ways of understanding and interpreting the Bible into its words rather than drawing their meaning from ancient Hebrew thought and interpretation from the pictures or letters that the words represent. 

Hebrew words begin with three letters, called the “parent” word, and build their meaning by adding letters according to the context. The same word can mean a variety of things depending on the “child” letters added and the context in which they are used. This means that there is no corresponding and specific translation of a Hebrew word into another language. 

Hebrew people based their understanding of the world and life in the world, and consequently their language which developed from the simple way they experienced life. As I have already explained, for example, they viewed faith from their experiences in the wilderness, like tying their tents to a reliable stake in the ground so that they would not blow away in the desert wind. 

So too, the Hebrew understanding of time was different from ours. We view time as a straight line which has a beginning and an end. Everyone’s life is a straight line, beginning with birth and ending in death. For the Hebrews, life was cyclical. Like the time on the clock, like days and nights, like seasons and years, and like human life, time continues in never-ending cycle into which human lives fit and participate. 

How did they view the past and the future? For the Hebrew, and opposite to the way we think, they were able to “see” the past in front of them and the future behind them. This is not as crazy as it seems. The simple reason was that they could “see” their past in their memories, which was, therefore, in front of them, whereas they could not ”see” their future since it was unknown, and therefore, behind them. 

This way of viewing the past has practical implications for our understanding of faith. One of the ways our faith grows is by learning from our past experiences. As we experience God’s faithfulness in the tests we go through, our faith in Him grows and strengthens. We can “see”learn from our past and grow an increasing understanding and knowledge of God and His ways. Therefore, we can lean on Him with greater confidence, in our present circumstances, because of what we have already learned from past experiences of His faithfulness. 

This concept helps us to understand that faith isn’t just something we randomly exercise when faced with a variety of tests. Rather, faith is an attitude we develop as we grow in our understanding of God through experience which, in turn, contributes to our faithfulness to Him and His standards. The longer we live, the more tests we endure, the more we experience His faithfulness, the more secure we become in who God is, and consequently, the greater our loyalty to Him in more times of testing. 

This means that faith becomes a settled mindset. When things happen that require us to trust God for an outcome, we don’t need to crank our faith up because faith is already in place as part of the way we live life. Like Jesus said, “Remain in me and I will remain in you.” 

Now, to conclude…

Mustard-seed-sized faith is all that is needed to kick start our life of reliance on Jesus, but a seed always becomes something bigger…a plant, a tree…that will finally bear fruit. In the context of prayer, Jesus said something significant to His disciples…

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Was Jesus saying that the answers to our prayers that flow from our faith-union with Him form part of the fruit we bear that glorifies the Father? Is faith, then, a kind of two-way power line through which the Father accomplishes His will on earth…?

We lean our weight on Him…He reciprocates by answering us…and His will is done on earth through whatever situation we have addressed in prayer in our part of the earth. Multiply this thought by the billions of believers who live on earth. Some of these billions are engaged with God in furthering His purposes by faithful prayer. This is the way Father has planned…that we partner with Him in the administration of His kingdom on earth. We get our needs met, He gets His will done, and His rule extends deeper and deeper into the earth’s chaos to move His plan along towards completion…and He is glorified!

What a brilliant strategy!

LUKE’S GOSPEL…FAITH IS – 44b

Bible Study, ,

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There are some things Jesus cannot and will not do for us. 

One thing Jesus does not do is increase our faith in some supernatural way. 

The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith.  Another person asked Jesus to help his unbelief. 

“A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech…I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not…But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭9‬:‭17‬-‭18‬, ‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How does faith grow? Not by Jesus’ active intervention! Like the muscles in our bodies, faith grows through exercise… and we exercise faith when we come under pressure. Faith is a foundation truth in us when life carries on smoothly. No need to lean hard on Jesus until…we hit an obstacle in the road or we are called on to act or react to something bigger than ourselves. 

Faith can only increase and grow when we put it into practice. Jesus may intervene with circumstances that require us to exercise faith but we must do the believing and trusting ourselves. Jesus cannot do it for us or make us do it. How does this work?

On one occasion, a Roman centurion asked Jesus to heal his paralysed servant. Jesus was on his way to the man’s house when the centurion met him. Protesting his unworthiness, he said something that perfectly illustrated his understanding of the way faith works…and his confidence in Jesus to do what he requested. 

“The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In his desperate need, the centurion leaned his weight on Jesus’ word, “Just say the word…”, and His authority to speak those words. In turn, Jesus praised his “great faith”. 

“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This story brings me to the next important fact about faith. Faith must lean its weight on Jesus’ word! This means that we anchor ourselves not only to who He is, the Son of God and Lord, but also to what He has promised. We cannot expect Him to do what He has not promised to do. Why?

Jesus declared that He only spoke and functioned under the authority of the Father. 

“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus’ authority is expressed in His words…therefore, He has authorised us to speak on earth what He, under the authority of the Father, has spoken in heaven. When we obey the “chain of command” that operates in God’s kingdom, God’s will is “done on earth as it is done in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). 

Jesus’ words are the creative force we engage when we put our trust in Him in the difficult circumstances of our lives. 

This brings me to the third important fact about the way faith grows. Faith grows under pressure. What does the Bible mean by “under pressure”?

Faith under pressure means that we are called to remain steadfast in our reliance on Jesus either when circumstances are out of our control or when we are called to do something or believe something that is bigger than us. Faith can only issue in faithfulness when faith is pressed into action. 

Hebrews 11 is the record of people who were faithful in both confidence and obedience when they faced something they were called to do that was beyond their human ability to accomplish. The worst of circumstances, as the writer records of those who suffered terrible things but refused to give up, could not turn them away from their persuasion that something better lay ahead. 

“…There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection…These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭35‬, ‭39‬-‭40‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This kind of faithfulness under pressure is the evidence of faith which has an outcome. 

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This kind of faith, also meaning faithfulness, that does not buckle under pressure, that does what we are called to do, is the evidence of our hope in what is unseen and yet to come. When we fix our sights on what Jesus has promised, we never give up, no matter what happens because, although it is still unseen, it is real since Jesus said it would happen. 

This takes faith beyond the material and the now. Unlike those who present faith as the way to get what we want…the “name it and claim it” preachers…faith is about persevering through the “here and now” to Jesus’ ultimate promise. 

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, how do we grow our faith?

“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.””

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Did you get that?

On the strength of what Jesus has promised, we call those things that are not yet as though they already are…

…and we persevere in our determination to lean on Jesus to do what He promised even if we don’t see it happen in our lifetime. 

Although our trust in Jesus is also about the little things in everyday life, our faithfulness is ultimately about staying the course no matter what happens because He who has called us is faithful. 

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ NIV

So, again, the life of faith and faithfulness is a partnership between God and us acting together to achieve God’s goal. 

To be continued…

LUKE’S GOSPEL…FAITH IS- 44a

Bible Study, ,

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Faith…is the core, the crux, the pivot on which our entire lives as believers function…

“And, without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, what is faith? Is it some theological statement to which we give assent? Is it a magic formula that opens doors for us or through which we get what we want? Is it a crutch we lean on when troubles come? 

The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith! Can He do that? 

First, let’s go back to the ancient Hebrew use of faith that will help us better understand faith’s pivotal role in our lives. 

The ancient Hebrews were nomadic people. Their forefather, Abraham, lived in tents, moving from place to place according to his circumstances. God’s people spent forty years as nomads in the wilderness before they entered the promised land. They had to face the howling winds of the desert, living in tents that were vulnerable to the weather. 

How would they secure their tents against the force of the wind? They would drive stakes deep into the ground to which they tied their guy ropes, just as campers do today. Their entire security in that environment depended on the reliability of the pegs in the ground. 

What a simple, yet vivid picture of faith! In a mental and spiritual way, we anchor our existence to our ”tent peg”, Jesus, and lean our weight on Him for everything we are, do, and need. Therefore, faith is far more practical than merely giving assent to a truth. Faith is the invisible guy rope tied to Jesus that prevents us from blowing away in the winds of life. 

Next, we must consider the reliability and ability of our “tent peg” to secure us in a dangerous world. Does He have authority to hold us steady, and does He have the power to do what He promises? 

The big questions, for the religious leaders who opposed Jesus was, “From where does your authority come?” and “Who gave you this authority?” They rejected His response and, therefore, they rejected Him, despite the evidence of His works. They called Him a blasphemer and killed Him for claiming to be God. 

“…The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.”

Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭63‬-‭65‬ ‭NIV

How did Jesus prove that He is the Son of God and that He has all authority in heaven and on earth to do whatever He says? Can we believe that what He says is true? Can we anchor our lives to Him because He is reliable?

Jesus made a prediction that would have been impossible to achieve if He were not who He said He was. He said He would rise from the dead…and He did!

“…and who, through the Spirit of holiness, was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Now, we were created incomplete and unsecured without a “tent peg”, the God who created us and from whom we draw our lives. If we have chosen Jesus as the “stake” to whom we have anchored our lives, not money or any security the world system offers…we must, as John counselled…

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We will only be secure in Jesus because the world system is unreliable and transient. Its values are false and will fail. The only reliable “stake in the ground” is Jesus because He and His values are eternal. 

Why can we trust Him? He is who He said He is and proved it by rising from the dead. Therefore, His promises are trustworthy. He has the authority and power to do what He said He will do because He lives under and has been given all authority by the Father. 

“There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.”

‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭48‬-‭49‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Therefore, when Jesus assured His disciples before He left them…

….“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He meant it. We can lean all our weight on Him. 

Now do you understand what faith really is…? Faith is anchoring our lives to Jesus because He is utterly reliable and has the authority and power to do what He has promised. 

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – LIKE A MUSTARD SEED

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LIKE A MUSTARD SEED

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. Mark 4:30-34

There are two ways of viewing the kingdom, quantitatively or qualitatively. On the whole, people tend to view the kingdom quantitatively, interpreting growth as numerical rather than relating to character and maturity. How did Jesus intend His stories to be understood? He made it clear to the Pharisees (Luke 17:21) that God’s government happens within people. It is about submission to God, appropriating the resources He gives to come under His authority and reproduce His character, living in the light of His standards of righteousness, holiness and truth in a world system which is temporarily under the authority of a usurper.

How does this happen? It begins in the soul by planting a tiny seed. Jesus used a mustard seed as an example. When it is planted in the ground, it is so small that it is almost unnoticeable. Given time and the right conditions, it begins to grow. What started out small, increases out of all proportion to its beginning. It outgrows all the other garden plants. This illustrates the ability of God’s word to influence and change a life so much that the whole person is transformed.

This is truly good news. It is God’s Word in peoples’ lives that transforms them by renewing their minds. The more we soak in the Word, the more truth replaces our thoughts spawned by our upbringing and environment. The more aware we become of God’s closeness to us, His intentions for us, His love, grace and power at work in us, the bigger His kingdom becomes in us and the greater its influence over those around us.

Satan has some very subtle lies he wants to sow in our minds – that he has power over us (a victim mentality) and that we need someone to rescue us. This breeds fear and helplessness and weakens our faith in Jesus. We have only one course of action – to flood our minds with the truth. Truth is light and light dispels darkness.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – HOW MUCH FAITH DO YOU NEED?

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HOW MUCH FAITH DO YOU NEED?

“The apostles came up and said to the Master, ‘Give us more faith.’ But the Master said, ‘You don’t need more faith. There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it would do it.'” Luke 17:5,6.

Faith ‘fitness’, like physical fitness, only comes with exercise. Some of us who are not fitness freaks, would love to be physically fit without the effort! It seems that the disciples wanted to be faith-full without the practice that it takes to increase faith.

But what is faith? Can we have faith in different measures? According to Jesus, yes. He classified faith by words like no faith, little faith and great faith but, at the same time, even the tiniest bit of faith produced results.

Faith is the confidence in the trustworthiness of another. People can have faith in each other to do what they said they would do or to be what they said they would be. The value of faith lies in the faithfulness of the one who promised. Likewise, the value of our faith in God lies is His willingness and ability to fulfil His promises. Faith is also the energy that is released when we put our confidence in the God who promised.

It is understandable, then, that it is not so much the measure of faith we have but the reliability of the one who promised, that is at stake. Faith no greater than a ‘mustard’ seed, the size of a grain of pepper shaken from a pepper pot, will get a response from God because He will never let Himself down. His reputation of faithfulness is at stake in the mix, therefore He cannot deny Himself.

Confidence in the faithfulness of God grows, not by God’s miraculously adding to it but by our personal experience of Him. This is true of the trust that grows between people. It is not something that automatically happens when two people meet and become friends, for example. As they spend time together and interact with each other, they learn to know one another and to trust one another. That trust is either betrayed or vindicated by their behaviour.

In the same way, the strength of our trust in God grows as we test and prove the trustworthiness of His promises until we are so confident of His faithfulness to His word that we would never doubt Him for a moment.       

But there is another aspect to this ‘faith’ thing that we tend to forget. God is faithful to His own nature as well as to His promises. We have a tendency to want to hold Him to what we want Him to do rather than what He said He would do in the context of His nature and His will. He is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness but He is also wise and all-knowing. He sees the end from the beginning and knows where every situation is going.

We tend to use faith as a way of trying to get what we want by holding God to His word, often out of context. The devil tried this one on Jesus, only to be soundly rebuked. He tried to get Jesus to manipulate God by suggesting He jump off the parapet of the temple so God would send His angels to catch Him! That was not faith; it was foolishness.

We need to move from trusting God for things, as though faith were some magic way of getting our wants fulfilled, to trusting God, period, when it’s too dark to see the way ahead. It’s saying, ‘Not my will but yours be done,’ when all of me is screaming to get out of where I am. It’s nestling in the arms of the Father in the midst of the storm knowing that I can trust Him because He is there, He is good and He is in charge.