1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Faith isn’t about size. Jesus said if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move mountains. Jesus was saying that faith doesn’t come in small, medium, or large sizes. Faith is either present or absent. If it’s absent, your life is full of limitations, and you are stuck in Nowhere Land. If it’s present, you can move mountains. Real Power Maxing Out on God's Love
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:22-25 NIV
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Again - whenever the miraculous was not present God's will was never in question it was the faith of the disciples. I know, that makes me uncomfortable too.
It only takes faith as tiny as that of a mustard seed to move an entire mountain. In fact, with faith that tiny "nothing will be impossible" to us. Nothing.
This has become a burning desire to have and build the faith that pleases God. The faith that preaches and teaches the good news of the Gospel - the power of God unto salvation. A faith that compels my family, my friends and neighbors to say, "Tell me about this God that you serve. I want to know him too."
The kind of faith that Jesus speaks of when he says I can do what he did while he as on this earth, and greater things.
In an effort to distance ourselves as not being a "seeker of signs & wonders" we have distanced ourselves from the signature of our Savior. When Jesus preached the Gospel, people were healed and set free...and their sins were forgiven them.
Stop by the blog tomorrow and discover what does the Princess Diaries movie have to do with walking by Faith.
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