life in christ

Little Faith

Dr. Mike Life in Christ , ,
“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.” Matthew 17:20 ESV

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How much faith do you need to live a productive life as a Christ-follower?

Whenever I hear people state that we need more faith, I cringe. My reason and encouragement comes from Jesus himself. He rejoices over the fact that we have “little faith.” His claim is with very little faith we can move mountains.

There is no shame to have only “little faith.” Faith is faith. Look at Jesus’ statements in regards to having a little faith.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much…” Luke 16:10

 

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:30 (Doesn’t He provide for us who have ‘little faith’.)

 

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:23

 

We have learned over a lifetime that God is good and faithful. He always delivers on time and in the best method possible. Over the years we have slowly learned that it is not my faith but His faith that helps me through life’s ordeals. Also as we pray and ask, we don’t know specifics of how or when. All we know is God produces good and whatever happens is God taking everyone into consideration. It may not always be best for me in my opinion. But it is best for the advancement of His Kingdom.

For example, whenever we have mountains to move in our life and wait patiently for God to provide a solution, isn’t it challenging to wonder how God is going to do it this time? In prior times, he may have sent a person to help us through. He may have “dropped a meteor out of the sky” to miraculously have the mountain flatten. Or he may have simply given us a shovel to start digging and build character and strength through the process. He may even allow our great-great children to continue the process until the mountain disappears. He doesn’t always reveal his plans to us. He simply deals with the issue in a way that we all know He is responsible for the productive outcome. And we are grateful for his involvement in our life.

I for one am thankful that my little faith is more than enough that allows us to walk with our heavenly God. So if you have little faith – REJOICE.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Founder & Executive Director
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married

Praying in Agreement

Dr. Mike Life in Christ , , ,
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26 ESV

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Ever run out of words when you pray? Not quite sure how to phrase it for God so he may clearly understand what you seek? Maybe you are putting too much emphasis on the words and not enough on Jesus Christ?

We are encouraged to know that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us to make our position clear for God(Romans 8:26). In fact, the book of Hebrews states that Jesus is our High Priest and likewise intercedes on our behalf to the Father (Hebrews 2:17,4:15). How awesome is that?!

God knows what is best for us before we even ask. He also knows our request before we make it. And he also knows the consequences of our request better than we can ever imagine.

Depending on the season of our life, prayer takes on different avenues. In our early walk, we pray and it seems God answers all our small requests. I call this the time of building trust.

Then comes the time when God begins to answer our prayers not as we request, but in a different manner. We accept. Maybe disappointed, but yet thankful. It is only later in life we can look back and appreciate God’s reply rather than our own wishes. Than as our prayer life grows, we begin to spend time communicating with God on a constant basis. We thank him. We ask him to bless the person we just met. We ask for his intervention on a sick friend. Over time we begin to view life more through God’s eyes.

Our prayer life changes from asking him for “whatever” to seeking His viewpoint. Our prayers become more to align our heart in agreement with His purpose. Since this life is His Story and we are the characters in His plot, we slowly begin to accept our role and gladly join him on His adventure through time and space.

Like any healthy parent-child relationship, we are thankful that our parent seeks to care for us until we are ready to care for ourselves. In that process, we are given leeway to make decisions and bear the consequences of our actions within the boundaries of a family unit. Generally we learn to fail, grow, and experience life in a relatively safe environment. Doesn’t God do the same for us?

Prayer is the means that allows us to communicate with our Heavenly Parent. He wants us to make suggestions and learn from the consequences of how to best live for eternity. When we are transparent with Him, it allows Him to become more real and influential in our life. Prayer helps build the intimate relationship between a child and parent. Our heavenly Parent knows what is best for us now and through eternity. He is only giving us the leeway to effectively learn and prepare ourselves to care for oneself and others in the world tomorrow.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Founder & Executive Director
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

 

 

Belief & Character

Dr. Mike Life in Christ ,
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”. 2 Peter 1:5-8 ESV

mountain 1

Over the years I marvel at how God works within people’s lives, including yours truly. Most of the time, He comes through not on our schedule, but His. The process rarely repeats itself unless there is something uniquely being creating within us. Though there are people who believe that God will instantly move mountains from their life, reality seems otherwise.

Fiat. Immediately. No sweat. Just convenient quick results is not standard operating procedures for a Jesus apprentice in training. Now God does produce miracles. He also does answer prayers immediately. However, there are situations when He extends the outcome for our sake or for the sake of others. There is not one method or formula that fits all when it comes to God.

What I find in my life and in many others is God has more in mind than just immediate resolution of a problem. Most of the time, He opens the door that will create growth opportunities for you and me. Most of the time, those challenges are not what we want, but what we need. Like 2 Peter states, he wants our faith supplemented with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Real godly character. Character built on the foundation of Jesus Christ and not self, vain glory. A life secured by an eternal foundation rather than a humanistic platform.

So how does little faith move mountains? Yes, God can move it without any assistance. But like many of his solutions, it just may require us to grow in godly character. He will lead us through the solution, but it may take time. He may bring an earthquake, an explosion, or a super strong wind. But most likely he will bring people into your world that will help you. The final solution is not as important as our obedience to walk in our small faith trusting Him.

So hang in there. With God, mountains do move.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Apprentice of Jesus Christ, His Domain, His Spirit

Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married