Faith of a Mustard Seed
OPENING PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I put my trust in You. I know Your grace is sufficient for all my needs. Amen…
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8 NIV
REFLECT:
Do you ever second guess our salvation? Is it really that easy? How often do we depend on our own faith power? The outcome of my faith is unproductive in my hands alone, but it is adequate in God’s hands to make men holy through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “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 17:3 NIV
APPLY:
Faith is not measured by believing harder. It is the conduit to fulfill God’s promises. It’s important to realize that faith does not accomplish the work; it is God who completes the work and produces the result. I like the example in Mark 9 where a father asked Jesus to heal his son. Jesus replied “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believers.” The father immediately cried “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24 NKJV Even in our faith we need the Lord’s help. Growing in Him will automatically develop our faith. It is who we have faith in that matters.
Why do we try to size-up faith? Either we have it or we don’t. As we grow closer to God and learn of His attributes our faith will deepen and we will trust Him more. Similar to the faith uprooting a Mulberry tree verse noted above, Jesus also used the illustration of the mustard seed in Mark 4:30-32 NIV . “What is the kingdom of God like... It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants.” Like a mustard seed our small faith can grow to be enormous! Have faith and believe.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Heavenly Father; I ask that You would grow my faith. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Amen…