Friday, October 18, 2013

Living Faith!

The Kingdom of Heaven parables were on my menu this morning.  That kingdom is a treasure buried in a world leavened (infiltrated) by sin.  It is worth everything!  We must seek it and love it to see it and enjoy it!

Interspersed in those parables were life-transforming healings. Miracles were simply part of Jesus’ day-to-day living.   It continues to intrigue me that some of the healed are instructed to ‘tell’ and others told ‘don’t tell.’  The touch of Christ is personal and unique.  He knows best for every situation and one size does not fit all in His economy!

The common ingredient of miracles is faith.  In the Word (and in our world) faith is a living, growing reality.  Working faith grasps the goodness and power of God.  Weak faith allows circumstances to open a door to fear.  ‘Wanting’ faith may believe in the power of God but refuses to believe in His goodness.

Working faith does not always look the same but it always reaches out to the love of God.  The woman with the issue of blood, the blind, the father of the dying/dead child…some had faith in touching Jesus, some had faith in Jesus’ touch, others simply believed in His authority.  Christ’s miracles are not bound to a method; they are bound only to faith the cries out, “Help me.”

Weak faith saw a storm at sea that put their lives in peril.  Weak faith simply could not grasp what God was doing.  Have we not all been there?  We see things that tempt us to doubt God’s presence and power.  Faith grows stronger as we learn that all of life is Father-filtered and with the potential of fulfilling His good purposes.  Who needs a word of encouragement from you today?

Finally, I saw a ‘wanting’ faith that startled me.  When the demoniac of Gedardenes saw Jesus, he ran to him and worshipped!  The damage in his life done by demons did not blind him to the divinity of Jesus.  This man, in current common vernacular, was ‘a cutter.’  He expressed the depth of his pain within by slashing his physical body and lashing out at those around us.  Such hurting souls still surround us.  Our world needs us to live with working faith that the glory of God will gleam into every dark corner.  We bring His Kingdom into view when we treasure it! 

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