“Uh where am I? . . . Hey CHOPPER. God’s at it again.”
“Whatzup Simon?”
“Sorry, I can’t help it. These words they keep rollin over and over in my
head.”
“What words Simon?”
“Some words I heard last night:”
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek
him.”
Heb 11:6 (NKJ)
“Hey Chopper. What's faith anyway?”
“I'm not sure Simon. I think I understand. . . Maybe we should ask God to
tell us what faith is?”
“Ok Chopper, what'd Jesus say faith is?”
“. . . When I think about it, each time someone came to Jesus he seemed to look
into their soul and test their faith. Numerous times he rewarded faith by
healing people, and challenged others to a deeper level of faith. Let's look.
The Bible tells us many stories about faith. Here are two of them:”
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
"Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."
Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him." 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." When
Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him,
"I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel
with such great faith.
I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their
places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be
done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that
very hour.
Matt
8:5-13 (NIV)
“Wow, ya mean this man accepted Jesus at his word. For a centurion? He
wasn't even a Jew, he was a Gentile.”
“Yea, Simon. Jesus didn't care. The Centurion wasn't asking for personal
gain. He was looking after his servant. When Jesus heard this soldiers
word, he rewarded the Centurion because of his faith that he talked about;
a faith that could be seen by his actions.
This man must have walked miles believing that Jesus could heal his servant. And
he simply talked about this faith and Jesus rewarded him. . . Not only rewarded
him but said
"I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in
Israel with such great faith." The Centurion could be seen
talking about his faith in a crowd where others could hear and Jesus responded.
Did you know another story from the bible talks about Jesus response to faith:”
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a
furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept
over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying,
"Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of
little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the
winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked,
"What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
Matt 8:23-27 (NIV)
“The DISCIPLES. Wow man, you'd thought they would have faith. Hey Chopper why do
you think Jesus responded the way he did?”
“Simon, maybe it is because the Disciples expressed their doubts, their unbelief
with their mouth? Where the Centurion talked about his beliefs and put actions
to his faith, The disciples expressed their fear and a lack of belief.”
“Hey Chopper then if we want to please God, then we need to speak about our
belief in what He is doing in our lives and not express doubt. . . If I expect
to see Jesus in my life. . . Yeah, I better be careful what I say. You no
Chopper, I wonder if I have faith by Jesus standards.”
“Simon, Jesus said:”
'. . . When the Son of man comes,
will he find faith on the earth?'
Luke 18:8 (NIV)
“Whoa, you mean that Jesus expressed a concern that he would find faith in the
earth? Surely we know someone with faith!”
“Simon, you have to remember in the days of the flood, God found ONE
person of faith that he was willing to work with out of everybody on earth. Noah
!!! Maybe Jesus' measuring stick of faith is far beyond what we can even
comprehend. After all, Jesus said:
'I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in
Israel with such great faith.' I am sure the Disciples thought
that they had faith, and I am sure others in Israel thought they had faith. Yet
Jesus challenged their faith. If Jesus were here today he would be challenging
each of us about our faith. After all Matthew told us earlier that Jesus said:”
'Many will come from the east and the west, and will
take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of
heaven. But the subjects of the
kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.'
“When Jesus talked about many from the east and the west he was saying that
people from all over the earth would be coming to take a place in the kingdom of
heaven. Yet, you know I wonder what it means by the subjects of the kingdom will
be thrown outside. Who are the subjects of the kingdom that will be thrown
outside?”
“Hey Chopper, you askin ME!”
“No Simon, I was just wondering . . . Maybe there is more to Jesus words.
After all Jesus also said:”
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I
will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Matt 7:21-22(NIV)
“Jesus implies that there will be those who come from the east and the west
expecting to get into the kingdom of Heaven that will not be allowed in because
Jesus never knew them.”
“Man that's deep Chopper.”
“Yeah Simon, it is deep. If we want to please God we need to have faith in God
as the centurion had.”
“Hey Chopper, what did you say Jesus response was to the Centurion?”
“Jesus said to the centurion:”
Go! It will be done just as you believed it would."
And his servant was healed that very hour.'
“Hmmm. I had never thought of it that way before, Jesus said the servant was
healed just as the centurion believed he would. Didn't Jesus also say:”
I tell you the truth, anyone who
has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things
than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask
in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for
anything in my name, and I will do it. "If you love me, you will obey what I
command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to
be with you forever--the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because
it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and
will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before
long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live,
you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and
you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is
the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too
will love him and show myself to him.
John 14:12-21 (NIV)
“You know, the centurion believed, and he was not even a Disciple and Jesus said
that because the centurion believed it would be done for him and his servant was
healed.”
“Ya mean Chopper that because the centurion believed in Jesus, asked Jesus and
confirmed his faith by speakin about it the servant was healed?”
“Yeah Simon, that is what happened! Jesus even said if anyone has faith in Him,
he will do those things Jesus did. He did not say might, he did not say
could, HE SAID WILL! . . . Simon do you think we are striving to please God? If
Jesus were here, would we hear what the Centurion heard or would we hear what
the Disciples heard?”
“Hey Chopper, Do you think there is power in our spoken word to express our faith?”
“That is what the Bible says Simon. You know the disciples did not understand
faith for a long time. Over the course of three years, the disciples
sometimes would believe and at other times would not believe. Jesus would
send them out to pray for people and they would come back and ask why they could
not heal people as Jesus did. Jesus challenged them to believe. . . You
know what's also interesting is that Jesus chose to recognize the faith of a
lowly centurion. Many of our friends at The Salvage Yard are not much in the
world's eye also, do you think it might be possible that we could develop the
faith of the centurion? They say that faith is believing in things not yet seen.
Jesus even said:”
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will
do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I
am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the
Son may bring glory to the Father.
“So Chopper what Jesus is saying is that anyone who has faith in him will do
what he has been doing?”
“Yeah Simon, asking in Jesus name so that the Son may continue to bring glory to
the Father. Jesus said these things, I did not! Maybe we should ask God to
help us to help us to be obedient, to practice expressing our faith by asking
God to do those things Jesus did, in Jesus name, so that the Son may continue to
bring glory to the Father.”
“Yeah Chopper it makes me think.”
“You know Simon, Jesus did say "Your Father in heaven
gives good gifts to those who ask him". I believe God wants
to give us the gift of faith.”
ä
