21 Days in 2024
DEVELOPING GREAT FAITH
"Then Jesus answered and said to her, 'O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour" (Matthew 15:28).
Faith can grow or shrink depending on what we do with it. The Bible speaks to the size of our faith - whether it is great or small. That suggests that faith is a spiritual commodity that can be developed and cultivated for increase.
The woman in the story was a Canaanite woman - a gentile. She was not part of God’s Covenant with Israel. That is what provoked Jesus’ comment about giving the children’s bread to the dogs. Yet, she refused to be offended and responded with an appeal to Jesus’ heart; “even the little dogs get the scraps!” she said.
Her understanding of Jesus’ inherent goodness was beyond the scope of her experience, but she was still able to connected her faith to His heart.
The centurion was another gentile who received his miracle. He received his request for the healing of his servant. (Mt. 8:10) His revelation of Jesus was based on his military experience. He understood that Jesus operated with and under a similiar authority to his. Understanding this dynamic about the essence of spiritual authority (you must be under authority to use authority) allowed him to hold an expectation for healing through just a spoken word from the Lord.
In contrast to the great faith of these two gentiles, the disciples were repeatedly upbraided for their little faith. These men who spent more time in the Lord’s presence than anyone else were often clueless when it was time to connect the dots of His unfolding self-revelation to them. When the ferocity of the storm at sea threatened their small vessel, they cried out to Jesus, not in faith but in desperation and fear.
"But He said to them, 'Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?' Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm" (Matthew 8:26).
Their lack of comprehension reflected the poor stewardship of the revelation they had received. Their faith was revealed as little because they failed to apply the revelation of Christ they did have to their present situation. The degree of revelation we actively walk in and believe will determine the level of faith we are capable of holding in our heart when we need it.
The Disciples walked with Jesus every day and received continual revelation and demonstrations of God’s miraculous power. The Gentiles, on the other hand, worked hard to get what little hope they could find in this fallen world. There weren’t many miracle stories to inspire their faith. But, one thing the the gentiles did was to maximize what little revelation they had and convert it to great faith. The Disciples didn’t value enough the revelation of the Lord they had been given and, in the storm, their faith was too little to vanquish the weather.
If we want great faith in our life we must look beyond our difficulties and challenges to see the Lord in all our circumstances. The Canaanite woman refused to be offended. Instead, she focused on the grace and mercy of the Lord. The centurion used His experience as a man of authority to recognize and honor Jesus’ great authority.
We could say that great faith develops from having a revelation of Jesus as He truly is; full of grace and power, ruling over all things. Nothing is beyond the scope of His dominion.
"Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself” (Ephesians 1:15-23 NLT).
Faith can grow or shrink depending on what we do with it. The Bible speaks to the size of our faith - whether it is great or small. That suggests that faith is a spiritual commodity that can be developed and cultivated for increase.
The woman in the story was a Canaanite woman - a gentile. She was not part of God’s Covenant with Israel. That is what provoked Jesus’ comment about giving the children’s bread to the dogs. Yet, she refused to be offended and responded with an appeal to Jesus’ heart; “even the little dogs get the scraps!” she said.
Her understanding of Jesus’ inherent goodness was beyond the scope of her experience, but she was still able to connected her faith to His heart.
The centurion was another gentile who received his miracle. He received his request for the healing of his servant. (Mt. 8:10) His revelation of Jesus was based on his military experience. He understood that Jesus operated with and under a similiar authority to his. Understanding this dynamic about the essence of spiritual authority (you must be under authority to use authority) allowed him to hold an expectation for healing through just a spoken word from the Lord.
In contrast to the great faith of these two gentiles, the disciples were repeatedly upbraided for their little faith. These men who spent more time in the Lord’s presence than anyone else were often clueless when it was time to connect the dots of His unfolding self-revelation to them. When the ferocity of the storm at sea threatened their small vessel, they cried out to Jesus, not in faith but in desperation and fear.
"But He said to them, 'Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?' Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm" (Matthew 8:26).
Their lack of comprehension reflected the poor stewardship of the revelation they had received. Their faith was revealed as little because they failed to apply the revelation of Christ they did have to their present situation. The degree of revelation we actively walk in and believe will determine the level of faith we are capable of holding in our heart when we need it.
The Disciples walked with Jesus every day and received continual revelation and demonstrations of God’s miraculous power. The Gentiles, on the other hand, worked hard to get what little hope they could find in this fallen world. There weren’t many miracle stories to inspire their faith. But, one thing the the gentiles did was to maximize what little revelation they had and convert it to great faith. The Disciples didn’t value enough the revelation of the Lord they had been given and, in the storm, their faith was too little to vanquish the weather.
If we want great faith in our life we must look beyond our difficulties and challenges to see the Lord in all our circumstances. The Canaanite woman refused to be offended. Instead, she focused on the grace and mercy of the Lord. The centurion used His experience as a man of authority to recognize and honor Jesus’ great authority.
We could say that great faith develops from having a revelation of Jesus as He truly is; full of grace and power, ruling over all things. Nothing is beyond the scope of His dominion.
"Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself” (Ephesians 1:15-23 NLT).
Posted in 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting