Category: November 2017

Matthew 17:15-16

“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”

Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I (Jesus) to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” (Matthew 17:17) But like all of Jesus’s rebukes to his disciples, His reproof is not intended to condemn us but to exhort us to press in further. If we currently have little faith, it is possible for us to have more faith. If we failed yesterday or today, we don’t have to continue to fail. “Little faith” is not a permanent label. Jesus means it as a catalyst for our transformation. For this is what he followed up with:

“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)

If Jesus’s rebuke over our little faith makes our heads droop, his promise should make our jaws drop: “nothing will be impossible for you.” Those are not empty words. That phrase is a check to be cashed.

How would you live differently if you really believed that nothing would be impossible for you?

Don’t let cynicism squelch that question. Our lightning quick and loud unbelief is not commendable. It is perverse, twisted. It robs us of more than we know. When contemplating such a question, it can be tempting for some of us to quickly point to the errors of the word-of-faith movement and reaffirm that we aren’t going to fall in that ditch. Good. We should not. But that does not excuse us to live at peace with little faith and impotence in kingdom ministry.

We are meant to move mountains – to see the impossible occur through the exercise of faith in the omnipotent promises of our sovereign Lord. If we are not seeing mountains move, we are living beneath our means. We are living as paupers when we have millions in our heavenly bank account. Jesus doesn’t commend this. He rebukes it.

The faith of God’s people is the channel through which God chooses to manifest much of his glory that results in the conversion of unbelievers. If we have little faith, then little glory is seen through us. We must not be content with this.

If we recognize that we have little faith, let us repent today and join the disciples in pleading, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5), and not let God go until he blesses us with an answer. It is a request he loves to grant.

Jesus really does mean for us to move mountains. He wants us to live in the bold joy of knowing that nothing will be impossible for us.

Mark 11:23

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

God says that we will have whatever we say. So whatever we want to have, we can say it and have it. Unfortunately, we often say what we don’t want to have. For example, we say, “I don’t know why I go through my money so fast every month. There never seems to be enough money.” And true enough, we see a lack of money at the end of every month. You see, you will have whatever you say, good or bad. So why not change what you have been saying to, “From now on, I will have more than enough because Jesus became poor at the cross, so that I might be financially supplied – 2 Corinthians 8:9. So lack, be gone in Jesus’ name!”

Whatever mountain of difficulty you have, be it a mountain of debt or serious health condition, Jesus says, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

Jesus highlights the importance of saying by mentioning the word “say” three times, but the word “believe” only once. Our problem today is that there is more preaching on believing than saying. So the reason people find it hard to walk in faith is that they are not actually saying enough of the Word.

But if we would focus more on saying God’s Word, faith will come. That is how God quickened Abraham’s faith. He changed Abraham’s saying when He changed his name from Abram to Abraham, which means “father of many nations”. (Genesis 17:5) From then on, whenever Abraham introduced himself, he would say, “Hi, my name is Abraham (Father Of Many Nations).”

Declare your abundance, saying, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1) Speak forth your healing, saying, “By Jesus’ stripes I am healed!” (Isaiah 53:5) And you will have whatever you say!

Romans 5:20

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

When a top executive is charged for corruption or a church minister is caught in the very act of adultery, you may hear the phrase “fallen from grace” being used. We have come to believe that when someone falls into sin, he falls from grace. But God wants us to know that when someone falls into sin, he does not fall from grace – he actually falls into grace! Thank God His grace is there to put the person back on his feet.

The Bible tells of prostitutes and corrupt tax collectors – sinners – who fell into God’s grace and got back on their feet. If the sin in their lives could stop God’s grace, they would never have been able to receive His grace of healing, help and power to live right in the first place.

Now, it is important you understand that God hates sin because it destroys our lives, relationships and bodies. Sin is evil! But sin is not overcome by us talking about it and relying on our willpower to overcome it. It takes God’s grace to destroy sin. In fact, it is when you are under His grace that sin has no dominion over you. (Romans 6:14) It is when you see His grace in providing His Son to put away your sins and make you eternally righteous that sin will not dominate you.

The devil will say, “You think that you can still expect God’s blessings after what you did this morning?” That is when you must remind yourself that Christ alone is your perfection and righteousness. All of us have faults. None of us deserve God’s blessings. That is why we plead the grace of God, which is His unearned, unmerited and undeserved favor toward us.

Sin does not and cannot stop God’s grace. If His grace can be cut off by sin, Jesus would never have come to save us because we were all terrible sinners. But praise God, “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”!

God’s grace is bigger, deeper, wider and more powerful than all the world’s sins put together. Receive His grace right now to walk in total victory over that weakness or evil habit in your life!

Leviticus 1:6

And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.

Do you know who first clothed man with coats of skin? It was God Almighty Himself, when He found Adam and Eve hiding behind the bushes because they were afraid of Him. They had become fearful and conscious that they had sinned against God. In their sin-consciousness, they realized that they were naked and that the glory of God, which had been their covering, was gone. So God killed an animal to clothe Adam and Eve with coats of skin. (Genesis 3:21) An animal had to die and its bloodied skin became their covering. This speaks of the blood of Jesus that covers you when He became your burnt offering. The Lamb of God did not just take away your sins. He also gave you His righteousness.

You are covered by Jesus’ blood. You are righteous by His blood. God has clothed you with the robe of righteousness, which was paid for by Jesus’ blood. I am not talking about a physical robe made of cloth. I am talking about the robe of righteousness that was on Jesus when He said to the storm, “Peace, be still!” and there came a perfect calm (Matthew 8:23-27), when healing flowed from Him to the sick and when He raised Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:38-44)

When you believe that you are righteous because of Jesus’ blood, you will see the effects of wearing His robe of righteousness. You will see miracles happening before your very eyes. You become a blessing magnet, a favor or grace magnet. It is not your own righteousness, but the righteousness of Jesus which you have put on, that is attracting all these blessings of God into your life. Have the consciousness of being clothed with Jesus’ robe of righteousness. Every day, come to God and say, “Father, I thank You that Jesus is my burnt offering. He covers me from head to toe with His righteousness. What He is to You, I am. As He is now, so am I. I am in Him.” And you will see the manifestations of the blessings of health, wholeness, protection and provision that the robe attracts!