The Mustard Seed
Jesus told a parable about the Kingdom of God in Mark 4:30-32. He likened it to a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds, yet grows into a great tree. Scholars have said that Jesus Himself is the seed, and faith in Him results in believers, who make up the Kingdom of God. This fits the analogy well: the mustard seed not only produces a great tree, but as the seeds drop into the soil they almost immediately begin producing new growth. Due to this tendency to reproduce, the mustard plant is virtually impossible to root out. This also represents Christianity - it continues to spread, even as those who don't embrace it seek to root it out and destroy it.
The Lord also used the mustard seed to draw two different correlations between our faith and its potential impact. In Luke 17:6 He said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said, "I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."
Since I'm fairly confident that Jesus wasn't giving us instructions to reconstruct the topography or transplant trees, He must have been using these extreme examples to illustrate something else about our faith. Here's my thought: God's power is SO immense and limitless, even the tiniest bit of genuine faith will result in amazing results. The emphasis is not on how much faith I can muster up; rather, on how much power is available from God to accomplish what He wants to do through me - my part is to believe that He is capable.
In Mark 9:14-27, we read about a man who brings his son to Jesus to be healed. "Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!'" (v23,24) I join him in his cry! I do believe - but I also know there is SO much room for my faith to grow, especially where my belief in God's power is concerned.
My fancy sewing machine comes to mind . . . several years ago I invested in a sewing machine that basically has a computer in it. It can embroider beautifully, as well as sew myriad stitches for regular sewing. But truth be told, after all this time, I still only tap about 2% of what the machine is capable of! I do a lot of straight stitching, zig-zagging, buttonholes and occasionally use decorative stitches. However, that just scratches the surface of what this machine can do! I have at my disposal the ability to do so much - but I under-utilize it due to my lack of knowledge and experience, which is directly related to the amount of time I've spent getting to know my machine! I need to read the manual and then practice what it tells me to do, and then I could create amazing things! But that takes time, and other things tend to get priority in my life over exploring my machine and creating things.
Of course you see where I'm going . . . God tells us all about His power, His abilities, how He has moved in the past, how He desires to move in the present, even some of what He will do in the future. He promises that if we call to Him in genuine faith, He will show us great and mighty things, beyond all that we could ask, think or imagine! But I'm busy straight stitching and occasionally zig-zagging . . . my life gets going on auto-pilot, doing what I've always done. And here is my ENORMOUS God - full of power and might, yearning to reveal Himself to the world that He might draw all men to Himself; willing and able to use that power to enable me to do works that He designed for me to do from before the beginning of time!
Oh God - I believe! Help my unbelief! Open my eyes to who You are, and help me to lift my eyes and my mind to whatever You may have me to do, confident that if I believe in You, You are able to accomplish anything You call me to! Shake me out of my slumber, my tendency to sleep-walk through my days, and remind me that You are great and mighty, and want my life to be abundant and full of YOU!!! Help me prioritize my time so that I am reading Your word, discerning what You would have me do, and then getting busy actually doing it!
Since I'm fairly confident that Jesus wasn't giving us instructions to reconstruct the topography or transplant trees, He must have been using these extreme examples to illustrate something else about our faith. Here's my thought: God's power is SO immense and limitless, even the tiniest bit of genuine faith will result in amazing results. The emphasis is not on how much faith I can muster up; rather, on how much power is available from God to accomplish what He wants to do through me - my part is to believe that He is capable.
In Mark 9:14-27, we read about a man who brings his son to Jesus to be healed. "Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!'" (v23,24) I join him in his cry! I do believe - but I also know there is SO much room for my faith to grow, especially where my belief in God's power is concerned.
My fancy sewing machine comes to mind . . . several years ago I invested in a sewing machine that basically has a computer in it. It can embroider beautifully, as well as sew myriad stitches for regular sewing. But truth be told, after all this time, I still only tap about 2% of what the machine is capable of! I do a lot of straight stitching, zig-zagging, buttonholes and occasionally use decorative stitches. However, that just scratches the surface of what this machine can do! I have at my disposal the ability to do so much - but I under-utilize it due to my lack of knowledge and experience, which is directly related to the amount of time I've spent getting to know my machine! I need to read the manual and then practice what it tells me to do, and then I could create amazing things! But that takes time, and other things tend to get priority in my life over exploring my machine and creating things.
Of course you see where I'm going . . . God tells us all about His power, His abilities, how He has moved in the past, how He desires to move in the present, even some of what He will do in the future. He promises that if we call to Him in genuine faith, He will show us great and mighty things, beyond all that we could ask, think or imagine! But I'm busy straight stitching and occasionally zig-zagging . . . my life gets going on auto-pilot, doing what I've always done. And here is my ENORMOUS God - full of power and might, yearning to reveal Himself to the world that He might draw all men to Himself; willing and able to use that power to enable me to do works that He designed for me to do from before the beginning of time!
Oh God - I believe! Help my unbelief! Open my eyes to who You are, and help me to lift my eyes and my mind to whatever You may have me to do, confident that if I believe in You, You are able to accomplish anything You call me to! Shake me out of my slumber, my tendency to sleep-walk through my days, and remind me that You are great and mighty, and want my life to be abundant and full of YOU!!! Help me prioritize my time so that I am reading Your word, discerning what You would have me do, and then getting busy actually doing it!
(The link to the kids' post is: http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-10.html)
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