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5 The apostles came up and said to the Master, "Give us more faith." 6 But the Master said, "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it would do it. 7 "Suppose one of you has a servant who comes in from plowing the field or tending the sheep. Would you take his coat, set the table, and say, 'Sit down and eat'? 8 Wouldn't you be more likely to say, 'Prepare dinner; change your clothes and wait table for me until I've finished my coffee; then go to the kitchen and have your supper'? 9 Does the servant get special thanks for doing what's expected of him? 10 It's the same with you. When you've done everything expected of you, be matter-of-fact and say, 'The work is done. What we were told to do, we did.'" (Luke 17:5-10 The Message Version)
Happy Monday, dear Friend! I pray this finds you well. I hope you had time to worship the Lord, have time to spend in prayer; learn more about God's Holy word, and had for your personal and spiritual renewal. I pray that plus this time in devotion bless and prepare you for this new week. As always, I encourage you to pray for one another, and to pray for yourselves.
We find the Disciples asking Jesus to increase their faith. We know they had faith. They had said yes to Jesus at His invitation for them to join Him. They had also experienced the teachings, the healings, the feeding, and the resurrections; something was making them think they did not have enough faith. Jesus in the previous chapter spoke about what happens after death, and on this day, they had heard Jesus speak about forgiveness and the number of times they had to forgive those who sin against them. "Increase our faith or give us more faith" is a legitimate request. Notice what Jesus says, "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it would do it.'"
We get caught up in that sometime don't we? We begin to compare the faith of someone to ours. We think that someone else can do more than we in terms of service or faith, and we begin to wonder if we have "enough" faith. Jesus is saying that if we have faith, we have faith. I know that sounds funny, just as funny as what John Wesley heard when he asked a mentor what he should do because he could no longer preach due to the feeling that he felt he lacked faith. The old gentleman said, "Preach faith until you have faith, and then you will preach faith because you have faith." This was an exchange between John Wesley and Peter Bohler.
Jesus I know smiled between this exchange. Both men were truly giants in faith, yet had those moments when they doubted the presence (and power) of faith. Jesus truly knew that once we have faith it should power our lives to face all things. Faith makes possible the "to-do" list God has shared with all of us. Faith is that which helps us take the first step forward.
PRAYER: Loving God, don't let the fear that we lack faith keep us from taking that first step towards doing what You expect of us. It was what blessed us into saying, "Come into my heart, Lord Jesus" when we first accepted Him as Lord and Savior. This we pray in faith because we have faith in His strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Be blessed; Be a blessing!
Receive my blessings of love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
If you haven't made plans for summer 2020, the Passion Play in Oberammergau Germany would be ideal on June 29-August 7, 2020. Click here for more information on taht trip: http://bit.ly/2m4oXiU
