Greater faith

One night when I was on the streets with the agenda to love people (Loving people is the only agenda that I believe the Father desires us to live for). My friend Michael and I got into a discussion concerning faith. I said something to the effect that we needed greater faith. He being a man of the word quickly alluded to the decibels statement to Jesus “increase our faith” and then Michael said it is not more faith we need, because Jesus said if you have faith of a mustard seed you can say to a Tree be thrown into the sea and it will go into the sea. Well the spark of God was on and we were lit to go after what God was wanting to teach us concerning faith. I got out my smart phone and looked up the verse on Blue letter Bible so we could get the context (I was taught that doctrine with out context is pretense).

Luke 17

"Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."

So the context of asking for greater faith is faith to forgive some one that keeps sinning against you. Especially when they say to you that they are going to repent, but they keep on doing the same thing anyway. By the way repentance means to change your thinking, because if you change what you are thinking, then you will change what you are doing. In this case them saying that they are repenting has not caught up with there actions.

I believe for a person to have the ability to change there thinking about anything that is Kingdom orientated they must first experience it and then also receive it from God. Please hear out the whole matter before making a conclusion.

For instance to what ever extent a person has experience the forgiveness of God then they will, out of that forgiveness, be able to forgive others. When a person accept’s God’s forgiveness of their sins it is complete! Unfortunately our soul/mind has a hard time experiencing and receiving the fullness of what happens when God forgives us. This is why I said that to whatever extent we experience and receive God’s forgiveness we can give it. It is the same with all of His attributes love, kindness, grace... etc. God’s word exhorts

us to the renewing of the mind (Rom 12:2) which is an on going process. The only way a person can know that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift is they must first receive the greatest gift of all, Salvation. After receiving salvation God calls people to renew their minds. As a child of God renews their mind they begin to see the good that comes into there lives as from God and the evil that happens as from God’s enemies’ (Satan/the Devil and his cohorts/Demons). This is a part of what is know as sanctification. I believe that the renewing of the mind occurs when a truth of God comes into the mind and a lie of the Satan leaves. God is truly good to all. Not all understand that He is and that every good and perfect gift comes to them through Him. God’s goodness extends to and through all, whether they know it or not.

You may say I know people that do not know God and they display God’s attributes (love, forgiveness, kindness...etc.) more so at times, then many people that profess to have a relationship with God. Just because a person does not know God, that does not mean that they do not experience God or have received gifts and abilities from God.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning

God in his goodness give perfect gifts to people with out them having a clue as to where it came from.

Mat 5:24B

for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

When the bible was written Sun and Rain equaled life and abundant prosperity. If there was no sun and rain then crops would not grow. If there was sun and rain then crops would grow and people would be able to eat in abundance. In Mat 5:24b people who are not saved (evil/ unjust) experience the goodness of God in the land of living while they did not even know that it was God who gave it to them. God out of His goodness and grace gives people the things that allowed them to live a life of abundance even if they do not know Him. People may even cursed God when the heat of the sun was on them or when the rain came down upon them. Yet

God in His grace continued to pour out His blessings upon them.

In the case of the disciples they had not experienced the forgiveness of their sins because Jesus had not made the statement from the cross “Father forgive them....”. At the same time their faith was not established in Jesus for who He truly was. Five times Jesus rebuked the disciples for their “little faith”. Why? Because there faith was based upon there misunderstanding of the goodness of God. There understanding of God was that they were only clean from their sins once a year and then as soon as they sinned they had to wait for the day of atonement to come next year. They may have believed in the goodness of God, but all year long they had to deal with their guilt. When they met Jesus and saw all the miracles and heard all the teaching, which I am sure they were blown away by, but they did not

put their faith in the finished work of the cross, because it had not happened yet. Their faith was not based upon the foundation of Jesus saving them from their sin. Saving faith is at the top of God’s list. We are created for God’s pleasure (rev 4:11), and with out faith it is impossible to please God (heb 11:6). We are all saved by grace through faith (EPH 2:8). God’s desire is for all to be saved, of which it take faith to do so.

1 Time 2:4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

The word “desire” is defined by Strong’s in this way

To will, have in mind, intend

1. to be resolved or determined, to purpose

2. to desire, to wish 3. to love

1.to like to do a thing, be fond of doing

4.to take delight in, have pleasure

In the definition we see some key words that point to the heart and mind of God. It is God’s will and pleasure for all to be saved. So lets put this all together from God’s perspective.

1) We are created for God’s pleasure (rev 4:11)

2) God’s pleasure is to save people (1 tim 2:4)

3) People get saved by grace through faith (eph 2:8)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

4) This is why without faith it is impossible to please God (heb 4:11)

Without faith you can not live the very reason that God created you... To be saved and live in a relationship with Him now and forever.

Getting back to the night on the streets to understand what part faith has in the life a believer we decided to read on. After the apostles say to Jesus increase our faith Jesus makes this statement

"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

But to make sure they were completely bewildered Jesus goes on to say

Luke 17:7-10 “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat' But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink' Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do”

Now what? Well we quickly could see that the increase of their faith was not the issue, because Jesus said all they needed was the faith the size of a mustard seed. That got me to linking of

1 John 5:4

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

So the faith of those that are born of God (are saved) is big enough to overcome the world! I could see that moving a tree into the ocean is small in comparison to overcoming the whole world. So what was Jesus saying concerning faith? As all ways, it was time to read and ask God to speak.

As I read the parable of the servant God spoke!

Saving faith is based upon God’s grace to forgive individuals of every sin they have ever and will ever commit (col 2:13, 1 John 1:9). After a person has placed their faith in Jesus to save them from there sins, their faith is at that point, directed towards God’s ability and goodness to do something they could not accomplish on their own. This way of thinking is fundamental to all fruit that will be produced in a christians life. The necessity of maintaining this way of living is of the utmost importance. Jesus said

John 15:5

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

All things that are done apart from God equal nothing. God is love (1 john 4:8), Jesus is God (Rom 9:5, as well as over 2 dozen other passages). 1 COR 13:1-3 make it very clear that if a person does anything apart from love, then what they have done is nothing, as is stated by Jesus.... for without Me you can do nothing.

No person can be saved apart from God and no person who is saved can do anything of eternal value apart from God.

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

This tells us that what matters in Christ is faith working through love. Why? Because God is love and nothing apart from God/ Love is going to accomplish anything of eternal good.

Life is full of eternal opportunities that God has planned out for His children.

EPH 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Note: God prepared the good works for us to walk in/do. To do the good works we, just like Jesus, must look to the Father to see what He desires to do. If there is one thing I am sure of, it is that God desires to Love people. Jesus said

John 15:14-15

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

The crucifixion is the ultimate expression of laying down one’s life. Jesus Christ is the only person that could do so to redeem all of humanity. Therefor I do not believe Jesus was telling us to die on a cross for others to show them what love looks and act like. Based on this I do not believe the act of laying down your life is not exclusive to Jesus dyeing on a cross. Laying down your life as a child of God is a choice you make every moment of ever day. The choice is whether you will live life

for your self promotion, gratification, pleasure.... SELF or you will lay down your life for the betterment of others.

Jesus was able to lay down His life by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the deep interactive loving relationship which He had with the Father.

John 5:19-20 "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; He can do only what He sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all he does. Yes, and He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

Jesus had a completely dependent relationship with the Father. He could do nothing apart from His Father. Why? “For the Father Loves the Son and shows Him

all that He does”. This is the key that opens the door to heavens Kingdom activities on earth. FOR THE FATHER LOVES THE SON. The love of the Father is and was the compelling force that Jesus the Son acted out of. It is the motive and power by which Jesus lied down His life on the cross. It is what gave Jesus the ability to live His life on earth as it is in heaven. It is what every good work that He did came from.

John 10:23 “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

Unfortunately the religious leaders and follower of that day could not see the motive of love in ever action of Jesus life. They did not put there faith in Jesus or the

works that were given to Him to do by the Father. The reason they did not see and understand this was because they believed that the motive of God in sending the “Christ” was to overcome those that had power over them in this world. They believed that God by forces other then love would rule over all others. They were looking to lord over the genitals (those that were not Jews).

Jesus taught the following

Mat 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you

Mark 10:42

Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

There are 2 keys here 1) Love = Mat 5:44 2) Servant of all = Mark 10:42

LOVE = Mat 5:44

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

God did not just say this but He showed to in action.

Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

According to John 3:16 Love is the motive as we read below

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son...

LOVE IS THE MOTIVE THAT GAVE THE SON.

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

BELIEF IS THE RESPONSE THAT ATTAINS ETERNAL LIFE.

Which brings us back to Faith. This chapter of the book started out with a quest for greater faith. The discovery from that quest is, life in Christ is not about greater faith. Life in Christ is as always about, seeking the Father to grow in deeper in relationship Him and His love for us as His child.

The response to Love

Servant of all = Mark 10:42 Which brings us back to the conversation

that Jesus was having with the decibels in luke 17:7-10

To understand this passage we need to look at the word “servant” which is doiliesin greek and means

devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests

"a slave," originally the lowest term in the scale of servitude, came also to mean "one who gives himself up to the will of another,"

The idea is that the slave gave his life to his master knowing that in giving his life to the master he would be better off then if he lived for his own interest. In others words being better off as a servant then a slave.

And the word “duty” which means

"to owe, to be indebted,"

1 cor 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 cor 7:23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

God paid the highest price, the blood of Jesus to redeem us, (liberate from sin by payment of ransom) so that we can no longer serve Satan’s destructive will. What was included in the price God paid is that we can serve God’s good and acceptable and perfect will/pleasure. As God’s children we are to serve God out of gratitude for saving us from a life of fear and bondage to sin. As Bob Dillan said “Your gonna have to serve somebody”.

God’s kids are to serve Him out of Love for what He did for them, which is His nature. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Jesus said

John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments”

From this passage we see that LOVE is the motive of obedience... “keep my commandments”. We love Him and serve Him because we owe him our lives and we know that life apart from Him is a life of bondage to sin and death.

Another aspect of faith is found in 1 cor 12. Faith there is said to be one of the gifts that are to be manifested for the benefit of all.

1 cor 12:11

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Here we see that it is the Spirit that is display His activity, or showing His self as the operative (Strong’s). The Spirit does this as He will’s. Its like this the Spirit gives the gift of faith as He chooses

(between two Thayer's Lexicon) makes is clear that it is more blessed to give then to receive (Acts 20:35) and Freely you have received, freely give (Mat 10:8b). From all this, this is the way I see it. The gift of faith is given to individual as the Spirit chooses and when an individual receives it if they chose to act on the faith that is given to them then the Spirit will function bringing about the effect He desires (be the operative). The key to

. God

understanding this is, it is not just the Spirit or just the individual it is a partnership.

Mark 16:20

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

And in Romans it states Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,

let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;

P.S. After sharing this with a dearly loved friend, he being a man of the word, found a verse that states the following concerning our faith.

1 Thes 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure...

The context of the letter’s wrote to the church at Thessaloniki (1st Thessalonians and 2nd Thessalonians) was that of persecution because of their faith in the

gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul the author sent Timothy, his son in the faith (1 COR 4:17) for the following reason.

1 Thes 3:1-2 I Paul...sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith.

The word establish is defined by Strong’s as follows

. 1) to make stable, place firmly, set fast,  fix  

. 2) to strengthen, make firm  

. 3) to render constant, confirm, one's mind  

To encourage means

1) to console, to encourage and strengthen by consolation, to comfort

What was the purpose of sending Timothy? To have him help them to make their faith stable and firm by encouraging and strengthening them in their faith.

Next what was their faith in? The Gospel, that is in Jesus ability to save them from their sin. Salvation is based upon the recognition that there is no way that you can save yourself. In other words there is no other name by which we must be save except JESUS. In the 1 Thessalonians 1:3 what was their faith increasing in? The Gospel, that there is no other way by which all of humanity can be saved.

Now I do believe that the more you put your faith in God’s saving grace, based upon His goodness and love to people you will have increased faith to believe for His goodness and love to manifest to others.

This is not say that it is your increased faith in faith, that brings the manifestation of His love and goodness. It is because you have personally experienced God love so deeply that you believe God wants to revile that love to them. There is a big difference between increasing faith in faith and increasing faith in God goodness and love to all.

Many of todays teaching and doctrine’s concerning increasing faith do not take into account what I have previously made note of. The reasons it is so important to understand it is not about increasing faith in faith but increasing faith in God’s love and goodness based upon your deeper experience of God’s love and goodness, is because if it about your increase of faith then you can take the credit for the results of your faith. Big problem, in fact I believe

that is exactly what God is communicating in the passage below.

2 Cor 10:14-18

For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ;C not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men's labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's sphere of accomplishment. But "he who glories, let him glory in the LORD." For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

The context of the chapter and the letter to the Corinthians is the correction of carnal/worldly ways of acting and thinking

concerning God. Boasting in self and doing things out of a self fleshly motive is definitely an issue that God desires to be corrected. The increase of their faith that is mentioned, is for the spreading of the gospel (the power of GOD unto salvation, NOT MAN). All boasting of faith, accomplishments, glory, and the commendation of man is not of God and will not bear eternal fruit.

John 15:7-9

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

Jesus in this passage did not mention faith or increase faith, because they did not have the paradigm for the faith that they would come to at His accession after the crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Jesus did say here that if they abide in Him and his words then when they ask it will be done so that the Father will be glorified. Again Jesus gives the key to all of it next.

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

It is the love that is the principle matter of life. God is love, love never fails and faith works through love.

Greater faith

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