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| + | =A Lack of Faith= | ||
| + | |||
| + | Now Satan is not going to take such great work | ||
| + | lying down. We can expect Satan to oppose the work | ||
| + | of authentic evangelization vehemently. Today "the | ||
| + | whole world is under the power of the evil one," (1 John 5:19), and Satan would certainly want to maintain | ||
| + | the status quo. Satan will throw everything he has | ||
| + | got against those among God's people who are out | ||
| + | to change the world. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Satan already has all those evil things he scourges | ||
| + | the world with. He has divorce, abortion, genocide, | ||
| + | same-sex marriage, global terrorism. But the true | ||
| + | people of God readily recognize his diabolical hand in | ||
| + | all these. And authentic evangelizers will not easily | ||
| + | fall for these evils. | ||
| + | |||
| + | And so Satan tries to be a bit more subtle. Indeed | ||
| + | there are times when "Satan masquerades as an | ||
| + | angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). | ||
| + | |||
| + | We will need to put on the mind of God to be able | ||
| + | to see how Satan is trying to thwart those whom | ||
| + | God calls to do His work. We will have to see things | ||
| + | as God sees them, and not as the world does. We | ||
| + | will have to undergo paradigm shifts, letting go even | ||
| + | of the good in order to take hold of the best, going | ||
| + | beyond what is humanly possible to unleash the | ||
| + | miraculous power of God. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Remember that God has already done all that is | ||
| + | needed to defeat darkness and evil in the world. His | ||
| + | abundant grace and the power of His Spirit are | ||
| + | available to those He calls to do His work. So now it | ||
| + | is all up to us. We can take hold of what God provides, | ||
| + | and move forward in the power of His Spirit. Or we | ||
| + | can be the ones to thwart God's intent. | ||
| + | |||
| + | None of us would ever want to thwart God s | ||
| + | intent, but we might inadvertently or unwittingly do so. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==A Lack of Faith== | ||
| + | The first obstacle to becoming an authentic | ||
| + | evangelizer is a lack of faith. | ||
| + | |||
| + | We are not talking here about basic faith, or saving | ||
| + | faith, where one accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord | ||
| + | and as such is considered a Christian. We are rather | ||
| + | talking about expectant faith. This is faith that expects | ||
| + | God to do the miraculous. This is faith that moves | ||
| + | mountains. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==God and faith== | ||
| + | Without such faith, even God cannot do much. | ||
| + | Shocked by that statement? You are thinking, is there | ||
| + | anything that God cannot do? Is anything impossible | ||
| + | for God? The answer of course is no, nothing is | ||
| + | impossible for God. But according to the mystery of | ||
| + | His workings in the life of the world, God has restricted | ||
| + | His power based on the amount of faith that His | ||
| + | disciples have. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In fact, God has restricted Himself to act in the | ||
| + | world through His instruments, you and I. God is | ||
| + | omnipotent and can do anything. With one wave of | ||
| + | His hand, He can banish evil and darkness from the | ||
| + | face of the earth. But God has not done so. Rather, | ||
| + | He has decided to work in and through human beings. | ||
| + | God calls, anoints, empowers and guides His | ||
| + | instruments. But the work He is able to accomplish | ||
| + | depends entirely on how His instruments respond. | ||
| + | When they obey and give fully of themselves, God's | ||
| + | work is manifest. When they do not, God's work is | ||
| + | thwarted. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Unfortunately, seeing the sorry condition of the | ||
| + | world today it must be concluded that God's chosen | ||
| + | instruments have not been responding wholeheartedly. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Consider what Jesus did when his heart was | ||
| + | moved with pity at the sight of the crowds because | ||
| + | they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep | ||
| + | without a shepherd. While he ministered to some of | ||
| + | them himself, he basically turned to his disciples, | ||
| + | saying, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers | ||
| + | are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send | ||
| + | out laborers for his harvest." (Matthew 9:37-38). | ||
| + | |||
| + | God has already prepared an abundant harvest, | ||
| + | Jesus has already won victory by his death on the | ||
| + | cross, but the actual harvesting will be done by Jesus' | ||
| + | disciples. Unfortunately, there are too few of them. | ||
| + | Not because God has not called on many, but | ||
| + | because not many have fully responded. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Now know this: Jesus himself could not do much | ||
| + | because of a lack of faith. | ||
| + | |||
| + | When Jesus came to Nazareth, his native place, | ||
| + | many were astonished at his teachings. They could | ||
| + | not figure him out, since they reasoned out that he | ||
| + | was just a carpenter and had come from an ordinary | ||
| + | family. So they took offense at him. The result? "So | ||
| + | he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, | ||
| + | apart from curing a few sick people...." (Mark 6:5). | ||
| + | Now appreciate this situation. Jesus had already done | ||
| + | many mighty deeds - curing a demoniac, driving out | ||
| + | many demons, cleansing a leper, healing a paralytic, | ||
| + | restoring a withered hand, calming a storm at sea, | ||
| + | raising the dead. Jesus was after all God. But now | ||
| + | he was not able to perform any mighty deed! Why? | ||
| + | "He was amazed at their lack of faith." (Mark 6:6). | ||
| + | Lack of faith had limited the manifestation of the | ||
| + | very power of God! | ||
| + | |||
| + | This is important for us to realize. We must not | ||
| + | be the ones to limit God's power by a lack of faith! | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Casting out demons== | ||
| + | Let us look at the incident where the disciples | ||
| + | could not drive out a demon. A man with a possessed | ||
| + | son had come to Jesus saying that his disciples could | ||
| + | not cure the boy. Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and | ||
| + | perverse generation, how long will I be with you? | ||
| + | How long will I endure you? Bring him here to me." | ||
| + | (Matthew 17:17). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Notice what Jesus says. He called the disciples | ||
| + | faithless! They lacked faith in the power of God over | ||
| + | demons. He called them perverse! The dictionary | ||
| + | defines "perverse" as "contrary to the evidence" and | ||
| + | "obstinate in opposing what is reasonable or | ||
| + | accepted" and "arising from or indicative of | ||
| + | stubbornness or obstinacy." The disciples were not | ||
| + | acting according to the evidence they had already | ||
| + | witnessed of the power of God, were obstinate in | ||
| + | not fully accepting their ability to do miraculous acts | ||
| + | as reasonable, were stubborn in relying on their own | ||
| + | narrow perception of what they could accomplish as | ||
| + | God's instruments. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Jesus sounds really exasperated. "How long will I | ||
| + | be with you?" The time was rapidly approaching when | ||
| + | he would leave and his disciples would have to carry | ||
| + | on his mission. Why were they still continuing to not fully act on their empowerment? "How long will I | ||
| + | endure you?" After all the training and successful | ||
| + | missions, now they were still hesitating and doubting! | ||
| + | |||
| + | To fully appreciate this situation, we need to be | ||
| + | reminded that the disciples had already successfully | ||
| + | driven out demons. They had been given their | ||
| + | mandate: "Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse | ||
| + | lepers, drive out demons." (Matthew 10:8). Jesus sent | ||
| + | out 72 disciples in pairs, and they returned rejoicing, | ||
| + | saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us | ||
| + | because of your name." (Luke 10:17). | ||
| + | |||
| + | There was even a time when the disciples had | ||
| + | become cocky with the power they were able to | ||
| + | wield. When the people of a Samaritan village would | ||
| + | not welcome Jesus, James and John indignantly | ||
| + | asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from | ||
| + | heaven to consume them?" (Luke 9:54). Such hubris! | ||
| + | |||
| + | So why then were they unable to drive out this | ||
| + | particular demon? Jesus gave them the reason: | ||
| + | "Because of your little faith." (Matthew 17:20a). What had | ||
| + | happened to their faith, given their experience of | ||
| + | already successfully driving out demons? We can only | ||
| + | speculate. Perhaps the manifestation of the presence | ||
| + | of the demon in the boy was particularly severe. | ||
| + | The boy was suffering severely, falling into fire, falling | ||
| + | into water (Matthew 17:15). Perhaps his face was | ||
| + | grotesque. Perhaps his head was turning around 360°, | ||
| + | just as we have seen in the movie The Exorcist. | ||
| + | Perhaps he was assaulting people or spewing vomit | ||
| + | on them. We really don't know. But whatever it was, | ||
| + | the faith of the disciples had been shaken. | ||
| + | |||
| + | And so Jesus had to remind them again: "Amen, | ||
| + | I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard | ||
| + | seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here | ||
| + | to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible | ||
| + | for you." (Matthew 17:20b). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Mountain-moving faith! Nothing will be impossible! | ||
| + | |||
| + | We will be able to do what God Himself does! | ||
| + | Why? Because it is God actually acting in and through | ||
| + | us. We are mere instruments. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In fact, Jesus himself says, "Amen, amen, I say | ||
| + | to you, whoever believes in me will do the works | ||
| + | that I do, and will do greater ones than these" (John 14:12a). The works that Jesus did, we will be able | ||
| + | to do! Why does God allow such power through us? | ||
| + | Jesus says, "because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12b). In other words, his part of the mission has | ||
| + | been done, and now it is our turn. Now we are to | ||
| + | carry on his mission. His mission entails working | ||
| + | miracles and doing the impossible. If his work is now | ||
| + | our work, then we can do what he has done, and do | ||
| + | even greater ones than those. We are just | ||
| + | instruments. | ||
| + | |||
| + | But we need to have faith. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Peter walking on water== | ||
| + | There is another instructive incident. This is Peter walking on the water. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The disciples were in a boat far out at sea, very | ||
| + | early in the morning, when they saw a figure walking | ||
| + | on the sea. He meant to pass by them. At first they | ||
| + | thought it was a ghost and they were terrified. At | ||
| + | once Jesus spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." (Matthew 14:27). | ||
| + | |||
| + | The elements of the scene - walking on the sea, | ||
| + | passing them by, the words of Jesus - made it clear | ||
| + | that it was God speaking. Job knew that God “alone | ||
| + | stretches out the heavens and treads upon the | ||
| + | crests of the sea." (Job 9:8), and Asaph says, | ||
| + | "Through the sea was your path; your way, through | ||
| + | the mighty waters" (Psalm 77:20). The glory of God | ||
| + | passed by Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 33:22), and | ||
| + | the Lord passed by Elijah on Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:11-12). "It is I" literally is "I am," which is the revealed name of God (Exodus 3:14). | ||
| + | |||
| + | So Peter said, "Lord, if it is you, command me to | ||
| + | come to you on the water," and Jesus replied with | ||
| + | just one word, "Come." (Matthew 14:28-29). Peter had | ||
| + | seen Jesus walking on the water, he knew that | ||
| + | nothing was impossible with God, he had faith in | ||
| + | Jesus and so he asked Jesus to be able to go to | ||
| + | him on the water. A humanly impossible task! But | ||
| + | Jesus said "come," meaning that Peter's request is | ||
| + | granted, that he can actually do the impossible by | ||
| + | himself walking on water. | ||
| + | |||
| + | And so Peter got out of the boat and began to | ||
| + | walk on the water toward Jesus! He was | ||
| + | accomplishing something impossible! | ||
| + | |||
| + | But then Peter began to notice how strong the | ||
| + | wind was, how the waves were choppy, how it was | ||
| + | dark and cold. He probably looked down and saw | ||
| + | that he was walking on water! He had been at sea | ||
| + | as a fisherman all his life and this was something a | ||
| + | human being could not do! So he became frightened, | ||
| + | and began to sink. Jesus had to stretch out his hand | ||
| + | and caught him. Jesus said to him, "O you of little | ||
| + | faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Again, faith or the lack of it determined the | ||
| + | working or thwarting of a miracle. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==The power of faith== | ||
| + | But faith in God is very powerful indeed. The | ||
| + | people of God throughout the centuries "by faith | ||
| + | conquered kingdoms,.....closed the mouths of lions, | ||
| + | put out raging fires,.....Women received back their | ||
| + | dead through resurrection." (Hebrews 11:33-35). God | ||
| + | assures His people of what He is capable of doing: "I | ||
| + | will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains | ||
| + | in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a | ||
| + | marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water. | ||
| + | I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, | ||
| + | and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, | ||
| + | together with the plane tree and the pine" (Isaiah 41:18-19). | ||
| + | |||
| + | In today's modern world, we no longer believe in | ||
| + | miracles. Certain religious scholars have attempted | ||
| + | to dilute what had always been considered as miracles | ||
| + | done by Jesus and try to give a human explanation. | ||
| + | |||
| + | For example, there is the miracle of the | ||
| + | multiplication of the loaves and fishes, where on two | ||
| + | occasions Jesus fed the five thousand (Matthew 14:15-21) and the four thousand (Matthew 15:32-38). Some people now say that what happened was not that | ||
| + | Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, but that the | ||
| + | people began to share what they had brought all | ||
| + | along. They say that the miracle was in the sharing. | ||
| + | Baloney! | ||
| + | |||
| + | If this was so, could the disciples not see their | ||
| + | carried provisions, such that they asked Jesus to | ||
| + | dismiss the crowds so that they could go to the | ||
| + | villages to buy food? Could Jesus have been so blind | ||
| + | as to say that the people had nothing to eat, such | ||
| + | that his heart was moved with pity for them? | ||
| + | |||
| + | The reality is simply that the people had no food, | ||
| + | and Jesus provided for them by multiplying the loaves | ||
| + | and fishes. It was indeed a miracle of God. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Miracles still happen== | ||
| + | Today we must believe that miracles still happen. | ||
| + | Why? For the simple reason that God is about | ||
| + | renewing the face of the earth, and for God nothing | ||
| + | is impossible. For the simple reason that if it is God | ||
| + | at work, then anything short of miracles is not | ||
| + | reflective of God as God. | ||
| + | |||
| + | We must have faith that today God still calls | ||
| + | people to become His human instruments. And we | ||
| + | must have faith that if God calls and chooses, then | ||
| + | He will likewise anoint and empower. It is after all His | ||
| + | work. And it is He after all to whom the glory belongs. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Responding in faith== | ||
| + | So if today we are shown a vision by God of | ||
| + | what He wants to accomplish in the world, and it is a | ||
| + | seemingly impossible task, we must not doubt, we | ||
| + | must not show lack of faith. We may ask God to tell | ||
| + | us how He intends to accomplish His will, but we | ||
| + | must ask in faith, already holding on to the truth | ||
| + | that indeed God can accomplish the impossible. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Let me illustrate the difference between asking in | ||
| + | doubt and asking in faith. This is in connection with | ||
| + | the pronouncement of angels and the impossible | ||
| + | conception of two cousins. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The angel told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth | ||
| + | would give birth to a son. But since Elizabeth was | ||
| + | barren and both of them were advanced in years | ||
| + | (Luke 1:7), Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I | ||
| + | know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is | ||
| + | advanced in years." (Luke 1:18). He doubted. He did | ||
| + | not believe what the angel had told him. For that he | ||
| + | was rendered unable to talk by the angel, "because | ||
| + | you did not believe my words" (Luke 1:20). | ||
| + | |||
| + | On the other hand, an angel told Mary that she | ||
| + | would conceive and bear a son. But since she was | ||
| + | unmarried, Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, | ||
| + | since I have no relations with a man?" (Luke 1:34). | ||
| + | She asked but not in doubt. Rather, she believed | ||
| + | what the angel told her and just wanted to know | ||
| + | how it would happen. She knew it would happen but | ||
| + | jut did not understand how. She was asking in faith. | ||
| + | |||
| + | For us today, we are to ask how, but just as a | ||
| + | way of seeking guidance, and not doubting that what | ||
| + | God reveals will happen. | ||
| + | |||
| + | If we have faith the size of a mustard seed we | ||
| + | can accomplish the impossible, for we are mere | ||
| + | Instruments of God, and for God nothing is impossible. | ||
| + | |||
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| + | [[Category:Society]] | [[Category:Religion]] | [[Category:Christianity]] | ||
| + | |||
