Daily Huddle - Sat Oct 3, 2020 Unlocked

Love you all, praying for you,
 
Have you ever learned a secret that unlocked something?  A new revelation or understanding that made something else so much easier.  What’s one of the most important things you must have to please God?  Faith.  God’s Word says, without faith it is impossible to please God.  He responds to faith, more than need.  God’s Hall of Fame throughout human history and eternity is the Hall of Faith.  Jesus said multiple times, according to your faith, be it unto you.  There’s something about faith that pleases God, lack of faith does not.  Gal 3:11 – The righteous will live by faith.  And verse 9, So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.  Lacking faith is not short of measure, it’s short of use.  God said Romans 12:3 – But think soberly (mindfully, sensibly) as God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith.   You’ve got what you need!  Just exercise it.  So what is faith?  Acting like what God said is true.  That means thinking, speaking and taking action as if what God said will happen.  How do you get faith?  You already got some, God has given you the measure you need for what He has planned for you!  So how do you increase it?  God said faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit, it will build up your faith. (Jude 1:21)  The first thing Jesus did when the disciples asked him to “increase our faith.”  He gave them the Word.  Luke 17:6 – If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.  (So when they asked for increased faith, Jesus first said – it doesn’t take much… a little is all you need).  Then He said… “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep.  Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat?’  Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink.  Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?  So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”  And that’s all he said about it when they directly asked Him to increase their faith.  You don’t need much, obedience is key.  Obedience demonstrates faith.  And then God gives a story worth remembering.  Matthew 8:5 – When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.  “Lord,” he said, ‘my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”  Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”  The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.  But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes.  I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.  I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.”  And his servant was healed from that very hour.  Wow, what impressed God?  Faith.  But what was the secret that unlocked this centurion’s understanding of faith.  To him it wasn’t something that he needed, or needed more of, he probably didn’t even think of it as exercising faith.  He just understood authority.  He commanded one hundred soldiers, which obeyed his every command. They did it because he carried the authority of Rome, the military and economic power that ruled the known world at that time.  But he recognized that Jesus was from another world, His authority came from a greater power than Rome.  He wasn’t striving to get some faith, his understanding of authority, unlocked not just his faith, it released faith so he could see the result.  Praying that your faith will grow, that you will pray in the Spirit to increase it, that you will feed on God’s Word, to increase it, that you will fully obey what God tells you to do today, so your faith can be demonstrated, and whatever God says, that faith is intended for, will be seen by you.  Praying that you will understand authority like this Centurion, that everything God wants to do, your faith will be released in agreement, so his blessing can flow not just to you, but to everyone around you.  Praying that you will thank Him for the faith He has given you, and the grace that powers the faith to bring what He wants.  It’s just doing your duty. 
 
Love you all,
dad