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- P L U N D E R E R
- Nov 15, 2024
- 1 min read
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Do you know that on at least two occasions, messengers attempted to discourage Jesus from going to do a miracle for someone? Fear was at play in one instance while faith was at work in the other.
In the case of Jairus, messengers came from his house to tell him the Savior's services were no longer needed because his daughter was already dead. These messengers even seemed to be trying to 'help' Jesus and spare Him wasted time, saying, ... “Do not bother the Teacher anymore” (Luke 8:49).
The truth is that these messengers of the devil sought to instill fear so that Jairus's faith would evaporate like a flame doused with water. If they'd achieved their purpose, Jairus would have accepted that his child no longer needed Christ's help and would have missed the miracle on the way. Thank God Jesus didn't allow him to accept that bad report, telling him, "Do not be afraid; just believe..." (Luke 8:50). Indeed, Jairus rejected fear, and his 'dead' child rose from her sick bed to the glory of God.
Similarly, the Centurion called for Jesus to come heal his sick servant. While the Savior was on the way, the man sent another messenger to tell Him not to bother coming. However, in this instance, the Roman was not acting as an agent of satan. Instead, he expressed the Centurion's Confidence - great faith that stemmed from his worldview as a commander of men.
He said he didn't expect Jesus to show up but believed He need only issue the command from where He was to heal the servant. He explained in Luke 7:8 - 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.” This man's understanding of power, based on his worldview, fueled his belief in what Jesus could do. Not surprisingly, his servant was fully healed.
In life, we too can behave like the messenger who tries to stop Jesus from going to perform a miracle. The only question is whether we will decide to speak from a place of fear or a place of faith. This is a crucial choice that will impact what happens next to us and potentially, many others.
We must never forget that Jesus responds to faith and not fear. The Bible teaches that an absence of faith prevented Him from performing many miracles in His hometown. Matthew 13:58 - And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Therefore, our faith is key and it makes us active participants in the miracles God has planned for us. Without it, we become subject to the devil's desire to bring failure and loss into our lives
Our God has promised to bless all who love and serve Him. Thus, let us continue to obey His word and display our trust in Him, walking by faith and not by sight. He will help His children to stand firm and speak confidently from a place of faith just as the Centurion did through his messenger.
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Luke 7 tells us about a Centurion who sought Christ's help for one of his dying servants. Although he was a Roman who believed in a pantheon of gods, he knew Jesus could save his employee.
He asked some Jewish elders to speak with Jesus on his behalf. Luke 7:4-5 - When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”
Jesus went with them but soon, the Centurion sent another message. He said he didn't expect Jesus to show up but believed He needed only to issue the command from where He was and that the servant would be healed. He explained his reasoning in Luke 7:8 - 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.” This man's understanding of power, based on his worldview, fueled his belief of what Jesus could do.
How does our worldview impact our faith? None of us can ignore the fact that how we perceive the world affects how we perceive the Heavenly Father, His Son, and His Holy Spirit. Does our perspective foster faith in what God is capable of or does it encourage disbelief?
We need to speak like the Centurion - understanding what real power can do. Fortunately, we believers in Christ have a deeper well of experience and knowledge to draw from than the Centurion who didn't know Christ the way we do.
Therefore, we need to be confident in God and His abilities. To grow in this area, we must feed on the testimonies of others and frequently return to our experiences with the Lord - our Jericho Moments. That way, God's capacity remains fresh on our minds. We must increasingly study the Bible to become more familiar with God's miraculous power and quickly silence satan's lie that He cannot come through for us.
God's children will need to consume (and create) more Christian content such as books, films, music, and videos that illustrate God's power so our minds are constantly refreshed by His Spirit and His Word. We also need to turn our prayer points into praise points more often and watch our sacrifice of praise move quicker than our petitions do.
These steps and others will help us strengthen our faith muscles. That way, we see the challenges ahead of us as Goliaths that will drop with a rock or nothing more than a little smoldering firewood, incapable of harming. Though not a Christian in the traditional sense, the Centurion was walking by faith and not by sight, knowing Jesus didn't need to make an appearance to work a miracle. We too must learn to stand firm in faith, knowing that Jesus can do it and our miracle is on the way.
See you at Noon EST for fellowship. God bless you.
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