Four times, God admonishes, ‘By faith, the just shall live!’ 1
Four times, for having
little faith, Jesus chided ‘faith
falters’.
Only twice did He find
great faith that was impressive.2
Those chided for little faith were… His ministry partners! 3
Those commended for great faith were not even
Jewish --
A Canaanite woman and
a Roman centurion.
Who would have
imagined, and how did their faith flourish??
A peek behind the
scenes may enhance your admiration.
She, a possible descendant
of those sinful folk,
Whom God had freed ancient
Israel from Egypt to destroy! 4
He, a small part of a
king’s dream that Daniel uncloaked,
A statue of gold,
silver, bronze and iron -- the king’s killjoy! 5
Toward Jews, both
could have easily had contempt,
Since Jews back then
regarded Gentiles… unflatteringly.
So from mutual
contempt, none was exempt,
Especially the kind
bred from… familiarity.
They overcame fear of
possible rejection,
Such fear that so
easily paralyzes.
Had they not escaped this devilish repression,
They never
would have achieved… faith that defies.
Surely they’d had
heard of Jesus healing folk across the land.
In hearing, they got seed
faith that prompted, ‘Jesus I’ll
seek!’
Face-to-face with Him,
they spoke their faith, and they
took their stand!
Seed faith technique -- seed faith, when
planted, sparks
desire to speak.
Both were motivated by
love, compassionate,
On behalf of another
soul in desperate need.
Could this
be a major great faith prerequisite?
Planted by words, grown
by love is all faith seed.6
Loving compassion is
especially attractive to Jesus!
He knew this would be
His role as our Heavenly High Priest.
Compassion, leading to
intercession negates selfish bias,
Ramps up the fervency of our faith as it is released!
Ramps up the fervency of our faith as it is released!
Both humbled
themselves, calling Jesus, Lord,
Recognizing His authority
over things unseen,
Help for their loved
ones, they were in accord.
Neither had a clue
they were talking to The One, Supreme.
By the soldier’s
point about authority, Jesus knew,
This fellow wasn’t
locked in the… little faith jail!
But He had to test the
woman to help her faith shine through.
Her point about dogs
proved
her faith would not fail!
Faith released!
Miracle achieved! Both likely testified,
Of their up close and
personal encounter, so awed!
Sometime after...
Sometime after...
At Christ’s
crucifixion, a centurion supervised,
And one soldier
gasped, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’7
From these two whom
Jesus hailed as having such great faith,
What key lessons do
they speak to us Christians today?
Review the references,
and ponder them… without haste.
Here are my thoughts.
I welcome what you will have to say.
1. Compassion
for others acts as a faith turbo boost!
Got a need? Intercede! 8
2. Recognize
and resist paralyzing fear that fights against planting seed faith.
3. Recognize
and resist contempt that is still bred from familiarity, with anything,
including Scripture and the Christian walk. Avoid being contemptuous toward
those who may have contempt for you.
4. Seed
faith, when planted, still sparks initiative to speak, so SAY what you believe,
thus planting faith-filled words.
5. Be
timely in planting and growing seed faith. Don’t despise small beginnings.
6. Recognize
and resist heady pride. Remain humble, sincere and worshipful before God.
7. Ignore
your forgiven sinful background, and your descendants.
8. Watch
your word seeds. They reveal your faith, and will not belie your heart.
9. Testify
often and widely of God’s works in your life. A personal prayer log is a great
tool.
10. For sure,
God still tests hearts and minds to verify and uncloak our faith, our
willingness to believe, speak, and then act on what He says. Slow down. Pray to recognize, and to obtain
Grace to pass His tests.9
For both the Canaanite woman and the Roman centurion,
Jesus’ preceding reputation, their selfless petitions,
and His affirming Word, were sufficient to yield
immediate harvests from the
seed faith they had planted.
----------
1 Habakkuk 2:4,
Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:28
2 Matthew 8:5-10,
Luke 7:1-10 and Matthew 15:22-28
3 Matthew 6:30,
8:26, 14:31 and 16:8
4 Genesis 15:16,
Exodus 3:8 and Joshua 1:4
5 The Roman Empire under which Jesus became a mortal man, was represented by the iron parts of the statue mentioned in Daniel 2. See also: Europe:
Iron-Clay Mix (Poem) and search this blog for references to Daniel 2 for much more on this prescient chapter.
6 Faith speaks
(Romans 10:6), and works by love (Galatians 5:6)
7 Matthew
27:54
8 See Putting
a Face on Faith
9Jeremiah 11:20,
17:10, 20:12, Deuteronomy 8:2, 1 Chronicles 29:17, Proverbs 17:3
