Mustard Seed Faith

Matthew 17:20, “So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

In this passage Jesus is speaking to His disciples and a father who is in great despair because his son is bound up with evil spirits that caused him to be epileptic. The father was frustrated because although the disciples prayed for the young boy, they were unable to set him free him from his bondage and see him healed.

Jesus told them that the reason this boy wasn't healed; the reason that mountain of sickness was still in his life wasn’t because God wasn't able to do it or that God wasn't willing to do it. No…. God was able and He was willing, but because of their unbelief His disciples lacked the ability to apprehend the power of God for this boy.

I am convinced that a deep root of unbelief within our hearts is still a major obstacle that we face in receiving miracles from God. Whenever there is a discrepancy in what the Bible tells us about how God sees something or what He wants to do about something and what we are actually experiencing in our life, the problem isn’t on God's side. When circumstances don’t line up with what it says in God's word; it is because of us… because of our unbelief.

Unbelief can be buried so deep in our heart that we don’t even recognize it.  Sure; we can mentally ascent to God’s word but deep down in our heart; where it really counts, we don't truly believe it. The author of Hebrews knew that there were consequences when God's people fail to mix His word with their faith as we read in Hebrews 4:2b, “….but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard.”

Jesus said something very important to His disciples in Matthew 17:20. He said if that one mountain was removed, nothing would be impossible for us. Can you imagine that one mountain in our life being removed and taken out of the way? Maybe it’s a sickness, maybe it’s a marital problem, maybe it’s a financial problem or maybe we have an emotional issue; but if that mountain was removed we would have the freedom and the ability to go forward and fulfill God’s destiny.

We need to get the seed of God’s word. It can be as small as a mustard seed but when it is planted in our heart it becomes a belief and that belief will produce faith. We will begin to see God's word greater than we see the circumstances…. when we speak it to that mountain, it will be removed.

It’s time to examine our heart and realize that if we take God’s word (which is the seed) and mix it with our faith, we can say to the mountain that is before us…”Be removed!” Let’s remove mountains in our lives today and walk in God’s possibilities rather than being constantly hindered and defeated by the impossibilities that surround us in life.

God loves you…. God loves me… and His desire is that we succeed. He redeemed us by the precious price of His son’s life so every promise that comes from heaven (through faith) could be ours!!!

Turning of a Season

As everyone knows, this is the season of the Feast of Tabernacles. This time of joy and celebration follows a season of repentance; it follows Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and acknowledges that we have been accepted by God Himself through the sacrifice.

Of course we know our sacrifice is Jesus Christ, who died for us as the Lamb slain for sinners from the foundation of the world forever and ever. That is a reason to rejoice!

We all need to understand that we have an open heaven. We can have a relationship with our heavenly Father so we should certainly take advantage of that.

We have been through so much in the last season. In the past year or two or even a little more, we have been hit with depression and discouragement, poverty and lack. But I want you to know there is a turning of a season; not because economists say so or don’t say so, but because it is the season just before Jesus comes!

It is a time of joy, a time of multiplication and a time of harvest. It is going to be a great season of great harvest for those who have ears to hear what the Spirit of the Lord has to say.

Get your heart prepared to be filled with God’s joy. Keep focused on the harvest that’s ready for you; not just the harvest of money and material things but the harvest of souls as well.

Continue to depend on the Lord in everything you do and say. This is a season of great joy and great harvest and we just want to say, “with God nothing is impossible!” God bless you; we love you.

Having an "Un-Offendable" Spirit

Because we are people of relationship, it is easy to be offended by someone on a daily basis. That will begin to affect our personality and we become much more critical ourselves. Is there such a thing as having an “un-offendable” spirit? The answer to that is, “yes.”

When you keep your eyes on Jesus Christ, allow His love to fill you every single day and ask Him to help you to look at people through His eyes, it certainly makes a big difference.

An “offendable” spirit will affect your own personality and will isolate you from people. It even causes you to be stressed out. There is so much stress in life today, but I believe that relationship stress is probably the number one stress we deal with every day.

So make a choice today to have an “un-offendable” spirit and choose in your own heart to not let the criticism, condemnation and guilt trips people place on one another affect you.

It is amazing how a “this too shall pass” attitude can make you become a stronger and greater leader because you are not letting yourself be offended. The moment you become offended you lose the ability to help others by speaking life into their spirits and influencing them in a greater way. That is where so many people find themselves today.

But if you trust in God, ask Him to give you His strategy and fill you with His love for His people, you will find that you can bring correction through love. You will have a greater influence in people’s lives and still maintain a spirit that has peace and joy. You will have a greater impact in the sphere of influence God has given you and find that peace will rule in your heart.

Have an “un-offendable” spirit. The choice and decision is yours to make!