INCREASING FAITH

Time with Jesus - Monday, 18 June 2012

Hi all,

When the Lord talks about faith, I’ve often wondered what He meant. After all, the emphasis in the Christian life is to die so that He can live His life in and through me. This being the case, I’ve always struggled with the idea of me acquiring anything other than a hole in the ground. So how does this conform to faith to move mountains? This is the focus of today’s meditation.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Monday, 18 June 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	INCREASING FAITH
At school, I loved playing cricket. I suppose we all go through fantasies in which we play a starring role in a vital position. Like going in to bat for South Africa at number eleven and scoring a century. Just enough to bring victory for the team. Team is a bit of a misnomer. You’ve done it all on your own. But you rose to the big occasion and, in imagination, basked in the glory of your fictitious achievement. This was very much in line with the “Teddy Lester” series of books many of us enjoyed. In the book, Teddy Lester always managed to perform some heroic sporting action that others would look at with envy. I’d be very surprised if I was the only person who liked books of this type. All of us, boys and girls, go through such fantasies. For the boys it was a major sporting achievement. For the girls it seems to be marrying the Prince of Wherever. I daren’t say any more. I might get into trouble with the ladies who read this. Some of us may remember the comics of the day. “Wizard”, Hotspur” etc. The characters were fascinating. Anyone remember Desperate Dan and his “cow pie”? How about Billy Bunter? All fuel for the imagination of growing children. There comes a time when such fantasies leave us. Then we become painfully aware of our limitations. I wasn’t much of a cricketer. I loved the sport. But there was little chance of playing for the school’s first eleven, never mind South Africa. Limited talent often redirects us into something more appropriate. When puberty arrived, along came all the new fantasies and ambitions and, if I dare say so, achievements. Never mind playing cricket. It was not nearly as much fun as imagining spending a couple of hours alone with Marylyn Monroe or one of the other screen “goddesses” we desired. For me, it never happened. Becoming a Christian changed all that. Not immediately. Some of it had to be worked through. Putting down the flesh is not easy for an eighteen year old. It also produced a number of different challenges. Believing that the Bible is the Word of God was the first one. Other issues emerged, each one requiring a different level of understanding. Things like integrity, honesty and holiness. I felt like an onion. Slowly but surely God progressively stripped away the various layers of junk and bad thinking in order to get down to the core. At times I wondered if there was anything in the middle of that onion that God could possibly use. Then He began to replace these layers with Christian fundamentals. His purpose was to build something from the debris of what remained. Put simply, he was busy producing in me the fruit of the Spirit. There’s still a long way to go. But He has time on His side and mine gets progressively shorter. I feel a little like the boy playing “chop sticks” on the great piano of life. It sounds rather discordant, but it’s the best I can do. Then the Maestro’s arms surround me and the discord of my music becomes an exquisite harmonic concerto! I’ve found this particularly useful in my understanding of faith. My faith in Him increases as His playing becomes more dominant. My part is to depend on Him. This, I feel, is the very essence of faith. It will never be what I can do. It will always be what His arms around me can achieve. This type of faith takes only a mustard seed in size and anything becomes possible. He casts mountains into the sea. With His arms around me it really becomes possible. The focus is never on me. It’s always on Him! Play on Maestro! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20 NIV 8 Barak said to her, (Deborah) "If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go." Judges 4:8 ESV 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. Judges 4:23 ESV 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father's household and the people of the town.36 Then Gideon said to God, "If You are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as You promised, Judges 6:27 & 36 NLT 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Please don't be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew." 40 So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew. Judges 6:39-40 NLT 8 I know what you have done. See, I have opened a door in front of you that no one can shut. You only have a little strength, but you have paid attention to my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8 GW 10 Who despised the day when little things began to happen? They will be delighted when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand. (These seven eyes of the LORD roam over all the earth.)" Zechariah 4:10 GW 3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 ESV 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Show us how to increase our faith." Luke 17:5 NLT 5 I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. 6 Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. Hosea 14:5-6 NLT	The maestro sat in silence, ‘til the audience was still; And then he started playing with unquestionable skill. His repertoire enormous, with the ability, To play the grand piano with exquisite mastery. He was a virtuoso. No matter what he played, The music “danced” before him, like soldiers on parade. Scott Joplin and Rachmaninov, he played with equal ease; He’d play on the piano, direct from memory. With beautiful expression and superb dexterity. The audience were spell-bound. He played his very best; And then there came the interval and time for him to rest. The theatre was part empty when a little boy of six, Walked to the piano and played on it “chop sticks”. The theatre started filling up. The boy was unaware, That everyone was watching him still on the maestro’s chair. He wasn’t very talented, but still he did his best. To “tinkle out” his “chop sticks” with a little schoolboy’s zest. And even when the maestro, came back to take his seat, The little boy kept playing his little “chop sticks” beat. The maestro let him carry on, then walked right up behind. It really was quite obvious, the maestro didn’t mind. He smiled at him and suddenly his eyes were filled with joy. He put his arms around the little “chop sticks” playing boy. He whispered. “Keep on playing” then he picked up the tune. He improvised on “chop sticks” until very, very soon The music they were playing, took on a quality, That people who were listening, thought was Divinity. They both continued playing; the maestro and the boy, Until the entire audience were clapping in their joy! The moral of the story? Who was it that had played? The truth is that together, they both were on parade. The Maestro could play anything. The little boy’s “chop sticks” Came into a harmony that hit them all for six. Our faith in God is like that. We fumble for a tune; And then the arms of Jesus come round us so that soon, The faith that He has given us is hardly seen at all; For He has multiplied it and it stands out ten miles tall! So let’s take our ability and all we cannot do, And give it to the Master, just as He’s told us to. Perhaps our faith is wavering, but when we’re in His arms, He whispers “keep on playing; there’s no need for alarm. If you will let me harmonise, the tune which we will play. Will multiply your faith in a most supernatural way. It isn’t “Faith” you’re needing, It’s more and more of Me. Then you will cast that mountain into the deep blue sea.” Jim Strickland  Written 18th June 2012