What Does Jesus Think of Your Faith?

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
Luke 7:8–9

When Dr. Curtis Hutson was pastor of the Forrest Hills Baptist Church in Georgia, the church held a campaign to promote attendance. The teacher of the third grade boys Sunday school class challenged his students, and told the class which normally averaged about ten boys that they should try to have twenty-five come for a big day. When that Sunday came, the classroom overflowed with pupils—there were too many to fit. Instead of twenty-five, there were more than fifty third-grade boys.
As Dr. Hutson told the story, the teachers were scrambling trying to find places for the unexpected crowd. Just then one of the regular attenders began to cry. When the teacher asked him what was wrong, he replied, “This is all my fault.” “What’s your fault?” the teacher asked. “I prayed for fifty instead of twenty-five,” the boy said through his tears.
So many times we do not have the things we want or need simply because we lack the faith to ask God for them. While God is not a genie who makes our wishes come true, He has promised on His good name to hear our prayers and answer when we cry out for help. Jesus was amazed at the faith of a Roman centurion who believed that one word from Him would heal his servant because most of the Jewish people who had received God’s promises did not live as though they believed them.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

We should live with a real and genuine faith that believes and expects God to do the impossible.

Let God Interrupt You

by Joyce Meyer - posted February 20, 2016

…And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?
—Esther 4:14

Have you ever noticed that the men and women we read about in the Bible and consider “great” were all people who allowed God to interrupt their lives and were willing to make tremendous sacrifices for Him?
Joseph saved a nation from starvation, but not before God dramatically removed him from his comfortable home where he was his father's favorite and allowed him to be imprisoned for many years. Joseph probably wasn't planning a life of hardship and rejection, but God took him through those things in order to position him to be in the right place at the right time. But Joseph could only know that after the fact.
Esther was a young maiden who undoubtedly had plans for her future when suddenly, without warning, she was asked to enter the king's harem and gain favor with him so she could reveal the plan of wicked Haman, who intended to slaughter the Jews. She was asked to do things that left her frightened for her life, but her wise uncle knew that God had brought her to this point in her life and allowed everything she had endured in the past to prepare her for a moment of greatness.
These people had plans, but they let God interrupt them and they followed Him instead. If you will decide that you don't mind having God interrupt your life, He can prepare you too, for moments of greatness and use you in awesome ways.
 
Love God Today: “Lord, interrupt my life for Your purposes at any time and in any way You see fit".