Daily Bread 2011 - Luke 17
Daily Bread 2011 – Monday, March 28th, 2011 Luke 17
“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
What Does This Mean?
As we taught in yesterday’s sermon, forgiveness is one of the most challenging teaching in the bible. This is especially true when someone has been hurt in a major or traumatic way. Jesus teaches us that even if someone sins against us seven times in day we must forgive them. Or course this is not meant to be literal but Jesus is using hyperbole to teach the disciples about how to have a “forgiving heart”. Of course put a limit on our daily, monthly and annual forgiveness we would all be in big trouble.
The apostles ask Jesus for more faith to apply such a challenging teaching. And Jesus reminds them and us that even if we possess very little faith that God can do big things. The idea is that faith gives God a platform to do things we could never do on our own. Importantly Jesus teaches us to have faith no matter how big or small and then act on it by praying. In this saying prayer is a means or channel of our faith to access God’s grace or actions in the world. Faith is trust and then praying is an act of obedience related to that same trust.
The bible says this combination can have huge implications for the situations around us.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Has your faith been tested lately? What circumstances or trials have questioned your faith or you sense that God still cares about the everyday situations of our lives. Importantly every trial in our lives gives us a chance to exercise our faith and make it stronger. Every time we trust God in no matter how small or trivial the example is our faith is strengthened as God provides for us in Jesus name.
Take a moment to pray for something which only can be solved apart from trusting God with a mustard seed of faith.
Jesus, thank you giving us faith in your precious promises. By Your Spirit lead us to act on them so that we can accomplish way more than we could ask or imagine by your grace. Amen.
“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
What Does This Mean?
As we taught in yesterday’s sermon, forgiveness is one of the most challenging teaching in the bible. This is especially true when someone has been hurt in a major or traumatic way. Jesus teaches us that even if someone sins against us seven times in day we must forgive them. Or course this is not meant to be literal but Jesus is using hyperbole to teach the disciples about how to have a “forgiving heart”. Of course put a limit on our daily, monthly and annual forgiveness we would all be in big trouble.
The apostles ask Jesus for more faith to apply such a challenging teaching. And Jesus reminds them and us that even if we possess very little faith that God can do big things. The idea is that faith gives God a platform to do things we could never do on our own. Importantly Jesus teaches us to have faith no matter how big or small and then act on it by praying. In this saying prayer is a means or channel of our faith to access God’s grace or actions in the world. Faith is trust and then praying is an act of obedience related to that same trust.
The bible says this combination can have huge implications for the situations around us.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Has your faith been tested lately? What circumstances or trials have questioned your faith or you sense that God still cares about the everyday situations of our lives. Importantly every trial in our lives gives us a chance to exercise our faith and make it stronger. Every time we trust God in no matter how small or trivial the example is our faith is strengthened as God provides for us in Jesus name.
Take a moment to pray for something which only can be solved apart from trusting God with a mustard seed of faith.
Jesus, thank you giving us faith in your precious promises. By Your Spirit lead us to act on them so that we can accomplish way more than we could ask or imagine by your grace. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment