Working through 1 Corinthians 13 gives us a wonderful vantage point to see love in its truest form. Jesus spoke to a simple love and faith in Luke 17:1-6 where it says One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” 6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!
You may not be able to see it if you think more from your mind than your heart, so lets look at it at "heart level." Everything we think or do comes back to "where is your heart" or where are you at base level. When we were born again Jesus changed "our heart." When we pray to the Lord we pray a "heartfelt prayer." When we need to makes changes we want to make them in "our heart." Our heart, or soul has to be controlled by the Holy Spirit before there is change and in order to keep making those changes toward Godlness. I wrote a song for a college conference for the state of Kentucky called Growing in Godlness. At the time I didn't even understand that the words I was putting to music was what God was doing in my life " at a heart level." Here are the lyrics. I am growing in Godliness. I want to be more like Him, not less. And though sometimes I drift away, I have a heart that wants to stay. So when I turn to Him today, I'm growing in Godliness. Believe it or not, THAT'S IT!!
In Luke 17:1 Jesus speaks to the disciple's hearts and tells them not to lead others who are in the faith away from God's Word and truth. We must encourage all believers everywhere to "pursue" God at the Heart Level and not just follow what everybody else is saying, but search our hearts for the truth. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus spoke to the "heart" of life itself when He said to his disciples, 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. If you wan to experience Jesus at a "heart level" you must pursue Him in prayer and in His Word. SEEK HIM!!! Isaiah said it this way in Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
When speaking to His disciples, Jesus sparked their interest in having greater faith, and they said the following in verse 5: The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” So did Jesus tell them to increase the "amount" of their faith? No. Jesus told them to have a more pure faith when asking and that kind of faith can be very powerful. In our human reasoning we might think we need to have "awesome faith" as in bigger faith. But Jesus once again brings us back to "heart level" and the pure faith that changes lives also changes our situations. What kind of faith can save us? A childlike faith as written in Matthew 18:1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” 2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Hmmm!!
Life at "heart level" is much different than our world teaches us isn't it? All of this gives a whole new understanding of the faith of King David because He was known as a man who was after the heart of God. Where is your heart right now and what does your faith look like? Is your relationship with Jesus at "heart level?" Then you have discovered the key to living a strong life of faith and God can do great things through you because He is working a great work at the core of your life. The heart. Your mind won't understand all God teaches you but your heart will because the Holy Spirit is there to make all make sense.
Jesus answered the apostles request by telling them to have the faith of a mustard seed and that see is very small. If your heart is pure and your life is immersed in God's Word you will discover that kind of faitht does something, but it is only found in the essence of a pure heart and pure faith. Verse 6 6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you! In Matthew Jesus said it this way Matthew 17:20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.
Be sure and have enough of the pure faith and anything is possible. I mean anything. Our God is faithful!! Let Him control your heart and everything else will fall into place.
Vesselogical Out,
David Warren
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