THE THIN LINE BETWEEN GRACE AND FAITH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY MARCH 09, 2021.

SUBJECT:  THE THIN LINE BETWEEN GRACE AND FAITH!

Memory verse:  "Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11 vs 40.) 

READ:  Mark 9 verse 23 - 29:

9:23: Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.

9:24: Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!”

9:25: When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of Him and enter Him no more!”

9:26: Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.”

9:27:But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

9:28: And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?

9:29: So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” 

INTIMATION:

There is a very thin line between grace and faith that is often missed by us. Because these two work together, the line between them is difficult for many to discern. And if we do miss it, our lives become confused. Many trust their faith to meet their needs. When their needs are not met, then they tried to have more faith because they are unable to discern the very fine line between faith and grace. They are not seeing beyond their faith to seek the grace of God (the power of God) to meet their needs.

Most people seemed to base all achievements on their faith, when, in reality, every victory or achievement is based on God's faithfulness bestowed on us by His grace—the power of God. If we frustrate the grace of God, we are going to feel frustrated. This explains why, by the grace of God, we receive our petition even when our faith is near zero.

In our memory verse, Jesus told Mary that it was only her faith (her believe) that would make her see the glory of a God (the power of God) raise the brother Lazarus from the dead. And this was the reason why Jesus said in Matthew 17 vs 21, "...if you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there," and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." It is not the tiny faith (as tiny as the tiniest seed on earth) that will move the mountain, but the mighty power of God (the grace of God) which came through your tiny faith to bring about the answer to the petition.

For instance, Jesus had faith (great faith I supposed) all the time He was suffering. He had faith while in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had faith before the high priest and Pilate. He had faith when He was being ridiculed, abused and mistreated. He had faith on the way to Golgotha. He had faith while hanging on the cross. He even had faith while His body lay in the tomb; He had absolute faith that God would not leave Him there but would raise Him up, as He had promised. 

At the point of completing His task, when God separated from Jesus, His faith was shaken hence His question, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" That is "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27 vs 46). That was an indication of His shaken faith. Consequently, Jesus called the Father 'My God,” instead of 'My Father' He had all through called Him before then. For all of Jesus’ faith, nothing happened until the power of God came forth to bring about the resurrection. His faith only kept Him stable until the Father's appointed time for His deliverance. We can have all the faith in the world, but it will avail us nothing until it is 'plugged into' the source of power, which is the grace of God. 

In order to get our needs met, in order to receive anything from the Lord, we must have both faith and grace. It is by grace through faith that we are saved. And it is by grace through faith that all our prayers are answered and all of our needs are met. Keep your eyes on God to deliver you, not your faith. In Second Timothy 2 vs 13, the Bible says, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." The Bible is teaching us here to get our eyes off our ability to believe (as the ultimate), but rather on God's willingness to meet our needs even though we do not have perfect faith. 

In the passage we read today, the man asked Jesus for healing of his son. Jesus told him that all things are possible to those who believe. The man replied, "Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief" or "Help my weakness of faith!" The man knew his faith was lacking, but he was honest about it, and Jesus healed his son. God's grace (power) came on the scene and gave the man what he did not deserve considering his faith—his believe. Jesus made it clear to His disciples that it’s not the faith or believe, but the power or grace of God, which can only be activated to deliver to us by prayer, or by prayer and fasting, in some cases. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are ever faithful, even in my unfaithfulness, and Your steadfastness never seizes. Endue me with spirit of complete obedience and trust in You, casting all my cares upon You, knowing that there is nothing difficult nor beyond your power, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!