Mustard Seed

[Chad]

Matthew 17:20 (NIV)

20He 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."

Commentary:

The Disciples Lacked the Most Basic Level of Faith (17:19-20)
Jesus explicitly attributes their inability to the smallness of their faith (compare 6:30; 8:26; 14:21; 16:8), pointing out that even a mustard seed's worth of faith would be sufficient to cast out not merely demons but mountains (17:20; 21:21; 1 Cor 13:2). The disciples already recognized how small a mustard seed was (Mt 13:32).

Ancient peoples thought of mountains as rooted far beneath the earth (Gundry 1982:353), so "moving mountains" was a typical Jewish teacher's image for doing what was virtually impossible. With this illustration Jesus indicates that even were we casting out mountains rather than demons, we would only be scratching the surface of a life of faith. What could we do with faith greater than that of a tiny mustard seed! Like children who have only begun to walk, most of us have only begun our adventure of faith.


*

Its amazing what faith can do! Praise Jesus for this. Also, amazing how much GOD loves us and desires us so much that he'll accept even the most tiniest of faith to welcome us into His Kingdom!

 

[Mike]

Great topic Chad . Faith is connected with submission in it's operation . Many say they have faith , but will not submit to the word they have faith in .

I have faith that my car will run every day . But if I do not apply actions , like Starting it and driving my car , then faith is not enough ...even to move a car ! Faith without works [ submission , action , application ] is dead faith , not effective in itself . Mike

 

[Jehovah Jireh]

Great topic Chad . Faith is connected with submission in it's operation . Many say they have faith , but will not submit to the word they have faith in .

I have faith that my car will run every day . But if I do not apply actions , like Starting it and driving my car , then faith is not enough ...even to move a car ! Faith without works [ submission , action , application ] is dead faith , not effective in itself . Mike

Faith i think is the very heart of christian life, its just like when peter stepped out of the boat to go meet jesus, he didnt decide to just walk on his own, he walked on jesus word,and that took incredible faith, but notice as soon as he took his eyes off jesus he began to sink and panic,
That to me shows how our christian walk is every day, the consequences of taking our eyes off our saviour will make us fall.

 

[Nigh]

Faith i think is the very heart of christian life, its just like when peter stepped out of the boat to go meet jesus, he didnt decide to just walk on his own, he walked on jesus word,and that took incredible faith, but notice as soon as he took his eyes off jesus he began to sink and panic,
That to me shows how our christian walk is every day, the consequences of taking our eyes off our saviour will make us fall.

Well said. I often hear of people saying that they hope we find Noah's Ark or the Ark of the covenant and then, everyone will know God is real. I however believe that these things will never be found. For if all the world had the proof of Gods existence then it would NOT require FAITH to believe in him. God does not proclaim with a booming voice from the sky, "I am God, believe in me." to everyone when they turn 12 for just this reason. The Lord wants for us to have faith in Him, in his Son and in the word.

God bless,
Nigh