Good Morning Friends,
Have you ever wondered at what point the parenting relationship changes? Is it when your child turns 18? Is it when they move out of your home? Is it when they marry? Is it after you have finished paying for college and they start their career and have kids of their own? Some things are certain, while this parenting relationship is not as clear cut for many families. And when children come home to live or live close by and have children of their own it can get interesting. The Pandemic made it more complicated. Single parent families with the death of a spouse and multigenerational families living together or close by, both became more common. The Bible has some relevant thoughts on the topic that you can explore on your own but they all agree in my mind that it comes down to the importance of being Christ centered. Still parents have to have at least some degree of control and jurisdiction.Grandparents have a role too in teaching others about loving God, loving others and raising up people and especially ones own children to follow Jesus. Children are to submit to the authority of their parents, be responsible, respectful and, we all hope, fun to be with as they mature. And we also know that parents have a lifelong responsibility to help raise Godly children by growing themself spiritually. Parents, despite the age of their children, are to teach their children through actions. That is why we need to have faith that our children will eventually move out and set sail in the lives God intends for them. and have enough love to last for however long it takes to mature in the faith. Today’s scripture sets the standard high and then we see how the disciples fall short and initially I was not sure whether this was comforting or disturbing. But then I found it encouraging. I adjusted my expectations and let go and let God. You see the laws must be written on our hearts and we are not in control of them, so we need God to help us love. And when we have even a little faith to love miracles happen. Do You Have Enough Faith To Move Mountains?
Scripture: Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear.
Deuteronomy 6:4-13 (NRSV)
When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:14-20 (NRSV)
speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
2 Peter 3:16 (NRSV)
Message: I have a mezuzah on the doorpost of the office in which I am writing this devotional. It has inside today’s scripture from Deuteronomy. It is a physical witness to remember our faith. Growing up my grandmother had a clear glass paperweight with a single mustard seed embedded in the center, magnified enough to see its importance. It too was a physical witness. You see, we are saved through faith and family is a witness to it. We stand by faith. Christ dwells in our hearts through faith. We are to fight for faith so that others might believe. In today’s Gospel reading the disciples longed for more faith to do great things for God, but Jesus tells them that they are missing the point of it all. People misinterpret scripture on this very point with bad results. But Jesus points the way to the truth. Even just a tiny bit of faith can help us believe in something that none of our senses individually experience. We are prone to think if we just had more faith, then God could do amazing things through us. But Jesus tells us something quite astonishing. Jesus tells us that all we need is a little bit of faith and the barriers blocking us from moving mountains can be removed. But first we must look to God, and we must also walk with God. We must love. The issue is not whether we are full of faith but whether we have thefaith of Jesus. If we have the smallest amount of faith, God works on our behalf. Jesus stops his disciples short and asks them: Do you believe in me at all? Do you trust God at all? And this answer, after reflection, is really encouraging because it allows us to focus on God and not whether we have enough of whatever to accomplish what needs to be done on our own. A small amount of faith is sufficient because the focus is not on our faith but on love. It is not because of the quantity of our faith but the object of our faith. If our faith is in God, then it has a great effect. This faith makes a difference not because what we claim as our own is so great but because God is so great. It is the faith of Jesus that sanctifies us and frees us so that we can rely on Christ and not our own strength and works. Mustard seed faith is enormously powerful—not because of our faith, but because it unites us to the Power who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. A mustard seed faith produces the fruit of the Spirit because of God’s love. Like the seed the self must die so that something better might live. And so, the clearest evidence of mustard seed faith is whether we love God and love our neighbors and ultimately whether we are discipling others.
And So, this surpassing faith is the faith that puts Jesus and Jesus’ faith and love right in the middle of one’s life, whether it is in church, on an errand, working, changing a diaper or raising children. It is faith that over time moves the mountains. Surpassing faith has patience but also a firm knowledge through experience that Jesus is ever interceding, always knocking at the door of our hearts, always loving, and always ready to help. Surpassing faith is resting way back in His arms. Think what possibilities open for the kingdom when Jesus has believers who learn to trust Him – even if it is just the size of a little mustard seed kind of trust.
Pray thatwe have the courage to speak out and pray up in the name of Jesus and ask for help when we need it. Pray that we honor our parents, and we are worthy of the honor of our children. Pray we have the conviction to obey God and the laws given to us. Pray that we have the fortitude to confront what needs to be done. Pray that we begin to believe differently when it comes to how much faith we need. Pray we steward the faith we have, believing that even the faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. Pray in faith we persevere. Pray in the promises of God to the glory of God. Pray that we believe in the power of love and faith even if it surpasses our understanding. Pray we expect a miracle.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 