The purpose of this blog is to encourage fellow Christians, with short devotions and thoughts from the Scriptures.

Saturday, 23 August 2014

God's requested blessing is dependent on faith

"God will not give you any greater requested blessing than what you believe in."

 Let's look at Matthew 9:27-30, "(27) When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, 'Son of David, have mercy on us!' (28) And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to him, 'Yes, Lord.' (29) Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'According to your faith let it be to you.' (30) And their eyes were opened..."

 These two blind men could only operate on hearsay. They were not able to see the miracles that Jesus of Nazareth was doing, but they listened to the good reports. Romans 10:17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

 Two previous miracles had occurred in chapter 9 which encouraged these blind men. A woman who had an incurable disease had enough faith in Jesus to be healed. She came up behind Him in a crowd and touched the hem of His garment and immediately she was healed. Jesus acknowledged her faith to the crowd. In the next miracle a young girl who had died was brought back to life by Jesus; who acted on the faith shown by the girl's father.

It was after this miracle the two blind men followed Jesus, seeking their own miracle from Him. Here it is interesting to note that they cried out, "Son of David, have mercy on us." They did not call Him, Master or Teacher. They publicly acknowledged Him as Son of David, their Messiah.

Jesus asked them (verse 28); "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Remember, they could not see Him, but they had faith in Him. So they said to him, "Yes, Lord." Whereupon He touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be to you." And then they received their sight! "And their eyes were opened." They could now look on the man who had given them their sight. They could look into His eyes of love and perceive the deep love and compassion He had for them individually.

 The Greek word kyrios translated here as the English word Lord has the force of someone who is supreme in authority, someone who is in control. It is also by implication a title of great respect. The two blind men realised that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of David had power and authority well above the rulers of the Jews and the Roman government. Jesus had power over disease and death! He was able to give sight to blind men!

 In verses 32, 33 a mute man possessed by a demon is healed. The demon is cast out and the mute man is able to speak. The power of the demon was broken. The former mute man began to speak. Note, the mute man had been brought to Jesus through the faith of others. His blessing was the result of their faith. He could not speak for himself prior to the miracle.

 In each of these miracles Jesus acted upon a request to Him. The request was backed up by faith in Him, in His ability to carry out the request. There was no, will He, or won't He? There was no, now is not a good time, or maybe He is too busy? These people had definite needs and Jesus was the only person capable of fulfilling those needs! They acted upon their faith; being confident they would get the result they were looking for.

 All these miracles brought glory to God; that is the culmination of faith in God in operation.

 "God will not give you any greater requested blessing than what you believe in."

 "According to your faith, let it be unto you."

  

Jon Peasey

Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com


 [All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]

 [If you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the comments section below.]

 

 

 

 

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