Beloved, though this was a message copied from Joshua Goodling, I had to share this message this New Year to help us re-focus on the foundation of our walk in Christ i.e. Faith and Believing
Do We REALLY Believe?
In Mark chapter 6, Jesus returns to his hometown to teach and preach the Gospel. However, what He found was that the people there did not believe He was truly the Messiah. Read what the first six verses tell us;
“He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.” (Mark 6:1-6)
They should have been the first to believe! His hometown and even His own family! He was performing miracles and teaching as One who KNEW what He was talking about. His actions PROVED He was the Messiah, yet the people allowed their human reasoning to get in the way, and they would not accept Him or believe in Him.
The Bible says in verse 6, “And he marveled because of their unbelief” As Almighty God, He knew they would not believe, yet at the same time He was amazed that they could see all of the works He was doing, they could see infallible proofs that He was the Messiah, and yet they STILL did not believe in Him.
I wonder, how many times does God marvel at OUR unbelief? You argue, “Oh, I believe Jesus is the Messiah!” Yes, but do you really believe that God can and will answer prayer? Do you really believe that God will provide all of your needs? Do you really believe that God will do all that His Word claims He will do? Do you really believe God can work in YOUR life as He has worked in other Christian’s lives and in the past? TRUTHFULLY, do you REALLY BELIEVE GOD?
We read stories about God working in the lives of people like George Mueller, David Livingstone, and others. We read stories in the Bible about God working through Elijah, Paul, Moses, and others. We see God miraculously answer prayer for others, and yet we so often don’t fully give Him control of EVERYTHING in our own lives because we’re just not sure He will do the same for us. We don’t give abundantly to others because we’re afraid we’ll have nothing left for ourselves. We don’t give up all of our sins and follow Him completely because we’re afraid it won’t work for us. We don’t focus all of our attention on Him and seek after Him with all of our hearts, because we’re afraid things won’t work out the way WE want them to. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the SAME yesterday, today, and FOREVER! We serve the SAME GOD people in the Bible and in Christian history served. The same promises hold true for us!
I think many times God must marvel at our lack of faith and our unbelief. He longs to know us personally and work amazingly in our lives, but He can’t until we give up EVERYTHING and follow Him. We should actively seek and pray for God to INCREASE our FAITH in Him.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)