Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Mark 9:14-29, Faith vs. presumption (10)

Did I mention that the last post was the last post on this subject?  I got to thinking that there were some other “application” points to consider.

·       How can one develop greater faith?  On that question we first must recognize that Jesus said a small amount of faith accomplishes great things (Mt. 17:20).  Perhaps the question is, how can I be more faithful?  In other words, how can I use my faith more often instead of living life out of my own strength?  Nevertheless, let’s remind ourselves of at least three avenues through which we develop faith: prayer (Mk. 9:23-24), the Word (Rom. 10:17) and practice.  Like most of the character traits, we must go through difficult time for our likeness to Christ to become solid in our lives (Heb. 5:14).

·       The discipline of daily devotions as a husband and wife or as a family provide a good time to be in the word and to apply the word to issues we face together.  It is important, in my view, that we record specific prayer requests.  This provides the best opportunity to remember that we trusted God for something when He answers that prayer.  Not to mention praying about specific needs is what we do!  And we should talk about “unanswered” prayers, so we learn what it means to “wait on the LORD.”

·       A study of Hebrews 11 is always in order in my view.  I mean a detailed study, where with each “hero of the faith” mentioned briefly in Hebrews we go to the Old Testament and read the entire story.  The parts of the lives of the patriarchs that God has chosen to reveal will teach us a lot about the inner workings of faith.

·       And lastly (really this time), I want to give you a very short list of favorite songs and hymns that encourage me with respect to faith, hoping you will add to it. (Post them in a "comment" if you would like to.)

o   Learning to Lean

o   Standing on the Promises

o   Trust and Obey

o   No Other Plea

o   God Can Do Anything But Fail

o   O God Our Help in Ages Past

o   Great is Thy Faithfulness (our faith is in a faithful God)

o   It Is Well With My Soul

o   O Jesus, I Have Promised

o   Jesus, I am Resting, Resting

o   How Great Thou Art

o   In Christ Alone

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