Tiny Living Faith Does Not Equal Unbelief!

Most of the Scripture below is from Matthew 17 Amplified Bible.
 
17.  And Jesus answered, O you unbelieving (warped, wayward, rebellious) and thoroughly perverse generation!  How long am I to remain with you?  How long am I to bear with you?  Bring him here to Me.

The Lord calls unbelief being warped, wayward and rebellious.  He does not specify between believers and unbelievers in this verse.  He is calling them all unbelievers.  In the Old Testament God was most upset with His own people when they walked in unbelief.  He got pretty disgusted with them each time He would give them a miracle and then they would lapse back into unbelief.  I wonder if He has that same disgust with us who live in the New Testament times.


I'm not sure it would be disgust, but if not getting our prayers answered is the result of unbelief then I want unbelief OUT of my life.  I am a prayer warrior, an intercessor so it's really important that I pray in FAITH, not unbelief.  Why pray, why be an intercessor if you don't expect God to answer your prayers for people and situations?  That is totally stupid!  I would also like faith to work in my own life for my own needs, wants, desires according to His will.  

Unbelief is something we all live with.  I mean it's pretty natural not to believe in something supernatural.  We aren't use to it.  We live in a natural world.  We are brought up to think naturally for the most part unless you are raised by parents that teach faith-supernatural living from the being of your life.  It's important that we believe in the super natural but it's really important that we believe in the RIGHT supernatural and that is the power of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ and God the Father.

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.  If He performed miracles back then, we have to believe in miracles today.  Whatever it is according to His will, we have to believe.  It's according to His will also where people get off base.  Faith applies more than just to healing.

Some people pray "if it by thy will" for things they need to fully believe for.  He used "if it be thy  will" referring to going into another town...doing this or that James 4:13-17.  We KNOW it is God's will for us to live a good life...be healthy..have all our needs met, etc. from reading all the other scriptures.  I believe what He is saying here is for things such as is it your will to marry so and so, or go into this business or that...for things like that where His will is very much unknown. 

"I came to give you LIFE and LIFE MORE ABUNDANT" so we KNOW it's will for you to have life, live and live an abundant life.  That also means not just materialistic.  It starts with the spirit, soul, then body.  It starts with being born again.  As you read the Word and learn it and His character and as you are led by the Holy Spirit He will lead you in your prayers and what to definitely believe for. 


18.  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly.

Jesus did NOT put up with that demon that was tormenting that young man with epilepsy.  We need to be as BOLD as Jesus and rebuked the devil when we see him at work bringing on sickness, disease, distress, trouble.  We need to have FAITH in God's supernatural power and the power of His Word.  "By His stripes we WERE healed.  By His stripes we ARE healed"!


19.  Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked privately, Why could we not drive it out?


20.  He said to them,  Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust].  For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.


21.  But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.   Matthew 17:17-21

God loves simple I do know that.  When we out of our "own understanding" and intellect try to complicate things...reading things into it that really aren't there, etc. then we may be way off base where the Lord is concerned and it won't profit us anything.  "My Words are spirit and they are life."  "The flesh profits nothing."  

I don't like to waste time so doing things in the flesh is a waste of time to me.  Let break this down a little more here. 


This was a man in the multitude of people who approached Jesus.  He actually knelt before Jesus.  He must have known who Jesus was or at least perceived the powers that He had and also honored His Lordship.  And I think he was very desperate.  He had a situation.  He humbled himself before the Lord from his heart I believe and asked that Jesus pity and have mercy on his son.  His son suffered "terribly" from epilepsy.  (verses 14-15) 

19.  Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked privately, Why could we not drive it out?


20.  He said to them,  Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust].  For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

The disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't drive the devil out of this young boy.  Jesus called it littleness of faith.  I have to admit my faith it little all the time!  I confess!  I really do live in unbelief more than the Lord would like in my opinion.  I would not make a claim to being this woman full of big, great faith at all.  I know I am a woman of faith.  And I've even been accused of being a "devout Christian" LOL.  People use those kinds of words sometimes when they hate you and can't stand you, or disagree with you, or just plain don't understand you.  So they team up with the devil...(the devil is the the accuser of the brethren) and use those words against you.  "And she calls herself a "devout Christian".  I will NEVER call myself that and give the enemy a crack into my life like that.  Those are "religious" words.  I know what good people mean when they use them for good purpose, but really, I don't like to allow myself to be so confined in a little religious box by being defined as a "devout Christian".  Because the minute you mess up, or people simply perceiving you messed up because they are narrow minded, unbelievers and/or religious people that live in a little tiny religious box,  or someone doesn't agree with the truth you see then they can use it against you.

 I will end with this.  My small faith which is LIVING ..tiny as a grain of mustard seed...is in a HUGE, BIG, MOST POWERFUL ALMIGHTY GOD!  When I am weak, He is strong.  He gets ALL the glory!  

-Wandafay