Faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God for receiving the promises of God for our lives. There are many life circumstances that could try to persuade us that our issues are too impossible for God to help us. But Jesus said to the degree that we were able to believe with full assurance of faith in God, that He could move in our lives. The Lord gave me a dream and upon waking, the words, “LET IT BE ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH”, resounded in my heart and mind.
I woke up with a stirring in my spirit, and my heart breaking at the thought that Jesus was rejected in His hometown, because people were familiar with the Jesus who grew up in front of their faces.
Despite hearing all the good Jesus was doing – healing the sick and delivering those oppressed of the enemy – they thought they knew Jesus because they witnessed His upbringing.
All of the miracles that He had done already, could they still not believe..?
Sadly, Mark records the account in Chapter 6 and makes it very clear, the lack of might miracles in His hometown was due to their blatant unbelief!!
“Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”
Mark 6: 1-6 (NKJV)
Jesus was rejected?!
The overwhelming unbelief from those from Jesus’ hometown actually kept Him from being able to perform mighty miracles freely.
So, as it was, those who had seen Jesus grow up (in the flesh) could not have the faith within them to see that God had raised Him up to be the Son of God.. and indeed, the Messiah!!
This account takes place just a few chapters after Jesus had healed a paralytic, a man with a withered hand, and a man possessed by a whole legion of demons. And yet still He was rejected.
It was astonishing to Him that even after all that He had done, there was such blatant unbelief!??
It too is just mind-boggling to me, the hard heartedness of those who rejected Jesus because they thought they knew Him. (Of course it is easy for me to think as I’m here reading the recorded story with narration, and in retrospect, assuming I would totally be able to muster up the faith to believe Jesus all the way to the ends of the earth.)
Would we see Jesus if He was right in front of our faces? Would we believe God when He chooses to speak through an unexpected vessel?
- Your husband or wife?
- A sibling you witnessed every awkward teen age with and who fought with you for 10 years straight?
- Your now grown son or daughter that relied on you to change their baby diaper?
- Or that childhood friend who used to mock your love for the Lord growing up?
Would we be able to see His hand at work, when He has called familiarity to be His hands and feet?
The Dangers of Unbelief
Unbelief is a potential danger to us all. If we cannot admit that we ought to ask God to doubly search our hearts to see where there is wickedness within us.
Unbelief must be pretty sneaky to see the working of God right in front of it’s face, and STILL reject it. And also, unbelief must be pretty audacious to cause those who should be claiming to love Jesus the most, to get to the point of being OFFENDED at Jesus .. the Son of God!
And yet, it gets worse… this same account can be found paralleled in the gospel of Luke, in chapter 4:16-30. The story of where the people from His hometown sought to THROW HIM OFF A CLIFF!!
But He just walked away from them without any harm, because He was and IS the Son of God! And simply because it was not yet His time.
I’d say that escalated pretty quickly for a crowd to collectively decide in favor of murder.
The dangers of having a heart of unbelief is incredibly scary.
A heart of unbelief is an offended heart towards God, and a murderous heart towards the things of God. An unbelieving heart rejects God’s answer for our situation.
If we were honest with ourselves, could it be possible that we would be one of those who raged against God’s answer for our lives because it came packaged differently that we expected?
How often have we had this same deceived heart? And therefore, almost risk murdering the move of God because of our own unbelieving heart? Oh Lord, let it not be!!
Do we limit God working in and through those around us?
Do we put parameters on what God can say or do through another person…especially that person?
Would we recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit if it was presented to us in a different package that we would have thought?
These questions are so convicting, and yet, faith is the only thing God requires of us. To the two blind men in Matthew 9:29, before Jesus healed them He said, “According to your faith let it be to you.”
Faith is required for God to move on our behalf!
I personally know and believe that God speaks even through small unassuming children.. and yet, this message that woke me up in the dead of sleep, entirely convicted me to tears.
Please friends, lay down any pride today. We cannot afford to say no to Jesus!
One last thought: a few weeks ago I was at the North Georgia woman’s conference and the night they did the immersions I watched in amazement how each person came in for different requests, different needs and desires. People were set free and delivered from evil spirits and many were filled with the Holy Spirit, some healed on the spot and some walking out their healing to this day.
Watching God meet the hunger in people’s hearts really moved me. I must have heard the Holy Spirit repeat the same words, 20-30 times over, saying, “according to their faith”.
After seeing God move, and hearing God’s whisper.. I prayed and pleaded with God for a heart that is always humble before Him.
I always want to SEE GOD when He is right in front of me.
So I prayed, “May I never be ‘too dignified’ to seek Jesus for FREEDOM!”
I might have to grow into that one yet…in understanding. But in faith, I believe.
May we all learn and grow in this grace, so that a deep hunger for righteousness would arise within us. To be more aware of God’s presence throughout our days, and to perceive that He is at work in our lives.
May we seek Him and find Him, when we seek with all of our hearts! (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
And may we grow in Ephesians 3:20 faith that says God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think. And may we claim the promises of God for ourselves, in Jesus name!!
MAY IT BE ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH!
Today, 3 November 2024 – Sunday. God is talking about the members of Christ who needs to talk about everything to Him, in order to let out emotions and frustrations and hurt and deep wounds unto Him, because we get hurt and rejected by fellow members in the Body and by family and friends and other people in life, and to stay free from bitterness and resentment and free from becoming hard and isolated, we are to talk to Him about everything, lamenting towards Him, crying out to Him, being honest with Him about all things so He can direct our thoughts and hearts and heal us and help us, when we come to Him, because one of the reasons why we are connected to Father God via Jesus, is so that we can each come to Him to ask Him for mercy and help. Which He gladly will give if we shall come and not just come, but really talk to Him about everything, until thanksgiving and praise is upon our lips, going through the whole process of lamenting unto Him and making everything we feel and face and went through, known to Him, although He knows it all. He wants us to talk to Him, because He is our God, our LORD and Father and thus we show our dependency on Him and that respect of knowing, He can do something about how we feel, He can heal us, He can give us wisdom and context and perspective and revelation (truths) that shall set us free so we can indeed flow over into joy, praise, thanks and freedom, not carrying the sting of those things with us into another hour of our day nor into tomorrow. We are each to just talk to Him in faith knowing He loves you and is helping navigating you, so when Holy Spirit directs you to scripture, songs, hymns, go to them and read them and think upon them and do some deeper research or studies on them because He is Helping you to release truths and strength unto you, that you need, to persevere, to love, to stay connected to the Body and to forgive and to move on without bitterness, guarding your heart and mind and spirit with all God-led diligence. In Jesus name. Amen.
Hey there friend, thanks for sharing!
I hope you find this message again. I had to take a few days to bring your words to God to see how I should respond. I don’t find it a coincidence that the same morning you wrote this, God had been given me 3 dreams over 3 nights. I am generally hesitant to share experiences I have with God because they are so personal and so on-time, but in this case.. I believe maybe you would benefit from me sharing. 😊
This morning that you had written this, was the 3rd night of me dreaming the SAME THEME of a dream (not the same dream over and over again, but 3 different dreams all leading to the same lesson, or word that God wanted me to know about this season I am in currently). So in all 3 dreams I was receiving an outright attack! Coming my way was many missiles and I felt like I was unprotected because I was literally all by myself in the dream. But in the moment that they came flying to me they were intercepted in the air and they never hit the ground which would have been right next to me or on me. Immediately I ran into a building to hide from where the missiles were coming.. I closed the door to a room and hid in it with the lights off. I get down and looked under the door into the hallway that was lit up, and see 2 peoples feet scamper into the room RIGHT BESIDE ME, like they were being sneaky and hoping to catch me and also they made no noise and were not heard. But I SAW THEM with my own eyes and I knew they were waiting for me there. I was SO scared, in my dream I called out to God saying, “Father!! How will I ever escape from here.. those who seek to destroy me are in the room right next to me, if I open the door and leave they will find me!!” But when I opened my eyes, God had supernaturally translated me into a whole new scene. And I was not in danger and I was at peace. God rescued me from the enemy!
This exact same theme of a dream happened the 2 previous nights as well, in different type of scenarios. But SAME MESSAGE. Me being attacked, God protecting me, and the enemy came right up beside me to scare me.. but God removing me from the fear of them.
That same morning, I woke up with the JOY OF THE LORD!! I had SO MUCH JOY that it kinda surprised me haha! And then again later, (it was Sunday) in worship at church, I was FILLED with JOY that caused me to laugh and laugh! I haven’t had a dream like that since, but I think that message brought be such an inward JOY that was strengthened on the inside of me, to know that GOD REALLY DOES FIGHT FOR ME, because I belong to Him and honor Him in those hard moments when ppl cannot see!!
I wonder if you needed to hear the message of those dreams? Because I relate to your words, I am on the other side of those words, and I am a living testimony of those truths! In fact, that is the ONLY reason I have this confidence that God has me protected, is because I have been staying at the feet of Jesus throughout the hardship of offenses coming my way, over and over again. THAT IS ACTUALLY SO SO POWERFUL!! I am glad you mentioned it!
People will offend in words and actions, but when we know what God intended in the original Greek/Hebrew word for “offense” is a “stumbling block” literally thrown at the feet of the Child of God, with intention to cause us to stumble. When we know that other peoples behavior could be an attack from the enemy, to cause us to respond unholy, we can forgive that person a lot easier. Even in the moment of times where people hurl offensive words our way, we do NOT take to trip on the rock of offense and make the enemy happy. Let’s be honest, just as God uses ppl to bless us, the enemy uses people to bring hurtful feelings .. but God has already told me to “lay out that net of mercy” for them hard people in our lives, and forgive them. I have learned over much hardship that we can forgive an offender even AS THEY ARE SPEAKING harsh words against us. Looking in their eyes we can forgive in REAL TIME, and walk away with a clean heart. This is the love of God in us, its not of our own strength, but Christ in us!
PRAISE GOD! Our Great Protector, shields us from the enemies attacks IF we stay forgiving our offenders, if our hearts are PURE before God and if we are upright and blameless in His sight. WE MUST KEEP OUR HEARTS RIGHT before God.. and if that is our reality, GOD WILL FIGHT THE ENEMY’S ATTACKS, even if you seem to be alone and unprotected. Resting in the Shadow of the Almighty, under His wings we take refuge. We walk through the valley of death, but right here with us, Emmanuel is GOD WITH US. We walk through the fire and we are not scorched, nor do we smell like smoke. Our God fights for us because we Trust in Him! And then HE fills our hearts with JOY and PEACE because He loves us!
Indeed, it is time to forgive others and walk in FREEDOM, so we can become all that God has created us to be. Remove yourself from those who seek to destroy your life and forgive them. God redeems all things, even us when we are war beaten and bruised! May the Children of the Living God become unoffendable and WATCH as ALMIGHTY GOD PROTECTS OUR EVERY STEP!! I am a living testimony, ALL Glory belongs to Jesus Christ!! AMEN!
God bless my friend, I hope you see this and are blessed. Prayers have been prayed for you, forgiveness is powerful. May we walk pure and holy, blameless before God! Amen!