Scripture Post #393: *EXPAND YOUR FAITH*

Luke 7:9: "When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

[Disclaimer: The image here (in it's original form) was from an image search-engine. The original source of this image is unbeknown to me. I own no rights of this image.]

Context:

Luke 7:2: "And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die."

V. 3: "And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant."

V. 4: "And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:"

V. 5: "For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue."

V. 6: "Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:"

V. 7: "Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed."

V. 8: "For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it."

V. 9: "When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

V. 10: "And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick."

We must expand our faith in what GOD is able to do in order to experience HIS Goodness and Blessings in a deeper, fuller way. This Centurion man put "great faith" (V. 9) in JESUS. It's interesting how this man got the idea for JESUS to "say in a word" for his servant to be healed (V. 7). He explains where this idea came from in V. 8: "For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it." It's like he thought, "If I can say the word and people under my authority do as I say, then surely JESUS can say the word and heal my servant." In life, we as human beings have power to do many wonderful things. So just think how much greater GOD is than us, and how much more extraordinary the things HE can do are than the things we can do! In tough situations in life we should have confidence in GOD enough to know that HE truly can do anything! GOD won't show up BIG in our lives if we limit our expectations of what HE can do. We must believe with great faith like this Centurion man, that GOD can meet our needs and do great for us—HE's our GOD! 

Also, check out the humble attitude of this man in verses 6 & 7. This Centurion man was a man of authority, yet still saw JESUS as a man he wasn't worthy to meet, nor worthy to have in his home! A lot of times it seems as though we downgrade JESUS like HE's our homeboy and HE's our buddy. And we sometimes equate JESUS CHRIST as just another one of our friends. JESUS is our friend, but HE's also LORD! And HE's not to be likened as just another dude we like chillin' with. What makes GOD's grace so amazing is the fact that we didn't deserve it; we weren't worthy of it. We deserved an eternity in Hell. But GOD graced us with salvation and blessings we didn't deserve. So to take the attitude of this Centurion man and to acknowledge that we don't deserve JESUS's presence, yet and still we have it anyway, is over the top refreshing to me!

Originally Published: Thu. 10/10/13