The Secret to Great Faith

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'When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”. . . Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.' ~ Matthew 8:10, 13 -

Do you know that there were only two people in the Bible whom Jesus said had “great faith”? The first was the Roman centurion whose servant was healed by Jesus’ word (Matt. 8:5–13). The second was the Syro-Phoenician woman, whose demon-possessed daughter was also healed by Jesus (Matt. 15:21–28). I encourage you to take a minute and read both accounts from your Bible right now, before proceeding with the rest of today’s reading.

Matteus 8:5-13 ~ Afr. 2020 -
5 Nadat Hy in Kapernaum aangekom het, het 'n centurio Hom genader en smekend vir Hom
6 gesê: “Here, my slaaf lê verlam by die huis en ly baie pyn.”
7 Hy het vir hom gesê: “Ek sal gaan en hom genees.”
8 Die centurio het geantwoord: “Here, ek is nie werd dat U onder my dak kom nie, maar sê net 'n woord, en my slaaf sal gesond word.
9 Want ook ek is 'n man wat onder gesag staan, met soldate onder my bevel. Vir die een sê ek, ‘Gaan!’ en hy gaan, en vir 'n ander, ‘Kom!’ en hy kom. Vir my slaaf sê ek, ‘Doen dit!’ en hy doen dit.”
10 Toe Hy dit hoor, was Jesus verwonderd, en Hy het vir diegene wat Hom volg, gesê: “Amen, Ek sê vir julle: By niemand in Israel het Ek so 'n groot geloof gevind nie.
11 Ek sê nou vir julle dat baie uit die ooste en die weste sal kom en saam met Abraham en Isak en Jakob aanleun om te eet in die koninkryk van die hemele,
12 maar die kinders van die koninkryk sal na die duisternis daarbuite verban word. Daar sal 'n geween wees en 'n gekners van tande.”
13 Jesus het toe vir die centurio gesê: “Gaan! Dit sal gebeur net soos jy glo.”
En sy slaaf het op daardie oomblik gesond gewrod.

Matteus 15:21-28 ~ Afr 2020 -
21 Jesus het daarvandaan vertrek en na die streke van Tirus en Sidon gegaan.
22 En skielik het 'n Kanaänitiese vrou uit daardie omgewing vorentoe gekom en hard uitgeroep: “Ontferm U oor my, Here, Seun van Dawid! My dogter word geweldig geteister deur 'n demoon.”
23 Hy het haar egter glad nie geantwoord nie. Sy dissipels het nader gekom en Hom versoek: “Stuur haar weg, want sy hou aan skreeu agter ons aan.”
24 Hy het geantwoord: “Ek is net gestuur na die verlore skape van die huis van Israel.”
25 Sy het egter nader gekom, voor Hom neergeval en gesê: “Here, help my!”
26 Hy het geantwoord: “Dit is nie mooi om die kinders se brood te neem en vir die hondjies te gooi nie.”
27 Maar sy het gesê: “Ja, Here, en tog eet die hondjies van die krummels wat van hulle eienaars se tafel val.”
28 Toe het Jesus haar geantwoord: “O vrou, groot is jou geloof! Laat dit vir jou wees soos jy wil hê.” En haar dogter was van daardie oomblik af genees.

As I was reading these two accounts one night, the Lord said to me, “Son, look for the common denominator between these two people and you will discover the secret to great faith.”

I had always thought that the secret to the centurion’s great faith was that he understood authority. Because he was a military man of authority, he thus understood the authority of the Lord Jesus. But that does not apply to the woman, who was probably a homemaker. So what’s the common denominator to their great faith?

After I had tried to figure it out for a while, the Lord said to me, “Both were Gentiles/(Heidene). They were not Jews. Neither of them were under the law of Moses, and therefore they did not disqualify themselves. They were not under condemnation by the law, and so they could have great faith to receive from Me.”

Wow, what a powerful revelation! They were both not under the law, which is the opposite of faith, that’s why they could have great faith!

The Bible itself plainly says that “the law is not of faith” (Gal. 3:12).

Galasiërs 3:12 ~ Afr 2020 -
12 En die wet is nie gegrond op geloof nie; inteendeel: “Die mens wat hierdie dinge doen, sal hierdeur leef.”

And in another place it says, “For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect” (Rom. 4:14).

Romeine 4:14 ~Afr 2020 -
14 Immers, as mense op grond van die wet erfgename is, het die geloof betekenisloos geword en die belofte sy krag verloor.

You see, the law will disqualify people from receiving any blessing from the Lord. It is only faith in His grace that qualifies God’s people and stirs up great faith unconsciously to receive what they need from the Lord. This is the secret to having great faith for any situation in your life!

I see this so clearly in the experience of Naomi who lives in South Africa. She became unemployed and was left with no place to stay, having been rejected by her family. She and her son ended up finding shelter in a village with a poor family in deplorable conditions, sometimes eating food taken out of dustbins. Despite extreme hardship, she wrote:

I truly believed that the Lord was in full control of my life and that things were in the process of changing. Through it all, I chose to put all my faith in God, knowing that He would restore and change my life. I knew that God loved me and that it hurt Him to see me go through all of this. I also knew that He would bring to pass what He had promised in His Word.

During that period, I fed on God’s Word and His grace and chose to focus on the many blessings I was already enjoying— health, joy, peace, and having Jesus in my life. A year later, the Lord blessed me with a good job, a car, a home, and a wonderful man who is also madly in love with Jesus. My son also sleeps peacefully now. We are sold out to Jesus and the gospel of grace, sharing it wherever we go.

Here is the key to Naomi’s faith. She said, “Thank you, Pastor Prince, for revealing the beauty of our Lord Jesus in such a simple but powerful way. It just made me fall in love with Jesus.”

My friend, the more you see Jesus—His beauty and His finished work of grace—the more faith arises in your heart. You will have unconscious faith to believe what God’s Word says about you and to ask boldly of Him. It’s truly all about Jesus, seeing His love, and allowing Him to love you and be gracious to you!

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Weer Baie Dankies.