A Man of Faith and Influence

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Luke 7:9


When I heard the scripture from today’s reading from www.pray-as-you-go , I immediately thought about one of the five pledges of faith from our recent Beth Moore Study, Believing God,

God can do what He says He can do.

Jesus is talking about a Roman centurion who had sent word to Jesus asking that his servant be healed. In ancient Rome, a centurion was a loyal, courageous captain over 100 foot soldiers in the Roman army. Working their way up the ranks, they were highly respected for their dedication and leadership skills in battle. This was a leader that had notoriety.

Undoubtedly, this was a man of action. His request of Jesus was one that had the ability to influence many-not only those under his immediate authority, but also others that heard of his request and the subsequent healing of his servant.

What is noteworthy in this passage is the centurion’s humble position before the Lord, “That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to you.” His lack of bravado and understanding of his position before the Lord spoke volumes to those that were sent to make the request to Jesus.

“His purpose from the moment He created humanity was to invite man to partner with his Maker in His work. Simply put, faith partners with God. Faith also invites God. Swelling faith can hasten swelling works of God because frankly, He favors the invitation.” Believing God, Beth Moore

Jesus favored the faith of the centurion and used his faith to perform a miracle that had an impact on many-not only those that were under his authority, but those that bore witness to the miracle as they shared the story with their family and friends. Even today, we can be impacted by the faith of the centurion as we read the story.

Dear Lord, Give us the same attitude of the centurion, humble and full of faith that You can do what You say You can do. Partner with us so that we can be your vessel for wonders and miracles to a hungry world that needs You. You are Immanuel, God with us.

Thanksliving from a Widow’s Perspective

Taking the time to reflect on the ways that God connects the moments of my life always brings revelation. It’s one of the gifts that He has given me since leaving the busy life of sales. Yesterday, God’s word to His people at His church was how to live a life of thankfulness-thanksliving. Our minister asked us to use the thank-you cards provided to write a note to God during the service. She laughingly commented that “Polly McClure will probably use a whole card-back AND front, but yours can be as brief or as long as you want”. She was right, I did use the whole card-I have a lot to be thankful for! I could spend the rest of my life thanking God for all the things He has done and continues to do in my life.

As I listened to the words of Mark 12:43-44 this morning, I realized that I don’t hold a candle to the widow.

I can tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on.

How long had it been since she lost her husband? How had her lifestyle changed since his death? What was her source of income now? In spite of her situation in life, she was thankful enough to give everything she had to live on. Now that’s real thanksliving and, as we just learned in our Beth Moore study, Believing God, she was practicing present-active-participle believing faith. There’s no doubt that God credited this act of belief as righteousness to her.

The question that God is burning in my heart is “What are you going to believe me for?” How does God want me to put thanksliving into practice?

Dear Lord,

Give me the faith of the poor widow that was thankful enough to give you everything she had to live on. Reveal to me the things that I need to believe you for. Lord, help my unbelief. Amen