One day some teachers of
religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to
show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” But Jesus replied, “Only an evil,
adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will
give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Matthew 12: 38-39 (NLT)
Some folks are always just waiting
for the Lord to give them some kind of sign, just a little miracle, please, so
I can do what you want, Lord.
The trouble with most people
who make those types of statements is that they don’t even do the basics of what the Lord has been extremely clear
about for everybody…consistent worship, bringing the tithe of our income to the
church, sharing our faith. They say
they want some kind of sign so they can
follow, but actually they’re just hiding the fact of their own unbelief. They have no intention of following God; it
just sounds
good to say it! If God
really spoke to them they’d faint dead away to actually have a prayer answered!
You might recall Phillip, one
of Jesus’ disciples, wanted a sign; he tried to convince Jesus that it would
satisfy him.[1]
Jesus’ answer was that Philip’s request
was just the opposite of faith when he
asked, please, Jesus, do a little miracle and show me God. It was the opposite of faith, because he was requiring
“sight” to be satisfied in his faith.
That’s not how God’s people roll!
The just walk by faith, not sight
Friends we don’t even do that
in the natural world. When you go to
work today, or the market or school, you will obey the speed limit (hopefully);
you pay your taxes and don’t manipulate the stock market because you’re an
American citizen; yet, you’ve never met the President or Speaker of the House. You just obey the laws of the land on faith
that the law of the land still works.
I got a nice letter from the
government in 1966…it said “Greetings”; and before I could turn around I was on
a train for an army post in South Carolina.
They put green baggy clothes on me, a gun in my hand and a hard hat on
my head.
Then they sent me to Southeast
Asia. I went!
I want you to know I didn’t ask
to see President Nixon to make sure of the orders. (Maybe I should have?) I was an American; I was drafted, so I
went.
Christians should be at least that willing to
exercise faith towards the living God!
Philip thought if he could just
see, he would believe; he’d be satisfied.
Philip failed to understand that it works the other way around. You will never see until you
believe. Seeing, in hope of believing
will only create more desire for seeing.
And that is stunted, immature
faith that will never see with the eyes of faith, or the heart of God.
If you want to see the kind of
miracles that will bless this world and turn around our culture for God, part
with the unbelief that stunts your faith.
For you, today
Give your faith a workout on the rocky road today…and
have a great faith day!
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