Enliven

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Hi;

The Parable of the Mustard Seed:
The disciples said, "increase our faith."
Jesus then said, "if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'be uprooted and cast into the sea' and it would obey you."

I used to ask what the disciples asked. However, from the parable, I made the conclusion that "faith" isn't something I need more or less of, it is something that is either rightly placed or not. If what I believe is false, then my faith is dead. If my faith doesn't determine my actions, my faith is dead. The mustard seed, the smallest of all seed. That's all I need. Faith the size of a mustard seed.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches,” (Matt. 13:31; Mark 4:30; Luke 13:19).


A valuable lesson, is it not?
May the LORD be with us.
 
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Geralt

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faith is not the focus but the object of faith- which is christ.
our response is faith. but it is christ that moves mountains, not faith.

Hi;

The Parable of the Mustard Seed:
The disciples said, "increase our faith."
Jesus then said, "if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'be uprooted and cast into the sea' and it would obey you."

I used to ask what the disciples asked. However, from the parable, I made the conclusion that "faith" isn't something I need more or less of, it is something that is either rightly placed or not. If what I believe is false, then my faith is dead. If my faith doesn't determine my actions, my faith is dead. The mustard seed, the smallest of all seed. That's all I need. Faith the size of a mustard seed.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches,” (Matt. 13:31; Mark 4:30; Luke 13:19).


A valuable lesson, is it not?
May the LORD be with us.
 
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wayfaring man

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What stands out to me about the passages cited is -

The disciples rightly sensed their lack, but sought for a solution in an incorrect way.

They were asking for the Lord to enlarge the gift of faith within them, but Christ basically replied that such was not the solution - for the problem wasn't a lack of faith, but rather a failure to properly apply the faith they'd already been given.

The smallness of the mustard seed alludes to the 'proper way' for faith to be applied - start small.

If the very first thing we attempted to apply our gift of faith to was the moving of a mountain....it undoubtably wouldn't budge, and we would likely feel discouraged and possibly conclude we didn't receive a sufficient portion of faith from God....implying that somehow God was the reason the mountain stood firm.

But if the first thing we sought to 'move' was a very small thing (even the smallest of things)...the initial measure of God-given faith would typically be sufficient. And as a result of experiencing 'faith that works', our capacity for applying that gift would then grow.

After this pattern of applying faith is repeated many times over, much growth does take place, and what was once a small measure, becomes a great measure - capable of 'moving great things'.

This way we learn patience, perseverance, temperance, humility, compassion, and a whole lot more desirable traits; which we would not learn if having great faith came with little or no need for committed discipline on our end. And this is why Christ's followers were called disciples - which shares the same root meaning as the word discipline.

May The Lord Be Pleased !

P.S. Such a system also weeds out 'glory seekers' looking for 'instant gratification'.
 
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Geralt

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Luke 17:6 (your original quote) has a different context/application than the latter verses you posted (Matt. 13:31; Mark 4:30; Luke 13:19) though it uses the context of the mustard seed.
 
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Greg J.

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If you look at verses Luke 17:4-10, you see the disciples asking or exclaiming "Increase our faith!" In response Jesus tells a story of a man who is humble and serves his master. Faith is a gift from God, but we can move his heart for it. However, it makes us more accountable for what we do, so I imagine God only gives it when it is accompanied with training. What we can do is be obedient (our part of God preparing us).
 
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Wings of Eagles

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Hi;

The Parable of the Mustard Seed:
The disciples said, "increase our faith."
Jesus then said, "if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'be uprooted and cast into the sea' and it would obey you."

I used to ask what the disciples asked. However, from the parable, I made the conclusion that "faith" isn't something I need more or less of, it is something that is either rightly placed or not. If what I believe is false, then my faith is dead. If my faith doesn't determine my actions, my faith is dead. The mustard seed, the smallest of all seed. That's all I need. Faith the size of a mustard seed.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches,” (Matt. 13:31; Mark 4:30; Luke 13:19).


A valuable lesson, is it not?
May the LORD be with us.

Thank you Enliven; that is a good point....and thank you for that scripture. I have been teaching a lot lately on the POWER of our words for those of us who have our faith in God and that scripture fits right in. "
Re-phrase: ""if your faith (IN GOD) is the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'be uprooted and cast into the sea' and it would obey you."

Jesus wasn't talking of just "Spiritual" mountains here...
I'm radical...I speak to things all the time in Christ's Name...and I expect them to obey. I speak to lost keys to show up and they do...stalled cars to start and they do, even rodents to leave my property and they obey...all sorts of things! I speak to my body parts and I expect them to line up with how they were created and to be healed and function as they are suppose to. If we are walking IN HIS SPIRIT
we are suppose to be doing these things....
Why?? Well; I'm glad you asked.

The reason is because in the BEGINNING when God created man he made him in
God's own image and likeness.....with characteristics just like God.
and then God said," Let them (man) have DOMINIION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

Well; how does God exercise dominion over things? Yep; He SPEAKS to them: that is the method of how He created all things in the beginning, and
that is how he expects us to exercise dominion also....BY SPEAKING to them.

So using this scripture Jesus was revealing and referring back to how we are created in God's image and teaching us that we can exercise dominion just like He and the Father did from the beginning.

Of course, this only works for those who have been born of God and are walking as the Sons of God...

This type of teaching Jesus was giving to his disciples is not for everybody .....but only for those who are close enough to KNOW his will and willing to ACT upon it...

Many nominal Christians cannot understand this because it makes no "sense" to them....but as you grow in the Lord you realize He wants to reverse the curse and bring us back into the fullness of how we were originally created and to, like God
"call things that be not as though they are".

God bless.
Wings
 
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DiscipleHeLovesToo

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the Bible interprets itself:

Mar 9:14-29 KJV
(14) And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
(15) And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
(16) And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
(17) And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
(18) And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
(19) He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
(20) And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
(21) And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
(22) And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
(23) Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

(24) And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
(25) When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
(26) And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
(27) But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
(28) And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
(29) And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Mat 17:14-21 KJV
(14) And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
(15) Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
(16) And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
(17) Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
(18) And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
(19) Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
(20) And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
(21) Howbeit this kind <of unbelief> goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

read separately, these two reports from different gospel accounts of the healing of the lunatic son seem to disagree; but when merged as different perspectives of the same account, they form a complete picture of how faith works.

Jesus clearly said that if the father believed, then his son would be healed; the father recognized that he believed in his heart, but after seeing the lunacy of his son's actions with his physical eyes, he struggled to believe in his mind - he was 'double minded'

Jas 1:5-8 KJV
(5) If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
(6) But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
(7) For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
(8) A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.


notice that James tells us that a double-minded man will not receive from God; not that God will not give to a double-minded man...

getting back to the account of the lunatic son, the disciples ask Jesus why they could not heal the boy, and Jesus replies 'because of your unbelief'. the disciples had also seen the boy's violent lunatic display with their physical eyes - and had also become double minded. so we see that there is a balance between heart-faith and mental unbelief resulting from input from the physical senses; if the mind focuses on the input from the physical senses, this produces mental knowledge that opposes mental belief in God's power, binding the mustard-seed sized amount of heart-faith we've been given. regular prayer, or focusing the mind on God's promises that overcome the physical world through fellowship with Him, helps to overcome the mental influence that the input from the physical senses can cause - and fasting disciplines the mind to ignore the input from the physical senses that oppose God's promises.

so while faith never varies (which is great news since no one can force God to give them more faith), faith-binding mental unbelief does vary, and is under our exclusive control
 
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