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Chapter 8—How to Have Faith
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is
like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is
the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest
of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
make nests in its branches.”
Matthew 13:31, 32
.
When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before
him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic
and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the
water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure
him.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how
much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up
with you? Bring him here to me.”
Matthew 17:14-17
.
Everyone wants to have peace of mind. But you know you can’t
buy it or earn it. What a relief to discover you can have it as a gift!
No matter what evils may have been part of your former way of life,
as you confess them to Jesus He’ll forgive them all, give you a new
heart (to use the Bible’s metaphor), and let you start all over again.
He really does give you a genuine second chance, because that’s
precisely what He’s promised.
While on this earth Jesus taught us that the gifts He promises
are ours if we believe. He healed many people of their illnesses and
disabilities when they placed their faith in His power. That help in
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the physical realm gave them the confidence that they could trust
Him for a similar miracle in the spiritual realm.
Do you recall the story of the paralytic at Bethesda? This man
was helpless; he hadn’t used his limbs for 38 years. Yet Jesus simply
told him, “Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.”
Matthew
9:6
. This poor fellow could have come up with any number of
arguments why He couldn’t do that, based on 38 years of experience,
but he believed Jesus, believed he could walk. He made the decision
to try. And the moment he made the decision to be responsive to
Jesus’ words, God supplied the power! He walked
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