WHY COULD WE NOT CAST HIM OUT?????

Matthew 17:19b-21 (NRSV)

"Why could we not cast it out?" 20. He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

Upon reading this scripture, the thought came to me, how can anyone's faith be any smaller than a mustard seed? I don't know if you have ever seen a mustard seed but it is very tiny. How can someone walking with The Living Word everyday not have even as much faith as a tiny mustard seed? I thought to myself, there has to be more to this than what I'm reading, what did Jesus mean when He said "because of your little faith??" So, I sought out the answer by way of the Holy Spirit in other versions of the bible. The message version reads as follows:

"Why couldn't we throw it out?" 20. "Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle."

This version made it very plain to me "You are not yet taking God seriously" you walk with Him, you see Him and talk with Him everyday yet you do not truly believe He is who He is or He can do what He says He can.

These men had been walking with Jesus on Earth for some time yet they did not fully believe In the power that He had invested in them. He told them that they had not taken Him or His mission seriously if they had nothing would be impossible for them.

So then, here's the issue: NO FAITH in GOD!

What is the definition of faith? According to the web the definition is:

• A strong belief in a supernatural power that controls human destiny
  
• Complete confidence in a person
  
• Truth or trustworthiness of a person, concept, or thing
  

The bible defines faith as: The substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

So, what Jesus was saying was…..If you had a mere kernel, mustard seed, poppy seed of(assurance of things hoped for and evidence of what you don't see) you would tell your mountain to move from here to there and it would respond and not only that nothing would be impossible for you. Simple, huh?

Another thing that stood out to me was "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain…" The bible did not say you could say, it said you will say. If this faith lived in your heart you would speak faith, why, because what lies In a man's heart is what comes out of a man's mouth. If you have faith, you will say. If you have doubt, you will say. Proverbs 23:7 says, As a man thinks in his heart(seat of emotions and desire) so is he. As a person believes in his heart, so goes his mouth and life. Whatever is in your heart is what you will speak. That struck a nerve with me because that means you cannot fake it and if you do it will only last a while. When the storm arises you will operate off of what is within your heart. So, I began to ask the Lord, How do you get this faith, how do I get it down in my heart so that it will be what I speak always?

His answer: Faith comes by what is heard and what is heard comes from the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) This all seemed to simple to me, if we know what faith is and how to get it, what is the problem? The problem is that we don't want to read, study, and put time in the word the way that we should. We will attend church regularly and maybe read the bible throughout the week, but in order to acquire and maintain this kind of faith, we have to have a daily meeting with the Word. We HAVE to set aside a time each day to meet with the Lord. We have to research the Word about our situation, quote it, and memorize it for success.

The bible mentions in (3) places that I found and there may be more: The righteous or righteous one will live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11.)

I pray that you will make it your priority in this new year to live by your faith in God and not what you see with your natural eyes. Some great things are in store for those of us who will make God and His Word our no. 1 priority this season.

May God bless you and make His face shine upon you…Go in the faith of God and do big Kindom things.