30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 17 3-6 Faith and relationships 08 O Lord save me
📖 Luke 17:3-6
04Jul2020 - *O Lord save me* - _Luke 17:3-6_ - FATIH AND RELATIONSHIPS 8 – Bible reading: _Matthew 14:29-31_
We have been considering faith with regard to relationships but when we touch on the matter of faith, we need to stop, for our relationship with God is based out of faith in Him. Faith in God is not just about building the body of Christ, faith is foundational in our relationship with God.
_Luke 17:5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." (6) So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you._
Yesterday we saw that the father made an inconsistent statement. He said he believed but at the same time, he also cried that the Lord should help his unbelief. This was all the faith that was needed for his son to be healed. The Lord longs for us to come to Him with our doubts, our cynicism, our pessimism and all our baggage and cry out to Him, as the father cried, “Lord help my unbelief”. This is the mustard seed of faith.
The mustard seed of faith is all that is needed for God to heal our relationships. Is it so difficult for us to be like the father and exercise the mustard seed of faith?
In understanding faith in God, we must take our eyes away from everything else and focus on Him. So, the opposite of faith is sight. _II Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight._
Faith is defined by stating what it is not. _Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen._ God is our substance. He is our guarantee. He is our assurance. He is the one on whom we rest our hope. Therefore, God is the basis of our faith.
As we focus on Him and not on that which is seen, we are transported into the eternal domain. Though we live in the natural and material world, we are strangers here, for our life here on earth is lived on the basis of the eternal domain. _II Corinthians 4:18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal._
This life of faith enables us to rise above our circumstances and enables us to live out eternity into our everyday life circumstances and especially, into our relationships. Here is an example of rising above our circumstances, through faith in God, though this example is not regarding relationships.
Jesus came walking on the water and Peter was excited. He called out to Jesus, _Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."_ The Lord responded. _Matthew 14:29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus._
Peter walked on stormy water. Peter was rising above his circumstances. We can apply this to our hurtful relationships in life, which are life stormy waters. We too can rise above our circumstances. How was this possible for Peter?
Peter walked on water to go to Jesus. His focus, his destination and goal were Jesus. This is faith in God. We do not go to Jesus to solve our stormy relationship issues but we go to Him, to be in Him. He is all that matters, in our life of faith in God. As Peter went toward Jesus, Peter walked on water. He rose above his circumstances.
Then, suddenly, Peter turned to see the windy waters. _Matthew 14:30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"_ The moment Peter took his eyes off Jesus and saw his circumstances, he was no more walking by faith but he was now walking by sight. What was the result? He began to sink.
This is the predicament of many children of God. We are in sinking relationships. Why? We have turned away our eyes from Jesus and we are looking at our circumstances. If anyone were to come along, at this juncture, and suggest that we should turn and look to Jesus. Our reply is one of gloom. We tell the brother or sister, “You don’t know my circumstances”. Instead, what is our prayer to God? “*O Lord save me*… from this situation”. Instead of rising above our circumstances, our prayer is for God to rescue us from our drowning circumstances.
What does God do? He rescues us. _(31) And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"_ but He also asks us a question. “Why did you take your eyes off me?”
“O Lord save me” is a defeated prayer. Let us rise above our circumstances and live our lives in the eternal domain, for our eyes are on Jesus.
*Thought to ponder*
```The Lord’s heart breaks when He sees us. He sees that many of us are not gazing on Him but our eyes are on our circumstances.```