Live Free with Josh Howerton - Small Faith With Big Power • Pastor Joby Martin | Ep. 219 | Thursday, December 7, 2023

Episode Date: December 7, 2023

Have you ever had just a little faith? We know we should believe more but struggle to trust fully. Big idea: Power comes not from the amount of faith but the object of faith. Our Good Father is ready and able to answer our little faith. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's daily drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. This Christmas, we want to invite you and your family to join us for our candlelight services on December 22nd through 24th at any of our six locations. or for church online. For more information, visit latepoint.com. Church slash Daily Drive. And now, let's dive in to today's devotional.

Welcome to the Daily Drive. Once again, my name is Pastor Jobi Martin. I'm the pastor of the Church of 1122, and it is such an honor to be here with you again. I'd like to turn our attention to Mark Chapter 9. Because one of the things when you talk about miracles, one of the questions that you have to ask is, well, what happens when I don't believe as much as I think I ought to believe? And I think Mark Chapter 9 answers this as much as any passage that I know of in the scripture.

In fact, I think one of the most honest prayers in all the scriptures is found in Mark Chapter 9. The first part of Mark Chapter 9 is this incredible event that's happening. Jesus takes Peter, James and John, up on this mountain. We call it the Mountain of Transfiguration. The Bible says that Jesus transfigures before these three disciples. And I don't know exactly what that means, but it's a metaphysical reality. And I think what happens here is the real miracle is that in this moment, Jesus peels back his humanity and he sets forth his glory for these disciples to see.

And then, even in that moment, the Bible says that Moses and Elijah show up, on the mountain of transfiguration, which is really the personification of what Paul is going to talk about in Romans 3 when he says that by works of the law, no one will be declared righteous in his own mind, but, or in himself, he says, but the law and the prophets bear witness to this alien righteousness that will come. This is what's happening on the mountain of transfiguration. The law, Moses, and the prophet Elijah are showing up bearing witness to the gospel, bearing witness to Jesus himself. Peter always is going to open his mouth.

Peter's always going to talk first. He's always going to talk most, and he sticks his dumbhead in there, and he says these words, it is good that we are here. And he goes on to say that maybe we could just stay here forever, and I could build tents for everybody, and we could just stay up on the mountaintop. Well, one of the things that I've learned in ministry is that we were not meant to live up on the mountain top,

to just sit and soak up on the mountaintop, that oftentimes the real ministry is down in the valley. And so Jesus takes the disciples down the mountain of transfiguration, and when they get down in the valley, there's a man, there's a dad. And he has a demon-possessed son, a boy with an unclean spirit. Now, if you've been around Bible study, the problem with our familiarity with the events that happened in the scriptures, is we forget how personal these things are.

I mean, this dad has a first name. This dad has a job. This dad has a home address. And he has a son who has an unclean spirit. And Jesus even asked, how long has this boy been tormented? And the dad says from his childhood. Now, there are Greek words that mean from his birth, but that's not what he says. So think about this. When the mom and dad bring this boy home from the hospital, that's not how it worked, but you know what I mean. Everything was fine at first. Everything was fine at first. and then one day something wasn't fine. And eventually, they begin to realize something's really, really off of their son. And when Jesus asked about the details of what's going on with the son,

the dad, Matthew records that he falls on his face and he cries out for help. Why? Because there's no pain like kid pain. Amen? If you're a parent, you know exactly what I'm talking about. There's no pain like kid pain. and in Mark chapter 9 verse 22 the Bible records it this way the dad is speaking about the torment that his son is going through and he says this and it is often cast him into the fire and into water

to destroy him which means this they live by the sea of galilee every step this boy takes is around water and they cooked over open fires three times a day which means the enemy has been trying to take his son out every step of his life and then And the man makes his request to Jesus. He says, but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, if you can, all things are possible for the one who believes. And immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelieve. Have you ever been there?

Have you ever been in a place in your life where you find yourself in what seems to be an impossible situation? and you want to believe, and you've got a little bit of belief, but as you look around the circumstances of your life, there is like a mountain of unbelief and maybe just a little bit of belief. Well, apparently this is a very legitimate prayer to pray to Jesus. Jesus, I believe, and I want to believe, and I'm trying to believe, and I can muster up maybe just a tiny little bit of belief. Well, the good news is that the Bible says that faith is a gift from God.

and it's not the amount of faith that you have, it's the object of your faith that moves mountains. That you can have an infinite amount of faith in the temporary, but even having a tiny little bit of faith in the infinite God is infinitely more powerful than putting any of your faith in your current circumstances. And you know how Jesus responds? Jesus does not tell the dad, well, listen, you don't have enough faith.

So why don't you go and why don't you get your faith meter up to like miracle level, and when you have enough faith, why don't you come back and see me? No, no, no, that's not what happens. Jesus heals the boy. And then later the disciples come to him and say, hey, boss, how come we couldn't cast out the demon? And Jesus says, well, this guy only is cast out by prayer. And then he goes on to say in Matthew, Matthew records it this way,

that Jesus says, for if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain move, and it'll move. And so I want to challenge you. you put in your faith in your circumstances, or are you putting your faith in the sovereign king of the universe? And when you have times of doubt, and when you have times of disbelief, would you have enough faith encouraged to come to your Lord and your Savior who will meet you exactly where you are, and would you pray this prayer? Lord, I believe, would you help me overcome my unbelief? Because he is a good shepherd. He's a good shepherd. And we don't have faith in faith.

our faith is rooted in the fact that Jesus, our Savior, not only died on the cross, but he was resurrected from the grave. And if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. Amen. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure? to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out. For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe.combe.combe.combe slash daily drive.