"Faith That Impresses Jesus" by Nancy Dufresne

There are two things that made Jesus marvel. Let’s see what they are.

     Mark 6:1-6 reads, “And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he MARVELLED because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.”

     Jesus marvelled at their unbelief! But He gave them the opportunity to change their unbelief into faith, for verse 6 tells us, “And he went round about the villages, teaching.” Teaching is the cure for unbelief.

     Now, let’s see the second thing that made Jesus marvel.

     Matthew 8:5-10 reads, “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he MARVELLED, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” 

     Jesus marvelled at faith!

     Both unbelief and faith made Jesus marvel. We want Him to marvel at us the right way – for our faith!

     What qualified the centurion as having great faith? He just took Jesus at His word. Words were enough for him. When God’s Word is enough for you, that’s great faith!

The Choice Was Up to Me

     Several years ago, I had something I wanted to pay off, and when I talked to God about it, He told me that the money would come by the end of the month. A large sum of money did come about midway through the month that was just the amount I needed.

     But I also had it in my heart to bless someone financially with that same amount of money.

When praying about whether to pay off the debt or to give the money, it seemed to me that God was leaving it up to me.

     To pay off that debt and to sow to this person would call for two large amounts in the same month, and I had not ever received two amounts that large in one month.

     I asked God if it would affect me financially to give the money instead of paying off the debt, and I was reminded of Proverbs 11:25, “… he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”

     Also, the scripture about the centurion soldier opened up to me. I saw that Jesus said to him, “I will come to your house and minister to him.” But the soldier said that it wasn’t necessary for Jesus to come to his house; he told Him to just speak the word – Jesus’ word was enough for him! Jesus didn’t end up going to his house – He just spoke the word.

     I saw this – Jesus left it up to the soldier. Jesus had already agreed to come to his house, but the soldier said that He didn’t need to come, for Jesus’ word was enough.

     Jesus was impressed with that faith – He said that He hadn’t found such great faith in Israel.

     If you had someone on the verge of death in your home and Jesus said He would come to your house to raise them up, would you have faith to say, “No Jesus, you don’t need to come – just send Your word – that’s enough for me!” That’s exactly what this soldier did. He said that the Presence of Jesus (something tangible) wasn’t necessary as long as he had Jesus’ word.

     I saw that Jesus left it up to the soldier – Jesus would come to his house or just send His word – it was the soldier’s choice. The soldier chose Jesus’ word over Jesus’ Presence – and his choice impressed Jesus!

     For my financial situation, I saw that Jesus was leaving it up to me – I could either choose to keep the money or give it. I wanted to make the choice that would impress Jesus.

     I chose to give it. And before the end of the month, I received a second large sum that handled my own need. God can pay for more than one thing at a time!

     God leaves some decisions up to us – but one choice will impress Him more. We want to make certain that God is pleased and marvels at the faith in the choices we make.

     Every choice we make is a demonstration of our faith.