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:heartbeat::heartbeat: Luke 17:5 :heartbeat: :heartbeat:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

Luke 22
31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." 33 Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." 34 Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."

Mark 4:40
He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"

Matthew 14:31
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Evidently it was not Simon Peter's faith that failed him on that fateful day, but his fearful flesh.
So what is faith? Is it an infallible body of doctrinal truth? Can we bottle it and dispense it to others? Can we tell others how to get it for themselves? Or is it, only by God's great mercy, a free gift to each individual believer?

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Romans 1
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

Romans 4
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspringâ€”not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

Galatians 3
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

Galatians 5
For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

There's so much more to it than this little post can hold - I would love to hear everyone's faith-strengthening thoughts about "faith"!

:heartbeat: Lots of love to you ALL from
Your sister, by faith in Christ, Willa

Willa Wrote:

Luke 22
31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." 33 Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." 34 Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."

There is so much to think about in this scripture. The first thing that comes to my mind is that Satan must have permission to test Jesus' disciples. When we are tested we can know that our Father is well aware of it and is allowing it as a teaching process.

Peter learned that day to his bitter sadness that his flesh did not meet the expectations of his spirit. And yet, he had felt so ready! Hard as that lesson was, it was absolutely necessary for Peter to learn it.

So we cannot expect to be shielded from all trials and tests. If we were, it would be similar to a child who is always bailed out of difficulty by their parents -- never allowed to feel the weight of responsibility for his/her actions. Such a child would never grow up to be the sort of adult who could take a worthwhile place in society. (Hebrews 12:5-11)

I would say that Peter's faith may have been, to a large extent, in his own ability to steel himself for battle for his Lord. Indeed, his first move was to draw his sword and strike off someone's ear. He hadn't understood what Jesus had been trying to tell them for months about his suffering and dying being required in order to fulfill prophesy.

Sometimes we have to have our pride and self-confidence knocked down in order to learn the way to strong and true faith.

The beautiful thing was, Jesus had the utmost confidence that Peter would learn and grow stronger from this lesson.

"I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

Already Jesus could see what Peter would be able to accomplish with his newly strengthened faith. He would be a blessing to others. Before, Peter was in competition with his brothers as they were always arguing as to who was the greatest.

How strengthening Peter later proved to be to his brothers is shown by his words at 1 Peter 1:5-7:

"In this fact YOU are greatly rejoicing, though for a little while at present, if it must be, YOU have been grieved by various trials, in order that the tested quality of YOUR faith, of much greater value than gold that perishes despite its being proved by fire, may be found a cause for praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

So, thank you Willa, for putting up those thoughts for us to ponder. I'll be wondering about my own next faith-strengthening test. I don't know what it will be but I know I will be watched over by our Father and by our Lord, Christ Jesus. It will bring me one step closer to where I want to be. And may we all reach out for this end.

Love to all,:grouphug:

Rez

Paradise Cafe Discussions - A Place For Bible Research And Christian Encouragement

Willa

Resolute