From the Edges – Morning Devotional- Increase Our Faith

From the Edges – Morning Devotions

Increase Our Faith –

Pastor Calvin Cook – September 4, 2024

Luke 17:5-6  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Followers of Jesus should be working every moment to increase their faith. It becomes more than just saying I believe, moving forward becomes essential in progress to completion. There is a fine line, an almost invisible line that we often cross in why we do what we do in our faith journey. The first has to be a realization of the why.

Seriously why are you doing what you are doing in regard to your own faith building? Are the results or the fruit of your faithfulness for you or to glorify God and increase the Kingdom of God? Or is it truly and this will take some honest soul searching really about what satisfies you personally?

Some years ago, I had a parishioner come to me and ask that I would visit her children and increase their awareness of the importance of church attendance. I remember some of her words; “this will make their Mom very happy if they start to attend church with me” There was nothing about concern for their soul or how their lives could be changed by Jesus, it was all to make a Mom proud that her children would be sitting beside her in church.

Pride enters in way to often in our relationship with Jesus and how and why we follow Jesus. In worship we want comfy seats to be entertained and to feel good. But? Is this good for our soul. In church leadership especially for the overwhelmed and overburdened why do we seek more people to come to church, is it to lighten our load,  give us a break, infuse cash into the offering plates, or is it about Kingdom building. The celebration of the one who comes into a relationship with Jesus.

Can we make this personal? Truly, how are you growing in your faith and for who’s benefit? We speak of the means of grace as being prayer, searching the scriptures, worship, holy fellowship, breaking of the bread, embracing the sacraments, acts of holy service like feeding the hungry and serving the poor. Read Acts 2:42 and what the early followers of Jesus devoted their life to. More importantly read what follows in verses 43 and 44. Because of their practice of faithfulness and striving to receive more through the work of the Holy Spirit.  They were not growing into a relationship for their own purposes but for the purpose of others because of their witness that would increase faith in the larger community. Increasing faith became a snow ball effect. They were centered on faithfulness to Jesus and keeping their attention on him!

As we wrap this up I think this is where we meet with some important questions. Why are you doing what you are doing? We go to work to pay bills and live. We save to have money to retire or have nice things? We eat to be physically built up. We drink to be hydrated. But why are we increasing our faith? Or are we?