The new year has sprung. New hope. New challenges. New opportunities. New…
Typically, when the calendar year switches over from one year to the next, we see it as a way to reset. Change what didn’t work the previous year to something more for the upcoming year. Accordingly, the new that we want to be ‘good’, can sometimes unfurl some steep challenges that leave us yearning for another fresh start or asking what did we walk into?
Seeking a perspective for the upcoming year, like many do, I got a sense several weeks back of a ‘word’ for this new year of 2024. When it came I went to write it down, but was held back from doing so. God wanted it to marinate a bit longer before serving it up. So instead of being the last entry for the old year, it is the first journal writing of the new year! “According to…” was the word or phrase.
In the gospel of Matthew we find a few lines of interest for our entry:
“Go thy way; and as thou hast believed so be it done unto thee (8:13)…”
“…and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick (8:16)…”
“Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith (8:26)?”
“Then touched he their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it unto you (9:29).’”
Lets highlight some basic understanding for what we just read. Each of these verses of scripture can be their own story, and are, and they share similar substance. In Matthew 8: 13 he tells the Centurion and his people, to go their way and their faith was rewarded. His faith was at a level Jesus had not found in the ‘whole’ of Israel. So his faith was answered as he believed. Then in verse 16 we find that those (all) who came to Him with a sickness were healed and those that had demons, gone. A bit further down the chapter in verse 26, we see Jesus chastising the apostles for having little faith, but He took care of it with a word.
In each of these lines of scripture, we find that faith was met, even if it was small. Depending on the measure of faith Jesus found, that would reveal the measure of the miracles. A word spoken in faith, creates. Hebrews tells us this way, “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen (11:3).”
Our faith is not perfect, but we have a champion who is willing to stand with us as we move in faith towards Him (Hebrews 12:2). Can you imagine Noah building an Ark? I wonder did he first grabbed some pebbles and twigs to build a model of what was spoken? Then he and his family constructed the full Ark based on the dimensions that God had said to him? However he carried it out, his faith was rewarded and he and his family were saved from the destruction set forth from the earth. Yes, the spoken word carries power. It may come in layers, steps, or sequences, and cover many years, but it will be accomplished as when it was a word first being spoken.
A time is now upon us, where things will be revealed causing a changing of the ages. Things that were hidden in the past will be coming forth to the light very soon and, in fact, it has already begun. Faith shows the reality of things hoped for and the evidence of things not quite seen (Hebrews 11:1).” Faith at times begins with a marker, or starting point. Each of the stories spoken in Matthew had a moment where faith arose inside of the individuals, and they sought a way forward to have their faith rewarded or answered. It meant navigating through tremendous crowds, walking or hiking throughout neighborhoods and towns, breaking sabbatical rules, and delaying work and social obligations. But however their faith steered them, it was rewarded by the Son of God. He is our Champion of Faith!
We have entered a new age or time where our faith will be met. What will our expectation be? Will we embrace the Lord and allow him to answer our faith? Or will it be the opposite and retract from even believing? Faith is rewarded. As the blind men sought the Lord, in Matthew 9, may it be done according to your’s and my faith (v29). May the Lord look and find faith upon this earth with you and me. May He answer that faith accordingly!
Entry Duex...
In the midst of a Friday evening, I heard the echos from a morning’s discussion lingering. This caused an interruption to my evening’s sequence and here I sit on my living room floor typing away. In the beginning…
“And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof (Genesis 2: 19).”
“And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field (Genesis 2: 20)…”
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die (Genesis 3: 4)…”
“Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth (Genesis 11: 9).”
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24: 37).”
“And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, ‘What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times (Numbers 22: 28)?’”
“I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me (John 17: 23).”
“He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3: 30).”
In the beginning of God’s creation, we have the record of events and how it came to be. Man’s time at the start seemed to be a time of unified communication and one of being known. A singular tongue that all understood, even the animals. We see Adam named them and whatever he called them, it became their name. Take note the writer, Moses, already notated they were cattle, fowl, etc…, so then they were known by a another name (Genesis 2: 19-20). This leads me to think of a pet today, we may have a dog or cat, but we call them something more personal like, “Spark” or “Peanut” or “Norman”.
Next, we see an encounter that reveals the first act of rebellion by Adam and Eve. It came through a conversation. The serpent spoke to the woman. This encounter did not reveal a startle by the teller, just a mere conversation that was birthed when passing by the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Genesis 2:17. We know that sin unfolded due to the trident conversation of the serpent, first man, and woman. Eventually this sinful act led to Noah and the ark, then Babel and the dispersion. This is where we find that the unified communications were severed and things were disjointed forevermore. Up to this point, we can assume that all things remained in good communications between mankind and the animals. Because God confounded the language of the whole earth at that time (Genesis 11:9).
I bring this up to say, as it was in the days of Noe so shall it be when the Son of man returns as is mentioned in Matthew 24. In Noe’s day there was great evil and rebellion upon the earth with intermingling of fallen angels and such, but there also had to be a single language or common tongue. Because that connection had not yet been severed by God. So if we can believe there was a oneness of language as Adam and Eve shared with the serpent and it carried forth until Babel… then can we also surmise, that in the future days of Noe… there will be a type of return to this communication…
Jesus said during His prayer on the night He was betrayed that there would be a unification for all those who would believe on the Word. And they would know that they are loved and this would be the witness to the world that Jesus was the true Savior and Son of God (John 17: 23). What was smacked down in Genesis 11, God was restoring in John 17. He would call for a unification in His followers. Not in a human way, but in His Spirit. A myriad of nations and tribes would ultimately become unified in the Holy Spirit, a grafting in if you will. And all of us having the witness of John the Baptist, “He must increase and I must decrease (John 3: 30).”
In my morning prayer activities this came to mind and stayed the whole day, and I felt the impression to share… GOD’s Glory will reveal the true sons and daughters and all creation will cry out as Paul wrote in Romans 8. Creation will speak out as God’s Glory reveals His children! So in this next move of the LORD, as the Glory of Lord is poured forth, let it reveal His kids and may all creation sing out in a common tongue!
Godspeed, The Journeyman
Ps… Accordingly, where there is no faith, it grows dark. So even though challenges and opposition may arise, hold fast to your faith and don’t be found without it. Happy New Year!
Part II… As for Creation crying out, when God’s glory hits you and your household, don’t be surprised if your dog or cat all of a sudden can be understood! Look a donkey spoke to a prophet in Numbers 22! Ha ha!
Matthew 8: 13 KJV “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant twas healed in the selfsame hour.”
Matthew 8: 16 KJV “…and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick…”
Matthew 8:26 KJB “And he saith unto them, ‘Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?’ Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”
Matthew 9: 29 KJV “Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.”
John 14: 27 KJV “Peace I leave with you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Hebrews 11:1 KJV “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 NLT “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
Hebrews 11: 3 NLT “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”
Hebrews 12: 2 NLT “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”