It’s finally Friday night, a day right before we set out to Berk.
My favorite thing to go to is youth group at my church. Tonight, I decided to drag some additional persons.
“Why do we have to waste out time hearing a man talk?”Allan complained.
“Can’t we go to a bowling alley or something?”Peter added.
“Because you guys need to be reenergized,”I said.
“By an ancient book?” Peter questioned.
“Yes, because the Bible knows more then you think.”
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In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus,”Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed had withered!”
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.
“I will tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea’, and does not doubt it in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins. - Mark 11:20-25
“From this small chunk of Mark, you see Jesus talking about faith over a withered fig tree. From last week’s study, the tree is used as an example for his disciples. In Mark 11:12-14, Jesus passed by a fig tree, hungry. Seeing that the fig tree had no figs, he said to the tree “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” The next day, it withered. But this passing example of the fig tree is an example of humans at times.
Have you ever made a promise and just flaked out at times? For example, you promised your best friend that you will help them with a school project but you always give an excuse not to because you need to take care of your own. This is what this passage is talking about, but on a deeper level.
The fig tree is us, when we believe in God, we promise him that we are all in. Ready to get our hands dirty for his glory. But when he expects something out of us that we don’t want to do or think we can’t do, we don’t do it. Thus, we bear no fruit. And as you can see from this passage, believers who bear no fruit are no good. If you don’t bear fruit, you probably might not reach the kingdom of God.
You may be asking, how can I bear fruit?
Well, first of all, you have to give your life to Christ.
But that’s the first step. There is more afterwards.
Everyone should take note of this: A believer must always have faith to back up their belief.
If you don’t have faith in God, why did you believe in him in the first place?
You become the one flaking out in your promise.
That’s how Jesus explains it to his disciples. He told them to “Have faith”, because that is one of the most important factors of the Christian life.
Jesus used the example of a mountain throwing itself into the sea. And it did. This is a example of how God’s capabilities are endless. If a mountain can be able to jump into the sea, we sure can do what God wants us to do.
As believers, God calls us to do certain jobs for him. And he wants us to follow through. Sometimes they seem absurd, but we have to believe that we can do it with God’s help because in the basic verse of Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things in Christ, who strengthens me”; through Christ, we can do anything. If it’s His will. If it’s our, probably not.
Another thing Jesus brought up is prayer.
If you are having a difficult time, ask him for help. Believe that it will actually go higher than the ceiling and that someone is listening in the other end because I can tell you a 100% of the time, God hears your every prayer. And he will answer.
Jesus used this explain before in Matthew 7:7-8 ;
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Finally, the last thing Jesus mentioned is to forgive.
Forgive your enemies as He forgave you.
You may know some really difficult people in your life that you are not that forgiving too. They may bully you, say snide remarks, or just act flat out not-so-nice with you. Even though you want to hate them so much, you have to learn to love them. If you don’t have a loving heart towards your enemies (which is really hard), you will have no loving heart in your service.
Our main job is to bring others to Christ. Which means we have to have a open and forgiving heart to everyone like Jesus does. This doesn’t mean that we will be like Jesus because we will never be like him, but we are to be examples of him. I am pretty sure that Jesus didn’t forgive us because we were nice. We were probably real jerks in his eyes. Sinning all over the place. But he died on the cross and forgave us of our sins anyways. He loved us so much that he died for the sins of people that weren’t even born yet.
So have an open heart and mind and forgive/love your enemies and neighbors. That shows an example of Jesus Christ working in your life because sinners would never think of loving on their enemies.
To conclude our message, remember: Through faith, we will be able to shine the work of God to the people around us.”
Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) - Hillsong
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown
Where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You’ve never failed and You won’t start now
So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior
So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
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