Faith

Faith

Today’s Scripture Selection: Luke 17:5

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!”

Even with all they were witnessing

  • All the teaching
  • All the healing
  • All the miracles

…they had the need.

They needed help with their faith.

Isn’t that true of all of us?

No matter how close we sometimes feel to God; no matter how much grace we feel at times; there are those moments when, most of all, we need just a little more faith.

That’s why Jesus’ response to them is so helpful – and hopeful.

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.”

Another time – he said the same thing – adding that such faith can literally move mountains.

How about it?

Do you have a mountain that needs to be moved in your life?

Do you feel so overwhelmed that you can’t see past tomorrow – much less way into the future?

Then I encourage you to ask like the apostles asked.

“Lord, increase my faith!”

And if you open your mind; open your heart; come to God as honestly and sincerely as you can – I believe God will honor that prayer.

Faith moves mountains.  Even just a little bit can move mountains.

Why not see if God can help you move one today?

Prayer: Lord, I pray as one good man in desperate need once prayed, “I believe, help my unbelief!”  AMEN.

 

 

 

By Paul Simrell

The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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