Mustard Seed Faith

Greetings,
I run across a lot of fuss and so many different interpretations of Matthew 17:20

KJ
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

NLT
You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."

It's the same old arguments. You don't have enough faith vs I don't need big faith Jesus said just a little faith and so on.

Let's look to Jesus style of teaching.
He a lot of times used examples that the people would understand at that time.
We now have The Holy Spirit To Give us understanding.

Let's look at His Example. "The Mustard Seed"

1. It is the tiniest of seeds but this is not the main focal point.
2. It grows up to be a very large plant and again this is not the focal point.

However it is a clear picture of our responsibility with our God given Faith.

Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

We can see here that every man gets Thee Measure of Faith.
This is our Starting point with Faith. Think of it as a Seed of Faith God plants in each of us.
It is our responsibility to feed this measure of Faith and continue to develop this Faith towards maturity.

Now back to the mustard seed.
The Mustard Seed is the only seed known to man that Can NOT be cross pollinated.

You can take any other seed and it can be cross pollinated.
Example....... plant your Sweet Peppers next to your Hot peppers and when ready for harvest your sweet peppers will be hot.

Focal Point.
It takes Pure Unwavering Confident Faith, Trust, Belief to move a mountain or see the desired results happen.

The problem comes into play when we get challenged. The greater the desired result the greater the test or fight we have.

Understand this test of our Faith comes from our enemy. he is working hard to keep you separated from your victory or desired result.
It's called the good fight of faith.

See what is given to us Through or By Grace MUST be Accessed by Faith and you will be challenged and pushed and pressured to give up and or doubt and wonder if it will happen.

Scripture tells us in Ephesians 6:13
KJ
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

NLT
Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

The enemy is the cross pollination to our Faith . That is if we allow him to be.

Mustard Seed Faith or Pure True Biblical Faith will be standing firm when the battle is over and this is who see's the desired results.

Ephesians 6:11
NLT
Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

So
Pure Biblical Faith or Cross Pollinated Faith.........that is up to you.

Fail or Win ......that is up to you.

Stand Strong and true or cave and fall short.......that is up to you.

Blessings
FCJ
 
Interesting thread.
I just replied to such a thread last week, but it was from Luke 17:6 He replied, "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."
3J9TvSt.jpg

The question was about how did the obedient mulberry tree be uprooted and planted in the sea?

This was my response:
The mustard seed, contains God's plan, and will for it, in terms of a code. The DNA code of plant genetics. Like ALL living organisms have a specific code, or mark, or name, which outlines God's plan for it.

The mustard seed was chosen by Jesus Christ because it is one of the smallest tree seeds which turn into a huge tree. He was making an example of how something small, if not seemingly insignificant, if following God's plan (to the letter) can become unimaginably huge and powerful. Plus produce good fruit and multitudes of seed; for they too, when put in the right environment (Christian love and patience), will also follow God's plan.

Like the mustard seed, if we follow God's plan, to the letter, we will become God's plan, or God's will for us.

With the aid of the Spirit of Truth (Holy Spirit), we are more than likely to follow God's plan. In doing so, the Spirit of Truth, which originated from Truth, will confirm this in us by doubtlessness. In other words, we will know when and what to say and do to follow God's plan. If that means to direct a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, then God will do that, for it is His own plan to do so.

A STORY
Many years ago I lived in the wilderness. Once a week I would go for fellowship to the nearest town _ 75 km away. Fellowship was in a hall next to the hospital. I had no car, so I had to walk the first 24 km (6 hour walk), before reaching the highway to hitch a ride into town. Usually the whole trip, there and back, would take about 24 hours.

One week I felt weary even before starting my walk. Usually I don't even see a car on this 24 km dirt road. And if one did come, you could hear it approaching from at least 5 kms away. During my walk I was trying to ask God for lift (by car) into town. Each time I asked I realized it was conditional in one form of another. Even asking is a form of doubt. For about four hours I was trying to say what was needed to be said.

About this time, I was approaching a long hill, so I put my head down and focused on my task of becoming doubtless with intent. In a very short time I looked up to realize that I am already on top of the hill. Then suddenly a car pulled up behind me. I did not hear it approach. The drive asked if I would like a lift, and where I wanted to go. I said to the town. She said she was going to the hospital.

I knew then, that if I could be doubtless, and it was in God's plan, I could be translocated from one place to another instantly.

Acts 8:26-40 I only selected the following verses, to show the obedience of Philip and what happened to him.
26. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road, the desert road, that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." ...
29. The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."
39. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus...(in part).
 
Greetings,
I run across a lot of fuss and so many different interpretations of Matthew 17:20

KJ
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

NLT
You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."

It's the same old arguments. You don't have enough faith vs I don't need big faith Jesus said just a little faith and so on.

Let's look to Jesus style of teaching.
He a lot of times used examples that the people would understand at that time.
We now have The Holy Spirit To Give us understanding.

Let's look at His Example. "The Mustard Seed"

1. It is the tiniest of seeds but this is not the main focal point.
2. It grows up to be a very large plant and again this is not the focal point.

However it is a clear picture of our responsibility with our God given Faith.

Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

We can see here that every man gets Thee Measure of Faith.
This is our Starting point with Faith. Think of it as a Seed of Faith God plants in each of us.
It is our responsibility to feed this measure of Faith and continue to develop this Faith towards maturity.

Now back to the mustard seed.
The Mustard Seed is the only seed known to man that Can NOT be cross pollinated.

You can take any other seed and it can be cross pollinated.
Example....... plant your Sweet Peppers next to your Hot peppers and when ready for harvest your sweet peppers will be hot.

Focal Point.
It takes Pure Unwavering Confident Faith, Trust, Belief to move a mountain or see the desired results happen.

The problem comes into play when we get challenged. The greater the desired result the greater the test or fight we have.

Understand this test of our Faith comes from our enemy. he is working hard to keep you separated from your victory or desired result.
It's called the good fight of faith.

See what is given to us Through or By Grace MUST be Accessed by Faith and you will be challenged and pushed and pressured to give up and or doubt and wonder if it will happen.

Scripture tells us in Ephesians 6:13
KJ
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

NLT
Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

The enemy is the cross pollination to our Faith . That is if we allow him to be.

Mustard Seed Faith or Pure True Biblical Faith will be standing firm when the battle is over and this is who see's the desired results.

Ephesians 6:11
NLT
Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

So
Pure Biblical Faith or Cross Pollinated Faith.........that is up to you.

Fail or Win ......that is up to you.

Stand Strong and true or cave and fall short.......that is up to you.

Blessings
FCJ

Thank you for posting this. I am glad I read it. As I was praying and studying the other day the HS showed me something about prayer. How many times do we pray and yet we just pray a routine prayer of words that are spoken out there amiss?
When we pray we are to pray expecting our miracle and our prayers to be answered.

For so long I have prayed and wondered why nothing seemed to happen. The closer I get to God I realized that I was praying wrong. I was praying a routine prayer. I was not really praying and believing with expectations. One day the HS showed me I have to pray with expectations and belief. That has changed my prayer life / world completely.

When I pray now I pray with boldness and expect answered prayers / miracles. I had 3 prayers answered just within days. It was amazing. I was so excited I just kept telling everyone what God showed me and we need to pray with expectations. Now when I pray I feel a deeper connection with God and I believe and expect results from my prayer.
 
This is a perfect instance for why I wish the disciples would have asked Jesus more questions instead of sleeping through class.. ;) ;).

I looked through the greek once upon a time and the word translated "smallest" can also mean "common" or "least valuable"

It's obvious when you see mustard seed that it's not particularly small dimensionally - especially when compared even to some grain like sesame seed... But it is common/inexpensive in the middle east..

Mustard grows all over the mountain sides in Israel - it's a weed there... It's common stuff. It grows well in the rocky soil and the seed is not a super valuable commodity...

As such - I took this to mean the "most common sort of faith" as what Jude refers to in the beginning of his epistle...

You don't have to be a hotshot... You don't have to have some special sort of "super rock-star faith" to be a part of the mighty works of God... You just have to be there ready to participate and have the common sort of "faith as a child" that God has given you.
 
You don't have to be a hotshot... You don't have to have some special sort of "super rock-star faith" to be a part of the mighty works of God... You just have to be there ready to participate and have the common sort of "faith as a child" that God has given you.

Unpolluted or defiled faith.
Pure Faith is faith that knows and expects and is Unwavering of anything.
That's the Faith of a child
Blessings
 
You don't have to be a hotshot... You don't have to have some special sort of "super rock-star faith" to be a part of the mighty works of God... You just have to be there ready to participate and have the common sort of "faith as a child" that God has given you.

Amen... good thoughts. One just has to be available and willing to submit to The Father's desires and ways of doing things... fully trusting like a child would, that He is able to work through us, because it's all about Him anyway... all glory goes to Him (at least it should be).

Reminds me of The Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:27 about the weak and unwise things of this world shaming the wise and strong. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:25)
 
This idea is at the heart of The Shema.. The Great Command...

The heart of which is to HEAR God and to love God.

A perfect example of this is Jesus baptism by John...

The pertinent question was not - Did Jesus personally need washing to signify the remittance of his sins?... Rather the question was - "Was the Baptism of John ordained by God or by man?"

If it was ordained by God - you were to submit to it whether or not you felt touchy-feely feelings of the need for repentance or not.... Jesus confirmed that it was ordained by God - and as such, even he was obligated to partake of it...

It did not matter that in "The Kingdom" - John's position was subordinate to Jesus.. It did not matter that Jesus was the perfect lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world..... The Ordination of that baptism proceeded not from John - but from the Father himself.. Whose authority both John and Jesus himself were subject to.....

And in Faith - Jesus received this baptism.

Thanks
 
It's the same old arguments. You don't have enough faith vs I don't need big faith Jesus said just a little faith and so on.

I see both of those statements as true.. if you consider that no matter the situation, however impossible it seems, this "seed" must first have faith enough to "sprout", before it can grow. Then as other scripture states, it will either grow stronger, or wither... depending on the conditions, feeding, nurturing, foundation, "weeds", etc.

Let's look to Jesus style of teaching.
He a lot of times used examples that the people would understand at that time.
We now have The Holy Spirit To Give us understanding.

Let's look at His Example. "The Mustard Seed"

1. It is the tiniest of seeds but this is not the main focal point.
2. It grows up to be a very large plant and again this is not the focal point.

However it is a clear picture of our responsibility with our God given Faith.

To me, the focal point, is to see that even with the tiniest measure of faith - pure, true, real faith... that we care for, feed, nourish, exercise, & share, then it WILL GROW. It will not fail.

(It's kind of a challenge to really explain what I mean in typing in out...lol. )
 
This is a perfect instance for why I wish the disciples would have asked Jesus more questions instead of sleeping through class.. ;) ;).

I looked through the greek once upon a time and the word translated "smallest" can also mean "common" or "least valuable"

It's obvious when you see mustard seed that it's not particularly small dimensionally - especially when compared even to some grain like sesame seed... But it is common/inexpensive in the middle east..

Mustard grows all over the mountain sides in Israel - it's a weed there... It's common stuff. It grows well in the rocky soil and the seed is not a super valuable commodity...

As such - I took this to mean the "most common sort of faith" as what Jude refers to in the beginning of his epistle...

You don't have to be a hotshot... You don't have to have some special sort of "super rock-star faith" to be a part of the mighty works of God... You just have to be there ready to participate and have the common sort of "faith as a child" that God has given you.
I agree and i love mustard by the way.... lol
 
Speaking of small, common, least... may be interesting to consider the numerous instances of all of the small, common, ordinary, people, things, etc. that are in scripture. From cover to cover, there are many examples of this. :)
 
I see both of those statements as true.. if you consider that no matter the situation, however impossible it seems, this "seed" must first have faith enough to "sprout", before it can grow

Faith is a Seed.

To me, the focal point, is to see that even with the tiniest measure of faith - pure, true, real faith... that we care for, feed, nourish, exercise, & share, then it WILL GROW. It will not fail.

One thing many overlook is measure of Faith.

It's not a measure but rather Thee Measure.

The older writings are written "Thee Measure of Faith"

This is because All Men are given the same amout.
It's the same Seed of Faith Planted in each of us and it's up to us to do something with it.

That totally changed the way I saw things.
Blessings
FCJ
 
Speaking of small, common, least... may be interesting to consider the numerous instances of all of the small, common, ordinary, people, things, etc. that are in scripture. From cover to cover, there are many examples of this. :)

Kind of like
1 Corinthians 1:27
Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

See God is not looking for those who are qualified but looking for those who are Willing to be Willing and He will Qualify you.

Thank you again AtomicSnowflake for your loving and thoughtful replies.
Keep them coming always
Blessings
FCJ
 
The Shema

Defined for those who dont know what The Shema is.......
The Shema is one of only two prayers that are specifically commanded in Torah (the other is Birkat Ha-Mazon -- grace after meals). It is the oldest fixed daily prayer in Judaism, recited morning and night since ancient times. ... Sh'ma Yisra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad

This idea is at the heart of The Shema.. The Great Command...

The heart of which is to HEAR God and to love God.

A perfect example of this is Jesus baptism by John...

The pertinent question was not - Did Jesus personally need washing to signify the remittance of his sins?... Rather the question was - "Was the Baptism of John ordained by God or by man?"

If it was ordained by God - you were to submit to it whether or not you felt touchy-feely feelings of the need for repentance or not.... Jesus confirmed that it was ordained by God - and as such, even he was obligated to partake of it...

It did not matter that in "The Kingdom" - John's position was subordinate to Jesus.. It did not matter that Jesus was the perfect lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world..... The Ordination of that baptism proceeded not from John - but from the Father himself.. Whose authority both John and Jesus himself were subject to.....

And in Faith - Jesus received this baptism.

Thanks

How do you tie this into mustard seed faith?

Blessings
 
This is a perfect instance for why I wish the disciples would have asked Jesus more questions instead of sleeping through class.. ;);).

I looked through the greek once upon a time and the word translated "smallest" can also mean "common" or "least valuable"

It's obvious when you see mustard seed that it's not particularly small dimensionally - especially when compared even to some grain like sesame seed... But it is common/inexpensive in the middle east..

Mustard grows all over the mountain sides in Israel - it's a weed there... It's common stuff. It grows well in the rocky soil and the seed is not a super valuable commodity...

As such - I took this to mean the "most common sort of faith" as what Jude refers to in the beginning of his epistle...

You don't have to be a hotshot... You don't have to have some special sort of "super rock-star faith" to be a part of the mighty works of God... You just have to be there ready to participate and have the common sort of "faith as a child" that God has given you.

I believe the disciples were constantly asking Jesus questions. And Jesus was constantly giving them knowledge.

We simply do not have an endless book that tells everything.

But Praise God, that is not the end of Jesus' teaching, for those whom are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Endless teaching within us.

Praise God, with us 24-7 forever.

John 21:25
John 14:26

God Bless,
IJN
 
Mustard seed faith ~ excellent topic

Some thoughts ~

The Seed:
...(given for man, by the Lord)
....tiny, dark colored, on the outside
....planted shallow
....loves the sun
....sufficient water feeding
....grows in maturity
....blooms yellow, a color we see as bright
....blooms also white, a color we see brighter
....ready for harvest

Faith:
....(given to man, by the Lord)
....man, in darkness
....little faith planted
....loves the Son
....sufficient Word feeding
....grows in maturity
....blooms bright, as a student
....blooms brighter, as a teacher
....prepared for harvest

Summary ~

Like the mustard seed, faith begins small.
Keep it in full Sun, so it;
Does Not fall away and die without the Sun.
Keep it in full Sun, so it:
Does become prepared for Harvest unto the Lord.

God Bless,
IJN
 
Something that God taught me about seeds, is that we can sow seeds but they do need to be watered. They wont even germinate without it. A seed will lie dormant in the ground until the right time when it is watered it will start growing.
Which is why we have baptism.
Keeping things in the sun - this is why He sent the His Son.

I have sown mustard it makes a good cover crop and before it flowers if you dig it back in the soil it actually returns nutrients. Its a 'green manure'. Also stops weeds. You can buy whole bags of mustard and scatter them. My soil was clay though so it didnt grow very big but it still grew!
 
Something that God taught me about seeds, is that we can sow seeds but they do need to be watered. They wont even germinate without it. A seed will lie dormant in the ground until the right time when it is watered it will start growing.
Which is why we have baptism.
Keeping things in the sun - this is why He sent the His Son.

I have sown mustard it makes a good cover crop and before it flowers if you dig it back in the soil it actually returns nutrients. Its a 'green manure'. Also stops weeds. You can buy whole bags of mustard and scatter them. My soil was clay though so it didnt grow very big but it still grew!

Question ~ On Baptism?

Are you speaking of Water Baptism?

God Bless you,
IJN
 
Well yea in the natural seeds cannot germinate without water or some sort of moisture.
Some seeds you can soak before you put in the ground will get them growing quicker. There are also some seeds that actually need fire to start germination.
If I buried a seed but did not water it or kept it in its packet it would not sprout.

Water is essential for life. I think many people these days discount water baptism as unimportant but it is one of the witnesses along with the blood and spirit. It sort of bothers me when people tell me their plants die and then I ask them well do you actually water them first and they say no as if expecting them to grow by themselves.
 
Matt 17:20 and Luke 17:6 discussion…. Start with a little faith of the right type and see where it gets you…

Jesus speaks of a believer needing only a small amount (as a mustard seed) of pure and doubtless faith that is sufficient for (the spirit of) God to acknowledge that our requests are sincere and acceptable. God will not accept a request that is tainted with the desires of the human spirit/ nature and the influences of the world. Our request must be genuine that means our faith must be genuine first. We come to God with the right mind, heart and spirit.

If we think we need more faith to get God to listen to our requests, then we usually are mistaken. The faith, however small or large, already given, if pure in heart, is sufficient – to ask and request of him and then to genuinely reciprocate and do God’s will that is his plan for us.
This is what God requires of us as a believer. How can we know and do God’s will if we cannot go to God in pure heart when we prayer and ask God for something?

We ask of the spirit of God for our desires. Usually these wants are obstacles in our lives. Things that bother us, especially over time. They are usually the chronic type that fester in our lives. God does not always give us what we want even those things that are #1 or #2 on our priority list. We therefore must continue in asking as we then do God’s will and his plan for our lives. God always knows what we want before we actually ask through prayer, words and in our thoughts.

When Jesus replied to his disciples that they had little faith, he meant they had insufficient pure heartfelt faith that would minimally register with (the spirit of) God, to do anything or perform any activity.

Over time, this genuine faith we will grow, as we have demonstrated to God that we are pure in heart in our faith and trust him without question as an innocent child; then we are willing to obey and do God’s will, even more.
In Christ always,

APAK
 
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