Category: The Progression of Faith

John 4:53b-54 NLT
And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea. 

“Note the progression of faith: the royal official originally had an inadequate faith based entirely on reports about the wondrous signs (4:48). After he encountered Jesus, he found a preliminary faith and obeyed him, heading for Capernaum (4:50). Finally, after the report that his son had been healed and his life spared, he and his entire family experienced a full-fledged faith in Jesus’ person as well as his powerful works. Jesus’ power came from within and resided in his words, for he had power over life, spiritual as well as physical.” (Grant Osborne, John: Verse by Verse)

Today, let’s give thanks to God for graciously leading us to full-fledged faith in the person of Jesus and his powerful works. As we confess that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, and entrust our lives in his hands, may we continually experience his power at work in us. Let’s also pray for our families, children, and friends, that they will believe, belong to Jesus, and be brought into God’s miraculous good.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we say yes as you call us to progress to full-fledged faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. By faith, we cry out with new boldness for all those you have called us to love, that they too may receive your miraculous salvation in their lives.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “The Praise Is Yours” by Matt Redman. (click here).

-JL

 

John 4:51-53a NLT
While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.”  

“What sounded like a natural question to ask of the servants was loaded with significance. And the details the father heard were not further confirmation regarding his son, but confirmation regarding the unique Son…This is the first time the narrative describes him as ‘the father’ and not as the royal official. It is not in his official capacity but in his familial role as father that God met ‘this man’ through the person and work of Jesus. The narrative explicitly softens the man’s position as a royal official (‘man,’ ‘father’) to implicitly suggest that it was Jesus who is the true royal official, sent from the true Father.” (Edward Klink, John, ZECNT)

As this father traveled home by faith, with no visible answers nor backup plans, he got to experience firsthand Jesus catching him in his arms and rescuing him and his family. Today, as we too step out by faith, may we personally experience Jesus’ arms embracing and rescuing us.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that every time we step out by faith, it is an opportunity to know even more firsthand who you are as our Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “Mention of Your Name” by Bethel. (click here).

-JL

John 4:49-50 NLT
The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.” Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.

“Jesus honors the father’s loving cry and calls for him to have faith. He refuses to go to Capernaum because there is no need for him to do so. The key is the present-tense command in verse 50, ‘Go [on your way],’ followed by a promise demanding faith, ‘Your son will live.’ The father/official must have faith that Jesus’ words have healing powers and trust that his son has been healed from a distance. He is asked to put feet to his faith and go on his way, trusting that Jesus has indeed healed his boy.” (Grant Osborne, John: Verse by Verse)

Today, may we receive the faith to recognize the power and authority of Jesus’ words. As he says, “go,” let’s consider how we are to put “feet to our faith” in response to what Jesus has spoken. How are we to surrender and let go, and what are the concrete decisions and actions we are to take as we live out our faith in obedience and trust? By faith, may we know that the outcome will be miraculously good.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we believe in you. We believe in the power and authority of your Word. Help us today to respond to what you say with faith that simply and humbly obeys. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “There’s Nothing That Our God Can’t Do” by Passion. (click here).

-JL

John 4:46-48 NLT
“As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.
Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”

“The distinction between believing because we’ve seen something and believing in the strength of Jesus’ words remains important throughout the gospel…We are not invited to believe in an abstract idea, or a nebulous feeling, or an indefinable spiritual experience. We are invited to believe in the Word become flesh.” (NT Wright, John for Everyone)

Today, like the royal official/father who fell before Jesus full of desperation for his son, we too can come before Jesus with our raw needs and questions. As we do so, let’s also open our ears to hear Jesus inviting us to believe in him, the Word become flesh. Especially wherever our faith has felt abstract or nebulous, may we now know firsthand Jesus’ salvation and lordship over our lives.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we come to you today in all our need and desperation. Help us to respond with new steps of faith as you call us to know you as the Word become flesh. May I know and obey you in fuller measure as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “Waiting Here for You” by Martin Smith. (click here).

-JL

Today, let’s come to Christ again as we read and pray aloud the following confession and Scripture:

Cape Town Commitment – We proclaim Christ
In Christ alone God has fully and finally revealed himself, and through Christ alone God has achieved salvation for the world. We therefore kneel as disciples at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth and say to him with Peter, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,’ and with Thomas, ‘My Lord and my God.’ Though we have not seen him, we love him. And we rejoice with hope as we long for the day of his return when we shall see him as he is. Until that day we join Peter and John in proclaiming that ‘there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.’

Ephesians 3:17b-19
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, by your Spirit’s power, may we truly know the vastness of Christ’s love and be filled with your fullness. We confess our need and desire to know the person of Christ in deeper measure, that we may be brought into fuller faith. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “In Christ Alone” sung by Keith & Kristyn Getty. (click here).

-JL