Daily Reflections Feb 12, 2018

James 1: 1 - 11; Mark 8: 11 - 13.

“I praise and Bless you, my Lord, for you have kept wisdom from the mighty and given it to the humble and the innocent. I would rather continue in obscurity understanding all Thy plans and all Thy wisdom than to share in the fortune of those doubtful people who gather riches that will fade away”.

It was Faith that made Abraham the father of Israel and the Patriarch of the Lord’s promise to save all mankind from their sins. It was King David’s faith that gave him the distinction of becoming the greatest King of Israel whose dynasty will last forever. It was Mary’s faith in the words spoken by the Archangel Gabriel that gave her the strength that she needed, to become God’s handmaiden and bring forth Jesus into the world. Throughout the Bible, faith has become the most important factor in the blooming relationship between mankind and God. It was the doubt in the hearts of the temple leaders and the Pharisees that Jesus perceived and hence He rejected their demand for a sign. In the Gospel of Mark 8: 11 - 13, the Pharisees tested Jesus and demanded a sign with doubt in their hearts. They demanded that Jesus prove himself. The book of Deuteronomy distinctly instructs the Israelites not to test the Lord their God. All the Prophets in the Old Testament testify to the Messiah and Jesus was fulfilling each and every prophecy that was made. So why did they not accept Jesus as the Messiah based on all the signs that he had already performed in Israel? They could not accept it because they believed in their own self prophesied righteousness. They believed that as teachers of the law, they were pure, holy and devout. They had assumed that the Messiah would come to the Temple and acknowledge them because they had memorised every word written in the Law of Moses. And though they could recite to perfection any of the lines from the law of Moses, they had missed to practice the requirements of the law and they had not devoted themselves to the faith that their Father Abraham professed. They were hypocrites and Jesus knew that.On reading the Gospels anyone will realise that Jesus healed those who were humble enough to put their faith in Him. It was because of Peter’s faith that he realised that Jesus is the Messiah and His words were Life and Truth.

The same applies to our everyday life. We all like to meet and share our work with people who are disciplined, confident, affirmative and trustworthy. But God is merciful and even though it is sinful to doubt Him, the Lord compassionately helps a humble person to build faith. The devil is ever ready to destroy our faith and plant a seed of doubt in our heart. He takes every opportunity at every moment. Our defence mechanisms lie in our endurance, our perseverance and our faith in God, because God has never let anyone’s faith die in vain. The Lord sees everything, He hears everything and he knows the outcome of every situation. But as our father, God knows it to be right to teach us, strengthen us and build our resistance against temptation and fear. The Lord wishes that we never fear anything except the moment of sinful temptation. It is God’s divine plan to build fearless and disciplined disciples, whose faith in Him is unshakeable. St. James in his epistle 1: 1 - 11 exhorts us to build disciplined hearts, that persevere in faith and never waver whenever the devil tries to tempt us with doubt of an unknown outcome. The Lord is always interested in blessing a faithful person with wisdom when He sees humility and perseverance. We can always pray to God for understanding of the circumstances and endure it in faith until the time of our deliverance arrives. Because with faith will come strength and endurance; with endurance will come patience; with patience will come perseverance; with perseverance will come trust and hope in God. And God delivers everybody except the proud, the haughty, the manipulative liars and those with evil intent. Those evil ones He allows to waver with doubt, stumble with errors and dwindle in their own folly.

This world and all the riches will pass away. Our mission is to serve the Lord and what we really need is strong faith in Him. The rest he will provide as he steers us to Salvation and Eternal Life.

- By Bro Maryo