Camp Meeting Devotions - Day Seven

 Matthew 13:54-58 (NASB)

⁵⁴  He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?
⁵⁵  "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
⁵⁶  "And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"
⁵⁷  And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household."
⁵⁸  And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

We are used to reading about the many miracles Jesus did in the Bible. He healed, delivered, worked wonders in nature, provided, and forgave people. We are not as accustomed to reading about Him not doing many miracles because of unbelief. 

The word unbelief means to be faithless. To put that another way would be to say that a person is without faith. It also means to doubt and lack confidence. Picture the scene. Jesus shows up in His hometown. He was known there as the carpenter and not the Christ. He taught in the synagogue with great power. The people even questioned where Jesus got His wisdom and miraculous powers. 

The people actually took offense at Jesus. They actually saw Jesus as a stumbling block instead of a Savior. Intellectually they wondered where He got His miraculous power, but they could not bring themselves to believe. They chose to live faithless in doubt rather than to believe Jesus to work supernaturally.  

The result. Jesus did not do many miracles there. I take from reading that Jesus intended to do more. Much more, but unbelief stopped Him. He did little to display His might, strength, and supernatural ability. He could have done so much more. Doubt and faithless people got in the way. 

After two years of praying, seeking God, listening, getting convicted, repenting, doubting, being chastised, and being called to believe I am convinced God wants to move mightily among us more than we want Him to do. What kind of people does the Lord find in us? Are we faithless people filled with doubt, skeptical, and guided more by unbelief than belief? Are we people of bold belief, filled with faith, courageously confident?

What a tragedy it would be if the people of God were persuaded more by doubt than by faith, and the work that God planned to do was hindered because of unbelief. God forbid that to be the case in us. 

It is really pretty simple. God desires a repentant holy people. We are working toward that each day. God desires a people who hunger for Him. That is one of the points of these devotions. To keep seeking Him. God desires people of faith. That is the focus of this devotion. Unbelief is sin. Doubting God is sin. How many times did Jesus chastise the disciples because of their lack of faith? He does the same with us. 

The conditions are ripe for God to sweep through our lives, churches, and communities. Things in the world are getting worse and worse. People are suffering. They are desperate for the hope we have living in us. An eternal hope. Jesus is the answer for the world today. He has always been the answer. He wants to purify His bride and save the masses. The harvest is ripe. The laborers are few. 

Instead of the church offering the same old services devoid of power, imagine days of refreshing. Imagine the wall of spiritual pride being crushed, knees bending at the altar in broken repentance, people living in bondage getting freed, the lost getting saved and transformed. Contemplate hearing testimonies of the transforming power of God. Let your mind dream of people so enthralled in worship they do not want it to end. Consider a spiritual fire of God spreading from one church to another all over. Ponder the power of God displayed night after night in ways indescribable. Think of profound God encounters happening over and over again. Let the thought take root that people are drawn closer to God than they have ever been. Muse on the dream of all of this being contagious and impacting more and more people. Those are the things on the mind and heart of God. Do we believe? Do you believe?

Belief is followed by actions. One faith step after another. One prayer built on another. One act of obedience followed by another. For me going public with the vision of revival was the first faith step. The second was calling and inviting worship leaders to lead us in those days of refreshing. The third step of faith was writing these devotions. All a sign that I believe God for what He desires to do. What is He calling you to believe Him to do? What will be your first step of faith? May none of us let our unbelief stop God from doing all that He wants to do among us. 

• Check any area of unbelief you may have? If you are living in doubt about God sending revival, repent and ask God to fill you with faith. 
• Ask God to direct your first faith step.
• Ask Him to reveal to you what He intends to do. 
• Believe Him for it. Rebuke unbelief.