3 Things That Every Christian Should Know

#1:  Christians Should Know That God Is In Control!

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

Notice that the Bible doesn't say that all things are "good" but that all things, whether good or bad, work out for good for those who love God and called according to His purposes. 

This is why Joseph was able to say to his brothers after they had sold him into slavery and after he had become second in command of all Egypt that what they did they intended to harm him but God intended it for good.  GOD NEVER WASTS A HURT!

#2:  Christians Should Know They Have A Heavenly Home!

“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  2 Cor. 5:1

Maybe this is why Jesus, on the Sermon of the Mount, taught not to store up our treasures here on earth but instead store them up in Heaven!  What good is an earthy treasure when you're spending eternity in Heaven?

"This world is not my home, I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid out somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beacon me from Heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore."   Old Gospel Hymn

#3:  Christians Should Know That They Will Be Like Jesus!

“We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”  1 John 3:2

Boy I sure can't wait! A new body, a new life, a new character that's just like Jesus!  Come Lord Jesus, Come!

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3 Promises From God That Will Give You Courage

Joining God in His activity is never an easy proposition especially when you first start out joining Him on His mission.  Why?

• Because it requires COURAGE!
• Because it requires FAITH!
• Because it requires ACTION!

It's one thing to sit around and talk about joining Christ on His mission and how important it is but quite a different thing to actually get up and do it!

Hudson Taylor the great English missionary to China was thought by many of his friends to be a bit odd because he was willing to give up all the comforts of England and go to that foreign and less modern place of known as China.  What was the difference between Hudson Taylor and His friends?  COURAGE! Hudson Taylor was able to muster up the courage necessary to go shine the Light of Christ in China while the others were to afraid! 

But what is courage and where does it come from? If we can answer these two important question maybe we too, like Hudson Taylor, will be able to more effectively join Christ on His mission and go where He would send us! Maybe, we too will be able to shine the Light for those who are still lost in spiritual darkness and lead them back home to God.

Let me quickly answer that first question and get it out of the way.  What is courage?  

"Courage is the ability to do something even though it frightens you; it is strength in the face of pain or grief. Some might say that a courageous person is brave and bold; strong and tenacious; or tough and valiant.  Courage is the ability to go out and do something when everything inside of you is screaming to not go."  

Courage is one of those virtues that everyone admires and wishes to have but few actually exhibit it. Many feel that courage can only be found in just a few people and that most people will never attain it.  

However, courage is a necessary ingredient for a powerful missional life. Just to be able to say, like the Prophet Isaiah,

"Here I am Lord send me",

Requires courage. But where does that kind of courage come from? How can ordinary christians develop that mental state that will allow them to abandon all to join Christ in His work?  The answer is simple!

Courage is found in the PROMISES OF GOD! 

In this post we are going to look at 3 Specific Promises that God gave to Joshua when He commissioned him to be part of God's mission.  Joshua's calling is found in Joshua 1:1-9. Three times in those 9 verses God instructs Joshua to have courage.  3 TIMES!  Why?  Because God knew that the commissioning of Joshua was going to cause Joshua tremendous stress and anxiety and so God was reassuring him that he could have courage to do what he was being called to do.  

3 promises to match 3 admonitions to have courage.  

These same 3 promises are for all of Christ's Followers and when fully accept will give you the courage to join Christ also on His mission.  Let's take a look at Joshua 1:1-9 to learn of these 3 Promises.

3 Promises From God

#1:  The Promise Of Success

"Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory." (v. 3,4)

This promise to Joshua was based on a previous promise that God had made to Abraham and again to his son Isaac and again to Jacob.  God had promised that Abraham and his family line would inherit that land as God's gift to them. 

Notice that the verses say that it "shall" be your territory but it doesn't say, "it might be your territory" or "it's possible for it to be your territory".  No. God said that the promise land WOULD BE THEIR TERRITORY and that Joshua would bring them into it to possess it.  

IT WAS A PROMISE OF SUCCESS!

In Matthew 24:14 Jesus make not only a prediction but also another promise of success that's important to all of us who are joining Christ on His mission.  He says,

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (NIV)

What's the promise in this verse?  That the gospel of the kingdom of God "WILL" be preached to the whole world!  Again, there's no if's, but's or maybe's! The Gospel of Jesus Christ will be preach to every tribe, nation, language and people group in the whole world. IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!  

So, when we join Christ in His mission of sharing the Gospel to people all around us we are guaranteed success! We cannot fail! Why? Because it's a promise of success.  When you join Christ in making disciple of all nations you will succeed because Christ has already appointed it success. 

Knowing you can't fail in joining Christ on His mission should bring you such confidence. Why wouldn't you join Him if you couldn't fail? Why wouldn't you have courage if your success was guaranteed?

#2: The Promise Of God's Word

"Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." (vs. 7,8) 

This promise is stated over and over again throughout the Bible! The promise is simply this:  Know God's Word, meditate on God's Word and OBEY God's Word you will be successful.  It's really quite simple. Obedience to God and His word will bring the blessings of God into your life but failure to obey God and His word will bring about His disfavor. 

Why is this true? Because God is the creator of all things and as such He knows how it is suppose to operate. When we operate our life according to the way it was designed we experience the blessings of a well operated life but if we chose not to live life according to the way God has designed it our life will break down and fall apart. IT'S JUST THAT SIMPLE.

It's like a car. You can chose to run your car and never get an oil change as it is recommended to get every 3,000 miles. And you can actually run that car for many miles that way. But eventually there comes a time will the oil breaks down and your car engine locks up and won't run anymore. The car will actually break down many miles earlier than it would have if you had just gotten the recommended oil change.  Our life is the same way. We can live life contrary to God's owner manual, the Bible, for a while. But eventually your life breaks down and will die much earlier than it would have if you had lived according to God's word. 

If you're joining Christ on His mission and living life according to the Word of God you are promised success in your missional endeavors! Look at the end of verse 7, "...that you may have prosper wherever you go." 

Why Wouldn't You Be Courageous If Your Obedience To God's Word Promised Success?

#3:  The Promise Of God's Presence

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (v. 9)

Here God tells Joshua that there is absolutely no reason why he should be afraid and he has every reason to have courage because He (God) will be with him wherever he goes.  He said the same thing in verse 5:

"No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you."

God's promise to Joshua was to never leave him or forsake him!  Isn't that the most encouraging thing you could ever think of?  If God's continuous presence doesn't give you courage I don't know what will!

Listen to what Jesus says at the end of when He is giving the Great Commission to go make disciples.  He says,

"and low I am with you always even to the end of the age."

There's that same promise for us that was given to Joshua! Christ has promised to always be with us as we join Him on His mission of discipling the nations.  

• Why shouldn't we be courageous?
• How could anything discourage us when we are assured that Christ will always be with us. 

These 3 promise that will give you courage are given to those who are committed to joining Christ (God) on His mission. Begin to join God in shining the Light of Christ in your part of this dark world but do it without fear and filled with courage. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this post. Leave a comment and share what's on your mind and let's see if we can get a good discussion going. Come back to read what others have to say and respond to their comments.

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How To Experience Freedom From Guilt

A survey in the UK found that 41% of the people said that they would enjoy everyday life more if they didn't feel guilty afterwards.  In other words, lots of people are actively engaged in activities that they feel guilty about after they are done and as a result the joy of life is stolen from them. 

A story is told of Noel Coward, the well known playwright, as a prank, once sent an identical anonymous letter to 10 notable men in London. The note said,

"We know what you have done. If you don't want to be exposed, leave town."  

Within six months, all 10 men that received the letter had moved!

Everyone Has Felt Guilt At One Time Or Another!

Why?  Because, other than Jesus, no one is perfect.  The Bible says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. 

However, the Good News is that God wants to wipe your slate clean so you don't have to feel guilty anymore but instead experience God's total and complete forgiveness!  GOD WANTS TO:

• Give you a second chance.
• Help you start over again.

Listen to what Ephesians 1:7 says,

"In him we have redemption through the blood the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us wit hall wisdom and understanding."

And let's read Col 2:13-14,

" Where you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins having canceled the written code, with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us he took it alway, nailing it to the cross."

Here's what these two verse are says!  If you are in Christ God is not going to condemn you for your past mistakes because Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins and was resurrected back to life again to pay for your pardon.  ISN'T THAT ABSOLUTELY AMAZING?

There is absolutely no reason why any of us should suffer with a guilty conscience any longer over you past sins if you have come to Jesus and received His forgiveness and freedom from guilt.

IF YOU'RE IN CHRIST

Your Sins Are Forgiven!

Punishment For Your Sins Has Been Made!

Christ Is No Longer Holding Your Sins Against You!

CHRIST HAS FREED YOU FROM YOUR SINS!

How Do You Experience Freedom From Guilt?

By Accepting What Jesus' Did For You Through His Death, Burial & Resurrection! By place your faith in the resurrected Lord Jesus!

Remembering What It's Like To Live In Spiritual Darkness

To effectively live a powerful missional life Christians need to remember that those who are without Christ live in spiritual darkness.  This video is intended to remind us that people are still lost in darkness and to help look at people with new eyes!

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1 Powerful Way To Join God On A Missional Living Movement

Do you want to be part of a powerful movement of God that allows the Light of Christ to shine brightly in this dark world?  Then check out this video and learn about one thing that Jesus commanded His disciples to do that would create a powerful movement of God!

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5 Steps Jesus Used To Restore A Backslidden Christian

John 21:1-23

This story starts off after Jesus has been arrested, after he has been killed, after he has been resurrected but before He has ascended into Heaven.  It is the story of how Jesus restored the Apostle Peter back to the ministry after he had failed Jesus at His crucifixion by denying Him three times.  Peter is discouraged and beating himself up for his failure.  In this post we are going to look at the 5 steps Jesus took to restore him, so he could become that powerful servant of God we all love and respect.  

You will need to get your Bible out and read what it says to see how it applies to the points I am making.  I pray that God will bless you as you read this and encourage you. Maybe you are one who who needs to be restored.  Here's some good news for you! Jesus is ready, willing and able to restore you just like He did for Peter and countless others.  So, read and be encouraged!

This story starts off with Peter telling some of other apostles that he was going to go back to fishing.  This is important because Peter had left this profession to follow Christ just about 3 years earlier. For him to make this declaration "I'm going fishing" he was in essence saying, "I am going back to my old life before we met Christ."  

That is the attitude of a backslidden Christian!  They've given up on follow Christ and going back to live the way the used to live before knowing Christ.  But also, in this story we see that Jesus has other plans. He doesn't allow Peter to just goes back to his old life but Jesus shows up to restore him to full service and commitment.  

STEP 1:  Jesus Pursued Peter!

In verses 4-7 we see Jesus showing up on the shore where Peter and the others were fishing that night. He calls out to them and tells them to throw the net on the other side. When they did their nets were filled fish. This caused them to remember another time when Jesus said to do the same thing with the same kinds of results. And because of this they recognized that it was Jesus was on the shore.

Why did Jesus come to where Peter was at?  Because Peter was floundering and felt unworthy to continue to be a servant of Christ.  Jesus showed up to restore him and give him the confidence he need.  NOTICE IT WAS JESUS WHO PURSUED PETER - NOT PETER PURSUING JESUS!

STEP 2: Jesus Fellowships With Peter

In verses 10-14, after Peter responding favorably with Jesus' pursuit we see Jesus inviting Peter and the others with him, to sit down and have a meal with him.  How many times had Peter sat around the fire eating a meal with Jesus over the past three years?  A ton for sure! Because of his failure he probably thought those opportunities would never happen again but now Jesus is inviting Peter to sit and eat with Him.  How precious and encouraging that must have been for Peter.

I think one of the important things to realize in being restored to Christ is that Jesus isn't wanting to beat you up first! No, Jesus is wanting the wonderful relationship that had be originally established to be restored.  Jesus wants to sit and eat a meal with us as much, if not more, than we do with him.

STEP 3:  Jesus Questions Peter Love

As they finish their meal together, in verses 15-17, we see Jesus ask Peter three times if he love him or not and each time Jesus follows Peter answer with a command to take care of His sheep.  Jesus already knew Peter loved him. It wasn't for his benefit that Jesus asked that question but it was for Peter's benefit. Peter needed to be reminded of his love for the Lord and to be reassure that Christ still wanted him to be part of his band of apostles.  The questions of love and the commands to take care of the sheep was Christ's powerful way of letting Peter know that his service and ministry was wanted and needed. The only requirement Jesus asked from Peter was for Peter's love and devotion.

STEP 4:  Jesus Gives Peter A Glimpse Of The Cost For Following Christ.

In verses 18-19 Jesus shares with Peter what it will cost him for continuing to be a devoted follower of Christ.  He lets him know that his commitment and service would lead him to his own death and a death by crucifixion. 

Isn't interesting how open and clear Jesus is with his followers of what it means and cost to be his disciple. IT WILL COST YOU YOUR LIFE!   Even though, out of fear, Peter denied Christ, Jesus was letting him know that there would be other times to come where Peter would need to gird up his fear and place his faith and trust in Him. Jesus was preparing Peter for what would evidentially come around again.  

STEP 5: Jesus Warned Peter Against Comparing Himself To Others. 

In verses 20-23 Peter begins to ask what would happen to a different disciple.  Jesus' response is classic. "What's that to you?"  In other words Jesus was telling Peter what happens to other disciples is none of His business. The only thing that should be important for Peter was to faithfully live out what God has determined to be his role.  

To often, faithfully serving Christ, gets all muddled up because our focus is on other people and not on Christ and his will for our lives.  We complain to God about this person having this blessing, or that person getting to serve Christ in that way.  That kind of focus will never honor God.  Instead, we should be saying to Christ as he reveals his mission for us to be these words,

"Yes Lord, yes to you will and to your way. Yes, Lord, yes I will trust you and obey. When your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I'll agree. And my answer will be, 'yes Lord, yes."

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John The Baptist: The Prototype For Missional Living

When it comes to missional living there is one of the Biblical figure that pop up as a great example for how to do it is John the Baptist! Today, I want us to look at John the Baptist and how he went out to "Make the path straight for the coming of the Lord."  What did he do? And how did he do it?

Take a few moments and watch this devotional, think about it and then share your thoughts as comments below.

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You Should Subscribe To The Ordinary Christian's Newsletter If:

• You want or need encouragement to live a life that reflects and shares the love of Christ to others who need to see it and experience it.
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Missional Living Is Having A Faith In God That Encourages Others!

Through an event in the life of Paul we are going to learn that part of a powerful Missional Life is having the kind of faith in God that can encourage others! When people look at us, hear us speak and listen to what we say about Jesus Christ do they find encouragement?

Remember your faith in Christ might be the only source of faith for someone else!

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Also, take a few moments and share a time when someone else's faith was the encouragement you needed.  Share as a comment below!

How A Stop At The Waffle House Turned Into A Missional Living Experience!

Here's a true story from my friend Clint Harrill about an experience he had while in Nashville visiting some friends and intentionally living a missional life that shares Jesus with others. Clint is just an ordinary Christian like you and me but God is using him powerfully to share the Gospel and make more disciples for Christ.  Clint is a wonderful example of what God can and will do through anyone who is willing to join Him on his mission.  This is a story of what God can do through you if you would allow him to!  READ HIS STORY AND BE ENCOURAGED!

"Got back home to good ole small town friendly today and haven't stopped!!! A day in the life...lol....so thankful for my time in Nashville with some dear bros in Christ!! God blessed in so many ways and even in the spiritual warfare we faced, I felt excitement and learned so much. My #1 takeaway was that, the great commission is the Holy Spirit's work, and He's just asking us to join Him where He's already working. If we do that, it will bear much fruit. Secondly, when God is up to something big, spiritual warfare will raise it's ugly head, but praise God because God is bigger....we win....Greater is HE that is in us than he that is in the world.....we can claim that and have faith and just persevere through the trials. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
So rejoice and just lift up the name of Jesus when these trials come, and He will see you through.

So my last night in Nashville, we just had a bro night around a fire pit with some stogies and just rejoicing in the Lord....my bros, David Kaufmann, James Harvey, Samuel, Paul Kirk, Josh and Tracie Lansford, Alvin Jackson and Todd Greer, prayed blessings over me and it was just a great time in the Lord. Afterwards james, samuel, paul and myself headed to the waffle house. Our waitress was Hannah....we asked if she knew what her name meant, she said no, so we explained that it meant God's favor.....she thought that was really cool and said I hope so. We ordered, and Hannah was super friendly. She brought our food and I told her....Hannah, we're gonna bless our food so I'd love to ask u, if God could do a miracle in ur life today, something only God could do, what would that be and we'd just love to pray that for u as we bless our food. She said, I don't know....I said, anything. ....she began to get teary eyed and said I want to get my son back....I said ok, can I pray that now....and she said sure.....we prayed and she was super thankful. We continued chatting with her during our time there and she told us her story and how it was her first night back working at the waffle house and she didn't really want to but she has said, ok if this is what I have to do, there must be some reason....how she'd been struggling, her story was very sad....she's been hurt by "Christians", but was really trying to get her life on track....she was so amazed that we prayed for her, and said, yall don't even know me....but we just told her we cared about her because we love Jesus and that's what we do....we promised to pray for her and her son Camden....told her the story of Hannah from the bible, which she was familiar with...she told us what a blessing we were to her, told us when she worked and said, yall please come back every week.....WOW.....divine appointment? Uh, yea, I think so....James asked me to pray as he plans to ask the manager of the waffle house, if he can start a waffle "house church".....want u join us in prayer....a lot of hurting people at the waffle house and elsewhere....it's our God given purpose just to show them Jesus...."

So what do you say? Are you ready to join Christ on His mission? Are you willing to allow God to use you to bring salvation to others?  Are you ready to start getting training that will equip you to do so?  If the answer is "YES" then leave a comment that says:

I'M READY!

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WHAT DOES MISSIONAL LIVING NEED TO OVERCOME IMPOSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES?

When we begin to live an intentional life on mission with Christ we will begin to experience some circumstances that will literally blow our minds!  As we encounter those circumstances, impossible circumstances, questions will begin to fill our minds! Questions like:

• How will Christ ever be glorified through this?
• What is God trying to do? This doesn't make sense?
• What am I suppose to do in this situation?

We are going to look at just one little statement Jesus made to a woman while he was out on mission. In that statement holds the key to answer this important question!  Take a few moments and watch it NOW!

WILL YOU JOIN CHRIST ON HIS MISSION?

Today, I was reading, LIFE ON MISSION: A Simple Way To Share The Gospel, by Dustin Willis & Aaron Coe and came across an activity that I thought would be really good for my readers to do. So, I share it with you now!

PRAY FOR GOD TO OPEN YOU HEART AND MIND TO HEAR HIS VOICE!

"Father God and Lord Jesus. I pray that you would open the hearts and minds of all your people who read this post. Stir their hearts to long for and grave for the things that are most important to you. Help them to understand their part in the mission you have given us. Convict our hearts, enlighten our minds, provide and steadfastness of will that follow you wherever you lead us.  In Jesus name we pray. Amen!"

READ THESE 3 BIBLE VERSES:

"All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, therefor, go and make disciple of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey all that I have given to you and low I am with you always even to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:18-20

"And when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

"Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you." John 20:21

ANSWER THESE FOUR QUESTIONS:

From the verses you just read:

1.  Which of Jesus' words most convict, challenge or encourage you to live life on mission? Why?

2.  How can you use your influence in your community to be involved in God's redemptive mission?

3. Whom did God use to share the Gospel with you? Share in a few short sentences the way you came to faith in Christ.

4.  When has God used you to share the Gospel? Have you shared the Gospel? 

Take A Few Moments & Share Your Answers As A Comment Below!  Let's Get A Good Conversation Going & Encourage Each Other To Shine The Light Of Christ!

3 Daily Activities For Powerful Missional Living

Here are three things you can do every single day to help you join God on His mission and live a powerful missional life.  

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Do We Have The Right Attitude For Living A Missional Life?

Proper Missional Living always starts with having a proper missional attitude! Does our attitude reflect that of God the Father and Jesus Christ? Do we have the a Christ-like attitude towards sinners coming to faith in Christ like we should?  What does that missional attitude look like? What does a bad attitude look like when it comes to missional living?

These are some of the questions that we will be answering as we take a look at a true story from the Word of God.

If you found this to be helpful in living a life on mission with Christ and would like to be notified when new material is being presented then sign up for my free newsletter and devotional that I send out 2 to 3 times per week.  You can sign up on the righthand side of this post.

Also, leave a comment about your thoughts on this subject. Let's get a good conversation started and encourage one another.  

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The Portrait Of A Person With Great Faith

"Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.'  Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, 'Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.'  He answered,  'I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.' The woman came and knelt before him. 'Lord, help me!' she said.  He replied, 'It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.' 'Yes it is, Lord,' she said. 'Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.' Then Jesus said to her, 'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed at that moment."  Matthew 15: 21-28 (NIV)

Everyday Christian living requires Followers of Christ to have faith but to living a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ in your part of this dark world will require GREAT FAITH! We all know this but what does great faith look like in the lives of real ordinary Christians.  Is it even possible to be a average - ordinary Christian and have GREAT FAITH?  

Today, we are going to look at the life of one woman - an average woman - whom Jesus described as a woman of great faith.  We are going to examine her, look at what she did and how she did it that would lead Jesus to ascribe to her as a woman of great faith.  This woman is the portrait of what a person of great faith looks like.

I.  3 Obstacles This Woman's Faith Had To Overcome

#1:  Jesus Wouldn't Respond Back To Her

Did you notice in that story as the woman is crying out and begging Jesus to heal her daughter that Jesus literally ignored her?  Jesus was unwilling to stop and even have a conversation with the woman. He just kept on walking.

#2:  The Disciples Rejected Her

Then the disciples are getting annoyed by the woman's persistence asked Jesus to send her away because she was unwilling to leave them alone and kept on asking for Jesus to heal her daughter. There's no hint of compassion or care from any of the disciples! They just wanted Jesus to send her away.

#3:  She Wasn't Part Of The Targeted Group

Finally when Jesus was willing to start talking to her he told her that he wouldn't help her because she belonged to the wrong group of people.  He basically told her that He wouldn't help her because she didn't belong to the right "Target Group".  She had 3 strikes against her: She wasn't Jewish, he was a Gentile and she was a woman. 

II.  5 Characteristics Of Great Faith

So, what was it that stood out about this woman to Jesus that allowed him to ascribe to her as being a woman of great faith?  What did Jesus see or what stood out to him?

1.  Her Concern About Another

This woman wasn't crying out for help for herself! She was begging Jesus to help her daughter.  This woman had so much concern and care about her daughter that she was willing to risk the ridicule and rejection that she knew would probably come because of her being a Gentile woman asking help from a Jewish man.  But she was willing to endure the ridicule and shame because of the concern for her daughter.

Does our faith propel us to risk being made fun of or being endangered all because we care and are concerned about another?  Does your faith push you to take risks in order to help another?

2. Her Persistence

Did you notice that even though Jesus ignored her and his disciples rejected her she didn't give up and she stayed persistent in crying out over and over again to Jesus for help.  Can you picture the scene?  Envision Jesus walking down the road with his disciples and here is this woman following you, not going away or giving up, but keeps on crying out for Jesus to help her daughter. It probably wasn't a quite crying out but a loud one that was gaining the attention of everyone around.

3.  Her Respectfulness

Did you notice in verse 25 that the woman even knelt before Jesus in complete submission to him and his authority.  The woman in all her crying out wasn't rude at all.  This woman showed tremendous about of respect and submission to Jesus in her request for help.

4.  Her Passion

And then after she knelt down before Jesus she begs him once again passionately, "Lord, help me."  You could probably see her heart full of passion to get help for her daughter written all over her face and in her eyes.  Her face was probably drenched with tears and her eyes bloodshot from all the crying. 

5.  Her Humility

And then after Jesus basically calls this woman a "dog" when he explained to her that the reason why he could not help her was because it was not proper for the food that belongs to the children to be given to the dogs that this woman, through her faith, demonstrated true humility as she once again made her plea of faith.  Listen to the words of this woman,

"Yes it is, Lord,' she said. 'Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table."

This woman's response back to Jesus was simple this: "I am not asking you to give me anything that belongs to the children; I'm just asking for the scraps that fall onto the floor from the masters table".  In other words she was saying, "I maybe a dog but I'm at least entitled to eat the food that hits the floor."

This woman had so much faith in Christ that she knew that even the scraps that fall from his table is enough to heal her daughter. 

III.  Jesus' Evaluation Of The Woman

When Jesus say those things that expressed her faith He was absolutely blown away! He stopped, he looked her straight into her face and say, "You have great faith and your request is granted."  

This was an ordinary woman with nothing going in her favor except that she knew Jesus could heal her daughter if he just gave the word for it to happen and her faith wouldn't allow her to stop asking, crying out and begging Jesus with all humility.  

This could be you and me! You don't have to be born in a family with great wealth - you don't keep to graduate from some fancy school - you may have even been born on the wrong side of the tracks. None of that matters.  The only thing that matters is you FAITH IN CHRIST.