Marvel – (def) be filled with wonder and astonishment. The name Marvel is found on a very successful movie company with super heroes as their characters. Marvel was originally only a comic book company and the expansion to making those characters come alive in movies has been a very successful venture. The word Marvel is used a few times in the Bible to describe different things. In Matthew 8:5-11 5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7 Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
Jesus marveled at the faith of this centurion and even said He had not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. What an indictment!! The people who should have known that Jesus was the Son of God missed the point and thus missed seeing the power of God. How much do we miss seeing the power of God work because we don’t “believe”, actually believe that God can do something. When we miss it we continue down a road of doubt and the power that should be seen in our lives is minimized because we truly don’t believe God has that kind of power. Look at the example of the people in Nazareth, Jesus’ home town. Mark 6:1-6 Jesus went out from there and *came into His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. 2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his ownhousehold.” 5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled at their unbelief. Here is another time that Jesus marveled at something, but this time a very negative marvel. Jesus was astonished at the lack of faith in these, his hometown people. In verse 5 it says He could do no miracles there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. The power of God would not be released there because because they doubted Jesus was who He said He was and so they missed out. We must ask ourselves, “How much am I missing out seeing the power of God because of my unbelief?” This whole point was brought to mind when I was reading Chuck Smith’s book “Faith!” Chuck Smith was the pastor and founder of Calvary Chapel Church in Costa Mesa, California and God has truly done a great work through his understanding of trusting God and applying his faith. As I have said before in earlier blogs “I believe this stuff!” You know, when the Bible says something. I believe it. I have not other choice but to believe it or my belief in my salvation is compromised. The same power that can save me from my sins is the same power God can use to answer my prayers of faith in all circumstances. And of course, I know I am weak and fall away from time to time in my faith, but in my weakness, He is made strong. This is the total opposite approach to life that is presented in a lost and dying world. Pride makes us see our faith in God as an add on instead of a complete. This should not be and it is time that believers begin to acknowledge and trust the power of God, through faith again. 2 Corinthians 12:9 shows us it isn’t about us. It is about God and His strength, so don’t let your weakness affect how you look at God’s power. Verse 9 says 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. So a very applicable prayer in a time of need might be “Lord I cannot do this on my own. I need your power in this situation.” That is the prayer of someone who is totally bankrupt in themselves and totally trusting God for everything. When you get to that point God can do great work and you will Marvel at how active God is in all situations. Very soon you will see God moving all around you and then you will desire to see Him move even more and it will change your prayer life, your walk with God, and your attitude about reading God’s Word!! So, do you Marvel at the power of God? Then you need to look at what you have faith in and make sure that God is your only power source and then you will see things being to happen in an incredible, marvelous fashion.
Th Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren
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