If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain

Matthew 17:20
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief;[d] for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

In our initial walk with God, our little faith can more often been rewarded by confirmation from God. As we mature, God expects us to walk in stronger faith with Him and no longer need Him to show miraculous things. There will be trials of faith where we are put to the tests, and then there is also ordinary life itself which is usually a challenge to our faith because the natural world is different from God's world. Job is a good example of strength in faith - Job 13:15 - though He slay me, yet I will trust Him.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God

Hebrews 11:6
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Faith and commonsense are different dimensions and are not strictly exclusive to each other. One can exercise faith and still use common sense to test the faith revelations. Some things that Yshua reveals to us does not always make (common) sense, but there are some revelations that need to be tested. Faith itself is not based on reasoning but is based on the person of Yshua. We trust Him, and so we obey His commands, and believe what He says is true.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us

2 Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

It was God the Father's will that the Son Yshua went to the cross and paid the price of since for mankind. Yshua obeyed His Father's will and went to the cross. We are saved because of what He has done and by obeying Him as our Lord. Those who chose not to believe are still living in disobedience and hence are not saved.

We were reconciled to God through the death of His Son

Romans 5:10
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Our salvation is totally the result of Yshua sacrificing Himself on the cross and shedding His blood for us. From terminology sometimes such as need for repentance to be saved and so on, there is a danger that makes us think we have to do something and that leads to our salvation. Atonement has been accomplished for us, it does not depend on what we do including the act of following Messiah.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations

Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Making disciples can be understood in the following way. Usually we think this verse means to tell the gospel with the intention of converting others. However, to make disciples may also mean that the seed has sown, and that the people have already been converted to Christ by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. At that stage, they will be like newborn babes. God as the Father would want to see these new Christians being cared for, hence the making of disciples could well mean grooming new Christians by bringing them into lifelong discipleship of our Lord Yshua.

As the Father has sent Me, I also send you

John 20:21
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Missionary work is about obeying Jesus because He is the one who send us. He goes behind all those who carry out the work of God. It is important to be mindful that we are working for Jesus, and not about how successful we can win souls. It requires childlike obedience in general to follow the Lord and doing His work is no different. No matter how urgent the needs of others are, we cannot afford to forget the Lord.

I have become all things to all men

1 Corinthians 9:22
to the weak I became as[f] weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

Paul has given himself totally to serving God. There was no prejudice in him nor choosing the way he wanted to serve God. He did not plan to preach to a certain group of people, in fact he would have preferred to preach to his own people, but God had appointed him to preach to the Gentiles. So as God calls us, all we need is to obey, instead of telling God to bless us once we have made all the plans for ministry.

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Chris

2 Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

It is God who leads us to victory. The thanks and glory go to God, and that is something that should not be forgotten. There may even be a danger that after a great spiritual battle, after the victory, we are tired and want to celebrate the victory, then it is not difficult to forget who the orchestrator of that victory is. Hence after the victory, there is a danger of falling quickly. Giving thanks to God to whom the victory is due is only the proper response.

Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

God has made us into a new creation when we believe in Him. He made us righteous, when we accept that Yshua paid the price for our sins. We simply have to put our trust in Him, irrespective whether we consider God has provided us with blessings. It is also God's power that will enable us to overcome through the temptations of the old life.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit

Romans 8:16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit ....

It is a supernatural revelation when God's spirit witness to our spirit. It is not through reason or understanding that we can accept His sacrifice for us, even though it may make logical sense. It is by the Witness that we fully accept what Christ has done for us, and start us on a journey that let us walk with Him. On our part, we need to ensure that disobedience is cast aside, and no presumption on what God should do for us, other than come to Him and He will give us rest.

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith

Jude 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith A commentator used this to write against the human nature of impulsiveness. He said that the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, making it look self-consciously foolish. Also impulsiveness is all right in a child but disastrous in an adult. All this is so true. Walking with God requires the practice of patience as oppose to impulsiveness. This is the practice to walk on dry land, in ordinary living, faced with tensions and opposition, being tempted in our moment of weaknesses. Yet we must somehow learn to overcome - only God can help us to this. Yshua - don't let us go.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification

1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification ....

It is clear what the will of God is for us. Salvation does not require us to gain favour or merit. Sanctification however, requires us to be careful of our living once we are saved. It is easy to fall down, living in a world that is increasingly against God. But God's will has not changed and we must strive to walk in His ways and focus on Him.

My kingdom is not of this world

John 18:36
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Our Lord Yshua explained that His kingdom is not of this world. In fact, His first coming was not to replace the earthly kingdom as many had hoped. Instead the Kingdom that He talked about would reside in the hearts of His believers. It is only through the change of hearts that Yshua could raise up His Kingdom. It is also an invitation to be part of His Kingdom because the alternative would come after Judgment, where there would be no more chance to enter into His Kingdom.

They went forth for His name's sake

3 John 7
... they went forth for His name's sake ...


Doing things for God's name sake is an important part of ministry. The efforts and works that is done need to be for God, and not ourselves. Keeping in this in mind ensures that we are working for the right purpose not just to satisfy something within us. Ultimately we are created to worship God, all work for ourselves becomes irrelevant, the only work that matters is for Him

The works that I do he will do also

John 14:12
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

The works our Lord Yshua mentioned in the passage above usually leads us to think about compassionate works or works in spreading the gospel, which is true. However there is another part of our Lord concerning the thing He always did on Earth is praying. So we too must emulate Him in this matter of praying.

Prayer is the thus the important work, not just as a supplement or tool to assist in our work. Its focus must be put at a higher level, so that we should be talking to God more and not be overwhelmed by the logistics of the physical tasks. Also our prayers need to be presented like a child, rather than a planning and rationalizing adult. And it does not matter what the circumstances are, whether we feel this is a good place to carry out God's mission or not - there is always a time for prayer.

Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest

Matthew 9:38
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

This simple statement highlights a very important instruction, when doing God's work. It is simply to prayer. The harvest is ready - as it had been ready two thousand years ago. The Lord has always prepared many people ready to accept Him at various times, but the workers are few. There are many types of good intentioned church sponsored work. However, the important thing in embarking in the work for God is still pray to Him to send us to the harvest or send the harvest to us, and pray that we will be ready.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins

1 John 2:2
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Our Lord Yshua is the propitiations for our sins. The Lord commands us to preach the gospel. There are many other things that accompany our walk and ministry in His name. There is knowledge, theology, prophecy, healings, deliverance, worship songs and also many good works that can be done for the disadvantaged people. However, the core of this is the gospel which is the good news that Jesus Himself has paid the price of our sins.

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth

Matthew 28:18-19
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

To obey and go on the mission directed by God, requires us to have Him always in mind. Namely, we must remember that we will be going in His Authority and since He is Sovereign, this is very powerful indeed. To know His authority, we need to know Him more ourselves, we need to be close to our Lord Yshua. One way of doing this is to abide in Him, that is to live according to His words and become a living witness to others.

He went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens

Exodus 2:11
Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.

At the time when Moses struck the Egyptian in his youth, he may already had a sense that God called on Him to deliver His people. However, he had not learn to depend on God, and do it God's way yet. After that he had to spend over forty years away from Egypt as a shepherd. There are many things that can be said of his shepherding role, and the responsibility he would have later on the children of Israel. Also we are not told about his spiritual health during those forty years, but we can assume that he never left God, and welcomed God into his life at the end of those forty years. God had the perfect timing to mold Moses into the right person to deliver His people.

And Enoch walked with God

Genesis 5:24
And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Believers are called to walk with God. This can only be done with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is not easy for our natural self to walk with God, but it is not impossible otherwise God would not have asked us to do so. A perfect example we can look to is Jesus Himself. As he taught us the secret, He only does what He hears the Father telling Him to do and not do the things the Father did not tell Him to do.

He stayed two more days in the place where He was

John 11:6
So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.

In this passage, it appears that Jesus did not answer the request to come and save Lazarus in time. In fact it seemed that Jesus did not answer the request, and when He did come it was too late. We may have the same feeling when God is silent to our prayers. In this passage, Jesus went later and resurrected Lazarus, and it was all part of God's perfect timing. So God have reasons to remain silent to our prayers. Sometimes silent itself is the answer. Again, it is a challenge for us to keep the faith and even rejoice when we don't see any actions from God, because God has indeed answered.

Come to me

Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 

The invitation to simply come to Lord Yshua seems to simple. Sometimes people who are very ready to serve God may be expecting something great to accomplish or something challenging from the outset. So this simple command to come may be difficult to accept. On the other hand, people with still some evil strongholds in their life may be resisting this invitation to come to the perfect Lord. Yet we have our part to play, and that is to surrender in obedience when the Holy Spirit tells us to drop our worries and just Come to Yshua.

You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes

Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.

One of these truths that are hidden from the wise and prudent is that the relationship with God is attained by obedience alone. It is not something that can be attained by lots of study, thinking and being careful or doing the right things. It is an instant that we decide to obey, then we walk in the light with God. The moment we disobey, we step out of obedience and walk in darkness.

Instruments of righteousness to God

Romans 6:13
And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

We are only instruments of righteousness to God because we are made righteous by the blood of Yshua. We can never achieve that state of righteousness on our own and thus we can never be acceptable to God by our own efforts. But now that we are made righteous by the blood, we can present ourselves as holy, only then, we begin in the journey with God.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Our Lord Yshua took our place and became the sin for us. That is the individual sin of rebellion and disobedient nature in us. It is not about the wrong things that we do in many instances in our lives. Only God who is perfect Himself can be the perfect sacrifice. We cannot redeem ourselves - someone had to do it for us. The power of Yshua's work on the cross must be accepted by us and lived by us, not just knowing about it.

That I might preach Him among the Gentiles

Galatians 1:15-16
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,

God did something in us when we are saved, He put His Holy Spirit into us. Without this miracle no one could be saved. Jesus could have started the movement to preach the things about the Kingdom of Heaven, but no one could actually attained it unless He redeemed us, followed by imparting His Holy Spirit to us. Our original hereditary is one of sin, but putting His Holy Spirit into us marked us as redeemed. And though we may still sin, we continue to work out our salvation towards Yshua our absolute focus.

Jjust as through one man sin entered the world

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned

A commentary gave a good and likely true perspective in Scriptures about, sin came to all man because of Adam's first sin; but it does not say that God punished all humanity. Rather the curse is the consequence of man's sin, that the perfect order of creation began to break down. A common misunderstanding for most people whether believers of Yshua or not, is that people think that the most important thing is to be good, and do good. So morality has become the pillar of false religions as well misguided forms of Christianity. What God is really interested in from the beginning, as seen from the Old Testament and Yshua's teachings, is obedience to Him and glorifying Him. Instead, the original cause of the sin, which is man's determination of his own destiny "I am my own god", magnifies through the cursed generations. So God has planned and executed the only way that man can be saved back to Himself, and that is through the believe and surrender to our Lord Yshua.

called to be saints

1 Corinthians 1:2
... to those who are ... called to be saints ...

God called people, it says in Scriptures many are called, it also says some are chosen. We don't need to spend time debating the words or the intentions of God. He usually reveal to us clearly what He wants us to know. From New Testament times, believers of Yshua have been referred to as saints. With all the imperfection, the ability to continue to sin, believers are still regarded as saints, because that is who we are in God's sights, those who are redeemed by the blood of Yshua. There is nothing we can do to earn this status from the true God, very unlike all the other religions which are false. On our part, having received what we don't deserve from God, we know that our only right response is to surrender our will to Him, let Him mould us to become the better person He intends for us, and being ready to help others when He brings people to us.

This kind of unclean spirit can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting

Mark 9:29
He said to them "This kind of unclean spirit can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting"

Yshua's disciples asked Him why they could not cast out the demons in the person. So they understood from Yshua that they were given the authority to cast out demons, there was no questions that they have the authority to do this, just as we today have the same authority. Their question was practical - why did it not work? So Yshua's answer to them is that this kind of powerful enemy agent, can only be defeated by prayer and fasting. It should be obvious to them that this is not simply religious prayer and fasting to any gods or idols that they chose. It is not a formula for supernatural power. Instead the command is to pray to God the Father, and do fasting to focus our minds on Him. The more powerful the spiritual battle or enemy, the more we have to draw from God the Father himself. It is not our own strength that we can rely on, but only by the power of God.

Have compassion on us and help us

Mark 9:22
And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

The context of this was the boy who was demonized and the disciples could not help him. Jesus started saying "O faithless generation". Was our Lord referring to His disciples or the crowd and scribes? In any case, we know Yshua and His power is real, but so too is our human weakness and lack of faith at times. Even those who have been very closed to Yshua could not fully exercise His authority due to their lack of faith or the crowd's lack of faith. No matter the case, we can be certain that Yshua is there for us to call upon when we are in need.