Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the past three posts, I introduced and discussed the topic of quantification.  If you are not caught up to this point, I highly suggest you skim over the past couple posts to get an idea of what I am talking about.

I would like to end this series by first re-emphasizing that if you are a Christian, than you are not like those who are not Christians.  The key difference is the presence of the Holy Spirit living inside you.  Secondly, it is important to re-emphasize one more point: “The typified natural man desires to solve every problem by placing his faith in logic and reasoning (i.e. quantification). This creates a limitation of faith based on this man’s individual capacity to comprehend and understand the world around him. The typified regenerated (or saved) man desires to solve every problem by means of prayer and spiritual guidance by placing his faith in God. Ideally, there is no limitation of this faith because God is infinite and everlasting.”

Now, you may be thinking, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t ALWAYS desire to solve every problem by means of prayer and spiritual guidance.”  Of course you don’t!  You are not Jesus Christ, none of us are perfect, but we do have an example of the perfect man to look up to.

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the life of Jesus Christ.  Every word He spoke and action He took were done through faith.  Look at this example and search out the times when the disciples quantified this situation.

4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” 8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” 10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” - John 6:4-12

Jesus, unlike His disciples, already knew even before the loaves and fish were brought forth that every man would be fed.  He even asked Philip a testing of faith question.  Instead of asking, “How much would it cost to feed these people, or how many loaves of bread would it take to feed these people” Jesus instead asked for a location.  He said, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”

In your life it is crucial to recognize when you are without faith.  Faith is what prevents you from believing in only that which you are physically capable of comprehending.  If Philip could physically comprehend that five loaves and two small fish could fill five thousand people and leave left-overs, he would have had no reason to follow Jesus Christ.  You, likewise, have every reason to follow Jesus Christ because you know truths of Jesus that even now you are unable to understand.

Begin to take notice of when you quantify a situation, not because it is proof of sin or poor decisions, but that it is evidence of a faithless life.  It is easy to start noticing when this happens.  If you are worried about anything, ask yourself why.  If you have stress in your life over something, ask yourself why.  For every decision you make, ask yourself why.  This question immediately detects the motivations of you heart, the processes of your brain, and the presence of faith in you life.

If you come to the conclusion that you need more faith in God, than I must advise that you pursue faith with everything you have.  The most difficult part of being a Christian is faith.  Faith grows through perseverance.  Perseverance follows obedience.  Obedience includes the complete separation from all evil things.  To strengthen your faith you can add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.

In conclusion, I find the importance of quantification very often overlooked.  In my life, I constantly challenge myself to view the world around me through the eyes of Jesus Christ, being aware of how relatively large everything is in comparison to my physical existence, but not being trapped into only thinking and believing that which I know or can comprehend.  God made it very clear from the beginning that He is simply God.  He does not define himself by how large He is, but rather how immeasurable He is.  Jesus did not perform miracles based on any pre-established rules or quantities, but by the faith people had in His ability to heal them.

I urge you brothers and sisters, to look at life through the eyes of faith, and leave reason in God’s control.  He’s done pretty well so far.

I love you, each and every one, because God first loved you.

All for the King and His Kingdom,

Justin Weekly