Discover JesusSample

Week 4 - Day 1

Faith That Impresses God | Read

One day Jesus and the disciples were at the temple and they sat down opposite the offering box to watch people giving money to God. It may seem a little strange, but Jesus draws his disciples’ attention to the tiny gift a poor woman gives. With sharp insight, He critiques the whole religious charade that is going on. He tells them that the measure of our faith is the attitude of our heart. This widow could give her last coins because she was confident that God cared for her and would meet her needs. She lived with an awareness of God’s love and kindness to her. Her response was to honor God with her wealth and Jesus wanted to make sure that the disciples saw the beauty of her faith.

Jesus wasn’t saying that being poor is virtuous or that having nothing is somehow noble. But He was blessed by her desire to use even the little she had to worship God. In the middle of this huge religious spectacle, Jesus recalibrates their understanding of faith and worship. It’s never about how impressive our faith looks on the outside, it’s about how much we trust Him. It’s not about how much we can do for God, it’s about how much we trust His love for us. When we live life with the confidence that we are loved by God, our choices and our attitudes display the kind of faith that God is looking for.

Read more... Mark chapters 11-13

Questions | Reflect & Respond

How confident am I that God loves me and really cares about me?

What area of life is toughest for me to trust that my Heavenly Father will look after me?

A Heart of Worship | Pray

When we are confident in our relationship with God, we live in worship. In fact, the word ‘worship’ describes everything that we do and say- that honors who God is. True worship has got very little to do with our attempts to impress God. Anything we do that flows from a heart that trusts and loves God is true worship.

So what we do with our money can be worship. What we do with our time can be worship. What we do with our energy and possessions can be worship. Our words can be worship. It all comes down to a heart that has discovered how much we are loved by God. Today why don’t you spend a bit of time sitting quietly and reflecting on how much you are loved by God?