Moving Mountains and Doing Good Works #JesusFollowers

"For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible to you.” - Matthew 17:20

A faith that can move mountains is a faith that believes human beings are the creation of One God, and that this Creator gave us unlimited potential to do Good.

If this isn’t the message of your church, you’re in a false religion that is opposed to the teachings of Jesus.

In this verse, and others, Jesus wasn’t teaching magic tricks to the crowds following him around in ancient Judea. He was teaching something about faith, and hope, and our ability to do Good.

He taught an active, bold, and courageous faith that tells us that we are not only capable of ALL the great compassion, love, and goodness he was exemplifying, but that THIS WAS OUR CREATOR’S PLAN for us, all along.

We are fulfilled and perfected by personally doing the holy deeds that bring in God’s Kingdom here on Earth. Our actions, when we do Good, are the actions of Godliness and holiness.

We become Good only by doing Goodness. Human beings reflect the holiness of our Creator by doing the holiness He knows we are capable of doing.

Jesus says, “Love your enemies and do Good to them.” (Luke 6:35) “Do Good to those who hate you,” (Luke 6:27) “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your Good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.” (Matt. 5:16)

While we are cautioned not to do Good deeds simply to be seen by others and receive praise from them (Matt. 6:1) this are nonetheless a teaching of Jesus we cannot ignore, or pretend we are unable to do.

He said, “Truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater things.” (John 14:12)

Entering the Narrow Gate, as Jesus instructs us to do, means this path of doing Good (Doing Righteousness) isn’t the popular path. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” (Matt. 5:10) Because “Small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matt. 6:14.)

Jesus commissions us, his followers, to do Good in the world. We are to deny ourselves and pick up our crosses EVERY DAY (Luke 9:23) doing the work among our neighbors that will spread Goodness and help the suffering throughout the earth.

We have this as a mission if we take up his call. And he made this call abundantly clear. We are to:

1) Love God and our neighbors with every fiber of our being (Mark 12:30-31)

2) Make disciples of all nations who will obey his teachings. (Matt. 28:19-20, John 7:26, John 8:31) and

3) Do acts of compassion for others: Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting and comfort the sick and those in prison. (Matt. 25:36)

That’s it, in a nutshell. Anything added to this, or made less than this, is an invention of men, and can easily be dismissed and ignored.