God's kind of love

Matthew 8:9-10

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth;
and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus
heard it he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so
great faith, no, not in Israel.

MATTHEW 8:5-13, LUKE 7:1-10

There were only two things in all of scripture that caused Jesus to marvel. They were (1) the
Centurion's faith and (2) the Jews' unbelief (Mk. 6:6). A faith that made Jesus, who is the author and
finisher of our faith, marvel is worth examining. This centurion believed that the spoken word of
Jesus was sufficient to produce his miracle. He didn't need Jesus to come to his house. He had faith
in Jesus' word. Therefore, we can see that the person who simply believes the written Word of God
is operating in a much higher form of faith than those who require additional proof. Compare this
centurion's faith with the 'little' faith of Thomas in John 20:24-29! Thomas refused to believe what
He couldn't see or feel.

Our five senses were given to us by God and are necessary to help us function in this life. But if we
do not renew our minds to acknowledge the limits of the five senses, they will keep us from
believing. Faith can perceive things that the senses cannot (Heb. 11:1). The type of faith that Thomas
operated in was a human or natural faith that was based on what he could see. Jesus said there was
a greater blessing to be obtained. That greater blessing comes from using a supernatural, God-kind
of faith that is based only on God's Word. Jesus and God's Word are one (Jn 1:1, 14). Believing God's
Word is not just putting your trust in some printed words on the pages of a book we call the Bible.
There is much more involved. It is a relationship with a person, the person behind the words. Get to
know Him through His Word.