MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/13/2026
10:26 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“His Great
Trust”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
7:7b-10
Message of the verses: “but just say the word, and my servant
will be healed. For I also am a man
placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’
and he goes, and to another, ‘come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’
and he does it.” now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and
said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel
have I found such great faith.” When
those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good
health.”
Now instead of having Jesus enter his house, the
centurion proposed that He just say the word, and his servant would
be healed. He was absolutely
confident that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke with divine power and authority, as
the illustration he gave reveals: For
I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to
this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come! And he comes, and to my
slave ‘Do this!’ and he does it.’ As
a military commander, the centurion was under the authority of
his superior officers and used to obeying their orders, and he also knew what
it meant to give orders to the soldier serving under him, as well
as his slave, and have them obeyed.
He understood that Jesus had that same authority over life and death.
Now when Jesus heard this remarkable
expression of the centurion’s humble faith, He marveled at him. MacArthur writes “Here is a glimpse of
Jesus’ true humanity, since as God He is omniscient and cannot be surprised by anything. But just as in His humanity He became tired
(John 4:6), hungry (Matt. 4:2), and thirsty (John 19:28; cf. 4:7), so also
could He be astonished at the faith displayed by this Roman soldier.
“Hearing the centurion’s words,
Jesus turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, ‘I say to You,
not even in Israel have I found such great faith.’ On the one hand, the Lord’s statement
affirmed the centurion’s great faith.
But on the other hand, the sad reality that not even in Israel could
the Messiah find that kind of faith was an indictment of God’s chosen people.
Matthew records that the Lord added the sobering warning, ‘I say to you that
many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be
cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth’ (Matt. 8:11-12).
Trusting in their self-righteousness and external ceremonialism, the
Jewish people lacked genuine, saving faith.
Even Christ’s disciples possessed only weak, ‘little’ faith (Matt. 6:30;
8:26; 14:31; 16:8).”
(Matt. 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8)
“30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field,
which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much
more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
“26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O
you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there
was a great calm.”
“31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and
took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”
“8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, "O you of
little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no
bread?”
“That a
Gentile set the example for genuine faith, was a rebuke of the Jewish people,
who had missed the truth in spite of all their privileges (Rom. 9:4-5).”
(Rom. 9:4-5)
“4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the
adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the
promises. 5 To them belong the
patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is
God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”
“As the
apostle Paul would later write, ‘For I testify about them that they have a zeal
for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.
For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their
own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God’ (Rom.
10:2-3).
“The epilogue to the story provides
a fitting tribute to the centurion’s remarkable faith. Matthew noted that, compelled by his
desperate, loving concern for his slave, he eventually could not stand to wait
any longer. His great love overcame his
sense of unworthiness, and he went out to meet Jesus. He reaffirmed in person the message he had
sent through his friends that he was unworthy to have Jesus enter his house,
and his belief that the Lord could heal his servant by merely speaking a
word. Whether he returned with those
who had been sent or remained with Jesus is not stated. But when his friends returned to the
house, they found the slave in good health.
The Lord had honored the unusual faith of the man by granting his
request.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my life today: Faith is a matter of trusting in
the Lord Jesus Christ to do what He knows is best at any given time in my
life. I knew that if the Lord desired to
cure the cancer in my wife’s body that He was perfectly able to do it, but He
chose not to, and now she is in heaven with the Lord, which was best for her.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trusting that the Lord will guide me into what
He desires me to do for the cause of Christ, and to certainly aid me in getting
over the mourning period one day at a time.
8/13/2026
11:04 AM
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