God-granted Faith

# 765- Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 16:14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.” The word “rebuked” here is not strong enough. In modern terminology, it means that He got on their case big time. He was not happy with their refusal to believe the witnesses that He kept sending their way. Trusted men and women of their entourage had testified that they had seen Jesus, touched Jesus, eaten with Jesus, and yet they disbelieved. What was their problem? Their problem was the same problem that unbelievers have always had....hardness of heart. As human beings, our minds and actions are nothing but slaves to our souls. Something has to happen to our souls, in order for our minds to comprehend and confess what we believe. This is a good thing, because sometimes our minds become faulty through temporary or permanent disability, and they are not able to outwardly express their God-given faith. This is not the case for our souls. Only God can touch our souls. Only God's grace can enter in and produce life-saving faith.. Decisions to follow Christ must come from a soul that God alone knows and has granted the gift of faith which overcomes our natural state of hardness or unbelief. God has provided His church with some vehicles for delivering saving faith to individuals. We have come to call these vehicles, “means of grace.” (Word and Sacrament) The chief means of grace is His Word, for without His Word, the Sacraments would be powerless. They can only deliver what is promised through them in His Word. What a blessed assurance for the church, knowing that no matter what the mental state of an individual, God can still deliver His gift of faith through these means. . Always remember, we are not in the business of saving minds. We are in the business of saving souls. We are only instruments of God's grace. Proclaiming His Word and believing all that His Word promises, and trusting Him to produce faith.Faith