“Lord, increase our faith.” “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”  (Luke 17:6 KJV) Jesus did NOT say, “If ye have faith THE SIZE of a grain of mustard seed …” He said “AS …”  Again, I don’t believe it was the seed’s SIZE that Jesus was referring to as a simile for faith, but what the seed has inside—its HEART. What is INSIDE a mustard seed? It is COMPLETE:  The Creator has pre-programmed every mustard seed to have everything it needs to fulfill its role in His Perfect Plan: a spark of life to sprout roots, a tiny stem, and leaves—eventually bark, boughs, flowers and mustard fruit—plus more seeds identical to the first one for multiplied generations of trees. If each of those second, third, fourth generation seeds is planted and a tree grown, eventually you will have a whole orchard—even countless orchards—of mustard trees. A seed is NOT a tree, but God makes sure every seed is perfect and fully equipped to grow a tree—even…

Remember “the Uncola?” In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s marketers for 7-Up came up with a scheme to distance their drink from the more popular dark carbonated beverages. They sold it as the “Uncola.” Meaning to cash in on the spirit of rebellion that characterized much of the hip culture of the day, they tried to make 7-up look like a rebel, too. By adding an “un”, they sought to describe what 7-up WAS by what it wasn’t—it was definitely NOT a cola. Jesus often used different kinds of figurative speech to make a point or teach a lesson. Analogies, metaphors, similes. (It’s as if HE—the Master of the Universe enjoyed making teaching as interesting as possible!)  A notable example of this was when Jesus confronted His disciples’ apparent UNbelief.  The disciples watched Jesus heal a sick child that they themselves were unable to help. When they asked the Master why they were powerless to help the boy, “Jesus said unto them, Because of your UNbelief …” (Matthew 17:20a KJV)  “Because what you have is UNfaith.” The word in the New Testament often translated as “faith” and “belief” is the Greek word “pistis” meaning “persuasion.”  Jesus had asked them…

God KNOWS our thoughts. In our last study, we discussed how that God needs no interpreter. He KNOWS the contents of the heart of every person—every idea, notion, intention, and belief. He knows the precise moment a heart is ready to receive the gift of His Spirit. That’s because the Spirit of God is continually “reading” and INTERPRETING our spirit—even before we can fully comprehend and “know” our own heart. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”  (Romans 8:26-27 KJV)  In fact, God knows our hearts so well that, when He gives us the Holy Ghost, He Himself takes over and “interprets” His thoughts in HIS LANGUAGE through our lips!  We call it “speaking in tongues,” but it’s actually the Master Interpreter skipping the translation into OUR own language and allowing us to “speak of the wonderful works of God”—in HIS! The language may be totally “unknown”…

“But he knew their thoughts …”  (Luke 6:8 KJV) God needs no interpreter—He doesn’t need anyone to translate the meaning of the imaginations or the intents of our hearts. He just KNOWS. Jesus said to the hypocritical Pharisees, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts …” (Luke 16:15 KJV) Jesus equated Himself with God. As GOD IN Christ, He could—and did—read their minds. When the Pharisees came and interrogated Jesus, He already KNEW exactly what they were thinking about Him and what He was doing BEFORE they even opened their mouths. Before they could formulate the words and lay out their arguments, He read ALOUD the script of their hearts precisely. Instantly. Language interpreters—transposing a message LIVE from one language to another —must be a bit of a mind reader. A simple word-for-word interpretation rarely conveys the true intent implied by the speaker. Rather, an interpreter must transpose the source language (language to be translated), within the proper context, preserving the original meaning but rephrasing idioms, colloquialisms, and other culturally-specific references so that the intended audience can understand—without the aid of notes, script, or a dictionary—IN REAL TIME.  A daunting task—it takes experience, a…