Welcome to Good Tidings

Memory verse: Then Jesus said to her, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed at that moment. Matthew 15:28

*Matthew 15:21-28*

15:21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

15:22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly."

15:23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."

15:24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

15:25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.

15:26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs."

15:27 "Yes it is, Lord," she said. "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table."

15:28 Then Jesus said to her, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed at that moment.

                       ______

When Pastor E. A. Adeboye announced that whoever believed that he or she can still possess a car few minutes before the end of that year should come out, a woman stepped out by faith and surprisingly, she returned home blessed with a car. It was undeserved and unexpected.

According to Matthew, everyone is expected to continue living and growing in faith until it becomes "great" and not just boast about being a believer or belonging to a church or denomination. 

This Canaanite woman got blessed when she exercised "great faith" in Jesus. She acknowledged her position as undeserving and without legal covenant right as a non-Jew, yet she used Jesus' own words concerning dogs to claim healing for her daughter. 

She reasoned with Jesus that even dogs have rights to the crumbs thrown to them by their masters. Jesus was impressed by her dauntless pursuit and described her faith as "great."

Sometimes, the stake against a person may be much. Everything was wrong with that woman in Canaanite-Jewish relations: Wrong gender, wrong religion, and wrong nationality. 

But she still spoke up for her convictions because she believed that Jesus Christ could heal her daughter, and she was commended for her great faith. Without faith, no-one can please God.

Insight: Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase - Martin Luther King Jr.

Prayer: LORD Jesus, let my faith in You take a greater dimension.

RBT Passage: Luke 3-4