How To Impress God

by Doug Morrell
June 27, 2006

When was the last time you impressed God?

You remember the story. Jesus went about doing good, and came home to Capernaum to do good there, too.

When Jesus entered the city, a centurion came to Him, asking for help. The centurion was a Gentile, a Roman, an officer of the army and someone familiar with rank and file. He understood authority.

The centurion appealed to Jesus above other known possible means:

“Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."

Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."

As the centurion recognized God’s grace, a humble man became more humble. The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

This man's genuine faith amazed Jesus! This hated Gentile's faith put to shame the stagnant piety of many of the Jewish religious leaders.

To the gracious He will show Himself gracious:
Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour. - Matthew 8:5-13

Christ admired the centurion, not for his greatness, wealth, position or power, but for his faith. It was not surprising to Jesus - He knew the centurion’s faith for He made the man and provided the grace; but it was rare and uncommon, and Christ spoke of it as wonderful. He taught us what is lovely and worthy of admiration - the beauty of holiness. The rich in faith are the ones that impress Him.

Are you impressing God?

Grow in grace and truth,

Doug Morrell

CORE Notes From Doug

Imagine a group of students or adults sharing one goal: to know Jesus Christ deeper and to make Him known to others! Imagine them involved in God’s Word, real fellowship, exciting growth, meaningful service, genuine sharing, prayer and heartfelt worship with one another – doing life together! Imagine yourself in such a caring, committed community – revolutionizing your life as well as the people in your ministry! The CORE Discipleship process will start you on a relational journey, from being a member of a small CORE group to being a vital part of an unbelievable, spiritual discipleship network and community. The CORE Discipleship workbook will help you think, talk, dig deep, care, heal, share and have fun with those in your church! Growing intimately with God and others – developing CORE relationships.

Written for students and adults, the CORE Discipleship Group Workbook contains a 52-week CORE curriculum including: leader's instructions, application forms, weekly journal sheets, accountability questions, weekly scripture memory, and a series of Bible lessons that prepares the student for real life transformation and allows for individual and CORE Group participation and discussion. Click here to learn how you can start making disciples according to the Master's plan.

Copyright 2005 by Doug Morrell, CORE Discipleship Group Ministries, http://www.coregroups.org. You may copy this article for free and distribute as long as you do not change the content, make sure this copyright statement is included, and you distribute for free. Scipture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.