Mark 9 In this scripture the father was concerned about his son
22 And often times it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help you mine unbelief.
What is the difference here? The father is saying I believe, but I can not shine light that is not in me. In fact the father's light understanding was only the sun in it's early light … his experience was likened to the dawn … it was all he could show but it displayed his sincerity and that was enough for Jesus. He perceived that Jesus was the healer and now his sincerity made it reality.
Our goal is to get the gap between perceived reality and reality smaller and smaller. You see me and think or perceive what you perceive, but I'm really not what you perceive … nothing ever is. I tell me kids that things are not as bad as they seem, nor are they as good as they seem. Because I know that things are not as good as they seem … I have work to do, because I want you to WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get). Hopefully somewhere in the process I become more like Christ. I must with all sincerity to see reality and not a perceived reality.
Sincerity shows up in strange ways sometimes. Tippy, was a mutt on the western Iowa farm of a family that at the time were pig farmers. With a family of nine brothers and sisters, everyone had chores. Tippy, followed the seven year old Kirby into the pig barns. The boys were always providing themselves to each other and today Kirby decided he was going to exhibit his balancing skills on the wooden wings only to fall into the pig stall with 250 pound hogs which were not shy and would have taken Kirby for dinner. The story is told that at about the same time the hog was munching down on Kirby, that the sincerity of Tippy showed up in his teeth and proceeded to do what he knew to do. Tippy, bit the hog in the bacon and Kirby was able to flee to the freedom. That's not the end of the story. Kirby was called into the ministry and to make a long story short ended up pasturing a church in Bloomington Indiana where the Essex family attended. There were five daughters … one of the girls name was Martha. She grew up in the church and became one of the faithful young people. We'll one of Kirby's single brothers visited Bloomington from Iowa where he met Martha. They swept each other off of their feet … got married and had two kids, a daughter named Linda and a son named Howi. SO, I'm here because of a dog named Tippy.
Nature has very few samples of a perceived reality.
An apple tree produces apples … an orange tree oranges, etc. The principle of sincerity is certain present here.
The first bud is the sincerity of the rest of the tree. Although it is small, it is the promise of the rest of what is to come.
The first sun ray of the morning is the sincerity of the full day.
A cloud is the sincerity of rain
The rainbow is the sincerity of God's promise and covenant.
The robin's song is the sincerity of spring
The green apple is the sincerity of summer
The orange and red leaf is the sincerity of autumn
The leafless tree is the sincerity of winter
One seed is the sincerity of the plant, one plant is the sincerity of the field, one field is the sincerity of the harvest.
Prayer is the sincerity of change
o We ask the wrong question most of the time.
o We often ask "how much do you believe?" The answer to this question would be a certain measure of knowledge or scriptural prowess.
o When really the question must be asked, "how much do you believe it?" The answer to this question would be measured by the width, height, depth of your sincerity … not knowledge.
The little boy that offered his lunch was acting from the emotion of sincerity. Sincerity feed 5000 that day with 5 loaves and two fish. The miracle was not determined by the amount of fish or bread, but by the sincerity of a little boy.
It's not how you know … how much you have in material wealth, but your sincerity and sometimes it does not take a lot of it … just be honest. Be willing to say, "I believe, but help my unbelief."