Willing

Jesus once told a leper “I am willing”.

Matthew 8:3

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man.

“I am willing,” He said.

“Be clean!”

Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

 

Lepers were outcasts of society.

They lived separately and no one touched them.

Yet Jesus was willing to reach out, touch the man and heal him.

 

Jesus was willing to heal a blind man on the Sabbath.

John 9

He was willing to speak with the woman at the well.

Even though she was a Samaritan and Jewish people were not to

have any contact with them.  Yet Jesus was willing.

John 4:4-21

 

Jesus was willing to sit with thieves, beggars, tax collectors and sinners.

Jesus was willing to hang on a cross. 

 

How many of us are willing to follow in Jesus’s example?

How many of us will love the unlovable, talk to the homeless,

forgive those who have sinned against us, or help

those who are in need.

 

I am willing!

 

Are you?

A Measure of Faith

Everyone has faith in something.
We have faith the sun will rise and set daily.
Faith the floor will be there as we set our feet upon it.
These are constants.

The faith put in jobs, cars, friends, family and ourselves is not.
This type of faith can fail.

But when we come to Christ we are given a “measure of faith”.

Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given to me,
to everyone who is among you,
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,
but to think soberly,
as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

An everlasting faith in God, Who will never fail.
It is a gift that grows.
Every Christian is given the same amount of faith
and every time we tap into faith by
leaning on, trusting in, and obeying God faith magnifies.

II Thessalonians 1:3
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly,
and the love of of everyone of you all abound toward each other….

The power source of faith is the word of God.
Just as water is a power source for electricity.
Without water–no power.
Without God’s word–little faith.

Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

The more of God’s word the greater the faith.
Faith is planted in our spirit and as we water it with the Word
it flourishes and is nurtured by the Holy Spirit.

Water your measure of faith today with the Word of God.

Rest

Open the door and enter in.

 

There is rest and comfort within.

 

The key to the door is faith.  Faith in God.

 

Psalm 62:1 NIV

Truly my soul finds rest in God;

my salvation comes from him.

 

It is more than a Saturday afternoon at the park.

It is not a quick nap. 

These are only temporary.

 

God gives a lasting, spiritual, and eternal rest.

 

Rest which can be accessed every moment of every day.

 

Matthew 11:28 NLT

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary

and carry heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest.

 

Living In His Sufficiency

We all like to be self-sufficient;

able to take care of ourselves fully.

 

The truth is we all need help.

The kind of help which is only available from God.

 

Psalm 121:2 NIV

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

 

All the riches of this earth are not enough.

They cannot help to gain complete financial independence,

emotional stability, or physical health.

 

No matter how may self help books we read

or seminars we attend,

we can never quite reach the point of being

completely sufficient.

 

God is bigger than our needs

and greater than our attempts at meeting them.

 

2 Corinthians AMP

Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability)

personal judgments or to claim or count anything

as coming from us, but our power and ability

and sufficiency are from God.

 

Trusting in God we become self-sufficient in His sufficiency.

 

Psalm 65:5-6 GNT

I depend on God alone; I put my hope in Him;

He alone protects and saves me….

 

The Mountain

Mark 11:23 AMP

Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain,

“Be lifted up and thrown into the see!”, and does not doubt at 

all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place,

it will be done for him.

 

Physically, the mountain is an immovable, very large object.

 

Emotionally, the mountain can be any problem we face

which looks to be immovable and impassable.

 

The Israelites faced the physical mountains of the 

Sinai desert for forty years.

A journey that should have only lasted eleven days on foot.

 

God lead them on this long journey to test their faith and obedience.

They failed time and time again.

 

Our own mountain can take time to overcome as well.

When we lack faith in God’s ability to take care of us 

or because of disobedience, we can travel around and

around our personal mountain.

 

Jesus instructs us to use our faith

and tell the mountain to move.

We are to believe and receive when we pray.

 

Speak to your “mountain” or problem and tell it to move out 

of the way. Speak faith in God and in His word.

 

Matthew 17:20

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; 

for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard see,

you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,”

and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Give Up Or Let Go

There is a difference between giving up and letting go.

 

To give up means to forfeit, lose the right to by some error,

offense or crime.  To abandon.

 

To let go means release, as from ones grip.

 

So many times we give up.

We let life’s circumstances gang up on us to the point

we give up our hopes and dreams.

 

Things like depression, sickness, lack and hopelessness

become our normal.

 

But God wants to give life.

And life abundantly.

 

In John 10:10, Jesus tells us He came so that 

we may have this abundant life.

 

When we let go, we relinquish our hold, releasing

our faith, which allows God to go to work in our lives.

 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,

declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not

for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

 

We may not understand everything we go through,

but He is working everything out for our benefit.

 

Romans 8:26-28

……..And we know that all things work together

for good to those who love God, to those who are

called according to His purpose.

 

God has good plans for you, let go and let Him direct your ways.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on

your own understanding. In all your ways

acknowledge Him and He will make straight

your paths.

 

Dance Before the Lord

Dance before the Lord!

David danced.

He danced with abandon.

He praised and worshiped God with a joyful heart.

 

2 Samuel 6:14

Then David danced before the Lord with all his might….

 

It was David’s way of expressing his joy for the return

of the Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark contained the Ten Commandments

and on it, the mercy seat where God would speak.

 

We should, in the same way, dance, sing 

and worship with all our heart.

For we have something better and greater than the Ark.

We are the living container for God.

We hold the Holy Spirit inside of us.

 

We have the Spirit of God dwelling within us.

 

Rejoice!

 

Sing and dance for the joy of the Lord.

 

Psalm 149:3-4

Let them praise Him with dance;

let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;

He will beautify the humble with salvation.

 

Power of Words

There is power in the words we speak.

Speak out loud for what we say is very important.

Words affect our emotions and state of mind.

Words can bring about spiritual, emotional,

and physical changes.

There is life or death in the words we speak.

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue

and those who love it will eat its fruit.

 

Basically, what we say can change us.

We can ultimately speak things into or out of existence.

When speaking in a negative way, feelings of anxiousness,

fear, rejection, physical sickness and depression can

become our normal.

Hearing hurtful and negative words from others

can cause a lifetime of pain.

God knew this.

He knew we could build up or tear down ourselves

and one another with simple words.

That is why He commanded us to control our tongue.

Psalms 34:13

Keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking deceit.

 

James 3:9-10 AMP

With it we bless the Lord and Father,

and with it we curse men who were made in God’s likeness!

Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing.

These things, my brethren, ought not to be so.

 

The power is in you.

The Holy Spirit will guide you

and by faith your words can be powerful

and life giving!

 

Trampoline!

I’m borrowing some word imagery from a dear friend.

We both were living at the Gospel Rescue Mission for Women.

Getting our lives back, studying the Word and 

spending time with Jesus.

We were in a class and my friend shared with us

her thoughts on Ephesians 6:16.

Above all, taking the shield of faith,

which you will be able to quench all the fiery

darts of the wicked one.

 

She described a trampoline as her shield and

whenever Satan’s darts tried to attack and stick

to her, all  they would do was bounce off.

 

 

This image has stayed with me through the years.

Anytime I feel attacked, I picture my friend holding

up her trampoline with all the fiery darts bouncing off.

It’s a great picture of the Word of God.

 

Mark 11:22 AMP

Have faith in God constantly.

 

Faith in God’s Word is  our greatest weapon.

We can count on Him, on His trustworthiness,

and His never ending love for us.

 

But in order for our shield to work well, 

we must use it.

 

Lift up your shield and those darts will bounce off.

 

Ephesians 6:16 AMP

Lift up over all the (covering) shield of saving faith,

upon which you can quench all the flaming

missiles of the wicked (one).

 

Was Grandma Right?

Most of us probably grew up around grandparents

and great grandparents who would impart words of wisdom.

 

They had wonderful intentions,

but were they right?

 

And was it Biblical?

 

Just a few of Grandma’s sayings with Bible verses

If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace…

Actions speak louder than words.

1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, 

but in deed and in truth.

 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Proverbs 7:1-3 My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands
within you.  Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye.
An apple has many health benefits. Apples have antioxidants 
which fight disease.  God’s word is like the apples antioxidants, with it
we have life. 
Proverbs 4:22  For they are life to those who find them,
and health to all their flesh.

The best things in life are free.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, 
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God

There is nothing more valuable than the free gift of salvation.

 

Grandma was full of wisdom!