That Kind of Faith

Matthew 8:1-3

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Just to simply believe!  That's the kind of faith we need. Jesus told us to believe as a child would believe. This means we must totally depend upon Him and not upon ourselves. When we believe totally, God can do great things in our lives. 

Look at this man in the scripture. The leper came and worshipped Him. What power and liberty there is when we realize who Jesus is. When we stop and realize that our Lord Jesus is much greater than our problem or situation at hand. When we come to this kind of worship we can find the solution to every problem. In his worship he made the statement, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean". Notice what he was saying?  "If you will, I know you can do it". 

So many look for healing, solutions and answers and then when God answers in a different way than they expected, they are disappointed and walk away from Him. This leper was sick with a physical disease. His life was in a mess because of his condition. But remember, he was in worship!  He was worshipping God even though he was a leper. He said, "If you will..." This means he was fine with either way. He knew Jesus would still be Jesus even if he had to live as a leper the rest of his earthly life. He knew that his request was one that would help his life, but that it was more important to worship through adversity in his life. Notice that he didn't say, "If thou canst make me whole, I will worship you". 

How many of us today are willing to worship Jesus even when it's difficult?  Even when it's pouring rain?  Even when our snares seem delayed?  Boy, to have faith like that! 

  

Hope in the Word

Romans 15:4

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

What do you think of the Word of God?  Some people view it as a rule book full of "do's and don'ts". Many see it as a book with allegories of spiritual meanings. But Peter said, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables". How do you view the Bible?

When I read the Bible, I see love. Love in the cross, Love in the tomb, Love in the Old Testament, Love in the New Testament, Love is sewn throughout the entire book. But also there is patience and comfort in God's Word. Think of John chapter fourteen, "Let not your hearts be troubled..."  Think of what He told us in the book of Thessalonians, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words..."  God's word is full of comfort, peace, promises, instructions, correction so that we would be ready to face the world. 

Where does your hope and comfort come from today? What about peace and patience?  Maybe you should try opening the Word of God more instead of those novels and other books. Maybe read the Bible for thirty minutes instead of watching that television show that you so love. 

Notice what our scripture says... For our learning and our hope through patience and comfort of the scriptures. 

Take time today to search His scriptures. Take time right now to thank Him for His word that has been given to us. Lord, I thank you for the precious words that you gave to these men. Thank you for the Jewish scribes that thought of it so highly that they protected it for years. Thank you of how it applies to everything in my life. When I need instruction, I find it in your word. When I need Grace and help, I find it in your word. When I need comfort and patience, I find it in your word. When I needed salvation, I found it in your word!  Thank you Lord for my Bible. 

Losing Our Minds

Philippians 2:5

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Have you ever felt like that rubber band stretched to its limits is your mind?  I have many times. The old "Calgon" commercial comes to my mind. The woman is burning something on the stove, dog is barking, children running though the house and the phone is ringing. Then she says those famous words, "Calgon, take me away". (Please tell me that you just read that part out loud)  

I feel this way at times. Even in Christian ministry it gets stressful. Life is stressful. We feel like we get so many things going at once and we couldn't possibly take on something else. Our minds are so busy on family, children, work, church, etc...  

Sometimes our minds are so preoccupied that we forget things. Have you ever walked into a room only to find out that you forgot why you walked into there in the first place?  Hahaha, so many times. It drives you crazy and you say those words, "I must be losing my mind". 

Well I want to tell you something. Losing our minds isn't a bad idea. We need to lose our minds and search for the mind of Christ. How great would it be to have His thoughts in our minds? To have His wisdom in our decisions?  Take time this morning to ask in prayer for the mind of Christ to be in you. Phone ringing? children yelling? ministry stressful? marriage tough? work difficult? big decisions? Say these words, "Jesus, take me away". Crawl up into His arms and lose your mind in His love. 

Joy in the Small Things

Matthew 25:23

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

As I was about to start my run one morning I was stretching these old muscles and listening to the snapping and crackling. I was putting my headphones in and trying my best to get excited about the run, when I noticed something shining out of the corner of my eye. (This was before I even started running today) As I approached the shiny object, that I knew was a coin, I started laughing because it was a nickel!  

My first thought was, "Wow, moving on up!"  Many other thoughts went through my mind, because I truly believe God will speak through any thing in your life if you will only listen. I thought... You mostly only find pennies right?  Many people will drop a penny and leave it but not a nickel. They will battle the struggle of bending over to pick it back up because of its value. 

I also thought... "God, why a nickel today?" The scripture above came to my mind. If we are faithful over the small things (like looking for pennies) then he will reward us with greater things (like a nickel). 

Look at that last part of the verse... "Enter thou into the joy of The Lord". God really helped me today to realize that my joy, true joy, comes from being faithful and looking for the pennies. If you never look for the pennies, then you will never find the nickels, dimes, quarters or even dollars. Some people are quick to look for the paper money, just as people are ready to share the gospel with the wealthy and friendly. But what about the one who hasn't bathed in weeks? What about the drunk who is mean and hateful? What about the poor and lonely?  But they are just pennies Steve... 

Faithful over the small things!  Keep looking today...

Remembrance

Luke 24:8

And they remembered his words,

There are times that we go through our everyday routines and we are blindsided by a thought from our past. You know what I mean?  We could be at work, minding our own business, and a thought from years ago come across our mind. We wonder, "Where in the world did that come from?"  It came from the files of our memory bank. 

We store emotions, thoughts and feelings in those banks. Things like, our first crush, our first time driving a car, our first touchdown, or our first day of school... It's amazing at times what the memory banks can bring to our attention. (But then at other times we can't recall something a simple as our name, haha)

An amazing thing is when we recall those powerful words of our Lord Jesus right when we need them. You know... When we are struggling and He sends us a word. When we are discouraged and He brings to our memory that He will never leave us nor forsake us. That is so powerful!  We read and study, study and read... Days or even years may go by and then all of the sudden, when you least expect it, He brings them to your memory. 

Thank you Lord for searching my memory banks and giving me the right scripture at the right time!  Thank you for using my memory to teach me the truths of your word. I remember Lord! I remember. I love you Jesus and I love your word!

I Need Thee!

Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

There is no need for insurance until a flood, fire or tornado. There is no need for life insurance until death. There is no need for health insurance until sickness or a medical emergency. There is no need for vehicle insurance until an accident. Do you see where we are going this morning?  Think of this... I don't need my thumb until I go to shake a hand or grab a glass of tea. I don't need my legs until I get up to walk somewhere. 

How many times have we treated Jesus in this same manner?  When storms come, we cry for Jesus. When accidents happen, we plead for the presence of Jesus. When medical situations arise, we cry for the stripes and the blood of Jesus. What about today?  What about right now?  What about when there are no storms, accidents, medical needs or emergencies?  How much do you need Jesus then?  

I know He wouldn't, but what if He treated us in the same manner we treated Him?  (Thank you Lord for not being this way)  We would definitely be in trouble. 

The great thing is that if we know we have been doing this, then God is revealing to you your condition and you can pray right now for help. He not only wants you to need him in trouble, but also in everything, everyday. 

Don't just need him tomorrow when trouble comes, like a spare tire. Need him now!  Need him in everything. Need him in life, family, work, church, marriage, friendships, driving, sitting in the swing, fishing on a boat, shopping in a store, need him now!

Sing it with me... 

I need thee, Lord I need thee,

Every hour I need thee

O bless me now my Savior,

I come to thee

Who Are You Gonna Blame?

Genesis 3:11-13
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Don't you think it's a little bit funny how this story played out?  Adam and Eve were caught in sin. God asked them about what had happened. Then the blame game began. Adam blamed a Eve, Eve blamed Satan and Satan had no one to blame.

So many times we hear our children say, "Billy made me do it, Sally was doing it so I did it too". Or we hear Christians say, "The devil made me do it."

How easy and simple it is for us to say that the devil made us do it. But in truth, Eve was deceived by Satan but she sinned on her own. And although Adam listen to his wife, he is the one who sinned. And although Satan did the trickery and deception, we are the ones who sin. He may lure us and entice us, but we are driven away by our own lust and commit sin.

We can blame it on computers, but they only display what you type into them. We could blame it on our televisions but they only go to the channels you press. We could blame it on alcohol, but it is you that take it into the body. We can blame it on half-dressed men and women, but it is you that looks with lust. See we can justify and blame our sins on all the people and things around us and eventually, when Christ calls us out on our sins, the blame game will have to stop.

Stop blaming others and confess your sins this morning. Don't look at what others are doing, or not doing, you follow Jesus. You do right.