Evil doesn't go away by closing your eyes to it.

I don’t believe we actually take into account how many times we have been attacked by the devil in our every day lives.   I think people are afraid to talk about the devil and his ways, and I don’t understand that.   I would think that the more educated we are on his ways, the better prepared we would be to fight them.   

I don’t think in speaking about something that actually exists that I am giving it life or glorifying him.  I think that in learning about satan I am preparing myself, putting on armor in a way, to fight off his evil attacks.  I think the people who walk through this life and never acknowledge that there is an evil presence in our everyday lives are asking to be attacked.  I think they are choosing ignorance over being empowered.   

If God/Jesus didn’t want us to be aware of the evil that roams around this earth, to and fro, then there would never be any acknowledgment that it exists.  If we weren’t to be on guard and prepared for it then there would be no use to discuss it.   

It is the exact opposite.  God wanted us to be prepared of the evil that lurks in the world and how to recognize his lies.  We fall trap to the lies and deceits of the devil every day.   Every single day we walk into the traps of satan one way or another.  I think this is happening because we are not educated enough on him and his ways.  

I think that we have it in our head that satan and hell are fictional places that truly don’t exist, and that is just not the case.  There is an opposite for everything that exists in this world.  The opposite of light is darkness, the opposite of fear is faith, the opposite of hate is love, so there has to be an opposite for God, which would be satan and an opposite for Heaven, which would be hell.  

I think when we choose to live our lives as if hell, satan and his demons do not exist we are painting a giant bullseye on us to be attacked.   I think in a way, this actually gives satan power over believers.   We need to be aware of the motives of satan.  We need to be wide eyed to how he works around us and be prepared for the attacks, because they are going to come, and be ready to fight back!  

We really need to take control back of our lives and stop opening the door to darkness.  We need to be aware and acknowledge the presence of evil instead of opening the door, setting out refreshments and asking it to stay for a while.   We need to start calling what it is by its name instead of turning a blind eye to it.   

I understand the phrase whatever you give energy too, that is the thing that expands in your life, but what if that philosophy isn’t always correct?  What if there is something we need to be aware of so that we are prepared to come into battle, when we are forced too.

Why is it so easy for people, believers and non-believers, to call God out for the bad things that happen in this world, but yet, we don’t call out satan, for the bad things that happen in this world?

Why is it that almost every time someone finds out that I am a Christian, the first thing they ask me is, why does God let babies get cancer, and die?  Well, how am I supposed to know that?  How am I supposed to answer that question?  What I’d like to say is why is it that you allow the devil to cloud your thinking so much, that you aren't able to expand your mind into believing that there is more than you can see.

Do you understand what I am saying?  If we are in a war with another country, we educate ourselves on their tactics, on their arsenal and their plans, so why do we not do the same against the devil?  

In John 13: 2 we are getting the back story on Jesus and Passover.   Jesus is in full understanding that he is going to the Cross, and he is trying to get the disciples ready for that time.  In verse 2 it reads, So (it was) during supper, Satan having already put the thought of betraying Jesus in the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son.  

If it wasn’t important for us to know how the devil works, do you think that the Bible would have a verse in John 13 dedicated to it.    We are seeing here that not only is Jesus going to be deceived, which will bring forth the process of the Cross, but how Jesus is going to be deceived.  We are seeing the conception of the lie.     

What do we know about Judas?  We know that he stole money, or skimmed money, off of the donations to the disciples and Jesus.    We know that Judas, out of greed, sealed Jesus’s fate with a kiss, the kiss of deception.   These are the two things we know of Judas, well at least the two things that stand out the mos,t to me about Judas.  Here is what else we know.  Judas was a vigilant follower of Jesus.   He followed him around night and day, among the other disciples.  I would think this means that Jesus recognized something special in Judas. 

I believe that though Judas is not a person I would want to be compared too, he is probably just like all of us.  He was open for attack, and used by satan.   I believe that Judas loved Jesus, and I think we see that love and utter remorse for his actions, when he hung himself, after Jesus was arrested.  Judas knew that he was wrong for his actions, which is why he threw the money back at the men, and proceeded to kill himself.   

Judas was being used by satan, and I don’t think he even knew it.  This one verse says a lot, I think.  It’s telling us that a man who loved Jesus, spent day and night with him for three years, was still able to be deceived by satan.  How much more equipped should we be then?    

This is actually a man who lived, worked, prayed, ate and slept, almost every waking moment of his life for three years, with Jesus and yet he still betrayed him.   He was still open for satan to work through him.  He still was able to have his mind corrupted by satan, enough for him to betray Jesus.

The point I am trying to make here is, if a man, who is in the same space as Jesus was for three years, is still open to being deceived by the devil, how much more prepared should we be.   We should truly educate, not glorify, not praise, or worship, but educate ourselves, on the working and characteristics of satan.  You will be empowering yourself against an attack, that is surely coming.

We are children of the most high God and we have the power and authority that Jesus has, and if Jesus was able to conquer the advances of satan, then we certainly are capable of conquering the advances of satan as well. 

Jesus used the weapon of the Word of God, and we are very fortunate to have the ability to arm ourselves with the same words that Jesus used against satan, that brought him to victory.   Choose to be educated and not ignorant.  Choose to see clearly through the eyes of faith; instead of skewed through the eyes of fear! 

 

 

Each puzzle piece God gives you is part of His plan for you.

Jesus will often give us directions for the things that are going to happen in our lives.  We will often see a path marked out for us that clearly Jesus had planned before we even entered into process.                                              

In John 13:19 Jesus says, I tell you this now before it occurs, so that when it does take place you may be persuaded and believe that I am He (Who I say I am – the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah).   

You know the saying hind sight is twenty – twenty?  We all can look back at the course of our lives and see where we went wrong or where we went right.    Many times we can look back and see God using things in our lives to change us or to encourage us.   Normally, we aren’t able to see these things while we are in the process or at the beginning of the process, usually; it’s after we have worked our way through and are on the other side.  

When we are in the middle of a test, challenge or promotion, in God, we can become very selfish and lose patience.   We are not looking at the big picture, we are so fixated on the immediate emotion and making that stop, we are no longer concerned about what we are meant to learn.

I think that if we would take a step back and see things from a wide angle instead of a narrow one, we might be able to see the path that God has created for us.   

I know in my life, I have seen, after the trial was over, the path that God clearly had created for me.  I could see this path because I was no longer focused on me and what was changing for me, or the pain I was experiencing, or what I was not getting, when I thought I should have it.   

One specific situation comes to mind where I believed God for a relationship and the process was very painful.  I knew that I was doing what God had called me to do, but the process of going through was incredibly tough.  I thought that this person was the person that God had meant for me to have a long term relationship with.   I was wrong!  I knew that the relationship had a purpose and a meaning, but for the life of me I couldn’t see what it was.  I couldn’t see it because I was caught right in the middle of it.  I never took a step back to see the complete picture.  I was living by my emotions and expecting God to catch up to my plans.  

After I went through the process and came to the other side, after many, many nights of prayers and tears, I am able to see that this relationship was not intended to be the forever relationship, but it was intended to change me.    

God took this situation as a way for me to step out of my box and open my eyes wider to the people around me.  God used this situation to end friendships that were not bringing me up, and a way for me to strengthen my need for Him in my life.   God began to move in my life in a way that I never experienced before during this relationship.   

During this very painful time, God strengthened me in a way I never could have imagined.  He pulled me out of a very small box that I had been living in, and allowed for me to explore life outside of my comfort zone.  I learned so many things about myself, like what I truly wanted out of a relationship, and what I was willing to accept and allow.  I learned that the most important relationship for me is the one that I have between myself and God.   I needed to be broken open so that God could work on me.

In looking back on this situation I can see all the ways that God was directing my path.  I can see how God took a situation and allowed me to be changed because of it.  God used this relationship to increase my Faith and Trust in him and less in myself. 

The verse in John 13:19 relates to this situation because a lot of times God is saying, hey, here is what I am going to do in your life.  Here is the path that I want you to travel, I’ve made the way for you to go this way.  When you choose this path you will see me in it and this will strengthen your belief in me.  This will cause you to grow stronger in me and the plans I have for your life.  

God needed to strip me down to nothing, where I had nothing but God to depend on, so that I can learn that he is all I will ever need.   God will go out of his way to direct you but we have to be open to the direction to receive it. 

I wasn’t open to it at first.  I fought against the direction, which caused more pain in the long run.  I wanted to see what I wanted to see, and in that I lost the direction God had intended for me.  I tried to make my own way out of God’s plan.   Just so you know, a little advice from me to you, this isn’t ever going to work.   

I find myself now saying Thank you so much God for not giving me that relationship.  Thank you so much for knowing better than me, and not listening to me when I begged for this relationship to work out.   I was again, trying to make God work out my plan.   I have come to the other side of this lesson and see all the things I learned from it.  I personally prolonged the lesson due to my frustration and working out of my own desires. 

My take away from all of this is try to see the entire picture, and look for God’s hand in it.  Try to step away from making something happen, and allow God to direct you into what he has planned for you.  I am still learning this, but when I find myself trying to operate out of my own desires, I can catch it faster than I did in the past.  

We can never be perfect, but since we know the perfect one, and we have his abilities in us we can call on him to guide us.  Call on Jesus to help give you wisdom and to show you what you are not able to see with your fleshly eyes.  Ask him to reveal his plan to you and then take a moment to let him show you.  Most of all I would say, Let God be God.   There is nothing that you can do that will have more power or anointing on it than what God can do, so let him do it.  Try to be like a puppet and allow God to work through you to raise you up to the next level. 

We have the most perfect potter at our disposal, so allow yourself to be moldable clay for him, and I guarantee that through that process you will be able to see the path God had carved out for you.    When you get to the other side, when you receive what you believe for, or have been raised to the next level, your faith, trust and ability to lean on God will have been strengthened and stretched.  You will have come a step closer to surrendering your life and your ways to the one who knows better than any of us do!  

 

 

Are you seeing life from God's perspective, or your own?

Have you ever seen someone for who they really are, and not the person they portrayed themselves to be?  Maybe this person portrayed themselves to be of one character and then as you spent time with them, their real truth was shown.   Were you ever able to look past the person you saw and allow them to identify with the person they claimed to be?

This is hard for me.  When I see someone clearly for who they are, it is hard for me to see them through other eyes.   I can hear a person’s life story and not be able to identify that person with the person I see before me.   I wonder if the person is not able to see who they truly are, because their hearts have become hardened to the goodness of themselves, or they have been “brainwashed” to an extent, to believe the lies they have been hearing about themselves. 

Tonight as I was reading John I started to think about this, and I wondered if the Jews really were not “brainwashed” to believe the lies of the enemy, and instead of being stubborn and bull headed, they actually believed the lies about Jesus.   That maybe they weren’t able to hear Jesus or see Jesus for who he really is, because their understanding has become so skewed by deception.  

Jesus has spent some time trying to convince the Jews that he is the Son of God, and with every ounce of themselves, they are not able to believe this concept.  Jesus then goes on to tell them, you cannot understand this because your father is not my Father.  Basically, you are not able to understand and respond properly to what I am telling you, because your hearts, eyes and ears have been taken over by another. 

Satan can deceive you into thinking that you are doing God’s work by giving you pieces of the Word without the complete Word.  He can tell you, like he did Eve in the Garden, that yes, maybe God did tell you not to eat of the tree, which we all know he did, but then Satan will take that thought, and twist it to actually seem as if God is holding something back from you.  We all know logically, that God would never hold blessings from us.  He wants to prosper us and see us live in abundance, but when you have been trained, and convinced, of one thing for so long, your vision becomes cloudy.  You are no longer able to trust your own thoughts.   

Jesus was trying to reason with them, I think.  He was trying to get them to see if you really believe God, my Father, then your hearts should respond to me.  You should be able to see me for the truth of who I am.  They were not able to see Jesus clearly, because they had been so deceived by rules, regulations, and laws, that Satan took and spun for them.   

We know that God was trying to protect Adam and Eve, in the Garden, but Satan spun the tail and made it that God was actually withholding something from them, for his own enjoyment.  Almost as a punishment, against, Adam and Eve. 

The Jewish people, like Eve, are not able to see that they are actually being deceived, not by Jesus, but by Satan.  They are resisting the Truth, because they only see the truth, as it has been spun to them.  I am sure this was not a pleasant conversation, as both sides believe whole heartily that they are correct, but we know that there can only be one Truth, and we can see it clearly with perfect vision.  Our hearts recognize Jesus in this story, but do they recognize Jesus in our own lives?  

Deception can be a very smart advisory.  You can believe that you are correct about something because you have been trained to believe one way, so that becomes your truth.  Change happens when you allow your eyes to be open to another person’s truth, and see if that ministers to your heart.  We can’t be led by our minds or emotions when it comes to being deceived, you must see what resonates in your spirit.   

Light will always breakthrough to darkness.  You can enter a dark room and believe that you see, feel, smell or hear one thing, and as soon as a flicker of light enters into the room, you are able to see the truth of what you believed you already knew.  Jesus is the light entering into a dark society.  Into a society of people who have become so accustomed to believing what they read over what they saw with their eyes, and felt in their spirits, but as we know, Jesus will overcome that darkness. 

In John 8:34-36, from the Amplified Bible, Jesus says just this, well I believe this is what he was saying.  Jesus tells the Jews.  I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Whoever commits and practices sin is the slave of sin.  Now a slave does not remain in a household permanently (forever); the son (of the house) does remain forever.  So if the Son liberates you (makes you free men), then you are really and unquestionably free. 

This gives us the answer to being slaves to sin.  When you are in sin, what I believe to be habitual sin, you become a slave to sin.  Just like if you are addicted to something you become a slave to that addiction.  It overrides your sense of knowing that you have become out of balance in that area, and dictates what you need and when you need it.    The addiction is now the master of you.   

Jesus is saying that when you sin you are the slave to sin, but that a slave cannot take up permanent residence of a home.   A slave is not in ownership, a slave is owned.   You can’t be permanent in something, when you do not own, what you are in.   You cannot own your addiction because you are a slave to it.   But if you are the Son of the homeowner, you can set up permanent residence because your name is part of ownership.   This will remain with you forever because you have a blood tie by the name.

When Jesus is telling us in verse 36, so if the Son liberates you (makes you free men) then you are really and unquestionably free.  The son has the power to free you, because he is a permanent fixture from the blood ties in the name.   

Jesus is giving us the answer to battling sin in these verses.  Jesus is saying, though you may not be a Son, at this time, and your vision may be skewed, so that you can’t recognize the Light standing in front of you, I have come to set you free.  I am going to be the Son that gives you the ability to be free.  You don’t see it right now because you are listening to another’s voice, but when you see me on the Cross, you will see the truth, and the truth will set you free.

I think that Jesus is pleading with the Jews even though he knows the outcome is not a favorable one.  Jesus knows that he is going to the Cross, and they are going to be the ones that send him there, but yet he still doesn’t give up trying to show them the error of their ways.

This is a lesson, one of many, in this story, that we should truly adapt in our own lives.  We may not see eye to eye with a person, or we may see a person for who they really are, while they are seeing from a skewed perception, but this doesn’t mean that we should ever give up on that person.  We should try over and over and over again, to show them that Light defeats darkness.   

We should have patience with the people in our lives and show them God, so that when they see us, they will see a reflection of God, and the Light of God’s love will shine into the darkness of their skewed vision.  

Throwing stones... is your sin worse than mine?

There is no judgment or condemnation in Jesus, as he has showed us many times throughout the Bible.  The one, that I found to stand out to me, while reading tonight was in John 8:11.  This is where Jesus was asked by the Jews on how he would handle a woman being found guilty of adultery.   

During the time of Moses, he had said that if a woman was found guilty of the crime, adultery, she should be stoned to death.  The Jews, in this situation, again, were trying to catch Jesus so they would be able to accuse him of some wrong doing.   Jesus took a moment, and I love this, he bent down and was writing in the dirt.  They then asked him the same questions, and this time Jesus said, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.  Then he bent back down and proceeds to write in the dirt with his finger.  

The people, who moments before Jesus spoke, were so quick to stone her, started to feel their conscience rise up in them, because they too are not without sin,  one by one they started to throw their rocks down and leave, until it was just Jesus and the woman.  

Jesus asks the woman where are your accusers.  Basically, see, you are not alone in your sin.  He then tells her in John 8:11 that he does not condemn her either, and to go on her way, and sin no more.  

There are so many things I love about this small part of the story.  One, I love, that Jesus after being asked what should happen with this woman, bent down to write in the dirt.   As if people weren’t already suspicious of his mental state now he is fueling the fire by playing in the dirt, instead of answering the question.   What just tickles me with this, is that I believe that Jesus used writing in the sand as a way to deflect the question, and have some time to hear from God on how to answer them.  

This is a great lesson for us in life.  There are many times when we speak to quickly, and then almost instantly wish we could take back the words that we have just said.    If maybe we would be silent and in those moments ask God for how to answer the question, or wait for the Holy Spirit to direct us, maybe we would have less of those moments. 

I enjoy how Jesus will answer a question posed to him with a question right back to you.  Now, I like this while reading the Bible, but I am not that happy with it, when it’s happening in my conversations with him.  But I understand why he does it.  Well at least I think it’s to get us thinking about what should be done in the situation.  

In this case, here you have this woman, who has committed adultery, something that we know is wrong, and is written in the Ten Commandments, but Jesus so quietly points out that we are not without sin too.   So just because this woman made the mistake of committing adultery, we should stone her to death?  What makes this sin any worse than the sins that you have committed?  What makes her sin worse than yours, and for that matter, if we are going to stone her for her sins, than shouldn’t we be stoning you for yours?   

There is no way that you can stand and hear that question, and continue to stand there with the stone in your hand.  Your sin is not worse, or better, than hers, so how can you be in judgment of something you yourself have done. 

My favorite part of this story is when Jesus is having a chat with the Woman, as they are the only ones left, and he asks her, so where are your accusers now?  Where are those who condemn you?   Jesus then says to her, I do not condemn you either.  Go on your way and from now on sin no more.

Just like that!  Go on your way and sin no more.  There wasn’t a five page lecture about how your sin was horrible, and you have truly disappointed your God.  There was no, you’re a bad person and you should do a list of things to get yourself back into the good graces with God.  Nope, just I don’t condemn you either and sin no more.   

I love that!!  I want to high five Jesus for saying that!   He is saying I take you as you are.  I know who you are when I came into contact with you, and I love you anyway.  I love you no matter what shape you come to me in, because I know my love will mold you into my image!  The Faith that Jesus had in God, but also in Man, is beautiful. 

I am not sure how you can see all the faults of a person, know that they might plan on doing you harm, and love them anyway!   And then, ask them to come into relationship with you, anyway!  The Goodness of Jesus amazes me.   This is why we strive to be changed into his image and have the mind of Christ.   

Jesus didn’t come to give the world pain, condemnation and confusion.  Jesus came to set the world free of those things.  We need to learn a lesson here from the story of the adulterous woman, and see our own sin before we see someone else’s.   We don’t know the back story with this woman.  We don’t know what caused her to make such a poor decision.  What we do know is that we all have fallen short of the Glory of God, and if we were stoned for every sin we committed, there would be no one left on this earth.    

Next time you want to come into judgment on a person’s behavior, take a moment, write in the dirt if you need too, but take a moment, and check your inner man, the Holy Spirit, and see if you too are not a sinner!

Are you studying the Bible or just skimming over the pages?

The scriptures in John 5:17-41, as I have read them seem like Jesus slapping us in the face with the truth of our ignorance.  We are all ignorant on some level to the truth of God.  We all overlook, glance pass ,or turn a blind, to the things of God around us, and this includes his words to us. 

In John 5:17-41, as I paraphrase, or interpret, what I gleamed from these verses.  Jesus is calling out the Jews for their ignorance in not recognizing that the Son of God is standing right before their very faces.  They focus so much on their rules and regulations that they can’t see their nose to spite their faces.   Jesus is standing right in front of them and out of their own ignorance, jealousy and inflated egos they don’t even recognize that the person their precious Word has explained is coming, has in fact arrived.    

They are so focused on crossing their T’s and dotting their I’s, in keeping their rules of no healing on the Sabbath, that they are focusing on compartmentalizing the Word they say the love.    If they were so in tuned and so educated on the Word, wouldn’t they have recognized that in front of them was the Word made flesh, in Jesus?   

Jesus is calling them out for their foolishness, and for living with blinders on, to the truth in front of them.  Have you ever seen a horse and buggy?  If you have, you will notice one of the things about the horse is that the horse has on blinders.  As the horse matures in training and shows his behavior to be trust able and safe, the blinders can be removed, but until that time you train a horse with blinders.  The purpose of the blinders are to allow the horse to only focus on what is in front of them, and to trust that their owner will keep them safe.   The blinders can keep them from harming themselves, and the people they are carrying to safety. 

People have blinders on in life too.  We wear blinders to the people we love, to our jobs and even to the violent world we have been accustomed to living in.  In these verses, Jesus is telling the Jews that they are basically, wearing blinders to the life that is manifesting past the rules and regulations they so strictly enforce.   Jesus is telling them, you love this Word so much, but yet you fail to recognize in human form, what your Word tells you.   

In no way is Jesus downplaying the greatness that is the Word of God, but what he is saying, is you can be so focused on the written Word, that you fail to see it manifested in life, right before your eyes.   They wanted to kill the Son of God over healing a man on the Sabbath, but yet, the Word shows us over and over, that God will be sending a new “Sacrificial Lamb” into the world to end sin forever more.  

You can become so engrossed in one way of thinking ,that it actually becomes death to you, no matter how Holy the original thought, or purpose was.  That is the case for the Jews.   

Jesus is telling them over and over, that he is the Son of God, that he is the “Sacrificial Lamb” that God has talked about in the now New Testament.  But the Jews, being jealous of Jesus, because of the miracles he has been performing, and what they thought was a threat on their ability to education and control what the people were being fed, through their teaching, never saw the truth of who he is. 

How disappointing this must have been to God.  I am sure at a point these men entered into the word of God for nourishment, for understanding, for direction of their own lives, and they have made the very Word they clung too Legalistic.   

I can see in my mind, how Jesus in a very calm voice was telling these men, look how do you not see it, as it is so clear, that I am the one that my Father has been talking about.  I am the one, who is coming to be about my Father’s work.  I am not coming to work against you, I in fact am coming to work with you, to bring healing, closeness, faith and hope to the people we both love so much.

He even in verse 5:35 brought back their example of how Jesus needed a living testimony and they called upon John the Baptist.   

Jesus says and even in your testimony you are wrong, as a mere human cannot begin to hold evidence, when you are coming against the testimony of God.  John the Baptist, was the lamp that kept on burning and shining to show you the way and you believed in him, for a while, but that too burnt out, but now you call on him to give testimony as to who I am.  My Father sent him to light the path for me so that I may come.   You can see the floundering of the Jews who once, mocked John the Baptist of his work, but are now using him to make a case against Jesus.   

Jesus at this time goes in for the jugular, but in a very respectable way, of course.  Jesus then says the Father himself has already testified for me, you would have seen this had you searched for my Father’s face and voice.  Had you not been so concerned with reading only the Black and White of the Word, and took some time to actually seek my Father for his voice, for his face, if you would have actually had a real life relationship with my Father, there would be no need for this conversation now.  

 

If you would have chosen to focus on the Face of my Father and a relationship with him, you would have already known by connecting to my spirit, who sent me.   You would be able to see my Father’s resemblance in me, but since you desired only to have the Black and White of my Father’s Word and not the life that lies between the pages, you can’t see my Father in me.  You can’t see my Father’s works happening in this world.  You only see someone doing something your limited understanding allows you. 

 

Jesus is telling all of us with these very powerful, thought provoking words, that it is not enough to read the Word of God and not know the Face, Heart and Voice of God.   His Word is not a book that you read to get from one page to another.  His Word is life and power.  His Word brings transformation and healing and if you take the time to read one word at a time and ask the Father for understanding and revelation, of his Word, all of these things can and shall be yours. 

He is telling us that though Jesus is God’s Word made Flesh, it is still of up most importance, to seek God’s Face, and know the Heart of God, because in doing that you will know the Heart of Jesus.   If you read the Bible as a story book, will you be impacted by the Word, I am sure you will, because there is life in each Word.  But if you read the Bible word for word as it is nourishment to your soul, not only will you be impacted, but you will be changed.  You will see the Face of God, hear the voice of God, and come into the Praise of God. 

We are told to seek God’s Face and not just his Hand.   To me these verses were kind of the same thing.  Don’t be so foolish to read the words as just words, for the Face of God is missed if you read the Bible that way.  Relish each word; find the power and strength in each word.  Speak to God as you are reading the Word.  Ask him for understanding and revelation or even, how the words you are reading can be applied to your life.

The Bible is a book, yes, but it is unlike any other book we will ever read.  This is a book that will take a broken hearted sinner and bring him healing, restoration and freedom from the evil that devours him.   The Bible is our Doctor, our Therapist, our Minister, our Best Friend and our Guide.   The Bible is all of these things because the Bible is the Word of our Lord, and the Manifestation of our Savior in earth. 

This is not a book you should study like the Jews did.  This is a book you should take your time with.  This is the book that you must read between the lines to reveal the truth in.   If you read the Bible the way the Jews read the Bible, you will miss exactly what the Jews missed… Jesus, Healing, Forgiveness, Truth, Love, Redemption, Power, Authority, Praise, Goodness, Peace, Kindness, Patience, Long-Suffering… you will miss the Face and Voice of your King of Kings… You will miss God!!

 

 

Do you really want to get well?

Do you really want to get well?  That is the question that Jesus asked the paralyzed man in Bethesda, from John 5:6.  

I would assume that Jesus asked the man if he really wanted to get well because he had been lying in that position for thirty-eight years.   Is there anything that has you paralyzed for years?  Have you ever asked yourself; do you really want to get well?  

I know this was a question I had to ask of myself and a question I have asked of close friends.   This can be a hard question to ask and an even harder question to answer, in truth.  

The paralyzed man lying by the pool in Bethesda did what I believe so many of us do every day, we give an excuse.  His excuse was but Jesus, I have no one to get me into the pool while the water is stirred and by the time I finally can get in someone gets in before me.   

Basically, have pity on me because no one is helping me, and I am in the physical state that I am in and move slowly.  I think this is such an important story from the Bible because it touches us on so many levels.  You can feel bad for the man because he is an invalid and seems to not be able to help himself, but at the same time lose patience with him, because it’s been thirty-eight years, and he hasn’t managed to get in the pool by himself. 

The big question or gut check, I took from these verses today was, what excuses am I giving Jesus for why I should remain the same.  Isn’t that basically what the man was doing?  Wasn’t he giving an excuse to remain the same?  He was asking to not have any accountability in his life or responsibility for the lack of accomplishments he has made.  He was playing victim to his lack of ability.  

I’ve had people in my life, some on an acquaintance level ,and some that are very close and dear to me, that I have thought, why are you allowing your life to run over you?  Why aren’t you standing up and taking control of the situation you are in?

I know I have to sometimes keep in mind, that I am not afraid of confrontation and from getting my hands dirty getting to the problem, resolving it and not everyone is like me, which is very good!  I want to figure everything out, make it better, move on and not everyone adopts that mentality.   

I guess that’s why God has told us not to Judge each other because we are all created to be individuals, and if we hold each other to the standards, and behaviors we exhibit, than no one would be good enough, including ourselves.   

Many times we give excuses to why we can’t do something and I believe most of the time, it’s because we are too afraid of stepping out of our comfort zone, and into change.   

A very good friend of mine has taught me one thing and that is, the one thing you can always count on is that change will happen, whether we like it, or not.  The one constant thing in our lives is that things are going to change.  

That is a very true statement, if you are fortunate enough to hear it, learn it and do it.  There are many people I know that are fighting change.  They are hanging by tooth and nail, as they say, to how things are or how they used to be.  We should not be afraid of change. We should welcome and embrace change.  Change is here to bring us to a new level of ourselves.  Change happens to broaden your horizons or mold you into a better version of yourself.

Just imagine if you would have never changed through the years, and you stopped evolving mentally at the age of thirteen, but physically you were changing with your maturity.   We would be so completely useless to the world if we stayed in that space mentally.   We would be confused, probably very emotionally unstable, and what would we be able to offer the world?  If you look at change as an opportunity, instead of a punishment, maybe we wouldn’t fight the changes that we each need to make.  

Have you ever seen the man who is way too old to be driving in the red convertible sports car?  Yes, me too, this guy is fighting change.  He is trying to desperately hold on to his youth and doing it through the car.  We have each seen this guy, and have had the same thoughts of why he has this kind of car.   This is an example of someone fighting change.   

I think that we can hide behind our fear of change, and convince ourselves that we don’t need to change.   That is obviously not the truth, since in verse 8, Jesus commands the paralyzed man to get up! Pick up his bed and walk!   If Jesus wanted us all to stay the same and not change into a better version of ourselves, closer to the perfect image of God, we are striving to be, he wouldn’t have told the man to Get Up, and to pick up his bed and walk.  He would have said Ok, and accepted his excuse.  

I am sure that the man completely believed his excuse, and maybe that was his way of changing, without actually having to change.   This is like the man with the red convertible.  He’s changed, but his car is making him think, that he has stayed the same.  Like my friend said, the one thing we can count on is change. 

We tell ourselves excuses everyday for why we can’t do something, go somewhere or help someone.  We all do it.  We make an excuse, which is only to make ourselves feel better with what we are not doing.   I know I should work out and eat better but my excuse is, I don’t have time or the weather is bad, but I know it’s just an excuse, or a way for me to get out of doing what I know I am supposed to do.  

When we make an excuse to Jesus do you think he believes the excuse?  Why don’t we just not lie, which is basically what an excuse is, and tell him that we either don’t think he’s right, or that what he has told us to do isn’t important enough to us, to do it.  Ouch!  Right! 

Could you imagine telling Jesus, you know the one who died for you, that you just don’t want to do something he has told you to do?  I am sure Jesus didn’t want to go on the cross to die for me; as a matter of fact I know it.  Because he asked God to remove this cup from him, meaning Father please don’t make me do this, I don’t want to do this.   Though, he didn’t want to do it, because it was a pain that none of us will ever know… he did it!   The second part of that plea to God was but Father if this is what you need me to do I will do it!   I WILL DO IT!

This is what our attitudes need to be like when we get the nudge from the Holy Spirit giving us direction.  We shouldn’t be making excuses or acting like we didn’t hear the Holy Spirit making our flesh crawl with what we are doing wrong.   If you need to, say to God, I don’t want to do this, and if you can, please take this away from me, so I don’t have to endure this change in my life… BUT if this is your will Lord, than I will do it.   

God will appreciate your honesty, more than He will appreciate your excuses.  He will even give you the ability to go through the change, with grace, mercy, patience and love.   He will give you who He is to help you get through the pain of changing.   

Change is something that we all must go through, and will go through until Jesus comes to get us and we are changed in a twinkling of an eye.  We can choose to fight change, surrender to it and ask for God’s help to go through it.   I can tell you either way, change is happening, so take the route that is less painful for yourself, and surrender to it. 

I believe that change is an opportunity, that I don’t always like, but try to stay thankful for.  If the paralyzed man by Bethesda, would have stayed lying on the ground after Jesus commanded him to get up, he would have stayed a paralyzed man for the rest of his life, but he got up!  The man was instantly healed and made well (change) and got up and walked.   

The process of lying there for thirty-eight years was probably very sad for the man by the pool in Bethesda, but the opportunity to change was worth the outcome of healing.  Meaning, when we make it through the change that we need to go through, on the other side of the pain is rest, healing, peace, increased joy and blessings.    

Change doesn’t always have to be this story of doom and gloom, because most of the time after you go through it all, the change that you were resisting is in fact the very thing that has elevated you to a higher sense of self, and closer to being the person God created you to be!!!   

Don’t fight off your change for thirty-eight years… Get Up! Pick Up your Bed and Walk!!! 

 

Are you listening to the instructions of God?

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a high ranked leader who had authority among the Jewish people.  Nicodemus came to Jesus and told Jesus that he knew that Jesus was from God because no one would be able to perform the works and miracles that Jesus had performed unless they were of God.   It took Nicodemus some time before he accepted that Jesus was who he stated to be and it took Nicodemus to see the manifestation of God in Jesus to come to this change of mind. 

There is a level of Nicodemus in every new believer.  To every new believer there is given a measure of Faith ,and to grow your Faith, you have to yourself see changes in your life from God to increase your measure.

When we are given a task, whether it be as a new believer in Christ, or an experienced believer, we are all given tasks to be completed.  When God comes to you, and asks you to do something, he is asking you to do it for him and through him.   He is giving you this opportunity to grow your Faith in him.

God is all knowing, and more than capable of completing the task he gives you, but he uses us his Faithful people, to work through so our Faith and Trust in him grows.  When we look at the task at hand we can very easily become overwhelmed at what we are being asked to do.

You might be asked to start tithing into the kingdom of God, and for you that might be a very big task, and might bring fear and trembling, at the thought of parting with your hard earned money.  We think why does God need my money, why can’t he ask someone else to do this, how is me giving my money going to help me?  

When we give, we are not giving to get something, we are giving to be Faithful to the leading of God.  God doesn’t need your money; he needs to see if you obey him.   The Bible says that if you obey him in the lest of these he can trust you to obey him with larger things.   Meaning if God asks you to do something small and you do it he can then trust you with bigger tasks, because you have proven yourself to be Faithful to his commands. 

There are times when I will walk past a piece of trash lying on the floor, and I will get a nudge in my spirit that I need to pick up that piece of trash and throw it away.  If I walk past the trash and ignore what I was just told I am not obeying God’s commands, and that means I cannot be trusted with something bigger that God wants me to do.   Now, on the other hand, if I walk past the trash turn around and pick it up, and throw it out, as he has instructed me to do, then God will be pleased with me and know that he can now ask me to do bigger things for him, because I obeyed his commands. 

This is how it started for me, it might not be the same for you, but the idea is the same.  God will tell me to let a car pull out in front of me, even though I was in a hurry.  The more I heeded to the instructions of God the bigger my instructions will get.  

I work in marketing and there are times we will receive tickets or vouchers for amusement parks to give to our clients.  I was carrying around four tickets to Hershey park and had asked one of my clients if they wanted the tickets and they told me no.   I began to wonder what am I going to do with these tickets and one day at church I saw this family who had small children.  I was very taken with one of the younger boys, who smiled and waved at me throughout the entire church service. 

After our praise and worship was over I sat down to give my offering and in my spirit I knew I was to give this family these four tickets.  I instantly became nervous wondering how I am ever going to give these tickets to complete strangers.  How would I ever get the nerve to do such a thing?  I am not the kind of person who walks up to complete strangers and says, here I believe God has told me to give these tickets to you.   I didn’t share this information with anyone and never gave them the tickets.

When we left church I felt such a conviction in my spirit that I didn’t do what God was telling me to do, and I felt this way for many days.   I felt bad because I didn’t fulfill what God was asking me to do.   I prayed for many days for God to give me the courage to give these tickets to the family.

For the next couple weeks at church I would look for the family and never see them, and I started to think I missed my chance to bless a family with these tickets.  Still keeping this to myself I continued to pray for God to give me courage. 

After a couple weeks had gone by, I finally saw the family in Church and they were sitting right behind me with the same sweet little boy.  I prayed and asked God to give me the courage and words to give these tickets to them.  Finally right before we were to stand for praise and worship I pulled the tickets out of my bag, turned around to the family and said, hi, I believe that God has told me to give you these tickets for Hershey Park for your family.

I had a million butterflies in my stomach and was shaking because I was so nervous to be stepping out like this.  They looked at me and graciously received the tickets and thanked me for them and I turned around so relieved, that I had finally completed the task that God had called me to do. 

 A couple weeks later, I saw the family again and they handed me a bag and said we went to Hershey Park, and we had a wonderful time, and we wanted to give you something to thank you.  Inside was a giant Hershey’s Kiss and a thank you card with all their signatures on it.  I still get tears in my eyes when I think about that moment.  

What I didn’t know is that this family has many adopted children, and I am sure buying tickets for a family so large would be a great expense.  It filled my heart to know that God knew who I should give this gift too, and that because he gave me the ability and courage to step out in Faith through him, I was able to bless a family. 

Now, I don’t say this to get any praise, as a matter fact there are only two people who know this story at all.  I am telling you this to show you that when God asks you to do something he will give you the ability to complete the task he has asked you to do.

What I did was I looked at my own flesh.  I looked at myself and was consumed with fear and lack of courage, but when I went to God and prayed and asked him to strengthen me, he was able to work through me to bless someone else. 

This all started with me tithing, and when I stepped out in Faith, and gave my tithes to the places I was being taught my Faith and Trust in God grew. 

When I picked up the random pieces of trash I would be instructed to pick up, let the car pull out in front of me, or hold the door open for the person behind me, I was actually serving God and increasing my Faith at the same time. 

As I started to become Faithful in the little things God has increased me and has started asking me to do bigger things for the kingdom of God.  I still have to pray for courage and for God’s strength to complete the tasks I’ve been given, but because I have a foundation of the little tasks I know I can complete the bigger ones he is now asking me to do. 

So just like Nicodemus saw Jesus perform signs and miracles to prove that he was in fact the Son of God, I too can show that I am a child of God’s through the acts I have been asked to complete. 

We never know when someone needs the prayer we have been asked to pray for them, or the smile we share with the person who’s heart has just been broken, we never know how that will impact their day or their walk with God. 

Next time God tells you to put the item back on the shelf where it belongs, instead of the aisle you are standing in, or he instructs you to do something kind for a complete stranger, know that all of these things are for your benefit.  All of these things happen so you can learn to have Faith in God and his ability to work in and through your life.  

Be like Nicodemus and recognize the signs and miracles that are happening around you and know that they are coming to you from God, to enrich your life and bring you closer in your Faith and Trust in him.