Faith?

160605Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!” This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. (Luke 7:11-17, NRSV)

Jesus saw this woman and knew she had just lost her only son and was moved with compassion for her. He told her to stop crying and raised her son from the dead.

Jesus was moved with compassion and did what no one asked for.

Sure the mother probably wanted her son back, but she did not ask. Jesus did not ask her if He could help her. He just did it.

Give thanks to God for the things He gives us that we don’t ask for, the good and the bad. And remember that He is always near to hear our cries.

And thank Him that our faith can be weak, or wandering and He will still be there, even when we don’t seek Him.

He is always there.

Trust

160604But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.
Do not let me be put to shame, O LORD,
for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
Let the lying lips be stilled
that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.
O how abundant is your goodness
that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of everyone!
In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from human plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
from contentious tongues.
Blessed be the LORD,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege.
I had said in my alarm,
“I am driven far from your sight.”
But you heard my supplications
when I cried out to you for help.
Love the LORD, all you his saints.
The LORD preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD.
(Psalm 31:14-24, NRSV)

Just like a father cares for and looks after his children, so I look to God. My protector.

I trust in God to be there for me.

Not to always stop me from wandering, but always there to lead me back home.

Just like my father protected me, but let me learn, so I believe God is one I can and do put my trust in.

He is always there for me and you.

stand firm

160603Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet “in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay; but my righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.” But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. (Hebrews 10:35-11:2, NRSV)

Do not lose confidence in what we know are the promises of God. Through this assurance we will gain endurance to stand firm against everything that will try to break us down.

We will live strong by faith, when we hold to the promises and live by faith! An assurance in the things we have hoped for, the understanding that the things we can not see now are true and will come to be.

So stand firm in your faith. Knowing God is always with you.

Shout it out

160602They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. (Mark 10:46-52, NRSV)

What do you want me to do for you?

What would you say if Jesus asked you that?

For Bartimaeus (which literally means Son of Timaeus) it was easy, ” Let me see again.” So he wasn’t blind at birth, but lost his sight at some point and now wants to see again.

And to get Jesus attention, when he knows He is near, he shouts out to Him. Have mercy on me! And when he is told to be quiet, he shouts all the louder.

So sometimes we just have to get the attention of someone and we have to shout it out. Be ready to make some noise and let yourself be heard. Jesus will hear you and respond.

Great Faith

160601Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.  (Matthew 15:21-28, NRSV)

This passage has always made me stop and think. It is out of the ordinary from what we expect and usually see from Jesus.

The woman was a Canaanite and not a part of the house of Israel, and Jesus says He came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

But she was persistent in her asking Jesus to help her daughter. She knew that Jesus could heal her daughter and that even a morsel of His food would be enough to make her well. Even those who aren’t “worthy” get the same as those who are, just differently.

Because of her persistence and her understanding, she is commended and her daughter healed.

Have her faith, knowing that Jesus is always with us. And be persistent in your daily praying, knowing that God is always listening.

Pray Daily

160601-NLLast month I wrote about the Marks of Discipleship set forth by Michael Foss in his book Power Surge. This month we will dive into the first mark of Pray daily.

Praying is a foreboding task that most of us shy away from. We think we will say the wrong thing, use the wrong words, stumble over our thoughts and just get it wrong. As if there is actually a wrong way to pray.

In order to understand though what it means to pray daily we need to know what pray means. M-W.com defines pray as:

Transitive verb

1:  entreat, implore —often used as a function word in introducing a question, request, or plea<pray be careful>

 

2:  to get or bring by praying

Intransitive verb

1:  to make a request in a humble manner

2:  to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving

So to pray in our understanding is to make a request in a humble manner or to address God.

Even these definitions get us hung up on the immensity of prayer. Pray is requesting something or telling God what we did wrong or asking God to help others, or thanking God for what we have. That makes it sounds, in my opinion, all stuffy! So if it is just asking for stuff, for us and others and thanking God, why did Paul tell the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing? (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

We are supposed to constantly be asking God for something or thanking Him for what we have. Well yes and no.

Have you ever had a friend that you would call at say 9 pm and just be talking away and it seems like no time has passed and one of you looks at the time and it is 3 in the morning? Ok maybe an exaggeration, maybe not, but you have friends with whom you just get lost in the conversation. That is what God wants prayer to be. That is the kind of connect God wants. He wants to hear the little details, the heartfelt losses, the joys that make you jump. God wants to be connected with you. And for us to truly be disciples we need to have that connect to God, and connect takes relationship and relationship takes communication.

Praying isn’t stuffy asking and thanking, pray is talking to God. Praying is calling your friend and getting lost in the conversation.

So this month get lost in conversation with God, knowing He is always there with you. And pray daily, growing as a disciple of Jesus!

 

trusting Jesus

160531Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the members of God’s family who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!  Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:1-12, NRSV)

How easy is it to go back to old ways?

It is really easy, and not what we are supposed to do. Christ called us away from the old ways, into the new covenant.

There is no other good news for us, then Jesus, who died for us, and rose again to set all of us free from anything that might enslave us to serve God and others.

We can not look back, but must continue to focus on Jesus.

whose faith

160530One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus;  but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  (Luke 5:17-20, NRSV)

Whose faith healed the man on the mat?

When Jesus saw his faith…

Nope that isn’t what it says.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

Actually Jesus never healed him, He forgave his sins. And it wasn’t anything the man on the mat did, but his friends that were carrying him.

This is why we celebrate and worship in a community.

This is why it is important for all of us to gather together on days to worship. Not because you need to worship or you will get something out of it, but because someone may need to see you, or a word you say to someone might make all the difference in their week.

We are held together by our faith and the faith of another can heal you.

faith

160529After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof;  therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.  For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.”  When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. (Luke 7:1-10, NRSV)

The faith of the centurion is something that is held up from this verse. Because he sends Jewish elders to Jesus to have Him come and heal a slave. Now the slave is a good slave and is valued highly. It isn’t just that the centurion will lose a good slave, but he actually cares for this slave. And when the centurion hears that Jesus is coming to his home he sends friends to Jesus to say, just say that the slave is healed and I know he will be healed. The centurion doesn’t go to Jesus. He is sending others to Jesus.

So is it faith in Jesus, or the fact the centurion knows the orders will be followed?

You see the problem I have with this set of verses is that if I ask for someone to be healed, made well, and they die, does that mean that my faith isn’t good enough? Or I didn’t believe enough?

This centurion had faith in those whom he ordered to do something would do it. He trusted that what was said would be done. He believed Jesus was a healer and could heal his slave.

And we can believe, trust and have that faith as well, and still not get the answer we want. Healing as we want it is not based on faith. Healing as God will do in His will is what will come in answer to prayer, and nothing more. God’s mission and ministry will be done, and this centurion showed trust in Jesus being able to heal, and a trust that was not found in anyone else at the time. And Jesus commended him for that, but that is not why He healed the slave, that was in God’s will.

Have faith in Jesus, that He is the only son of God and He came to help us see how God wants us to live.

Have trust that Jesus is always with us, and walks through our journeys with us.

Believe in all the promises, and hold fast to them. And ask for anything in the name of Jesus and if it is in the will of God it will be done for you.