Faith?

When Jesus, Peter, James, and John approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them and legal experts arguing with them. Suddenly the whole crowd caught sight of Jesus. They ran to greet him, overcome with excitement. Jesus asked them, “What are you arguing about?” Someone from the crowd responded, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, since he has a spirit that doesn’t allow him to speak. Wherever it overpowers him, it throws him into a fit. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and stiffens up. So I spoke to your disciples to see if they could throw it out, but they couldn’t.” Jesus answered them, “You faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring him to me.” They brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a fit. He fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been going on?” He said, “Since he was a child. It has often thrown him into a fire or into water trying to kill him. If you can do anything, help us! Show us compassion!” Jesus said to him, “‘If you can do anything’? All things are possible for the one who has faith.” At that the boy’s father cried out, “I have faith; help my lack of faith!” Noticing that the crowd had surged together, Jesus spoke harshly to the unclean spirit, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again.” After screaming and shaking the boy horribly, the spirit came out. The boy seemed to be dead; in fact, several people said that he had died. But Jesus took his hand, lifted him up, and he arose. After Jesus went into a house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we throw this spirit out?” Jesus answered, “Throwing this kind of spirit out requires prayer.” (Mark 9:14-29, CEB)

“I have faith; help my lack of faith!”

I have faith but sometimes I wonder.

I wonder if my faith is enough.

If I believe, really believe.

Do I trust God? Do I really trust God?

The man said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, help us!”

Do we believe that God can do whatever God wants to?

Do you have faith to follow where God is calling and leading you to go?

Do you trust God with your life?

If you can do it Go, help me!

But yet, God can, and can will always be there for us, for you.

Trust that.

Believe that.

Have faith in God.

Loving People. Loving God.

Serve

It’s unnecessary for me to write to you about this service for God’s people. I know about your willingness to help. I brag about you to the Macedonians, saying, “Greece has been ready since last year,” and your enthusiasm has motivated most of them. But I’m sending the brothers so that our bragging about you in this case won’t be empty words, and so that you can be prepared, just as I keep telling them you will be. If some Macedonians should come with me and find out that you aren’t ready, we (not to mention you) would be embarrassed as far as this project goes. This is why I thought it was necessary to encourage the brothers to go to you ahead of time and arrange in advance the generous gift you have already promised. I want it to be a real gift from you. I don’t want you to feel like you are being forced to give anything. (2 Corinthians 9:1-5, CEB)

The Corinthians got it.

Service is a part of our life as followers of Jesus.

We put the needs of others before our own and we give what we can to help others.

Do you live a life of service?

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Live for grace

But thank God, who put the same commitment that I have for you in Titus’ heart. Not only has he accepted our challenge but he’s on his way to see you voluntarily, and he’s excited. We are sending the brother who is famous in all the churches because of his work for the gospel along with him. In addition to this, he is chosen by the churches to be our traveling companion in this work of grace, which we are taking care of for the sake of the glory of the Lord himself, and to show our desire to help. We are trying to avoid being blamed by anyone for the way we take care of this large amount of money. We care about doing the right thing, not only in the Lord’s eyes but also in the eyes of other people. We are sending our brother with them. We have tested his commitment in many ways and many times. Now he’s even more committed, because he has so much confidence in you. If there is any question about Titus, he is my partner and coworker among you. If there is any question about our brothers, they are the churches’ apostles and an honor to Christ. So show them the proof of your love and the reason we are so proud of you, in such a way that the churches can see it. (2 Corinthians 8:16-24, CEB)

Imagine someone writing a community you are going to about you. Will they write about you like Paul writes here about Titus?

Someone who has the love of the people he has not yet seen in his heart. He loves them before meeting them.

And he is one who shares God grace and looks out for others.

Is this how people see you living your life?

How will people write about you?

Love like Jesus

Loving People. Loving God.

Unexpected

Jesus crossed the lake again, and on the other side a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, came forward. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded with him, “My daughter is about to die. Please, come and place your hands on her so that she can be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him. A swarm of people were following Jesus, crowding in on him. A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a lot under the care of many doctors, and had spent everything she had without getting any better. In fact, she had gotten worse. Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. She was thinking, If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll be healed. Her bleeding stopped immediately, and she sensed in her body that her illness had been healed. At that very moment, Jesus recognized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples said to him, “Don’t you see the crowd pressing against you? Yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus looked around carefully to see who had done it. The woman, full of fear and trembling, came forward. Knowing what had happened to her, she fell down in front of Jesus and told him the whole truth. He responded, “Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace, healed from your disease.” While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?” But Jesus overheard their report and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” He didn’t allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John, James’ brother. They came to the synagogue leader’s house, and he saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “What’s all this commotion and crying about? The child isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.” They laughed at him, but he threw them all out. Then, taking the child’s parents and his disciples with him, he went to the room where the child was. Taking her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Young woman, get up.” Suddenly the young woman got up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old. They were shocked! He gave them strict orders that no one should know what had happened. Then he told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5:21-43, CEB)

We think we know what will happen with Jesus because of our lived experiences and yet God is not contained by our experiences or our world.

The woman who had paid all her money and still was living in pain and in need of curing touched the hem of Jesus’ robe out of faith from what she had heard about him. She was afraid she would be shunned, stoned, or worse. Jesus knew she touched him and wanted to know who it was.

And the daughter of Jarius was thought to be dead, and according to human standards maybe was, but God is not controlled by our world.

We need to expect the unexpected and live by faith knowing that God has more in store for us than we can imagine.

Expect the unexpected.

Love Like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Demon scream

Jesus went down to the city of Capernaum in Galilee and taught the people each Sabbath. They were amazed by his teaching because he delivered his message with authority. A man in the synagogue had the spirit of an unclean demon. He screamed, “Hey! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God.” “Silence!” Jesus said, speaking harshly to the demon. “Come out of him!” The demon threw the man down before them, then came out of him without harming him. They were all shaken and said to each other, “What kind of word is this, that he can command unclean spirits with authority and power, and they leave?” Reports about him spread everywhere in the surrounding region. (Luke 4:31-37, CEB)

Why did the demon scream? Yes they knew who Jesus was unlike those around them, but if the demon had been quiet, would Jesus have known they were there?

Jesus told them to be quiet and come out of the person, and when people saw this they were shaken and afraid and wondered at the power and authority.

What would you do if you saw this?

Would you be shaken, afraid? Would you run in fear? Would you question what had happened, or wonder about the one doing the casting out of the demon?

How would this impact your faith?

Loving People. Loving God.

Grace

Brothers and sisters, we want to let you know about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia. While they were being tested by many problems, their extra amount of happiness and their extreme poverty resulted in a surplus of rich generosity. I assure you that they gave what they could afford and even more than they could afford, and they did it voluntarily. They urgently begged us for the privilege of sharing in this service for the saints. They even exceeded our expectations, because they gave themselves to the Lord first and to us, consistent with God’s will. As a result, we challenged Titus to finish this work of grace with you the way he had started it. Be the best in this work of grace in the same way that you are the best in everything, such as faith, speech, knowledge, total commitment, and the love we inspired in you. (2 Corinthians 8:1-7, CEB)

Grace is when you get what you didn’t earn. When we give love and mercy to those around us we get grace, not because we earned it, but because we are giving what we may not have to help others.

Always love first and see to the needs of others, with no concern for yourself. You are receiving from others doing the same.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Called out…

Make room in your hearts for us. We didn’t do anything wrong to anyone. We didn’t ruin anyone. We didn’t take advantage of anyone. I’m not saying this to make you feel guilty. I’ve already said that you are in our hearts so that we die and live together with you. I have every confidence in you. I’m terribly proud of you. I’m filled with encouragement. I’m overwhelmed with happiness while in the middle of our problems. Even after we arrived in Macedonia, we couldn’t rest physically. We were surrounded by problems. There was external conflict, and there were internal fears. However, God comforts people who are discouraged, and he comforted us by Titus’ arrival. We weren’t comforted only by his arrival but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your desire to see me, how you were sorry, and about your concern for me, so that I was even happier. Even though my letter hurt you, I don’t regret it. Well—I did regret it just a bit because I see that that letter made you sad, though only for a short time. Now I’m glad—not because you were sad but because you were made sad enough to change your hearts and lives. You felt godly sadness so that no one was harmed by us in any way. Godly sadness produces a changed heart and life that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets, but sorrow under the influence of the world produces death. Look at what this very experience of godly sadness has produced in you: such enthusiasm, what a desire to clear yourselves of blame, such indignation, what fear, what purpose, such concern, what justice! In everything you have shown yourselves to be innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it wasn’t for the sake of the one who did wrong, or for the sake of the one who was wronged, but to show you your own enthusiasm for us in the sight of God. Because of this we have been encouraged. And in addition to our own encouragement, we were even more pleased at how happy Titus was. His mind has been put at rest by all of you. If I’ve bragged about you to him in any way, I haven’t been embarrassed. Instead, our bragging to Titus has also been proven to be true, just like everything we said to you was true. His devotion to you is growing even more as he remembers how all of you were obedient when you welcomed him with fear and trembling. I’m happy, because I can completely depend on you. (2 Corinthians 7:2-16, CEB)

This is part of a letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the first letter he wrote to them about their behavior and how he called them out on it. He explained how they were acting was not in line with what they were taught or how God wants them to behave.

I honestly can say I do not personally like it when someone calls me out like this. I do not like constructive criticism, because I usually take it as a personal attack. That is a growing edge for me and hopefully, by writing about it here I can move forward and be more open to the help my sisters and brothers are offering and see it as a way to better myself and live into the life God has set before me. We all fall short of where God planned for us to be, and need the help of others around us. We should heed the leading of those around us who love us and want us to be the person God created us to be.

None of us can go this life alone and we need others around us to guide us and lead us. Don’t be discouraged and when a sibling in Christ offers a constructive criticism see it as love and lean into the life God has given you.

Know we are not alone.

Love like Jesus

Loving People. Loving God.

Ghosted…

Right then, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and go ahead to the other side of the lake, toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying good-bye to them, Jesus went up onto a mountain to pray. Evening came and the boat was in the middle of the lake, but he was alone on the land. He saw his disciples struggling. They were trying to row forward, but the wind was blowing against them. Very early in the morning, he came to them, walking on the lake. He intended to pass by them. When they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost and they screamed. Seeing him was terrifying to all of them. Just then he spoke to them, “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.” He got into the boat, and the wind settled down. His disciples were so baffled they were beside themselves. That’s because they hadn’t understood about the loaves. Their minds had been closed so that they resisted God’s ways. (Mark 6:45-52, CEB)

The disciples thought they were being ghosted…

Jesus was walking on the water after he sent the disciples ahead of him across the sea. They saw him but didn’t know it was him. So they were frightened by what they saw, until he spoke to them and told them they didn’t need to be afraid.

Know that even when we don’t know Jesus is there, Jesus is there. We may not recognize him at first either, but he is there.

Loving People. Loving God.

Paul

In the morning light they saw a bay with a sandy beach. They didn’t know what land it was, but they thought they might possibly be able to run the ship aground. They cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that ran back to the rudders. They raised the foresail to catch the wind and made for the beach. But they struck a sandbar and the ship ran aground. The bow was stuck and wouldn’t move, and the stern was broken into pieces by the force of the waves. The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming to shore and escaping. However, the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he stopped them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and head for land. He ordered the rest to grab hold of planks or debris from the ship. In this way, everyone reached land safely. (Acts 27:39-44, CEB)

The centurion wanted to save Paul so he didn’t allow any of the soldiers to kill any prisoners. They all survived and made it to shore.

When we believe and follow God, God will always be with us through whatever we face and will work through ways that may not seem like the paths we would choose.

Trust God.

Loving People. Loving God.

sailing

When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they could carry out their plan. They pulled up anchor and sailed closely along the coast of Crete. Before long, a hurricane-strength wind known as a northeaster swept down from Crete. The ship was caught in the storm and couldn’t be turned into the wind. So we gave in to it, and it carried us along. After sailing under the shelter of an island called Cauda, we were able to control the lifeboat only with difficulty. They brought the lifeboat aboard, then began to wrap the ship with cables to hold it together. Fearing they might run aground on the sandbars of the Gulf of Syrtis, they lowered the anchor and let the ship be carried along. We were so battered by the violent storm that the next day the men began throwing cargo overboard. On the third day, they picked up the ship’s gear and hurled it into the sea. When neither the sun nor the moon appeared for many days and the raging storm continued to pound us, all hope of our being saved from this peril faded. For a long time no one had eaten. Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have complied with my instructions not to sail from Crete. Then we would have avoided this damage and loss. Now I urge you to be encouraged. Not one of your lives will be lost, though we will lose the ship. Last night an angel from the God to whom I belong and whom I worship stood beside me. The angel said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul! You must stand before Caesar! Indeed, God has also graciously given you everyone sailing with you.’ Be encouraged, men! I have faith in God that it will be exactly as he told me. However, we must run aground on some island.” On the fourteenth night, we were being carried across the Adriatic Sea. Around midnight the sailors began to suspect that land was near. They dropped a weighted line to take soundings and found the water to be about one hundred twenty feet deep. After proceeding a little farther, we took soundings again and found the water to be about ninety feet deep. Afraid that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they hurled out four anchors from the stern and began to pray for daylight. The sailors tried to abandon the ship by lowering the lifeboat into the sea, pretending they were going to lower anchors from the bow. Paul said to the centurion and his soldiers, “Unless they stay in the ship, you can’t be saved from peril.” The soldiers then cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away. Just before daybreak, Paul urged everyone to eat. He said, “This is the fourteenth day you’ve lived in suspense, and you’ve not had even a bite to eat. I urge you to take some food. Your health depends on it. None of you will lose a single hair from his head.” After he said these things, he took bread, gave thanks to God in front of them all, then broke it and began to eat. Everyone was encouraged and took some food. (In all, there were two hundred seventy-six of us on the ship.) When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. (Acts 27:13-38, CEB)

It is interesting to me that this story is in Acts about Paul but not in any of Paul’s letters. The details are intense, and the story is gripping. Paul is telling them they shouldn’t have sailed when the storm hits because he told them before they left not to go yet. And then he reminds them that they have to stay with the ship if they want to survive, if they get off the ship no one will survive.

So they listen to Paul and they all survive. Paul also gets all the people to eat.

And remember Paul is a prisoner during all of this. It seems to me that Paul would have written about this in his letters at some point. But we can also see that when we follow where God is leading us, God will always be with us.

God doesn’t give us what we can handle, God helps us handle what we are given.

Loving People. Loving God.