And when He SAW their faith

Have you ever thought that tenacity, strategy, determination, ingenuity, thinking outside the box could be characteristics that are very appealing to the Lord. In fact could this be so pleasing to the Lord that He could possibly say, "My child since you have shown me your heart of tenacity and ingenuity in thinking outside of the box and beyond the normal/natural scope of things and have shown a sense of determination I am going to grant to you the desires of your heart."

I was thinking about this the other day after reading about Christ Jesus healing the man with palsy in (Luke 5:18-25) And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

Did You catch that? When Jesus saw their faith He said, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." The men showed their trust and confidence in Jesus by being ingeniously determined to get their friend to Him. The men did what they felt they had to do for their friend and then Jesus took it from there.

Have you heard the old saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat?" No offense cat lovers, I love cats myself, so don't get your panties in a tuft. These men were determined to come up with a strategic way to get their friend to Jesus so that he could be healed and they were dramatically successful in their conquest. Because of their faith and ingenuity, this man so far, has been spiritually healed (his sins have been forgiven).

We must go a little further because this man's physical healing is about to be granted by Christ Jesus as well. And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up they couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that wheron he lay, and departed to his house, glorifying God.

Isn't Jesus cool? The Son of man (Jesus Christ) has not only the power upon earth to forgive sins He also has the power upon earth to heal the body. I can just see the Scribes and Pharisees now, standing there with their mouths agape in total amazement and perplexity.

This account in scripture was a reminder to me by the Holy Spirit that we can possibly stop short of seeing the physical miracles in our lives because we limit our vision of hope. We can look at circumstances as hopeless and get tunnel vision which then causes us to lose our faith/determination and thus we can overlook the one possible way that will birth a miracle. The men had hopes that if they couldn't get their friend through the crowd then they would go over the crowd. They were tenacious, determined and strategic. I can just see Jesus smiling as if to say, "That's my boys! and I am proud of them for showing determination in their quest to get to me and having confidence in me."

If it seems as though it is impossible to get to Jesus because circumstances are blocking the way ,then we must look up and go over them. This is where Faith comes in. Circumstances should never stop us from our pursuit and appointed destination which is Jesus. Jesus is our Hope and He is our Answer both now and forever!

May we all be honest with ourselves and ask this question, "Am I looking up and going over the circumstances in life and trusting in Jesus or have I stopped short by looking at the overwhelming crowds of circumstances in front of me and think that all is hopeless?

Now is the time to hold on and don't let go!

I have an urgency in my spirit to let the Body of Christ know that now is the time to hold on and don't let go, maybe you have had the same urgency and this is just confirmation but nevertheless I am exhorting all to hang on!

Through out scriptures I read passages that exhort us to endure, be steadfast, hang on, don't give up, stay confident. This can be really hard to do when it seems like all hell is breaking loose in our lives. We grow weary and exhausted. Affliction and suffering can come in like a flood pulling us under it's currents and we struggle trying to get a breath. Sorrow hits our hearts like heavy anvils, making us feel abandoned and lonely. We find ourselves growing weary don't we?

At this point we can give up or take hold of faith. I choose to take hold of faith and hang on! The scripture's read that after we have endured for a while we have need of patience and then the promised reward comes, so pick up the shield of faith and quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and stand strong in God's promises, and in confidence proclaim them. The sufferings here is nothing to be compared with the glory and joy that we will behold in the presence of Christ Jesus for all eternity.

God is not slack concerning his promise, but He wants none to perish, so now is not the time to begin back peddling, now is the time to move forward in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. Now is the time to rise-up and lift up our eyes for our redemption draweth near. Now is the time to lift the banner, speak the Word and be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! We must not look around but look up! Now is the time to embrace hope, faith and love. Now is the time to walk in the fullness of God. We must look to Him and set our face like a flint for the glory of the Lord has risen upon us!

I have heard it said that when you find yourself at the end of your rope tie a knot in it and hang on. When you have stood and done all that you know to do then keep STANDING and stand strong. God is Faithful, His Word is True. When everything else perishes God's Word will stand sure and that is what we want to be standing on when everything else collapses for that is our Hope and our Faith!

Now is the time to make sure that we have on the full armor of God and hold on and don't let go!

Doubt-vs-Faith

I received a devotional written by James McDonald via e-mail and thought it worthy to share.

Doubt vs. Faith
James McDonald
Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please [God]. Christians don't generally set out to doubt God. They don't bring their faith into question without reason. For most of us, life's pain simply catches us off guard. The reality of hardship trips us up. We spiral fast when we're left on our own to entertain doubting questions and stir our circular reasoning--or even worse, when we're left alone in the company of other doubters or bitter people.
Someone has said that doubt is cancer of the soul. Like a machete to your garden, and like a match to your house, doubt is the toxin that eats away at the fabric of the most important thing about you--what you believe about God.
However, if in times of doubt we take our questions directly to the Lord, our faith increases. God's Word and God's character can stand under the most microscopic scrutiny. When you say, I don't know exactly what God is doing, but I know He's doing something for my good -- that's the unseen evidence of trusting Him. Don't feel foolish waiting upon God to meet your needs. I certainly don't. God has proven Himself faithful to keep His promises.
Doubt is a lack of confidence or assurance that God will keep His promises. Faith is an active confidence in God. Faith is substance. Faith is evidence. Faith is the power of a vibrant spiritual life. In fact, "without faith it is impossible to please him" (Hebrews 11:6).So is "having faith" the important thing in life? Contrary to the opinion of a lot of sincere people--no. Faith for faith's sake doesn't go anywhere. Faith doesn't have any magic. Faith in itself doesn't save you; it can't help you; it doesn't give you anything you need to overcome trials. But faith is the thing that gets you to God -- and not faith in His promises, but faith in Him.I love the song we sing as a church called, "All Things Are Possible." A while back, a man came to me and said, "You know that 'all things are possible' song? People just get too rowdy when they sing that song. If you don't stop singing that song, I'm going to have to leave the church." And I was sorry to see him go. I don't think any of our problems are that we're too fired up about the promises of God as it relates to our faith. I don't think God looks down on us and says, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you guys are just a little too excited about Me."
Put your doubts aside. All things are possible in Christ. Oh loved ones, if we would lay hold, even for a moment, of all that He would like to do for us if we would just believe Him.

The Great Adventure!

One of my favorite songs by Steven Curtis Chapman is "Saddle up your horses" on his album titled: "The Great Adventure." Ever since I was a little girl I have loved horses. Maybe it is because when I was little I can remember going and visiting my Grandmother in Ohio and I would watch my Dad ride on this big beautiful horse that my Grandmother's neighbors owned. He would get on the horse bareback and would run him as fast as the wind. I could sense the power of the horse as I watched my Dad ride her. I also could sense the excitement of my Dad as he anticipated the fast ride as if it was a ride of freedom!

I use to love to go fast but the older I get I find cruising is more my speed. I now have a tendency to be more cautious and have slowed down a bit.

But when I was a little girl my Dad would take me for rides on his motorcycle and that was a thrill of a lifetime for me. Feeling the wind blow through my hair was fullness of joy. Of course he had to go fast because I wasn't content with him just puttering along. I would tell him: "faster Daddy faster!" I am sure it made my mom a nervous wreck. I can remember my Dad saying: "okay honey I will go a little faster but I am not going to go any faster than this." But I would still beg all the more for him to go faster, "faster Daddy faster!" I'm sure there were times that he went faster than my mom would approved of, but nevertheless I am thankful for those memories as a child.

I can remember having no fear on those motorcycle rides with my Dad. As far as I was concerned harm couldn't touch me because after all I was with my Daddy. I felt totally safe and protected in his care.

I am so thankful for all the good memories that I have as a child with my Dad, because it has made it easier for me to relate to my Heavenly Father. Just as I trusted my Dad while on those fast motorcycle rides, I trust my Heavenly Father while in the fast lane of "LIFE."

It's a Great Adventure living this life of Faith. You really never know what is going to happen from one day to the next. Each day we live we will experience life's ups and downs. But I know that as long as I am riding with the Lord (my Heavenly Daddy) I have nothing to fear because He is the one in control.

It is up to each one of us to choose to make our time with the Lord an exciting time of trusting Him or a worrisome time of fearing what each day may hold.

This is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it!

I am going to make the best of each new day that the Lord gives me so that I can experience the Great adventure of Faith in Him and with Him.

Just like being on that motorcycle with my Dad and feeling the cool breeze blow upon me, I will enjoy feeling the refreshing winds of the Holy Spirit blow upon me as well. Just as the winds blew through my hair as I trusted my Daddy on those fast motorcycle rides I will trust My Heavenly Father with His refreshing winds.

Now the question needs to be asked, are you trusting your Heavenly Daddy while riding in this Great Adventure called Life and holding onto Him?"

Tenacity will take you up and over

Have you ever thought that tenacity, strategy, determination, ingenuity, thinking outside the box could be characteristics that are very appealing to the Lord. In fact could this be so pleasing to the Lord that He could possibly say, "My child since you have shown me your heart of tenacity and ingenuity in thinking outside of the box and beyond the normal/natural scope of things and have shown a sense of determination I am going to grant to you the desires of your heart."

I was thinking about this the other day after reading about Christ Jesus healing the man with palsy in (Luke 5:18-25) And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

Did You catch that? When Jesus saw their faith He said, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." The men showed their trust and confidence in Jesus by being ingeniously determined to get their friend to Him. The men did what they felt they had to do for their friend and then Jesus took it from there.

Have you heard the old saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat?" No offense cat lovers, I love cats myself, so don't get your panties in a tuft. These men were determined to come up with a strategic way to get their friend to Jesus so that he could be healed and they were dramatically successful in their conquest. Because of their faith and ingenuity, this man so far, has been spiritually healed (his sins have been forgiven).

We must go a little further because this man's physical healing is about to be granted by Christ Jesus as well. And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up they couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that wheron he lay, and departed to his house, glorifying God.

Isn't Jesus cool? The Son of man (Jesus Christ) has not only the power upon earth to forgive sins which is spiritual but He also has the power upon earth to heal the body which of course is physical. I can just see the Scribes and Pharisees now, standing there with their mouths agape in total amazement and perplexity.

This story was a subtle reminder to me by the Holy Spirit that we can possibly stop short of seeing the physical miracles in our lives because we limit our vision of hope. We can look at circumstances as hopeless and get tunnel vision which then causes us to lose our faith/determination and thus we can overlook the one possible way that will birth a miracle. The men had hopes that if they couldn't get their friend through the crowd then they would go over the crowd. They were tenacious, determined and strategic. I can just see Jesus smiling as if to say, "That's my boys! and I am so proud of them for showing so much determination in their quest to get to me and having confidence in me."

If it seems as though it is impossible to get to Jesus because circumstances are blocking the way ,then we must look up and go over them. Circumstances should never stop us from our pursuit and appointed destination which is Jesus. Jesus is our Hope and He is our Answer both now and forever!

May we all be honest with ourselves and ask this question, "Am I looking up and going over the circumstances in life and trusting in Jesus or have I stopped short by looking at the overwhelming crowds of circumstances in front of me and think that all is hopeless?

Put on JESUS!

The Word of God says that our battle is not carnal but spiritual in the pulling down of strongholds. The Word of God says for us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and put on the whole armour of God for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities and the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places. Put on the whole armour of God so that you can stand against the tricks (remember, all he has is tricks) of the evil one and in that day after you have done all stand.

Put on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of Truth, the shoes for the preparation of the Gospel of peace, above all else take up the shield of faith so that you can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take up the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

The way I understand these scriptures, is that they are not saying we don't battle in a physical sense. But that the underlying cause for the battle is always a spiritual one. This is where the real battle lies. For example, the war in Iraq. There is a physical battle going on, but the underlying cause for the battle in Iraq is a spiritual one. This is why it is so very important for us as Christians to make sure that we fight in this battle spiritually and pray for our troops that are over there.

Only prayer and the speaking of God's Word in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit is what brings forth the ultimate victory every time. Eventually the enemy will be totally defeated in this world. Just read the book of Revelation. Jesus wins!

Right now we are experiencing spiritual warfare as well as physical warfare. We are not defeated if Jesus is Lord of our lives, placing our trust in Him and lining our lives up with what the Word of God says about us. When we are spiritually clothed with the armour of God we are actually clothed with Christ Jesus. He is our Armour. For example when we have on the helmet of salvation, we are covered with the salvation of Jesus Christ. It is by and through Jesus that we are saved. When we have on the breastplate of Righteousness we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. In and of ourselves our righteousness is as filthy rags, but the Word of God says that through salvation we have become the righteousness of Christ Jesus. When we gird ourselves with the belt of Truth, spiritually speaking we gird ourselves with Jesus, for He is the Truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man comes unto the Father except through Jesus. And when we know the Truth (Jesus), the Truth will set us free. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. When we have on the shoes for the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, we are wearing the Good News upon our feet, and every where we go we bring the Gospel which is the Good News. By the way the Good News is salvation through Christ Jesus. So He is the Good News! And when we cover our feet with Him we can have perfect peace which passes understanding no matter where we are at. He will keep you in perfect peace who's mind is stayed on Him. Above all else take up the shield of Faith. Jesus is our Faith. We believe by Faith in the Son of God. When our Faith is in Him the fiery darts of the enemy will be quenched and will never penetrate our hearts. Our wounds would be less if we would only lift up our shield of Faith (Hold up Jesus)! It is in the Name of Jesus that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The enemy is defeated. Take up the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Jesus is the Word. In the beginning was the Word the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! Yes! that would be Christ Jesus Himself.

When we clothe ourselves in Jesus (who is the Armour of God) the enemy doesn't have a chance. Ha Ha! And the Word of God says that God laughs at the enemy! The enemy is small in comparison to our God. One day we are going to find out just how scrawny he really is. It will be unbelievable, for the Word of God says, that the people will ask, "Is this he who tormented the nations?"

May we get a spiritual vision of the enemy so that we can laugh at his attacks even now as we stand clothed in Jesus!
For He (Jesus) that is in you is greater than he (enemy) that is in the world!
And God has made us more than conquerors and an overcomer in Christ Jesus!