JESUS SPEAKING

             A blind man calls out to Jesus saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” […] So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to him.  And when he had come near, he asked him, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?”  He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”  And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God.  And all of the people when they saw it, gave praise to God (Luke 18: 40-43.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

             There are two people in this scripture; a blind man, and God; there is a man in need, and there is the God who can fulfill that need.  The man’s belief in God’s ability to provide him with his sight was worthy of praise from God.  Jesus himself pointed to the man’s faith saying, “your faith has made you well.”  God honors faith in man, while man honors God by praising Him for the needs that He fulfills in the lives of those who ask Him.  The man who was healed followed Jesus and outwardly praised God’s miracle.  Those who witnessed the healing, as well, gave praise and honor to God for what he had done.  What is it you need? 

             Before I new Jesus Christ I was sitting in a one bedroom apartment, doing drugs and hording things; staying up all night, thinking of killing myself.  I had an answering machine that was completely full of messages (I was fearful of listening to them.)  I had a warrant out for my arrest; I had no money in the bank; I had been writing bad checks; I spent some time in a psychiatric facility.  I had already attempted suicide but failed.  I was smoking cigarettes out of the trays because I couldn’t afford a new pack.  I believed I was one of the world’s smartest people and that no one truly understood me.  I couldn’t hold down a job, or even look for one.  Laziness had swallowed me up.  I was watching huge amounts of pornography.  My laundry was dirty, there was garbage lying around my apartment.  I had nearly died of an overdose; in that moment when I was near death, I cried out to God, “Jesus Help me.”  I didn’t know it at the time, but as I look back, that was the moment my life began to change.  Jesus Christ began his work in me.  Everything I needed, he began to provide.  Soon after I was shipped out to California to get sober; I began working full time; I began showering, doing laundry, paying bills.  I began to get healthy physically; I began praying daily and growing closer to God.  I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, and began to read the bible on my lunch breaks.  I bought a car, and began to pay off my old bills.  I started to call my family.  I discontinued fornicating, and watching pornography.  I started to tell other people about what God had done for me; I started buying things for strangers, helping orphans, doing ministry.  Today, I sit and listen to people and take time to give people rides.  I teach bible studies and pray for others.  I look around my room today and it is neat and tidy; the books are neatly placed upon the shelves, the floor is clean; my laundry is hanging and folded.  Everything is swept and in order.   I no longer smoke cigarettes, chew tobacco, or drink alcohol.  I’m working full time in a care giving field.   I love and feel deep empathy for other people today.  My heart has come alive.  My mind has been healed, and the insanity has left me.

             I had cried out in desperation just like the blind man, and just like the blind man, I had been healed.  The man I am today is not the result of my doing but of God’s doing.  My life had gone from Chaos to order because God is Good; because he hears the cries of those who seek Him.  God receives all of the honor, and all of the glory, and all of the praise for the dead man He brought back to life.  Praise God for all of his wonderful works.

             What chaos remains in your life?  What insanity is their still inside of you?  Cry out to Him and He will hear you.  Ask Him in desperation and your needs will be met?  For God is good, and He can and will provide you with a miracle, if you are only willing to ask Him, and let him lead you!  Life for you will never be the same; give Him that opportunity.

             “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You now and we thank You for all of the lives that You have changed.  You are so awesome, and so praise worthy.  So we praise You now.  May all honor and glory be Yours.  Give us what we need Lord, and increase our faith, that we may know Your power and experience Your goodness.  Heal us now from anything that is a sickness in us, and give us new hearts, with new desires.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.             

JESUS SPEAKING

                “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them” (Mathew 18: 19-20.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                God has always desired to dwell within groups of people.  In the Old Testament, the Jewish people wandered in the desert for forty years.  They traveled from place to place, setting up camp where ever God directed them too.  Everyone had a tent, but God dwelled in the tabernacle tent, set up right in the middle of the people.  The idea being, that God was at the center of their nation; He was brought them together.  The Jews shared many things; language, ethnicity, physical features, common practices; but only God could make them one.  Jesus said that in order for him to be present among them, or in the midst of them (dwelling at the center of the group), two or three, or more had to be gathered together.  The Lord promised that their common prayers would be answered by God.  God was meant to be shared; God was meant to bring the believers together; it was impossible to separate fellowship from a true belief in Jesus Christ.  This was reflected when Christ taught his followers how to pray.  He taught them to pray saying, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; and give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us; and lead us not in to temptation, but deliver us out of the hands of the evil one; for Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.”  There is no ‘I’ or ‘my,’ in this prayer; instead there is an ‘us’ and an ‘our.’  God is to be shared between people.  He is meant to be at the center of every relationship, of every group, and of every heart.

                I have been privileged to answer prayer lines at church.  Many callers are in very serious spiritual conditions.  Many are in drug addiction; some are noticeably intoxicated over the phone.  Many have serious emotional problems.  Many are also stuck in some sin; adultery, fornication, dishonesty, etc.  One thing seems to tie many of these struggling people together; when asked where they attend fellowship, many say, “I don’t attend fellowship anywhere right now.”  I ask them, ‘are you a part of a small group bible study;’ many reply, “No, I used to be, but not now.”  I ask, ‘where are you serving;’ they answer, “nowhere, but I have been thinking about getting involved.” I say, ‘do you have any close friends or Christians you talk to on a regular basis;’ often the answer is, “No, not really.”  Somewhere along the way, many got the wrong impression; they came to believe they could have a relationship with Jesus Christ in the absence of others.  They began to move away from God, and the result was selfishness, isolation, and disconnection.  Closeness with God is often directly proportional to a person’s closeness with others.  God brings people together, sin pushes people apart.

                Fellowship is essential for all who believe in God.  Without communion with other believers, there is no way to share God and experience the true love of Jesus Christ.  Our faith is not exercised in a vacuum; God hears common requests that are lifted up to him in gatherings.  If you are not in a group fellowship, or involved with other believers, how can you practice the faith?  If you have always isolated yourself, it’s time to know the true power of love; the true fullness of the faith; a true connection with the body of believers; it’s time to allow the Lord to answer your requests as they are offered up in love.  Go to your church; find a bible study that works for you.  Make friends and begin to call them and pray with them.  Get involved in serving others in the church and in the community.  Share yourself with others.  Come to know your eternal brothers and sisters.  Gather together and give yourselves to one another in the bond of peace, and in the love of Christ.

                “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  They Kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  And give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us, out of the hands of the evil one; for yours is the kingdom and the power, and the Glory, forever and ever, Amen.  Father we desire intimacy with others, and closeness with them.  We ask that you would help us now to let go of isolation, and begin to build true friendships with others; help us to enjoy gathering together with other believers, and give a heart of true unity.  We love You Father; we praise You, and we thank You; and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.     

JESUS SPEAKING

                “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you […] for the Son of Man’s sake […] for indeed your reward is great in heaven […] But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6: 20-26.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                The Jewish people were very familiar with blessings.  Many would bring their children up to the Rabbi’s to be blessed.  A blessing was a prophetic pronouncement of some future good in a person’s life.  The opposite of the blessing, was the cursing.  A cursing was a prophetic pronouncement of some future calamity in a person’s life.  Jesus combined the blessings and cursings.  Those who had wealth and material possessions in excess were being called to give them away to gain eternal life.  Those who were constantly feeding themselves were being told that in the coming life, they would go hungry.  Those who were living lives filled with the pleasures of the world, would enter eternal sorrow.  Those who, in this life, were well liked and of good reputation would be rejected by God eternally.  Jesus lived a life of self denial; a life in which the needs of others were more important than his own, to the point of death.  To follow Christ in to eternal life, self denial and self-sacrifice in the present life are required.  The sacrifices are wealth, power, property, selfish fun (often sinful pleasures), and a good reputation (a desire to be well liked by everyone.)  People hated this message, and today it is still hated.  But people’s hatred for the message will never change the message.  Enduring pain, and denying your own wants and desires in this life is a requirement for entrance in to heaven.  Jesus said, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”

                We need only look at credit cards to understand this scripture.  Denying pleasure is pain, and many use credit cards to avoid denying what they want.  When someone goes out shopping or out to have fun and they can’t afford it, many will pay with a credit card to avoid denying themselves of some pleasure.  Food, possessions, recreation, lust; pleasure can take various forms, but usually costs money.  But paying for things with money you don’t have doesn’t make the pain go away, it simply postpones it.  Eventually the credit card company is going to want their money, and the pain you avoided will have to be endured.

                Many people have spent an entire lifetime avoiding pain and indulging in pleasure; but the pain hasn’t been avoided, only postponed.  Eventually they are going to have ‘pay the check.’  Chasing after wealth, material possessions, careers, food, and even a good reputation will lead to an eternity of pain.  Saving up money for the future, and making recreation and personal time a focus of your life will only lead to destruction.  Vacations in Hawaii, hours of television time, golf, weekend partying, lying, lusting, unholy relationships, and other forms of pleasure will end in a curse.  Self-denial is the way to eternal blessings.  Volunteer work, giving excess money away to the needy, spending time listening to others, giving up T.V. time to evangelize, visiting widows, orphans, the elderly, working with someone caught in addiction, caring for the sick, loving others, giving people rides, to name a few.  Where can you refuse your own desires to better serve others?  What do you have in excess?  Is it time, money, knowledge; what can you give away?  When you deny yourself, and make others more important, you are serving The Living God in this life, and in turn, you will serve him in His eternal Kingdom.

                “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You and we ask and pray that You will help us to endure pain and to give away what we have in excess; to deny our own wants and pleasures to fulfill Your purposes in the lives of others.  Father, help us to deny ourselves and to take up the cross and to follow You.  Reveal to us where we can be more self-less; where we can be more giving; and where we can be more like You.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.