“That you may know the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe” Ephesians 1:19
There is incredible power in these words for you today. You’ve always had the power to change your circumstances at your disposal. For God created you, and formed you, and gave you life, and
You simply have to step forward in faith. This means you actually hold the power of change in your hands. Have a talk with Jesus today. Change is just a prayer away.
“Come boldly to the throne of grace” Hebrews 4:16
I’ve had a conversation with myself more than I care to admit: “Wow, I really messed up. Come on Jim, that was a rookie mistake! Get it together turn it around already. Haven’t you learned anything?”
No matter how young or how old we are, we seem intent on beating ourselves up over our miscues in life. For everything from outright sin to simply having hurt a neighbor, friend, or loved one, we wallow endlessly in our self-defeating conversation. Then we come to Hebrews 4:16 which says, “Come boldly to the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy!” Amazingly that’s actually possible because of the preceding verse “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”. In other words, Jesus knows what we are going through as human beings every minute of every day. He knows our mistakes, our temptation, our pain, our sorrow, our suffering, and yes our joy. The great hope we have is that because Jesus knows us so well, and knows what we are like even at our worst, yet He still chose to go to the cross to forgive each and every one of us. Bring your screw ups to Jesus, no matter how big or small. Complete restoration is only a prayer away.
“Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” John 14:9
In the Old Testament book of Exodus 33:11 Moses goes alone to meet with God. Verse 11 says that “the Lord speaks to Moses as one would speak to a friend”. To have such intimacy with the Creator of the heavens and the earth is priceless. Yet, in that moment, Moses craves more. He actually wants to look upon the face of his Creator and not just hear His voice and feel His presence. God responds to Moses, saying, “no man can look upon me and live”. For Man, with his sinful nature, is not able to look upon Pure Holiness. And yet, we find that this answer is not enough for God. God Himself wanted more. God wanted to have a relationship with us, His children, on an entirely new level of closeness. His perfect response was to send His Son Jesus. Jesus, the bridge to atone and forever repair the separation between God and man. Jesus, who said in John 14:9,
Jesus further says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” In other words, now, you-are-never-alone! Jesus will never, ever, let you down. Relationship, like you never thought possible, is only a prayer away.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
The single greatest weapon of faith is called Joy. No matter what, or who, you are dealing with, never, ever, lose your joy. Joy is the amazing breeding ground of peace, and joy filled peace quickly yields hope. In these three emotions the Holy Spirit of God will empower you to a new level of faith filled living. There is a reason Jesus spent so much time talking about having peace, having joy, and eliminating worry and fear and doubt. He knows that with Peace, Joy and Hope,
There are some days when you just do not feel joy in your life. You know those days, when everything seems to get to you, and you soon feel a haze of gloom. Soon even the littlest problem becomes Mt. Everest, and the smallest criticism has seemingly crushed your world. On those days, especially on those days, discover Joy. For me, on those days, I say the name of “Jesus”. “Jesus, you’ve got this”. “Jesus, what have I to fear for you are with me”. “Jesus, you are all I need”. With Jesus, your gloom and doom emotions don’t stand a chance. Joy will return.
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus replied, “Come”. Matthew 14:28
Even those who do not know much about the Bible have heard the two great water stories, one being the parting of the Red Sea, and the second being Jesus walking on the water. Peter watched this second miracle first hand from the comfort of his fishing boat. In seeing this miracle unfold, for a brief moment, Peter had mountain moving faith by saying to Jesus, tell me to come to you and I will walk on the water just like you. Jesus said, bring it on, so Peter did, and for a few steps, actually walked upon the water. Then, his doubts set in. You know the ones, those nagging doubts that say to us “this is not possible”. Of course, we also know that once they start the doubts grow louder between the ears to the point where he actually started to sink. Jesus then reached out to save Him. There are two interesting lessons in this story. For the first lesson let me borrow from Shakespeare who once said,
Yes doubt is our cruelest of adversaries, often crippling us before we even start. Jesus said it best, saying, “If you only had faith and did not doubt you could say to this mountain move and it would move”. The second lesson is also powerful. In our doubt, Jesus still saves. Jesus did not let Peter dip beneath the water, He reached out his hand and pulled him up. He will do the same for you. Why not lose the doubt. Even in your worst case scenario Jesus is still there to catch you.
God says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. You are precious in my sight and I love you.” Isaiah 43:1 and 4
We walk through life believing what our friends say we are, or what our enemies say we are, or what the media says we are, or what we decide that we are. Then I thought, why not take a look from a different vantage point.
After all, does it matter what anyone else thinks? Who does God say that I am? In scripture I find that each of us are beautiful and wonderfully made. That we are His handiwork. That we are His children. That we are Royalty. And in Isaiah 43 God says He has redeemed us and called us by name, that we are His, and precious in His sight. Don’t believe the lie that you are unseen, or uncared for. God knows exactly who you are for He made you, and He loves you beyond your comprehension!
“The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord.” Joshua 5:6
In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were rescued from Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, then disobeyed God causing them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Historians have calculated that the walk literally should have taken them 11 days from Egypt to the promised land, and yet it took them 40 years. Famed author C.S. Lewis said, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’, and those to whom God says,
God will certainly let us do so, but I’d advise against employing this life strategy. Saying “Thy will be done” to God is a time tested recipe for peace filled living. Jesus himself said in John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful.” 2 Timothy 2:13
Are you struggling in your faith? Having difficulty believing that all things really do work together for good for those who love God? You are not alone. The Bible is filled with men and woman who struggled with faith. Moses asked of God, “Who am I?” David asked the same question. Sarah thought she was too old, Jeremiah thought he was too young. Peter denied Christ. The list of those lacking faith is endless. Now for the good news,
2 Timothy 2:13 says it clearly, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful!” God did not choose Moses for his articulate words, nor Jeremiah for his aged wisdom, nor David for his might and strength, nor Sarah for her youth, nor Peter for his elevated standing in the community. At one time or another they all felt inferior and not up to the job. In a word, they felt faithless. Thankfully, in our weakness, God gives the strength, God gives the words, God gives the wisdom, God gives the power to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. What do we need to do? Simply say yes to Him. Surrender to His will for your life and you will truly have life filled with faith, and have it abundantly!
“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
Feel loved today? Many days we do, and many days we don’t. Why is that, I’ve often wondered. Most likely it’s because everywhere we look we are subjected to all manor of comparison, and constantly reminded of how we may not measure up to someone else. And as much as we’d like not to admit it, we care what others think about us, say about us, or the way they look at us. Then there’s Jesus, the very definition of love. Who does he say you are? Jesus says you are precious in his sight, a treasure, the light of the world.
Indeed, as the song says it well, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. 1 John 4:19 tells me that Jesus loved us so much so that he endured the cross so that we would not have to go it alone. You’re not meant to feel unloved. Look up. Jesus Loves you.
Jesus said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”. Matthew 28:20
Abraham Lincoln once said, “my concern is not whether God is on my side, my greatest concern is to be on God’s side for God is always right.” Thankfully, scripture tells us that when you reach out to Jesus with a heart of faith, Jesus makes a promise, saying,
I have taken Jesus at His word. Throughout my day, sometimes a dozen times a day I’ll find myself saying, “Thank you Jesus” for I know He is near. I can feel his presence, his touch, and his love. I cannot possibly describe the sensation other than to say I highly recommend it. I’m not unique, I’ve just made a choice to live by faith and not by sight. You already have all the tools you need to live such a life for yourself. Simply say, Jesus I need you. It’s a conversation you will enjoy.
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