Only Believe!

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dead, death, faith, Jesus, law, life, stone, walk

John 11:25-26

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.  Believeth thou this?”

Lazarus had been dead four days and to Martha and Mary and everyone standing around them it was completely over.  After all Lazarus had been embalmed and buried and the stone was place upon the cave where they laid him.  Martha says to Jesus “Lord if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”  In other words, Martha believed that if Jesus was there He would have healed her brother.  She also believed that anything that Jesus asked of God, God would give it to Him.  That’s anything but the life of her brother.  To live again after four days in the grave was too much of a stretch for Martha to believe.   Still, Jesus says to her “thy brother shall rise again.”  Martha thought Jesus was referring to the resurrection at the last day.  Jesus said to her “I AM the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

There was only one thing that Martha had to do and that was believe.  Believe what?  Believe in Jesus.    When Moses asked, who shall I say sent me, God said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM” God wanted the children of Israel to believe in the I AM.  Jesus wanted Martha to believe in the I AM for He said “I AM the resurrection and the life.”  Jesus Christ is the I AM. 

At the grave of Lazarus Jesus sees the stone upon the mouth of the grave and tells them to take away the stone.”  Martha says “Lord, by this time he stinketh; for he hath been dead four days.”  Jesus says to her “said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?  What was Jesus saying to Martha?  He was saying “The just shall live by faith” and that faith is Jesus Christ (Romans 1:17).  The stone upon the mouth of the grave represented the law which could never give us life.  But Jesus said “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  Jesus the life-giver caused Lazarus to rise up from the grave and live. 

Now if believing in Jesus Christ can cause a dead man who had been dead four days to live again, what will happen in your life if you only believe in Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God?

Jesus Is In The Midst

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born-again, cancer, foreclosure, help, Jesus, Midst

Mark 4:40

“And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

It’s so good to have Jesus in the midst of us.  When the disciples where out on the sea and a great storm arose so much so that the ship was covered by the waves and the water had filled the ship, Jesus was in the midst.   After the disciples attempted to save themselves (and Jesus) they went and woke Jesus up saying “Lord, save us; we perish.”  Jesus wakes up from His rest and ask them “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?  (He had already told them “Let us pass over unto the other side.”) He then rebukes the winds and the sea and says “Peace be still” and there was a great calm.

However, just like the disciples Jesus is in the midst of us but we fail to acknowledge Him.  Instead like the disciples we try to save ourselves.  But Jesus is Lord and everything answers to Him.  He is not only Lord in us but He is Lord over everything around us.  When we place Him in the midst by acknowledging Him as Lord, our fears, our storms, our troubles, have to bow to His presence.   

The disciples were amazed and they marveled that the winds and the sea obeyed Him.   You will be amazed and marvel too when you place Jesus in the midst of your problem.  You will marvel at seeing cancer dry up, you will be amazed at seeing foreclosures stopped, and those that seem hopelessly lost born again.  Go ahead, call upon Him and watch Him speak peace in the midst of your storm.  

There is no circumstance or situation that doesn’t bow to Jesus that’s why when Jesus is in the midst there is peace.

His Name

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Jesus, life, Name, People, power, Salvation, Whosoever

Acts 2:22

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Whosoever means anyone, everyone, anywhere  and salvation is that all inclusive word for the acts and processes of redemption.  The word that connects these two words is Jesus.Therefore, when we connect these three words here is what we get (since I am included in that whosoever I will use the first person singular) I + Jesus = healed; I+Jesus=delivered; I+Jesus= prospered; I+Jesus=forgiven; I+Jesus=sanctified; I+Jesus=justified and on and on and on the possibilities are endless.  When I call upon Jesus I am healed; when I call upon Jesus I am delivered; when I call upon Jesus I prosper, when I call upon the name of Jesus I am saved.

Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  The name of Jesus is the power that you need to live.  He is His name.  Call upon Him today and be saved.

Stop Being Tired

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Jesus, rest, strength, Weight

Matthew 11:28
“Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Have you ever said to yourself “Lord, I’m tired? You started something with an expectation of success but you ended up failing.  You might give the first failure to not having the right plan, or not having enough resources so you get up start over with a new plan or more help.  Nothing can describe this more than starting a diet.  Those of you who have struggled at some point in time with weight can feel me on this.  It’s call yo-yo dieting.  We start and stop to start over again, without seeing any real success and we come to the place where we say, Lord, I’m tired.  Tired of trying and failing (herein lies our answer).

Amazingly, it’s not just in physical things but in spiritual things as well.  Maybe you’ve  tried to stop being angry and bitter but as soon as someone mentions the person or incident that caused you to be anger and bitter  once again you find yourself giving way to those feelings of anger and bitterness.

Let’s get off this merry-go-around.  You’re tired because you’ve been working so hard, relying on your own efforts to bring you success. That’s usually what happens when you work the flesh, it gets tired.  Jesus said “come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt 11:28-29).

It’s as plain as this, if we stop exerting our flesh, come to Jesus,  get connected to Him,  allow him to teach us His ways, He will be rest for our souls.   It’s so easy, so easy it just might work.

Words Of Life

Tags

grace, Jesus, life, words

John 6:68
“Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”
Just one word from Jesus is all you need to move from death to life.
To the leper who said “Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” it was “I will be thou clean” (Matt 8:1-4).   To the centurion who’s servant was sick it was “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee” (Matt 8:5-13). To the raging sea it was “Peace be still” (Mark 4:35-41). To the man bound by legion of demons it was “Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit” (Mark 5:1-8).  Just one word from Jesus changed their lives forever and just one word from Jesus can change your life forever.
Jesus told satan “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). Jesus Christ is the spoken word of God and we live by Him.  John 1:1 ” In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Therefore when we speak the word of God we’re speaking life because Jesus is the Word.
When satan comes to speak words of death to you,  give him the Word of God.  If he tells you you’re sick tell him 1 Peter 2:24 says  “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.” If he tells you that you’re going to die, tell him Psalms 118:17 says, “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.  Whenever satan comes to you with words of death speak the Word of God. Not your own words but the Word of God when you do you speak life.
We move from death to life by the words that we speak. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Provb. 18:21

See Yourself Victorious

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conquerors, triumph, victorious, victory

Romans 8:37

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”

In seeing yourself victorious you must first realize that God is with you to help you. Hebrews 13:5-6 says, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Second, you must realize that because you have the Greater One in you, helping you; you’ve already overcome. 1 John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world.” Third, you must realize that you are victorious because the all powerful God living on the inside of you helping you always causes you to triumph therefore you are never defeated.  2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”

We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  God who loved us gave us His victorious Son, Jesus Christ to be our victory.  I John 5:4 “for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  Our faith is Jesus Christ and His victory is our victory therefore we are victorious.  Declare it today.

The Hand That Binds Is The Hand That Takes

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authority, binding, loosing, power

 I Samuel 5:4

“And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of this hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.”

In 1 Samuel 4 and 5 we read the account of the ark of the Lord being taken by the Philistine army.  They took the ark and brought it up to Ashdod and placed it in the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon their god.  But when they arose early the next morning Dagon was fallen upon his face.  They pick him up and placed him back in his place again.   The next morning they rose up early and found Dagon fallen to the ground again before the ark of the Lord but this time with his head and both the palms of his hands cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left.

The scripture tells us that the Philistines took the ark of the Lord to Ashdod.  Ashdod means to ravish. They took the ark of the Lord to Ashdod so that they could ravish what belonged to the people of God and they placed the ark in a secret place until they were ready to ravish it.  However, when they rose up on the second morning (the first was a warning) Dagon’s head and palms were cut off.  The head represents the authority and the palms represent its ability to bind and take.   God let it be known to Israel enemies that they could not hold, bind or ravish what belonged to them.

The devil may have taken something that belonged to you and placed it in his secret place, and he may be ravishing through what is yours right now.  Don’t fret because the same way God cut off the head and palms of the Philistine’s god He has cut off the head and palms of satan for us.  Through the blood of Jesus Christ, the devil’s head and palms has been cut off he no longer has any authority or right to bind us and no ability to take what belongs to us.

Jesus has given us the keys to the kingdom and the power and authority is in our hands to bind and loose what belongs to us.  Matthew 16:19  says, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”   We can bind those things that the devil uses to block and stop us and loose those things that belong to us.  The hand that binds is the hand that takes.

He Gave For You To Receive

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free, gave, giving, Receive, receiving

Isaiah 53:5

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed.”

When I think about giving, I realize that it’s impossible to do unless you are giving to someone or something even if it is yourself.   Therefore, giving implies that someone will receive.  Even if you really don’t want to give or assume that the person will not receive there is still the expectation of someone receiving.  And when you really want someone to receive something that you give, you will go to whatever lengths to see to it that they get it. 

This is exactly what God did for us.  He sent His only Son into this world to take our sins upon Himself, receive the wrath and punishment of sin and die on the cross so that we could receive His life.  God crushed His only begotten Son to give to us His life.  That’s how much He wanted us to receive; and His giving was born out of His love.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  God gave to us with the expectation that we would receive.

However, the devil wants you to believe that God really doesn’t want you to receive.  He wants you to believe that God has a tight hand, and that He’s not as free giving as He says He is.  Or that God only gives based on our efforts and merits.  If you’re good you might get it and if you’re bad you can forget it.  He wants to block you from receiving what God has freely given.  Because if you think that God doesn’t want to give or that you have to work to get it you might not receive it.  Romans 8:32 says, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”  God crushed His own Son to give to us His life.  That’s how much he wanted us to receive. 

So why do you take so little when He has given so much?  Receive ALL because He expects you too.

Seek His Face

Tags

devotion, glory, Jesus, seek

Psalm 27:8

“When thou saidst, seek my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord will I seek.”

No matter how old we get our parents will always want to know that we love them and need them. 

Sometimes we can get so busy with living our lives that we forget to pick up the phone or stop by to say Mom and Dad I love you.   It’s not that we mean to forget or neglect, it’s just that we have so much to do and we have these deadlines and after all we do have our own families.  Well, parents have a way of pulling us by the coattail and reminding us that they are still our parents and a phone call, an email or text would be nice. You see, no matter how old we get we’re still their children and they want to know that we still love and need them.

Our heavenly Father wants the same thing.  He wants to know that we love Him and need Him.  When we get to busy with the affairs of life He’ll pull us by the coattail and ask us the same question He asked David, He’ll ask us to seek His face.   He’ll ask us to seek Him with our whole heart. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”  God wants to spend undivided, undistracted time with you.   David answered, “My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord will I seek.”  What will your answer be today?

Remember, the shekinah glory of God is on the face of Jesus Christ.  As we pull aside and seek Him with our whole heart, and spend time gazing into His lovely, glorious face, He fulfills our needs, gives us the desires of our hearts, and transforms us into His imagine from glory to glory.

The Gift Supplies

Tags

gift, need, supply, want

Philippians 1:19
“For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

The perfect response to receiving a gift is to say thank you. Jesus Christ is the gift that supplies.

Imagine receiving a gift that contains multiple boxes inside, you open up the first box and find inside something that you needed but couldn’t afford to get for yourself with great joy all you can do is say thank you. But wait, there’s more. You open up the next box pull out the gift that’s inside and find it’s something that you wanted but couldn’t afford to get for yourself again with great joy all you can do is say thank you. And it continues box after box, gift after gift each containing either something that you need or want. What do you do? All you can do is say thank you.

Jesus is the gift and as he is unwrapped to us through the Holy Spirit what we find is all that we need and all that we want. The gift is our supply. Jesus Christ is the gift that supplies. Receive Him today.