You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘freedom’ tag.
“If you can?” said Jesus, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23
Mark tells the story of the man who brought his son to Jesus for healing from a terrible demon that would throw the boy into violent seizures. Sometimes the demon would try to kill the boy by trying to throw the boy into fire or water. The man was desperate for help.
When he found Jesus the father said to Him, “If you can do anything please help us.” Jesus responded by saying the verse for today, “If you can?” said Jesus, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” The man responded by saying what each of us has no doubt felt in our lives. “I do believe…help me in my unbelief.”
It isn’t enough to simply believe. Had the man sat at home watching the boy convulse and say “I believe you will be healed’ nothing would have happened. Empty belief brings empty results. The boy was healed because of at least three things that the man did that each of us must do if we are to see God work in our lives.
First he didn’t simply believe. He believed in God. He sought out Jesus because he ‘knew’ from what he’d seen and heard that this man was a man of the Most High God. His belief was based on fact and on a power that could indeed heal his son.
Secondly, he put action to his belief. He sought out what God had for him rather than sitting at home and feeling sorry for himself and his boy. He pursued Jesus. Jesus tells us to “seek, and we shall find.”
Lastly, the man believed in himself. He believed that he was important enough to be heard. It wasn’t that he was worthy of being heard for any reason. Like the Roman commander said to Jesus, “I’m not worthy of you coming to my house…” The man believed in his ‘worth’ because of God’s love and mercy, not his own righteousness.
Believing involves believing God to be who He says He is, believing that if you seek Him, He will come to you, and believing that you are worthy of His working in your life because of Jesus and God’s unlimited mercy.
Don’t give up! Don’t let the enemy keep you from believing in God. Don’t listen to his lies about your worthlessness. When we believe as the man did, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. There are so many times when I feel like the father in this story. I want to believe your promises but my fear, my circumstances, the guilt I have keep me from seeking after your blessing. Help me today with my belief. Show me the wonder of your mercy in my life. Amen.
He did this that he might clearly demonstrate though the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His fee grace (His unmerited favor) in (His) kindness and goodness of heat toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:7 (Amplified)
Grace is more than forgiveness of Sin. The Bible tells us that not only are we forgiven but the Father showers us with a multitude of blessings. Unlimited favor! How would life be different for us as followers of Jesus Christ if we could completely grasp this one truth?
God the Father, the creator of the universe wants nothing but the best for us as His children. We are like only children to Him. We are the sole heir, the only one He has to shower His goodness on. It’s not a competition thing with the believer across the church aisle. We don’t lack because ‘he got my blessing’.
To live fully in God’s grace and to enjoy the blessings He has for us doesn’t involve a change in circumstance or location. It demands a change of vision. Some of God’s most amazing blessings come out of adversity and hardship but too often we feel so surrounded by the wilderness we miss the oasis’ along the way.
YOU are God’s chosen child. He has placed you where you are for a reason. He’s gifted you for His glory. Don’t let the circumstances you are surrounded by cause you to miss the blessings hidden in the sand of the wilderness.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. Thank you for the many riches you have given me. Forgive me for the times I have dwelt on my circumstances and not on my position in Christ. Encourage me and strengthen me for today. Help me in the midst of my pain to feel your comfort. Empower me to live according to your unlimited blessings. Amen.
“Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, the pour new wine in to new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 5:17
Ok. I admit it. Change comes hard for me. I like consistency. I like to know things will be the same for me today and tomorrow and the next year! Familiarity breeds comfort. But, alas, familiarity can also breed boredom! A life of ‘same-ness’ oozes boredom and stagnancy.
When Jesus came on the scene in Israel, the religious community was pretty comfy. The Priests and Pharisees had put together a secure list of do’s and don’ts so that everyone would know exactly what was expected of them and of how God would act in each situation. The people knew who to be with, when do be with them, what to do when they were with them and where to go. It was a pretty safe, sterile environment. Comfy. But it was also empty.
Then Jesus came along and ‘messed everything up’! Things changed when He entered a town, talked and ate with sinners and broke the rules about the Sabbath. The old ways wouldn’t work anymore. The rules mad had made up would be replaces by relationship. RELATIONSHIP TRUMPS RULES EVERY TIME!
One day, Jesus was confronted about his radical ways. He reminded those in attendance about the ‘rule of the wineskins’. The rule of the wineskins went like this. Wineskins were made of leather. When the wineskin was new and supple it would expand as the wine fermented, thus preserving both the leather and the wine.
Putting ‘new wine’ into an old wineskin was a recipe for disaster. As the wine fermented it would expand against the brittle walls of the old leather and cause it to burst. Both the wine and the wineskin were ruined!
When we ask Jesus Christ into our lives He makes everything new. He’s the ‘new wine’, we are the new wineskin. We are new creatures. As new creations we don’t need to operate under the old system of guilt, shame and feeling like we are failures. We can leave all that behind and move on to the great things God has in store for us.
It’s time for new thinking. It’s time to dream big. This new way of thinking starts by realizing who we are. We are children of the Heavenly Father, the King of the universe and He has new, exciting plans for each of us. You are loved by Him more than anything, just because you are who you are.
Our Heavenly Father has given us everything we need to succeed. Success God’s way isn’t measured the same way the world measures success. Success God’s way is on the inside. It’s the contentment we feel knowing who we are. It’s the peace and joy we feel as a result of our salvation and relationship with Him.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank you for showing us a life without limits. Forgive me for my lack of belief in your desire and ability to empower me to live life to the fullest. Help me to live daily in your peace. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 