Your hope is not dead, just asleep

In the book of Mark chapter 5, we read where Jesus cast out a demon from the man from the country of the Gadarenes. This man lived in the tombs and the people were afraid of him. When Jesus cast the spirit out, they went into a heard of pigs. When they saw the man in his right mind, the people asked Jesus to leave because of fear.

In arriving at a new town, Jesus was surrounded by a great multitude.

A ruler of the synagogue names Jarius came to Jesus, fell at his feet and asked him to heal his daughter, as she was at the point of death. He asked Jesus to come to his house and lay hands on her, and she would be healed.

Right away we see Jarius’ faith at work.  

Jesus went with Jarius, but there was the crowd, and he was interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood.

When the woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus, he began asking who touched him, as he felt power coming out of him.

The discussion began amongst his disciples, stating because of the crowd, many have touched him.  Once the woman came forward and confessed to being the one touching him, Jesus took time with her and proclaimed that her faith has made her well.

By now, Jarius’ daughter had died, but Jesus told Jarius to not be afraid, only believe. When Jesus arrived at the house, he said the child is not dead but sleeping.

The child is not dead but sleeping.

I read that line several times, and it hit me. I have felt that our dreams, hopes, and future are dead, as we are still in the waiting period and we don´t see signs of life.

But our dreams and visions are only sleeping, they are not dead!

Have you felt your prayer requests are dead, forgotten? Be encouraged, they are only asleep!

In reading this passage, the Lord is assuring me that my prayers are not dead, what I have decreed are not lost. Just because I don’t see the fruit of my prayers, it does not mean God is not at work, He is. It´s just not the right time.

Like the woman with the issue of blood and Jarius, all I need to do is believe, have faith and in God´s perfect timing, everything prayed for will spring to life.

Scripture reading Mark 5: 21-43

 

The Lion Roars at his enemy

During my journaling time with the Lord, I began thanking Him for our blessings, our plans, and thanking Him that our desires and prayer request are at the door.  

I was actually encouraging myself in the Lord with music and gratitude when I was surprised by the following statement.

Image by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay

Roar your promises.

What?

Roar your promises. So I began to list the promises and prayer request we are believing for, keeping silent.

I paused and meditated on what I heard.

I was not to pray them in, I was to roar them in. 

“The LORD roars from Zion… and the heavens and the earth tremble.” (Joel 3:16)

I really did not know or understand what this meant, so I did a search and came across this teaching here.

We watched the teaching, read the handout and hubby and I roared together.

In one particular exercise, we both had the exact same communication from the Lord, the others were very similar.

In the end, we felt our list of prayer petitions was moved forward. This is new to me, to us and it is from God because I could not make this up.

Many times we may not understand everything, but with the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can be assured that God has our best interest at heart.

I am excited to see how things will move in our favor and will be sure to let you know.

 

 

The power of Jesus is working through you

In Luke chapter 7, Jesus and his disciples left Capernaum where He healed the centurion’s servant and entered the city of Nain.

By now, not only Jesus and his disciples were traveling with him, but also a large crowd.  Upon arriving at Nain, He sees a funeral procession. The word says it was a widow’s son. In those times, this woman means of support was her husband, and if widowed, her son would provide for her.  So not only did she lose her son but also her sustenance. I cannot imagine her grief, as many things probably went through her mind. One of those could be she would need to resort to begging. Not a pretty picture.

Image by Ingeborg Gärtner-Grein from Pixabay

When Jesus saw the widow, He had compassion on her and told her not to weep, and touched the open coffin and commanded the young man to rise.

When Jesus touched the coffin, it was a ceremonially defiling act. But it’s defilement did not taint Him; rather, His power immediately dispelled the presence of all death and defilement.

I noticed Jesus was not asked to raise this young man, He did so on his own initiative.  When we come across situations that we can be of service, do we watch or act?

Just a few days ago, I needed to ask for forgiveness for not fulfilling my role as a leader, for not acting and speaking up upon situations that needed to be corrected.  When I did that, I felt fear leave and a new boldness come upon me.

Jesus could have just walked away, but that was not in his nature, neither should it be ours.  We are called to serve, help, speak out, correct, exhort and extend His kingdom.

Did you know we have the power to raise the dead? This is something I am believing for, and I choose to believe this will happen in my lifetime.

What we touch will not contaminate us because of the power of Jesus working through us

Did you know Nain means beauty? The people saw the beauty of life being restored to this young man, and to his mother.

When God touches one area of our life, it also affects other areas for good.

Believe in the power of Jesus working through you, and you will be filled with compassion, gifts, anointings and the defiled things of this world will not contaminate you.

Be blessed.

 

Scripture reading: Luke  7:11-17

How to be bold and courageous

Have you ever been in a place where everything around you was in complete disarray, and all you wanted to do was escape to some tropical beach?

I have many times.   During those difficult moments, besides wanting to run away the words would escape me to explain or confront said situation.  All I could do during my prayer times was God, please remove so and so.  God, please get me out of this situation.  God, I need a miracle.

Being shy and insecure during those time did not help much either.

 

I really did not want to face what was in front me.  Obtaining a tan was my best option.

I  found out this is the wrong approach. God was teaching me life lessons on growth, maturity and even speech.  Be ready in season and out of season came to mind.  We will face situations that we are uncomfortable in, and running away will not help, nor will we mature and learn from it.

I have learned to ask for boldness,  (not hesitating)  courage, (being able to face difficulty) and eloquence of speech when needing to confront or deal with something I am highly uncomfortable with.

In Acts Chapter 4, Peter and John were facing prison and beatings because in the previous chapter they prayed for a lame man since birth, and he was instantly healed.   Everyone knew this man and he was over 40 years of age. This tells me he was a permanent fixture at the entrance of the Gate Beautiful.

Now that he was healed, Peter and John found themselves in a dilemma.

Peter and John prayed for boldness, and the council had no choice but to let them go.

I found out the words I do not say can become a prison to those that need to hear the truth.

As Peter and John prayed for boldness, I now do the same, whether there is a difficult situation or not.  It´s best to be prepared for when it does come upon me, I will find myself to be ready.

Instead of asking God to take everything away, I pray for strength,  courage, wisdom, boldness, stamina, and grace to continue.

After a prayer like this, I find myself energized and I know God is with me.

Can you imagine if:

• Jesus did not face the cross
• Moses did not go up Mount Sinai
• Noah did not build the ark
• Saul/Paul did not accept the call to follow the Lord

There are many more examples, but you get the picture.

During difficult moments in life, it´s who you become in the process that counts.

Don´t give up, keep asking God to gird you and He will not fail in His promise to keep you and give you wisdom.