Tag Archives: faith

Letting Go of …Your Country, Relatives, and House

22 Thursday Mar 2012

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If Abraham was ever to enjoy the blessings of God he would have to relinquish the comfortable, the worldly, and wholly follow the Lord. The difficult portion of God’s summons to a life of faith was this call to relinquish those things which ultimately hinder the journey.

“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;” Genesis 12:1

 

God’s summons was simple …“go forth.” It was an imperative command.  Everything hinged on Abraham obeying those first words. Abraham was commanded to disassociate himself and relinquish those things which might cause him to stumble.  All bridges to his past had to be burned by his own hand. The Lord was asking Abraham to give up his past and his present situation in order to give him hope and a future.

I have never been to Ur. Some believe it was an ancient port city.  When my wife and I moved to New Orleans we thought we were moving to another country.  Port cities are different because of the influx of people.  We saw things in New Orleans that we haven’t seen since!  This was probably the type of environment God wanted Abraham to leave behind.

Sometimes God calls us out of bad environments and sometimes He calls us into these situations.  He knows what is best.  What we do know is that Ur would become the Chaldeans.  The Chaldeans would become the Babylonians.  The Babylonians would become the Syrians. Canaan did not compare to the luxurious comforts of Ur.  Yet the Lord was asking him to relinquish his country for the sake of Canaan.

In addition, Abraham was commanded to leave his relatives.  Acceptance, affluence, and protection would now be forfeited.  This included his inheritance and rights to family property. Had Abraham and extended family been able to move as a clan, he could have kept his identity and inheritance. In addition, there would have been a small group to lend support and protection in a new country and a new culture.

 

 

This seems harsh when we look at all that God was asking Abraham to relinquish. God knows what is best when it comes to the journey of faith, and He knows what is best for our spiritual development and progress in our life of faith.

Throughout the ages God has consistently called people to leave places of safety and security in order to place our total trust in Him. Jesus echoed these same principles only in a different way.

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

The summons to a life of faith is a summons to total commitment to the Lord. What many people fail to understand is that though the summons to a life of faith is a summons to relinquish, it is also a summons to receive. For when we relinquish all to follow the Lord we receive in return the greatest blessings that don’t come close to comparing to those things we give up. Tomorrow I will share a few of those blessings.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

What Is In a Name?

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

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“For it is through Isaac your descendants shall be named.” Genesis 21:12

Abraham had been waiting for an heir his entire life.  Specifically, God had promised this heir twenty-five years earlier.  Finally, the promise rested in his arms. His name was Isaac.  Even though the promise was fulfilled in the birth of Isaac, the naming of that promise wouldn’t take place for approximately another hundred years.

He said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Genesis 32:28

Having God name a promise is just as important as receiving that same promise.  When the Lord names a promise, He gives His certified seal of approval.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob went through numerous trials and tribulations individually.  All three generations held on in faith to the words God spoke to them.  In each generation there were those who sought to take their wives, cheat or steal their livelihood, and thus thwart God’s word.  In the end, God named the promise because they wrestled and struggled but prevailed.  This is what the name of Israel means.

You too will have to fight in order to inherit the promises of God.  This is only the beginning of your travails.  After receiving the promise, the world, the devil, and even some of your closest friends will fight to take that promise from you.  Yes, some of your fiercest battles will transpire on the other side of the promise being birthed.

Let this be an encouragement to you… God wants to name your promise as well.  When He does, no force in heaven or hell can change the outcome of that word.  God is good!

Blessings,

Pastor

Moving From Bondage (Slaves) to Freedom (Sons) – Part 1

30 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Our Journey Into The Promised Land

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Our journey into the Promised Land continues with a discussion today regarding the dilemma most people find themselves in when they choose freedom over bondage.

         Back in 1997, USA Today reported that the Department of Transportation set aside $200 million for research and testing of an Automated Highway System. The idea was that engineers could relieve traffic congestion with a new “super cruise control” built into our highways.  In cities facing heavy traffic congestion special magnets would be embedded in the road every four feet which would transfer signals between the cars and the D.O.T.’s computer system. Everything from steering, acceleration, and braking would be controlled by sensors, computer navigation systems, and cameras along the side of the road. Control would be returned to drivers as they left at specified exits.  Researchers and government officials claimed they had the capability to address any potential technological problem. But there was one problem they could not overcome.  Mike Doble, Buick technology manager says, “The only thing we can’t do yet is get people to comfortably trust the system. It’s not a technology issue.  People feel out of control while driving closely spaced, at high speeds, through major cities. The problem is not technology, the problem is trust — very few people would be willing to give up that kind of control.”

 

The Human Dilemma –

This is the human dilemma, is it not? Giving up control. Trusting something that you are not in control of, even if that something is better at control than you are.

This was the situation the people of Israel faced. God asked them to give Him control and they weren’t sure they wanted to.

Think about what had happened to them in less than six months. One day they were slaves in Egypt. They were beaten regularly and worked unmercifully from sunup to sunset. The Egyptians were killing every male child that was born.  The Hebrews were huddled in their miserable little squalor huts.

Suddenly a man named Moses appeared and said that God was going to deliver them.  The Bible records “God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them” (Exodus 2:24-25).

Now, almost on a daily basis, they began to see the miraculous power of God working for their deliverance. He fought for them and delivered them. The plagues which were devastating the Egyptians didn’t affect them at all.

Finally, the Lord led them to the Red Sea. But as they looked at the watery barrier before them they turned to see the Egyptian army in pursuit. They were filled with fear and began to cry out to God. Just then, then waters miraculously parted and they were again on their journey toward the promised land, while Pharaoh’s threatening army was destroyed in the retreating waters.  When they arrived on the other side, God miraculously provided them with bread and meat, as well as all their other needs.

 

What Should Have Been Enough Wasn’t Enough –

It should have been enough to convince anyone that God was with them and was able to provide. After all, his presence was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  But they were only a few miles out of Egypt before they started complaining. They grumbled to Moses, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (Exodus 17:3).  It was as though they had forgotten all that God had done for them and the amazing power he had displayed on their behalf. Moses cried out to God saying, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me” (Exodus 17:4).

 

Believe It Or Not, The Miraculous Doesn’t Improve Faith –

The Lord answered Moses saying, “Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”  Then the Bible says, “So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:5-7).

What an incredible accusation! How much evidence did they need to realize the Lord was with them?

So the next time someone says to you, “If there really is a God, why doesn’t He show himself? If He exists, why doesn’t he do some miracle so that everyone will see it and have to believe in him?”

You could tell them that He has already done this and it didn’t work. He demonstrated His love and showed them His mighty power. He was visibly present with them and spoke to them out of heaven, and it didn’t matter.  They still did not believe and their hearts were still full of rebellion. By the way, the same thing was true in the New Testament. God came in visible form in the person of Jesus. He told them He loved them and demonstrated that love with blessings and miracles.  He also powerfully provided food and healings.  Not only did they not believe in him, they killed him.

There is a way to increase your level of faith and learn to trust the Lord more deeply.  But it is not found in seeing more evidence of God’s movements with your eyes.

 Faith increases as we purposefully enter into the desert with the Lord and learn to trust Him.  What was true for the Hebrews is true for all of us today.

God works in a predictable pattern:

  • First, He makes a promise to us.
  • Second, He tests our faith — our ability to believe the promise.
  • Third, He watches for our obedience — our ability to walk in the light of that promise. Fourth, He grants His blessing — the fulfillment of the promise.

As we walk through this process over and over, our faith grows towards the Lord and we become more and more like Him.

This is what the Lord did with Noah. He made a promise. He tested Noah to see if he would believe what He told him, even though the flood did not come for many years. Then He watched for Noah’s obedience, and when He saw Noah’s obedience He gave him the blessing of a brand new world.

God did the same with Abraham. The promise of a son was given. Then the Lord waited to see if Abraham would believe the promise in spite of a long delay. He watched for Abraham’s obedience and finally rewarded him with the son of promise.

This is how God will work with you. He reassures you with a promise of hope for the future. But the promise is sometimes delayed and it may look like it will never happen. God is testing your faith. He watches for obedience, and when you have learned to trust him, He grants the promised blessing.

We will talk more about the testing process tomorrow.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

George Meuller Quotes on Faith

27 Friday Jan 2012

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“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”   – George Meuller

 

 

“Our walk counts far more than our talk, always!”  – George Meuller

 

 

“If the Lord fails me at this time, it will be the first time.”  – George Meuller

 

 

“To learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.”  – George Meuller

 

 

“If we desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried, and therefore, through trial, be strengthened.”  – George Meuller

 

 

 

 

 

“Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you.”  – George Meuller

 

 

“Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.”  – George Meuller

 

“Faith has nothing to do with feelings or with impressions, with improbabilities or with outward experiences. If we desire to couple such things with faith, then we are no longer resting on the Word of God, because faith needs nothing of the kind. Faith rests on the naked Word of God. When we take Him at His Word, the heart is at peace.”  – George Meuller

 

 

“God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.”  – George Meuller

 

 

“I have joyfully dedicated my whole life to the object of exemplifying how much may be accomplished by prayer and faith.”  – George Meuller

 

 

“The province of faith begins where probabilities cease and sight and sense fail.”  – George Meuller

 

 

 

“Ponder these words of the Lord Jesus, “”Only believe.””  – George Meuller

 

 

 

Blessings,

 

Pastor

 

 

 

The Wilderness Experience (Part 2) – The “Wild” Experience

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in Our Journey Into The Promised Land

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You can’t spell “wilderness” without using the word “wild“.   All God’s children tarry in the wilderness for some period of time after salvation or deliverance from Egypt.  But if your wilderness journey tarries longer than you expected, it is because you need it!  Your journey might take some wild, unexpected turns.

 

As tough as Egypt is to escape, the wilderness experience is tougher still.  In fact, it is the most difficult of all experiences in the believer’s life.  The reason is because the wilderness experience is God’s process.  I know many, including myself, who have spent most of the journey fighting the process.  I have done my share of blaming the devil when I should have been discerning God’s handiwork and humbly submitting to the process. 

 

As I said yesterday, in the wilderness either one of two events happen… 1) We come to the end of ourselves and enter into rest, or 2) We  physically die in the process without inheriting the promises!

 

If you want your wilderness experience to end, then die to the fleshly desires and submit to God’s process.  Remember, God is seeking to conform you to the image of His Son, Jesus.  You are not enduring or experiencing anything that Jesus Himself didn’t endure.  I am always encouraged by the words from  Hebrews 5:8 , ” Although He was  a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”   If Jesus learned obedience, then we all will have to learn obedience through suffering in the wilderness.  There are no short cuts! 

 

 – Understanding Polar Opposite Promises –

 

 

      The children of Israel entered the Wilderness Experience because they chose the Lord’s Promise and Exit. If you have chosen the promises of Scripture and the path of the Lord, then you too are on the same road through the wilderness to receive the fullness of God’s promises.

After God’s children passed through the Red Sea (which was a type of baptism in Christ) and renewed their intention to believe God’s Promise to receive a “land flowing with milk and honey”,  they entered into the Wilderness Experience.

Remember, this was supposed to be a “land of milk and honey”.   Yet just three days into following God and God’s man Moses, what they actually received were the “Bitter Waters of Mirah.” (Exodus 15:23)   Why did this happen?  Why were there so many problems on the road to “milk and honey“? 

 

– Wilderness Experience Principle –

 

Between the place where we actually receive the promise of God and the Promised Land (the fulfillment of the promise), there is usually going to be a “Bewildering Experience” that is the exact opposite of what we have been promised.  This is usually when our “rose-colored glasses” get smacked off our face.  Many have dropped the promises of God because they couldn’t continue believing God beyond a few difficulties and hardships.  They became bitter like Mirah because God did not move in their life as they expected.  The question is:  Will you experience bitter situations along the road to the Promised Land?  Yes you will! 

 

You can apply this principle to every promise of God you have received, regardless of what it relates to in your life.  The promise may involve gifts, ministries, personal promises for yourself, promises for others, spiritual issues, and even physical issues.  No matter how grand, how spiritual or important your promise may be, expect more than one dead-end that appears to be the death of that very promise. 

 

This barren place requires you to develop new faith and trust to move forward.  You do not have to stay in these barren places a long time.  But the place of barrenness will require some time in order that we might discover what is in your heart.  It is at these places the Lord circumcises our hearts from all fleshly desires.  (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6)

 

     There is always a difference between the time when God’s “anoints” us; until the time when he “appoints” us.  God anoints, speaks, and promises first.  There is often a space of time before He appoints, answers or fulfills that very word/promise.  It is between the “anointing and appointing” that God works in us to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus.

 

Abraham endured years of “conforming” before he actually received the promise of a son.  It was during this time he received bad advice and produced an Ishmael.  It was also during this time he conquered kings in order to rescue Lot and tithed to the order of Melchizedek.

 

Joseph received a dream at a young age that one day even his father, mother, and brothers would bow and pay homage to him.  It was during this time he was rejected, enslaved, imprisoned, and forgotten.  Landing in jail would definitely suck the wind out of your promises!  But he soon learned what men meant for evil, God meant for good.  He ultimately saved his family, thus preserving Israel as a nation.

This Bible is full of examples of ordinary people receiving promises from God and then being plunged into dry, wilderness experiences where those same promises appear far away.

How about you?  Are you holding on to a promise of God today?  Have you been befuddled by circumstances that declare your promises are dead?  Don’t believe circumstances, believe the living, breathing word of God to you.

I will be sharing some of the deeper purposes of the wilderness wandering tomorrow.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

Ten Inspirational Faith and Life Quotes

26 Saturday Nov 2011

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I thought I would pass along some quotes to help you recover from the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Pastor

…. If you like these quotes you also might like these other posts on “faith”

http://wp.me/p1GmG0-6o

http://wp.me/p1GmG0-dR

https://eisakouo.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/journey-of-faith-picture-quotes/

 

Blessings,

Pastor

Faith In God’s Future!

09 Wednesday Nov 2011

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Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”  Genesis 50:24-25

 

I know you have heard of “death-bed confessions.”  Some people also make “death-bed requests” of their family and friends as well.  Maybe you have had to carry out one or two of these requests.  Some have made requests like, “Don’t allow this or that to happen at my funeral.  I want to be buried at so-in-so place.”    Usually people make these requests when they are short on time or in need of help beyond their capabilities.

Here we have in the Bible Joseph making a deathbed request to have his bones carried out of Egypt to the land of Israel.  It would take a whopping 400 years to complete.  You have to have people who love you to carry out a 400 year old promise.

The question arises as to why Joseph was not content to be buried in Egypt? Why was he so insistent on going with the Israelites when they eventually did leave Egypt? I think I know the answer.

 Joseph was interested in being a part of what God was doing on the earth, whether he was dead or alive.

Can you say with integrity that you want to be a part of what God is doing today, whether or not you live to see all of it fulfilled in your lifetime? Joseph knew that God would keep his promises and wanted to go where He was taking his children in the future. He not only saw his life as helping to fulfill God’s will upon the earth, but wanted to be a part of those blessings forever.

Joseph was not interested in having some pyramid named after him or having Geraldo opening His tomb some 5000 years later.

Question – What are you interested in? Are you more interested in the rich and famous than the godly and pure? Are you trying to make a lot of money so you can retire early? What motivates you? Instead of building a pyramid for man’s honor, Joseph wanted to live in the house of faith.

 

Faith is not getting our will done in heaven, but getting God’s will done on the earth. The vision and mission of God and His plan and promises have been passed on to us. We have to come to a spiritual place in our lives where we do not simply read the promises in the third person but apply them in the first person of our lives.

 

I believe God is raising up a new generation of believers called to do just this.  The only question is will you believe the Lord’s promises and answer His call? If you need encouragement…remember the bones of Joseph.  They carried Joseph’s casket out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and throughout the wilderness wanderings. The Israelites carried this casket for more than forty years. There was more faith in the bones of Joseph than in the feet of the Israelites.

Don’t allow the bones of Joseph to have more faith in God’s promises than you.  Ask the Lord to speak to you about what He wants to accomplish in your generation.  I believe He is waiting to share with you His plans for the future.

Blessings,

Pastor

 

He Would Not Because He Could Not!

26 Wednesday Oct 2011

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 1 Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. 2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?  Mark 6:1-2

If Nazareth had a hometown paper, it probably would have read “Jesus the Carpenter Could Do No Miracles Here!”  Some have taught Jesus couldn’t perform any miracles in His hometown because the people lacked faith.  The scripture records in Mark 6:6, “He wondered at their unbelief.”  Wow!

The reason for their spiritual ineptitude is obvious…they watched Jesus grow up.  They knew His entire family and possibly even had a chair or table built by Jesus’ family.  So how could this son of a carpenter be a miracle-working, prophet of God.  It just didn’t make any sense to the natural mind.

All prophets, teachers, and men/women of God have to originate from some location.  Right?  There is no way around the issue.  I’m from Nashville.  Occasionally you’ll see a country music star around town.  Hey, they have to live someplace.  When I was a teenager I stopped by a drug store to pick up something.  I was in line to check out and Roy Acuff was checking out too.  I think he was getting cough drops or something.  I remember thinking…he is short.  Well, he was kinda short.  My point is this….everybody is from somewhere.  It’s not “where you’re from” but “what the Lord has done in your life” that makes the difference.   I have come to appreciate the verse in Acts 4:13 which says,

Now as they observed the  confidence of  Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and  began to recognize them  as having been with Jesus.

    There was a light,  a glow, and a presence in the disciples’ eyes that revealed where they had been hanging out.  It didn’t make any difference what town they were born.  The difference was they had spent three years with the Lord.

Jesus’ hometown couldn’t discern that Jesus received His teachings, power, and authority from His Heavenly Father.  They could only remember His earthly father and mother.  Bottom line, the people couldn’t detect God at work.  Therefore, no works of power were performed in their lives.

It is a dangerous thing to treat the Holy works of God as something common or ordinary.  God calls us to honor the prophets, teachers, pastors, etc. in our lives. ( By the way… the real ones never announce themselves as such.)  If we neglect to give honor to the Holy things of God, the Lord’s blessings pass us by.  It is easy to say Jesus couldn’t work miracles because the people didn’t have faith in Him.  The greater truth is that the Lord will not work in situations when people treat the Holy things of God as common.

Can God move in power in your life?  Is there any issue present preventing the Lord from radically moving?  Do you honor the things God honors?

“…but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for  those who honor Me I will honor, and those  who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.”  1 Samuel 2:30

This is one of the first conditions we all must meet to see the work of power in our life.  If Jesus’ hometown would have simply “Honored Him“, events would have played out differently.  The same is true for all of us living in this generation.

Blessings,

Pastor

Help Me Lord, I’m Leaning the Wrong Way!

18 Sunday Sep 2011

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5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

       There is a wonderful promise here in Proverbs.  The Lord will make our paths straight if we will trust Him, acknowledge Him and resist the temptation to order our lives around our own reasoning.  Most believers know the importance of this verse and even have it memorized.  How about you… do you have it memorized?  It is easier to quote than walk out on a daily basis.  Why?  We find ourselves “leaning” the wrong direction! 

      We are instructed to “lean” on God, to put our full weight upon Him.  We lean upon our own understanding when we give our limited knowledge more power than God.  A big part of faith is not simply discovering Who to place your faith upon, but letting go of the place where your faith once rested.  Most people’s faith is on autopilot.  They simply trust and believe because they have seen it work in the past.  Someone said, “You go to a doctor whose name you can’t pronounce. He gives you a prescription you cannot read. You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen. He gives you medication you do not understand and yet you take it without question”.  We follow these well worn ruts, not even giving them a second thought. 

      Real spiritual faith cannot simply exist on autopilot.  Why?  It will be challenged at every turn.  Like the analogy above, you will receive words, promises, and instructions from a God you cannot see.  This God goes by numerous names which are in Hebrew and Greek… you struggle to pronounce.  You are to believe His words, when all the world says different.  Not only are you to believe them, you are called to stand firm when everything within you say run, lean on your own understanding!  As you stand believing this invisible Lord, an invisible enemy attacks you as you stand on those words… all for no apparent reason.  For the most part you are on your own.  No one really understands exactly what you’re going through.  Still you are called to trust.  This is the reality and essence of sincere faith! 

Barriers Where Faith Will Not Go

22 Friday Jul 2011

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Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother (Lazarus) would not have died.” 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”    John 11: 32-37

      There was a common, unspoken belief among those who followed Jesus.  It was believed Jesus could heal anyone at anytime from any distance. Everyone in Lazarus’ circle kept telling the Lord, “If only You would have been here.”  These types of statements implied the Lord’s reach of healing extended only unto death, not beyond the grave. 

      We know from reading the beginning of this chapter Jesus purposefully delayed so that Lazarus would pass away before He arrived.  This helps explain why Jesus delayed.  He wanted to correct the false beliefs of those who surrounded His ministry.  Jesus purposefully delayed so that He might raise Lazarus from the dead, proving His power beyond the grave. I like the way Jesus dealt with false beliefs.  He didn’t kick people out of His circle, He confronted their wrong beliefs with POWER! 

      Why couldn’t the people’s belief system allow Jesus to operate outside the area of healing?  Remember, even the disciples couldn’t believe the Lord for food, calming the storms, or even for power to cast out demons.  Since they had never seen power manifested in this way, it was beyond their spiritual comprehension. 

      Please know … These types of barriers were purposefully exposed by the Lord in due season.  If the Lord confronted these good folks’ lack of faith, don’t you think He must do the same in our lives?  Unfortunately, when God does expose our lack, we interpret His movements as being something else.  Instead of correcting ourselves, we get angry, blame the Lord, and throw ourselves a spiritual pity party.  Martha and Mary could have become angry because Jesus didn’t arrive in a timely fashion as they requested.  They could have easily blamed the Lord for delaying and being unsympathetic to their needs.  Like many other believers I know, they could have held this resentment for the rest of their lives.  Thankfully, this was not the road they chose to travel and neither should you. 

      Jesus will never let us settle for less when the best real faith has to offer is fully available.  Allow the Lord to expose all your vulnerabilities and areas of lack.  If maturity is your goal, then only the best will do. 

If you need a place to attend church this Sunday, please visit us at 10 am (CST) – http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-church-of-providence#