“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” - Psalm 119:18.
Date: Thursday, October 16, 2014
Today's Chapters: Mark 8-9
Message Title: Faith & Belief
Hello My Friend,
The word faith means, the assent or admitting of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. The word belief means, to expect or hope with confidence; to trust. Faith and belief go hand in hand, if we convince ourselves that we understand that He is true, we must trust that He will do what He says He will do. Only by faith and belief can we do our part so that He can do His part. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” - 2 Peter 1:3-7.
Part of having faith in God is believing in Him when things look impossible. Jesus did not only have the disciples following Him wherever He went, He had believers, skeptics, and pure haters following Him, yet He still had compassion on all of them and wanted to feed them. When He asked His disciples how much food they had, they answered Him with a question. “And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.” -Mark 8:4-9.
Even with Jesus right there in front of them, they still questioned His abilities, the key to seeing God do the impossible is not only having faith that He can, but believing that He will in fact, do the impossible. “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” - 2 Peter 1:8,9.
Much too often we sacrifice miracles from God because we either have hidden sin that we do not want to remove from our lives or the things He asks seem kind of silly. When a blind man came up to Jesus and asked Him to heal his blindness, He did something rather strange, He spit in his eyes. “And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.” - Mark 8:22-26.
Sometimes God's ways seem strange, but we must realize that His ways are always better then our own. Many times it's not necessarily the task that He asks of us, but it's the willingness to do what He asks. God will never tell us to do something that will cause harm to ourselves or others, so, we must learn to have faith that He knows what is best, and believe that His ways are always better than our own. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” - Proverbs 2:5,6.
Another way that God uses to check our faith and belief in Him is stand back a while to see how we handle difficulties. Jesus sends the people away for a while, He went up to the mount, as He come down from then mount people couldn't get to Him fast enough. One man, who had a possessed son, tried to get the other disciples to help him first, but to no avail. “And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” - Mark 9:20-23,28,29.
Sometimes circumstances can blind our faith and cause us to believe halfheartedly, but as long as we hold on to a tiny bit of faith, Jesus can turn every circumstance around. Prayer and fasting is using all of our ability to seek God's attention, it is spending much more time with Him than we usually do. It is telling Him that He is more valuable than any possession we have, even food. Taking that extra time with God is sometimes needed as it not only shows Him that we know We Can Do Nothing Without Him, it also shows us that All Things Are Possible When We Believe. “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” - Matthew 21:22.
Today's Prayer: God, Your compassion for us is outstanding and merciful, no matter how many times we fall You never give up on us. Today, I am placing all my cares and sorrows before Your Son, it is only through Him that I receive the strength needed to overcome my burdens. I look to You, not myself or others, for the answers to my troubles and for Your direction in knowing how to handle them. I choose to trust in You, and know that whatever I ask, believing I will receive it as I patiently follow You and wait for it all to come to pass. I love You, Lord and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? Visit: God's Price
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©2014 I'm Following Jesus
Today's Chapters: Mark 8-9
Message Title: Faith & Belief
Hello My Friend,
The word faith means, the assent or admitting of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. The word belief means, to expect or hope with confidence; to trust. Faith and belief go hand in hand, if we convince ourselves that we understand that He is true, we must trust that He will do what He says He will do. Only by faith and belief can we do our part so that He can do His part. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” - 2 Peter 1:3-7.
Part of having faith in God is believing in Him when things look impossible. Jesus did not only have the disciples following Him wherever He went, He had believers, skeptics, and pure haters following Him, yet He still had compassion on all of them and wanted to feed them. When He asked His disciples how much food they had, they answered Him with a question. “And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.” -Mark 8:4-9.
Even with Jesus right there in front of them, they still questioned His abilities, the key to seeing God do the impossible is not only having faith that He can, but believing that He will in fact, do the impossible. “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” - 2 Peter 1:8,9.
Much too often we sacrifice miracles from God because we either have hidden sin that we do not want to remove from our lives or the things He asks seem kind of silly. When a blind man came up to Jesus and asked Him to heal his blindness, He did something rather strange, He spit in his eyes. “And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.” - Mark 8:22-26.
Sometimes God's ways seem strange, but we must realize that His ways are always better then our own. Many times it's not necessarily the task that He asks of us, but it's the willingness to do what He asks. God will never tell us to do something that will cause harm to ourselves or others, so, we must learn to have faith that He knows what is best, and believe that His ways are always better than our own. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” - Proverbs 2:5,6.
Another way that God uses to check our faith and belief in Him is stand back a while to see how we handle difficulties. Jesus sends the people away for a while, He went up to the mount, as He come down from then mount people couldn't get to Him fast enough. One man, who had a possessed son, tried to get the other disciples to help him first, but to no avail. “And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” - Mark 9:20-23,28,29.
Sometimes circumstances can blind our faith and cause us to believe halfheartedly, but as long as we hold on to a tiny bit of faith, Jesus can turn every circumstance around. Prayer and fasting is using all of our ability to seek God's attention, it is spending much more time with Him than we usually do. It is telling Him that He is more valuable than any possession we have, even food. Taking that extra time with God is sometimes needed as it not only shows Him that we know We Can Do Nothing Without Him, it also shows us that All Things Are Possible When We Believe. “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” - Matthew 21:22.
Today's Prayer: God, Your compassion for us is outstanding and merciful, no matter how many times we fall You never give up on us. Today, I am placing all my cares and sorrows before Your Son, it is only through Him that I receive the strength needed to overcome my burdens. I look to You, not myself or others, for the answers to my troubles and for Your direction in knowing how to handle them. I choose to trust in You, and know that whatever I ask, believing I will receive it as I patiently follow You and wait for it all to come to pass. I love You, Lord and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? Visit: God's Price
Like Us On Facebook: I'm Following Jesus
©2014 I'm Following Jesus
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