Desperate Faith!

Luke 8:40-56

I know I say this often about many verses, but these have to some of my favorites.  I love how the woman with the issue of blood became so desperate for Jesus that she made her way through this crowd and made her goal just to touch his hem.  She knew that after everything she had been through, that this would be the answer to her health issues---she knew who her healer was!  Then you have this father who desperately lay at Jesus’ feet pleading for healing of his dying daughter.  This father knew who his daughter’s healer was.  These two people have two things in common---desperation and faith!

I think that is a powerful combination.  I believe these two things are the key to releasing the power of Jesus in our lives.  I can say that I have faith in Jesus and I can know that he is my healer, but it takes that desperation to truly reach the feet of Jesus.  Am I that desperate?  Does it take a trial to make me that desperate?  It seems that I fluctuate with desperation---but it can’t be like that---I have to become desperate for Jesus daily!  I want to become so desperate for Jesus that I feel like I can’t even breathe without him.  There are no limits for Jesus, we are the ones who limit His power in our life when we don’t have that ‘desperate faith’ in Him.  He is God, the creator of the universe and it is He that is in complete control of everything in our lives, big or small---that doesn’t matter to him, what matters to him is us.  He loves us so much, much more than we can comprehend, but we have to know that he cares about the things that we care about and he wants to take care of us---we just have to stop trying to take care of everything ourselves and let him take it.  That is why being desperate for him is so important, when we become desperate for him than that means we are letting go of the control and letting him lead our life.  We will all have times in our lives when we feel like we have nothing to turn to except him, times of desperation, but the key is to not let go of that feeling and become more desperate for him more often!

My Prayer

The following is my prayer to God and I just wanted to share.

I thought I knew how much you loved me, but until this very moment I have never felt such a depth of love.

Oh God, you are so much greater than I can even comprehend.  You are my Lord, my Savior, my Father, my King, my Help, my Healer, my Everything!  I will exalt you with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind.  I will trust you with everything that I am and I will not lean toward my own understanding.  I will exalt and trust you and it will be you who will make my path straight.  Your love for me overwhelms my soul.  I lay at your feet with my arms outstretched before your throne.  The grace that you have shown me makes my heart beat even deeper for you. 

God, you hear my every prayer, you hear my praise and you hear my request.  You bless me with your Spirit and you give me the desires of my heart.  You make a way when there doesn’t seem to be one.  You don’t look on the outside, but you see something more—you see the heart, the very soul.  You remind me not to look at things with my eyes, but to let your Spirit guide my view.  You have shown me how to truly love, love beyond words.  You have shown me how to live in this world.  You whisper in my ear, I trust what you say, I believe what you say.  You said, “Now let me show you what I can do.”  You showed me more than I ever thought possible.

Thank you for not leaving me when I left you.  Thank you for straightening my path even when I didn’t completely trust.  Thank you for loving me when I didn’t deserve to be loved.  Thank you for forgiving me every time that I fail you.  Thank you for saving me by dying for me.

Jesus, I love you and I will trust you with everything I have in me, I will not depend on my own understanding, but I will follow your ways and it is you that will make my path straight.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

There is Always Hope!

Luke 8:26-39

God does not see what we see or should I say we don’t see what God sees. I am sure no one wanted to be near the demon possessed man mainly because of his appearance, but not Jesus, he didn’t look at the outside appearance, he saw something more, he saw something worthwhile in that man.  I also noticed this with people that would see my dog, who right now doesn’t look so good on the outside.  Some would say something about how terrible he looked, while others would never say anything to me, but would speak to him in such a loving and caring way.  Originally, I was going with the fact that we can never know the inside of someone if we let the outside hold us back, and while that is true and a good lesson from Jesus that is not where God has lead me.  He reminded me, through my dog’s sickness, that there is always hope no matter what the situation looks like.  A friend reminded me this morning that we can never give up on something, including our beloved pets.  I am convinced that God is always teaching us, but we don’t realize this because we are not always listening.  Because of my dog’s sickness I have been forced to slow down a bit and it seems that I have also been more in tune with God and what he is trying to teach me.  I cannot even begin to tell you everything that I have learned over the last few days---just sad that it takes such difficult circumstances to get me back in tune with my God.  One of the biggest things though is to continue to have faith no matter what the situation looks like on the outside.  Brady, my dog, looks bad on the outside, but his eyes tell me that he feels better than he looks and while I don’t know what the future holds.  I do know that this little dog has taught me many things, but the greatest is to not give up; don’t ever give up on anything and anyone.  God is always in control and no matter how dreadful the situation looks----he can turn it around---never doubt and always have faith in the God that never gave up on you!

Trust With All Your Heart!

So today has not been the greatest day for me and to be perfectly honest, I really don’t feel like writing, but I know in my heart that writing is exactly what I need to do right now.

I know I had mentioned a few weeks ago that my dog had been really sick, but that sickness opened up a wonderful conversation about God between my daughter and me.  Well he got better and now he is very sick once again.  Apparently the infection that he had earlier has attacked his kidneys and the outcome is usually fatal.  In fact my vet told me today that he has never had a dog survive that showed such high kidney counts.  So that is where I am at right now.  I know to some people it is just a dog, but he is my dog, he is extremely special to me and my family and we love him tremendously!  I know some people can’t understand that and maybe I shouldn’t care about him so much, but I just can’t help it---I do not have it in me not to fall head over heals for every little dog that I am blessed to have, and he is certainly no different!  To put it simply he loves us unconditionally and brings our family much happiness!  You know I think a dog’s love is such a great demonstration of God’s love for us.  A dog loves its family unconditionally, no matter what we do to them---we can feed them a lot or a little, we can give them the finest bedding or no bedding at all, we can give them a lot of attention or no attention, we can even abuse them, but no matter what we do or don’t do they still show love toward us.  Sound familiar? 

So if he survives this, he will be my miracle dog that will remind me of how great my God is and to never doubt what He is capable of, which is anything!  And if he doesn’t, the love and loyalty that I have learned from him will continue to remind me of how great my God is and to never doubt that He is in control even when I don’t understand the whys of this life.

God put this scripture on my heart Saturday…Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6, and I have been thinking about it every since, today I have said it to myself over and over again.  You see I do have a lot to learn, but I am learning to trust, completely trust with all my heart, in my Savior even when I don’t understand because I know, I know, I know, that everything will work out for the Glory of God!

Really Trust Him!!!!

Luke 8:22-25

Trust Him!  Trust Him!  Trust Him!

Alright, no this is not yesterday’s blog post, but it is the same message!  Different scriptures, but same message from God…just trust me!  And at this point I am not sure if anyone needs to hear this as much as I do.  I go back to my regular Bible reading in Luke 8 and once again it is simply about trust!  No doubt, that God is trying to get something stuck in this hard head of mine.

The disciples’ reaction in this story is no different than what I have done and still do sometimes.  I love and trust Jesus, but then when something happens that I have no control over I start panicking…what if I can’t do this, what if this happens, what if that happens, and on and on.  Now let me clarify, I usually don’t continue to panic throughout the situation, it is only in the beginning and then God always, always steps in and calms me…making me realize that he is in complete control of everything in my life---even the stuff that I think are out of control.  So why do I do this?  Will I ever get to a point that I look at everything and know, and I mean really know deep down, that God has got it?  I want to and I do honestly know in my mind and heart that he is in complete control, but I guess it is that human part, that flesh, that rears its head and says ‘doubt’ and ‘worry’.  So I go back to last night’s scripture from Proverbs---I can never understand everything, God never intended for me to understand everything, I have to acknowledge daily that I cannot depend on my own understanding, I can only trust God and know that his ways are so much better than mine and no matter what comes my way, He is in control.  And even when I act like the disciples and become scared and doubtful, all I have to do is call on him and he will calm the storm!

Trust Him!

Sometimes the truth hurts, but regardless of that, it is the truth and it has to be told!  I spoke twice this weekend---Saturday at a Women’s meeting and tonight at church---same message, but different audiences.  The message came straight from God and it was a great lesson for me.  I am going to write the message up and post it, but for now I will just tell you one part.   I used a bicycle tire to represent my life----the rim being me, the hub being God, and everything else in my life are just spokes.  You know really sometimes these words come out of my mouth and I am just as surprised as anyone when I hear them, that is when I truly know it is God and not me.  I talked about making sure that God was always the hub because when he is not, things do not work so well.  When we put something other than God at the center of our lives then we can expect to be out of balance.  So do I put something other than God at the hub of my life?  Well I thought I had been doing so well, but God revealed the truth to me tonight and guess what, I have been putting something else there----my thought life!  Or should I say my worrying thought life?  It seems that lately that is all I have been doing is worrying/wondering about many, many things----some small, some big, but regardless I have had my mind on something other than God.  I have spent more time thinking about something that I have no control over instead of using that time to talk to God or to read His Word.  I complain about not having enough time to read and write, but then I allow other things to take up this time that I should be spending with my Father.  So it just hit me, I know that a lot of people got something from this message, but apparently I had to hear it twice in order to get what God is trying to tell me!  He should be at the center of everything in my life, my marriage, my children, my job, my hobbies, my health, my finances, my church, and now I know my thought life!  I am reminded once again that when I don’t trust him with everything my life becomes out of balance----Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  Proverbs 3:5-7

He is God!

Psalm 38-39

So many things have been spinning through my mind lately.  I have not been questioning why things happen the way they do, but more so trying to find out what God is trying to show me through everything.  Just wondering why can’t everyone just get along?  Why do some people have to be so difficult?  Why do some people try to be who they’re not?  Why do I get so frustrated so easily?  Why do people hurt each other?  Do some people really not realize how hurtful their words and actions can be?  Am I hurting someone and not realizing it?  I keep on thinking about the scripture from Matthew Chapter 7, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (vs.3-5).  I keep on thinking about it because I so do not want to be the hypocrite with the plank in my eye.  Now I will be the first to admit that I have a long way to go and a lot to learn about following Jesus Christ, but I can honestly say that I have such a longing in my heart for Jesus and His Ways that I know that I am on the right path.  I will mess up and I will not always show Christ’s love perfectly, but there is no doubt that I love him and I desire to do what he asks me to do.

Now I said all that in order to give you some background of what has been on my mind lately, so that you would understand this.  Tonight, just a few minutes ago, when I took my dog out, I stood in the middle of my yard and stared into the night sky and became completely overwhelmed by the Spirit of God and his depth, his majesty, his greatness, his being, his love---I even looked up and said, “God you told each one of these stars where to go and made them shine”.  God has shown me many things in the past, things that gave me chill bumps, things that deepened my breathe, things that made me cry, things that made me smile, but tonight---well it was just different.  I really don’t know how to describe it, except that I was completely overwhelmed by His Spirit that surrounded me in the dark of night.  I was completely assured that He is in complete control of my life and everything else in this world.  I have always trusted God, but now it has went to a new level.  I was overwhelmed, comforted, loved, assured, and humbled by the one true God that visited with me tonight.  All this lead me to read Job 38 & 39 once again---He is God and I am me, the one that He created me with a purpose and a plan that was written by Him and who am I to question any of that?  I truly believe that we can never reach our potential until we are humbled enough to know that we can’t reach anything without Him leading us there.           

He is truly the author and finisher of my faith!

The Bloodline!

Luke 8:19-21

I have been baffled by these verses for so long.  Why wouldn’t Jesus split the crowd as God did the Red Sea and bring his mother and brothers to the front of the line, next to him?  Was he being disrespectful of his family and their feelings?  Honestly, these scriptures have always bothered me, mostly because I just didn’t understand the point Jesus was trying to make here.  But now I finally get it!  It is not really about his mother and brothers, he is not speaking anything against them, but letting us know just how much he loves each of us---he loves us just as much as he loves his blood-born family.  How powerful these 3 verses are to the child of God!  When Jesus shed his blood on that cross, that blood was shed in order for us to be saved, but it is really so much more than that.  His lose of blood was for our gain, each drop was for each of us, it was for me!  He not only made a way for me to be saved and live with him in eternity, he did it so that I could become part of his family.  He did it for me, because he wanted me in his bloodline!  And what a bloodline to belong to, as a child of God, we belong to the creator of the universe---now it doesn't get any better than that!   I don’t about you, but this is blowing me away this morning---once again I am in awe of my Father, who truly loves me more than I will ever be able to comprehend and I am so excited to be in the ultimate bloodline!

And Love!

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

I John 4:8

I Corinthians 13

This chapter in I Corinthians has been referred to as “The Chapter of Love”, my bible titled it “The Preeminence of Love”---no matter the title that is used to label this chapter I have no doubt that God was using Paul to express the importance of his love in our lives---and not just how much he loves us, but how much we should love one another.  I have said it many times, but I have to say it again---mainly because I need to hear it myself---it is easy, easy to love those that are like me, however, loving those that are different, those that are difficult, and yes those that are mean is where our true side is revealed---it is when Christ is revealed or unfortunately not revealed within each of us.  The Word is very clear here and it basically says (in my words) it will never matter how much I know, how much I do, how much I have, or even how much I give, if I don’t have love, if I don’t put love in the center of all I do, all I am, none of these things will even matter.  Everything will pass away, but love will remain.  I love this entire chapter, but 2 of my favorite scriptures in it is ‘it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres’ (vs. 7) and ‘love never fails’ (vs. 8).  I don’t think I am a bad person at all, in fact, I think I am a pretty good person when it comes to caring for others, but to be perfectly honest, I am sure that my God is disappointed with my love for others---I just don’t think I am living up to these instructions in this chapter.  After reading these scriptures I was reminded of the words in I John 4:8… ‘God is Love’ and reminded that as a servant of Jesus Christ, as a child of the Most High God , I have one of the greatest commandments to follow and that is to love!  It really is not as complicated as I make it out to be…if God is love and I have God in me then I should be loving like God!  It really is just that simple!  Just to let those of you know that come in contact with me…I am working on the loving everyone part….so be prepared!  Oh and thanks Brother Terry for reminding me of this tonight with your lesson!

With much love and blessings to you all!

The Active Word!

Luke 8:1-18

Oh , I so want to make sure that my ears are hearing and the Word is being planted in good ground!  I can honestly say with each day that passes I love the Word of God more and more.  Last night it was late and I was extremely tired when I got home, but I just felt I had to read the next scriptures even if I didn’t have time to blog my thoughts on them.  It wasn’t that I felt like I needed to do it out of obligation, but I really wanted to read them and just didn’t think I could go to sleep until I had done so.  So I did and then I woke up wanting to read them again---what an awesome feeling.  I am so blessed and very thankful that God has given me this thirst for His Word, especially when I hear people say that they wish they liked to read the Bible.  I know that sounds terrible, but I think people may not enjoy it because they don’t understand it, and I can completely understand because there is still so many things that I don’t fully comprehend, but I just have to read it for what it is and pray that God opens my mind to what he wants me to know.  I find it hard to read fictional material, I just always want to get something out of what I read---I want to grow with everything that I read, so maybe that is why I love the stories of the Bible so much.  No matter why I love them, I am just glad I do, but there is definitely something else that I need to work on and that is spreading His Word and applying it in every aspect of my life.  So many times I don’t seek him in everything, just the stuff that I think is big, but that is not correct, I have to seek him in everything, big or small.  You know the scripture says “whoever has ears to hear, let them hear”---I think that He is talking to me when he speaks these words, no I know he is!  I have also learned from scripture that it does not matter how well you know the words of the Bible, if they are not applied to your life than they are useless to your soul.   This book was not written just for us to enjoy the stories and the “parts we like”, it was written in order for its words to guide our lives.  Hebrews 4:12 says it perfectly…

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Wow, that scripture has to be one of the most powerful scriptures describing the Word of our Lord----really makes me know how truly important the Word is to my life!  I just love that the scriptures that follow The Parable of the Sower is about letting our light shine and the words ‘be careful how you listen’ hit me hard.  How many books do you read and think about listening as you read?  None, when we teach children to read and comprehend we tell them that they need to clear their thoughts and concentrate on the text they are reading, but not the Bible.  Why---because it is the only book that is ‘alive and active’---it is this way because God speaks to us through the reading and pondering on His Word.  I have read some scriptures my whole life, but the true meaning does not come to me until that is what I need to see and hear.  I just can’t help but think of how good God is to each of us, He is not only our Savior, Friend, Father, Guide, but he left us His Word in order for us to know Him more----What a Savior!

Real...What if everyone was?

Luke 7:36-50

Alright well I think it is no coincidence that I have constantly been thinking about Mandisa’s testimony before she sang the song What if We Were Real and then reading these scriptures about the woman with the alabaster box.  Now you want to talk about getting real---well this is it!  She didn’t care who was there, she didn’t care what they had to say about her, she didn’t care that she was not considered of high standing with those that surrounded her, what she did care about was bowing, falling, at the feet of Jesus…literally!  I have heard and have even said myself many times about needing to just lay at the feet of Jesus, but this woman did it, she put everything aside and put everything she had---her heart, her soul, and her mind into loving and seeking our Savior, Jesus Christ.  So what if we did this----like the song says what if we were real?  The chorus of this song is so true…

We keep trying to make it look so nice
And we keep hiding what's going on inside
But what if I share my brokenness
What if you share how you feel
And what if we weren't afraid of this crazy mess
What if we were real

So what would happen?  Stop for a moment and think about this.  What would happen?  This is exactly what this woman did, she gave her brokenness to Jesus and let him take it from her and I just have to believe that when she left that place she was a changed person---she probably never lived another day without thinking of her Jesus and that day when she was real.  So I know it won’t come easy for me, I know I will get off track and then back on again, I know that I will feel hurt at times, mad at times, and even embarrassed at times, but I honestly think that God is telling me that I need to be more real.  I need to let go of what I think sounds like the right thing and trust Jesus when he leads and guides me. 

You know I have gotten so frustrated lately with many things, but to be perfectly honest I know that I am not looking at those things with the eyes of Christ, instead I am looking with the eyes of Rosanne and that is not showing me anything except myself and that is no good!  So I am going to work on being real, which for me starts with lying at the feet of Jesus (literally) and being completely honest with him.  Afterall, if I can’t be honest with my Father, I can never be honest with myself and others.  You know I may not can pour my tears out on his physical feet, but he is just as real today to you and I as he was to her so long ago.  I don’t know about you, but I need to pour out what I have hidden in my box on Jesus, I need to be unafraid to just let go and be real.