I want to make two announcements before I get into today's message. Any day now the "address" for this blog will change. It will be www.amybarkman.com and will open to the blog as well as contain all the Voice of Joy Ministry and other pages - accessed by clicking on the name of the folder at the top of the blog page. Also sometime in August my husband will begin video recording "Parlour Talk" which will be me discussing the Word from my parlour - picture is above - where I spend time alone with Jesus as well as with others in His Presence. Please pray for that venture. Gary says the Lord told him to do it so I'm going to cooperate!
Now to the blog for today.
Yesterday was the Sunday before Independence Day. I signed up nearly a month ago for my church to be part of a program entitled Call2Fall which asked for commitments from individuals and churches to spend at least 5 minutes on their knees Sunday, July 3, in personal repentance and prayer for our nation. Over a million signed up - and since that included churches which could have populations of hundreds or thousands, no telling how many people knelt to intercede for our nation. I truly expect to see revival sweep the land as a result of this effort.
I began several weeks ago talking about repentance and revival from the pulpit. I handed out two sheets of questions to ask ourselves and let God's Spirit show us where repentance and purging is needed.(If you'd like copies of them, e-mail and ask and I'll attach them and send to you.) On July 3, seven people in Mortonsville United Methodist Church led us in prayers for:
Repentance & Revival among Christians
God's Power poured forth in and through the Body of Christ
Evangelism & Lost Souls
Respect for God's Word in the Church and Nation
Standards of Morality in the Church and Nation
Godly Government
Economy of the Church and Nation
After the prayers, I called for those who could to come forward and kneel to pray. I purposefully went to kneel at the first pew and did not look to see who did or did not come because I didn't want to be tempted to judge those who didn't. Later on I said to Gary "I don't want to know who did, but were there many who came to kneel and pray?" He said that with the exception of himself (in a wheelchair) and two other people for whom it is impossible to physically kneel, everyone in the church went up to bow in humility before the Lord. It's moments like that which make a pastor's heart beat quickly with joy.
I led in prayer also and prayed something that has never come out of my mouth before. I can only believe that it was the Lord leading me to pray that way. I've always been very much a believer in "Mercy rejoiceth against (or over) judgment" James 2:13. I love knowing that God loves to show mercy instead of judgment. My favorite beatitude is "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7. Knowing that I need lots of mercy, I have been quick to show mercy to others! But Sunday morning I prayed a little differently.
"Father we hold up those in this nation that are the enemies of Your standards of morality, enemies of Your Word, enemies of the freedom on which this country was founded, enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ. For those who are Your enemies in ignorance we ask for Your mercy and that You send Your light to shine Truth into their hearts, and prepare their hearts to receive truth. Upon those who know what they are doing, who have chosen to be the enemies of You and Your people, enemies of Truth and Freedom, we ask You to bring judgment."
Frankly, I was in a state of shock the rest of the day. I've never ever asked for judgment to come to anybody, even those who have hurt me or my family.
But when I think of those Christian settlers who came to this land so they could have the freedom to worship in whatever way they chose - and when I hear that Christianity is the only faith that is being persecuted and mocked and even forbidden in places- I hurt. When I think of all those who gave their lives to protect our Constitution which is based on God's Law, and how often judges today rule against that Constitution, how often I hear it said that our Constitution is outdated - I hurt. And if I hurt, I know that the Heart of our Lord hurts first.
Please pray for mercy for all people but for those who see no need of mercy, those who are purposefully the enemies of God and His Word and His Law, pray that judgment comes to hinder their influence so that JESUS IS LORD over our country.
God bless you, and God bless America!!!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Human
"Life" in a fallen world happened to me big time since I wrote last. I got an infection, went to the Drs office twice, ended up in bed all this week, and didn't get to go to Annual Conference or my castle. :-(
I felt stressed about not being able to go, and then guilty that I didn't spend all my time fighting with the Word. Instead, after a brief prayer and devotional session each day, I watched children's movies on dvd and read cozy mysteries. In my dreams I continued to plan the Narnia retreat and invented a computer program (a joke to anyone who knows my technical ineptness) but it was only while I slept that I was useful in any way.
I apologized to the Lord for not being more proactive in fighting sickness, but He didn't seem to be as upset with me as I was.
He seemed to recognize that I am human.
Human - what a study in contrasts a human is. Even the worst of us have some kindness at times, and even the best of us can be terribly self-centered.
And when you add the New Creation nature from Jesus Christ to the mixed up fallen personality, you really have an interesting specimen.
Those of us who have been born again by His Spirit are being transformed into His image. But it is definitely a process!
I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that the Word of God drives out sickness and disease. I know that if I keep my eyes on Jesus I am changed into His image - and He was not ever sick until the day He took your sickness and mine into Himself on the cross.
And yet I put aside my Bible and picked up the mystery and the dvd control. Why?
Because it was just easier, that's why. It took no mental or physical energy. I did pray, "Lord You are the healer. I know the end of the story but You'll have to get me from here to there cause I can't. I'm too tired."
"Too tired." He brought those words back to my mind today. And reminded me that sometimes I do "good deeds" beyond what He tells me to do. And then He forced me to question my own motives.
Hmmm.
Well, there is nobody else to do them. How do you know if you leap in and don't give somebody else a chance to do them? Well, I made a commitment. And what if you can't fulfill that commitment? Uh, then I would have failed. So?
Then He brought to my mind a scene from years ago. My parents were avid square dancers and they introduced square dancing to the Frankfort Country Club back in the early 1950's. I loved watching them and even got to go to a dance with Daddy once when my mother was too busy working on her Master's Degree.
In the early '90's it was advertised that there would be square dancing lessons here in our community. I asked my husband if we could go and take them.
Gary: No
Me: Why?
Gary: I don't know how to square dance.
Me: That's why we would take lessons.
Gary: But I might make a fool of myself.
Me: So?
Gary: Somebody might laugh at me.
Me: So?
Gary: Then I'd have to shoot them.
We didn't take square dancing and I've always been sorry. Now I don't know if Gary just didn't want to do it or if he really was hindered by pride.
Pride, the original sin - of the devil and of humans.
Someone mentioned humility on FaceBook today. I commented. "Just when we think we have achieved humility, we get proud of ourselves for being humble. Sigh!"
The Lord didn't cause my sickness and infection - they are part of living in a fallen world. But I want to thank Him for using this time to remind me that I am not yet perfected and need to take time to rest and become like a child, trusting Him to bring me to perfection and help me relax during the process.
He reminded me of an incident in 1980. I was at a time of great frustration and ready to quit some things that I knew He called me to do - because I couldn't control several situations. The KJV version of Galatians 2:24 came to my mind "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Some other versions say "live by faith in the Son of God" but this one said "live by the faith of the Son of God." When I read it, I had a picture come into my mind of myself lying flat on a raft and I couldn't see where I was going but Jesus was right behind me and the breath of His Spirit was blowing my raft to the destination He chose and could see. All I had to do was rest in Him.
May you live by His faith. And don't forget to play.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. I Peter 5:6,7
I felt stressed about not being able to go, and then guilty that I didn't spend all my time fighting with the Word. Instead, after a brief prayer and devotional session each day, I watched children's movies on dvd and read cozy mysteries. In my dreams I continued to plan the Narnia retreat and invented a computer program (a joke to anyone who knows my technical ineptness) but it was only while I slept that I was useful in any way.
I apologized to the Lord for not being more proactive in fighting sickness, but He didn't seem to be as upset with me as I was.
He seemed to recognize that I am human.
Human - what a study in contrasts a human is. Even the worst of us have some kindness at times, and even the best of us can be terribly self-centered.
And when you add the New Creation nature from Jesus Christ to the mixed up fallen personality, you really have an interesting specimen.
Those of us who have been born again by His Spirit are being transformed into His image. But it is definitely a process!
I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that the Word of God drives out sickness and disease. I know that if I keep my eyes on Jesus I am changed into His image - and He was not ever sick until the day He took your sickness and mine into Himself on the cross.
And yet I put aside my Bible and picked up the mystery and the dvd control. Why?
Because it was just easier, that's why. It took no mental or physical energy. I did pray, "Lord You are the healer. I know the end of the story but You'll have to get me from here to there cause I can't. I'm too tired."
"Too tired." He brought those words back to my mind today. And reminded me that sometimes I do "good deeds" beyond what He tells me to do. And then He forced me to question my own motives.
Hmmm.
Well, there is nobody else to do them. How do you know if you leap in and don't give somebody else a chance to do them? Well, I made a commitment. And what if you can't fulfill that commitment? Uh, then I would have failed. So?
Then He brought to my mind a scene from years ago. My parents were avid square dancers and they introduced square dancing to the Frankfort Country Club back in the early 1950's. I loved watching them and even got to go to a dance with Daddy once when my mother was too busy working on her Master's Degree.
In the early '90's it was advertised that there would be square dancing lessons here in our community. I asked my husband if we could go and take them.
Gary: No
Me: Why?
Gary: I don't know how to square dance.
Me: That's why we would take lessons.
Gary: But I might make a fool of myself.
Me: So?
Gary: Somebody might laugh at me.
Me: So?
Gary: Then I'd have to shoot them.
We didn't take square dancing and I've always been sorry. Now I don't know if Gary just didn't want to do it or if he really was hindered by pride.
Pride, the original sin - of the devil and of humans.
Someone mentioned humility on FaceBook today. I commented. "Just when we think we have achieved humility, we get proud of ourselves for being humble. Sigh!"
The Lord didn't cause my sickness and infection - they are part of living in a fallen world. But I want to thank Him for using this time to remind me that I am not yet perfected and need to take time to rest and become like a child, trusting Him to bring me to perfection and help me relax during the process.
He reminded me of an incident in 1980. I was at a time of great frustration and ready to quit some things that I knew He called me to do - because I couldn't control several situations. The KJV version of Galatians 2:24 came to my mind "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Some other versions say "live by faith in the Son of God" but this one said "live by the faith of the Son of God." When I read it, I had a picture come into my mind of myself lying flat on a raft and I couldn't see where I was going but Jesus was right behind me and the breath of His Spirit was blowing my raft to the destination He chose and could see. All I had to do was rest in Him.
May you live by His faith. And don't forget to play.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. I Peter 5:6,7
Friday, June 3, 2011
More Adventures in the Kingdom
I mentioned in my last post that I'm planning a workshop on stress management, "Peace! Be Still." And I'm looking forward to sharing what I learned as I earned certification in that subject through the American Association of Christian Counselors. The date and place are still to be determined. I believe this subject affects every person because the biggest cause of stress is....
money or the lack thereof? No. Family relationships? No. Career problems? No? The biggest cause of stress is.....................Life!!! And we all have to deal with that.
I've also got some personal adventures coming up in the next few months - next week I'm going to the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. And I was thrilled to find that the most reasonably priced hotel listed was the Drawbridge Inn - which looks like a castle. When I traveled for the Commonwealth of KY I stayed there when duties took me to that area. It made me feel like a princess - to stay in a "castle." My oldest daughter Ginny and I went to England for three weeks in 1999 and toured lots of castles. When my wonderful husband picked me up at the airport on my return, he told me that he had reserved a room at the Drawbridge Inn for the night "to make the homecoming from England not such a drastic change."
Then in July I am going to another UM event, the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Conference in Dayton, Ohio. I'm riding up there with a good friend who is a pastor in Florida who had me come and do a workshop at her church several years ago - in the Florida Keys. I commented at the time "It's tough work but somebody has to do it!" :-)
Shortly after I made those arrangements Ginny called about her first grandson's birthday - my first great-grandchild. So I will be flying out from Dayton to Utah to celebrate with the newest generation in our family!!!
Then the next big adventure, that I know about, will happen on Saturday October 1, 2011 at Faith Fellowship Church here in Danville. It is Voice of Joy's annual women's retreat and this year's theme will be "A Day in Narnia." YAY! Talk about adventures!!! I was in my 20's when I discovered C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. And by now I have read all seven books at least 12 times each - I lost count somewhere along the way but know several of my favorites have been read 14 or 15 times. Two of my daughters have already agreed to share their insights into at least one of the books that influenced their early years. I can't wait!!! I've already started collecting decorations - things like...but then if I told you and you decide to come, they wouldn't be a surprise!!! In Narnia you don't just feel like a princess, you discover that you are a queen, under the King of Kings of course!!!
I truly hope that all my brothers and sisters in the Kingdom have wonderful adventures like I do, even in the midst of "Life!"
"In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:6
money or the lack thereof? No. Family relationships? No. Career problems? No? The biggest cause of stress is.....................Life!!! And we all have to deal with that.
I've also got some personal adventures coming up in the next few months - next week I'm going to the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. And I was thrilled to find that the most reasonably priced hotel listed was the Drawbridge Inn - which looks like a castle. When I traveled for the Commonwealth of KY I stayed there when duties took me to that area. It made me feel like a princess - to stay in a "castle." My oldest daughter Ginny and I went to England for three weeks in 1999 and toured lots of castles. When my wonderful husband picked me up at the airport on my return, he told me that he had reserved a room at the Drawbridge Inn for the night "to make the homecoming from England not such a drastic change."
Then in July I am going to another UM event, the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Conference in Dayton, Ohio. I'm riding up there with a good friend who is a pastor in Florida who had me come and do a workshop at her church several years ago - in the Florida Keys. I commented at the time "It's tough work but somebody has to do it!" :-)
Shortly after I made those arrangements Ginny called about her first grandson's birthday - my first great-grandchild. So I will be flying out from Dayton to Utah to celebrate with the newest generation in our family!!!
Then the next big adventure, that I know about, will happen on Saturday October 1, 2011 at Faith Fellowship Church here in Danville. It is Voice of Joy's annual women's retreat and this year's theme will be "A Day in Narnia." YAY! Talk about adventures!!! I was in my 20's when I discovered C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. And by now I have read all seven books at least 12 times each - I lost count somewhere along the way but know several of my favorites have been read 14 or 15 times. Two of my daughters have already agreed to share their insights into at least one of the books that influenced their early years. I can't wait!!! I've already started collecting decorations - things like...but then if I told you and you decide to come, they wouldn't be a surprise!!! In Narnia you don't just feel like a princess, you discover that you are a queen, under the King of Kings of course!!!
I truly hope that all my brothers and sisters in the Kingdom have wonderful adventures like I do, even in the midst of "Life!"
"In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:6
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Life With Jesus
Wow - what a time I've had the past few weeks!!! I'm not even going to apologize for missing two weeks of writing this blog. When you are where Jesus is and has called you to be there with Him, life is exciting.
Friday May 20th I attended Messiah Ministries' Fountain Prayer and Praise service in Lexington which included a Blessing Ceremony for newlyweds David and Linda Moore and then I hosted a reception afterwards with the help of my good friend Jo Clem. On Saturday May 21, I drove to Union College and hosted an informal get-together for the school I graduated from - Appalachian Local Pastor's School. Sunday I preached at church and Monday I packed.
On Tuesday May 24, my husband Gary and I headed out to Georgia to visit a dear friend Tracy Ruckman and her husband Tim. We had a wonderful, blessed afternoon, evening, and Wednesday til after lunch with them. Then we headed to Pigeon Forge, TN where we spent two nights. Gary shopped and I completed my course - by DVD - on Stress Management Coaching through the American Association of Christian Counselors.
Friday we drove on over to Gatlinburg and settled in for four days. Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday we attended the Gaither Family Fest where laughter and worship are continually dancing around the throne of Love. We go every Memorial Day weekend and hope we never have to miss it. But it's not for worship wimps. There is usually a 4 hour service on Friday night, 2 hours Saturday and Sunday mornings, and 3 1/2 hours Saturday and Sunday nights! One minute someone may tell a joke and the next you may be standing with 7,000 other Christians singing the Halleluiah chorus. Shortly after you sit down a Bluegrass group complete with banjos and wash tubs may entertain you, and right after that you might enjoy a powerful offering of Italian opera, followed by being led in Because He Lives by the composers.
I can't say enough about the awesome experience of the Gaither Family Fest. For someone like me who formed the "Fun To Be One Club" back in the '70's, to be in a group that large made up of Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians, Pentecostals, 7th Day Adventists, Lutherans, Independents, Charismatics, and every other 'brand' of Christians you can name, all worshipping the King of Kings together, is pure heaven. Well, yeah, guess it's just like that, huh?
Monday we stayed around Gatlinburg - I slept til 1 p.m. and Gary slept til 3!!! Our first year there for Family Fest we headed home on Memorial Day but since it took 5 1/2 hours of being in bumper to bumper traffic to go the distance that usually takes 30 minutes, we agreed we would never do that again but would wait til Tuesday.
Tuesday we headed home at 11 a.m. but since there are so many wonderful places in that 30 minute drive to Interstate 40, like the Christian Book Discount Warehouse, the Tool Discount Warehouse, a Christmas decoration warehouse, a china and doll outlet - well, we finally reached the interstate around 5. Yes, it took 30 minutes longer than the drive on Memorial Day but we spent most of it having fun! Then of course we had to stop at the Lake City Cracker Barrel for supper. I kept asking Gary, "Do we really have to go home?" But he kept saying, "Yes." So here we are.
Now that I'm here I'm not really sad. I'm looking forward to being back in the pulpit at church. I'm planning a workshop "Peace! Be Still" on stress management - God's way. And I'm working on the Woman's Retreat which will be "A Day in Narnia." How fun is that!?! The speakers this year will be my daughters and me. I'm really excited about it.
Life with Jesus is so wonderful. Oh, yeah, that Monday that we hung around Gatlinburg, we stopped into a gallery and I bought a painting. It is already hanging in my parlor where I have my quiet time and meet with friends for prayer counseling with the Lord. It's a picture of Jesus holding hands and forming a circle with a group of children and they are dancing. He is smiling as are the children and the adults watching them.
When I look at it I see us - you and me and all who love Him. And I think of the song "Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."
I hope you are enjoying life with Jesus - even if you sometimes have to sleep 12 to 14 hours after the dance!
"Lord, show me the path of life; In Your Presence is fullness of Joy." Psalm 16:11
Friday May 20th I attended Messiah Ministries' Fountain Prayer and Praise service in Lexington which included a Blessing Ceremony for newlyweds David and Linda Moore and then I hosted a reception afterwards with the help of my good friend Jo Clem. On Saturday May 21, I drove to Union College and hosted an informal get-together for the school I graduated from - Appalachian Local Pastor's School. Sunday I preached at church and Monday I packed.
On Tuesday May 24, my husband Gary and I headed out to Georgia to visit a dear friend Tracy Ruckman and her husband Tim. We had a wonderful, blessed afternoon, evening, and Wednesday til after lunch with them. Then we headed to Pigeon Forge, TN where we spent two nights. Gary shopped and I completed my course - by DVD - on Stress Management Coaching through the American Association of Christian Counselors.
Friday we drove on over to Gatlinburg and settled in for four days. Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday we attended the Gaither Family Fest where laughter and worship are continually dancing around the throne of Love. We go every Memorial Day weekend and hope we never have to miss it. But it's not for worship wimps. There is usually a 4 hour service on Friday night, 2 hours Saturday and Sunday mornings, and 3 1/2 hours Saturday and Sunday nights! One minute someone may tell a joke and the next you may be standing with 7,000 other Christians singing the Halleluiah chorus. Shortly after you sit down a Bluegrass group complete with banjos and wash tubs may entertain you, and right after that you might enjoy a powerful offering of Italian opera, followed by being led in Because He Lives by the composers.
I can't say enough about the awesome experience of the Gaither Family Fest. For someone like me who formed the "Fun To Be One Club" back in the '70's, to be in a group that large made up of Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians, Pentecostals, 7th Day Adventists, Lutherans, Independents, Charismatics, and every other 'brand' of Christians you can name, all worshipping the King of Kings together, is pure heaven. Well, yeah, guess it's just like that, huh?
Monday we stayed around Gatlinburg - I slept til 1 p.m. and Gary slept til 3!!! Our first year there for Family Fest we headed home on Memorial Day but since it took 5 1/2 hours of being in bumper to bumper traffic to go the distance that usually takes 30 minutes, we agreed we would never do that again but would wait til Tuesday.
Tuesday we headed home at 11 a.m. but since there are so many wonderful places in that 30 minute drive to Interstate 40, like the Christian Book Discount Warehouse, the Tool Discount Warehouse, a Christmas decoration warehouse, a china and doll outlet - well, we finally reached the interstate around 5. Yes, it took 30 minutes longer than the drive on Memorial Day but we spent most of it having fun! Then of course we had to stop at the Lake City Cracker Barrel for supper. I kept asking Gary, "Do we really have to go home?" But he kept saying, "Yes." So here we are.
Now that I'm here I'm not really sad. I'm looking forward to being back in the pulpit at church. I'm planning a workshop "Peace! Be Still" on stress management - God's way. And I'm working on the Woman's Retreat which will be "A Day in Narnia." How fun is that!?! The speakers this year will be my daughters and me. I'm really excited about it.
Life with Jesus is so wonderful. Oh, yeah, that Monday that we hung around Gatlinburg, we stopped into a gallery and I bought a painting. It is already hanging in my parlor where I have my quiet time and meet with friends for prayer counseling with the Lord. It's a picture of Jesus holding hands and forming a circle with a group of children and they are dancing. He is smiling as are the children and the adults watching them.
When I look at it I see us - you and me and all who love Him. And I think of the song "Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."
I hope you are enjoying life with Jesus - even if you sometimes have to sleep 12 to 14 hours after the dance!
"Lord, show me the path of life; In Your Presence is fullness of Joy." Psalm 16:11
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Greater Things
Today I've been meditating on the promises of Jesus to the believer. To you and to me. Last week I mentioned that He promised in John 14:12 that those who believe in Him will do even greater things than He did. Do you believe that?
Take a minute and really think about it. Do you believe that you will do all the things Jesus did and even greater things?
Did Jesus exaggerate? Was it a wrong translation? Or could it be possible that we aren't believing the way He meant when He made the promise?
Well, I KNOW Jesus didn't exaggerate. He IS Truth.
Wrong translation? One of the Bible de-powering things I was taught was that even if scripture was originally what God said, the translators messed it up and so you couldn't believe it the way it came to us. I bought that - sort of. But I just couldn't believe that the God of all Creation would allow Jesus' words to be mistranslated. So I believed the Words in Red!!!
Those two questions out of the way, that leaves us as the reason we aren't doing the things Jesus did and greater.
"But I have faith!" "I believe." Do we?
The definition of faith is "trust in God's Word and reliance on His Nature." To truly believe in Jesus means to trust that His Word is true and to rely on His goodness. When I was a child I was taught that the Bible is full of stories that contain wisdom but that you can't believe it literally. I'll never forget when God sent someone who taught me that the Bible contains the Living Word of the Living God and that, yes, I can believe and take it literally - even the words not in red. "Joy unspeakable and full of glory"!!! I Peter 1:8
His Word is forever settled in heaven. But He needs us to believe and receive it on earth. That's why He told us to pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10.
Shortly after Jesus said the believer would do greater things than He did, He said, "He that has my commandments and keeps them, that is who loves me, and he that loves me shall be loved by my Father and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." John 14:21.
Aha! To trust in and rely on Him means that we believe Him and keep His commandments. And what are His commandments? The apostle John says that we have anything we ask of God if we keep His commandments which are: believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ (Okay, got that!) and love one another, as he gave us commandment. (Uh-Oh!) I John 3:22,23
Jesus taught in Mark 11: 24-26 that whatever we pray, believe we receive and we will have them and then He says "And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anybody."Hmm. Could it be that we are not seeing ourselves do the things Jesus did, much less the greater things, because we are not walking in love, not forgiving those who wrong us?
He said when we keep His commandments, He will manifest Himself to us. That means He will show Himself to us, His love and power will pour through us. But that can't happen if we are clogged up with resentments, irritations, and unforgiveness.
I hope you and I both (and the rest who read this) will be quick to forgive, quick to be merciful, quick to obey His voice to let Him pour out His blessings to others through us.
And as we do, I believe we are going to begin to see those greater things happen all around us.
Take a minute and really think about it. Do you believe that you will do all the things Jesus did and even greater things?
Did Jesus exaggerate? Was it a wrong translation? Or could it be possible that we aren't believing the way He meant when He made the promise?
Well, I KNOW Jesus didn't exaggerate. He IS Truth.
Wrong translation? One of the Bible de-powering things I was taught was that even if scripture was originally what God said, the translators messed it up and so you couldn't believe it the way it came to us. I bought that - sort of. But I just couldn't believe that the God of all Creation would allow Jesus' words to be mistranslated. So I believed the Words in Red!!!
Those two questions out of the way, that leaves us as the reason we aren't doing the things Jesus did and greater.
"But I have faith!" "I believe." Do we?
The definition of faith is "trust in God's Word and reliance on His Nature." To truly believe in Jesus means to trust that His Word is true and to rely on His goodness. When I was a child I was taught that the Bible is full of stories that contain wisdom but that you can't believe it literally. I'll never forget when God sent someone who taught me that the Bible contains the Living Word of the Living God and that, yes, I can believe and take it literally - even the words not in red. "Joy unspeakable and full of glory"!!! I Peter 1:8
His Word is forever settled in heaven. But He needs us to believe and receive it on earth. That's why He told us to pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10.
Shortly after Jesus said the believer would do greater things than He did, He said, "He that has my commandments and keeps them, that is who loves me, and he that loves me shall be loved by my Father and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." John 14:21.
Aha! To trust in and rely on Him means that we believe Him and keep His commandments. And what are His commandments? The apostle John says that we have anything we ask of God if we keep His commandments which are: believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ (Okay, got that!) and love one another, as he gave us commandment. (Uh-Oh!) I John 3:22,23
Jesus taught in Mark 11: 24-26 that whatever we pray, believe we receive and we will have them and then He says "And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anybody."Hmm. Could it be that we are not seeing ourselves do the things Jesus did, much less the greater things, because we are not walking in love, not forgiving those who wrong us?
He said when we keep His commandments, He will manifest Himself to us. That means He will show Himself to us, His love and power will pour through us. But that can't happen if we are clogged up with resentments, irritations, and unforgiveness.
I hope you and I both (and the rest who read this) will be quick to forgive, quick to be merciful, quick to obey His voice to let Him pour out His blessings to others through us.
And as we do, I believe we are going to begin to see those greater things happen all around us.
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