Come back to Me, says the Lord. Isaiah 44:22 says, “Return to Me, for I have redeemed you”. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Kinsman Redeemer…our Savior, and redeemer of our souls.
Tag: our faith and trust in Jesus
Luke 18:41 ” ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ ‘Lord, I want to see, he replied.’ “
The blind beggar was sitting by the side of the road near Jericho. As Jesus walked near, the crowd brought the blind man to Him. Jesus knew the beggar was blind, so why did He still ask him that question? “What do you want Me to do for you?” It says in Matthew 7:8, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” The Lord wants us to ask Him for the desires of our heart…even down to tiny things that only we care about. Asking the Lord for something to be given to us isn’t unspiritual or lacking faith…it’s quite the opposite. The Lord delights in us asking.
Revelation 3:3 ” Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wakeup, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”
The Lord is saying, “Be ready!” Come out of that spiritual stupor and complacency you’re in. For you have been lulled into a false sense of security by your apathy towards God. Telling yourself that you’ll get right with God when you’re old, or when you’re done sowing your wild oats is risky business…for all we know, you may not live to see the sunrise tomorrow. Jesus said it best in Luke 12:40, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” Today is the day of repentance… and a new moral reorientation of your soul.
Psalm 119:116 “Sustain me according to Your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.”
You can’t have faith without hope…and hope without faith…they go hand and hand together. When shattered human emotions come to the point of hopelessness, there’s nothing left but disillusionment and a broken spirit. But if we have faith, we are lifted up and supported…encouraged and assured that God is there. Isaiah 46:4 says, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He Who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” The Lord is always there to comfort the brokenhearted and grief-stricken. For faith will give way to hope…and hope will usher in faith.
Acts 24: 25 ” As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ‘That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient I will send for you.’ “
Felix, the Governor of Judea, was well acquainted with the “Way”…in fact he was even married to a Jewess named Drusilla. So as he listened to Paul speak about faith in Jesus Christ, conviction hit a little too close to home. Conviction by the Holy Spirit is an intense persuasion…a laying bare of our personal sin, and the realization of the judgment to come if we don’t repent. Paul saw this force at work by the Holy Spirit first hand and later wrote to the Thessalonians, “Because our Gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” (I Thessalonians 1:5) Never underestimate the power of conviction by the Holy Spirit…for it is unrelenting and able to reach where no human words can.
Psalm 55:1-3 “Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger.”
Bad things happen to good people…for we live in a troubled and broken world where peace and unity is hard to find. But that doesn’t mean we have to cave in to all the ugliness around us. God has placed you on the earth at this particular time in history to make a difference…for you to be an influence, rather than being influenced by the wicked around you. Stand strong in the face of evil…pray without ceasing…tell others about Jesus.
John 1:10 ” He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.”
I think as Believers, we all smugly think that if we had lived during Biblical times and had witnessed the miracles and teachings of Jesus…we would of immediately realized He was the Messiah. But would we? Humanity saw Him as just another man…indeed, a good man who taught with unheard of authority and passion, but still just a flesh and blood human like the rest of us. Would we have been able to recognize His divinity…when the incarnate Jesus Christ…the embodiment of God took on human form and lived among us? I would hope and pray so.
II Peter 2:19 ” They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity – for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.”
The selfish human nature is always striving for the liberty of self-determination. “I want to do what I want, when I want to”, is our mindset. But with that enticement comes deception and seduction as we wander farther and farther off the right path. And sooner or later, we find ourselves in the middle of perversion, and wonder just how we got ourselves into such a mess. In the search for freedom, we have instead become a piece of property…owned and controlled by depravity and lies.
Matthew 13:58 ” And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”
Imagine being in the crowd around Jesus and seeing people being healed and set free…but yet refusing to acknowledge His divinity, showing no confidence in His power, and doubting the promise of eternal life. No wonder Jesus placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. Unbelief blinds our minds and causes our heart to become calloused. This lack of faith can hinder even the most righteous Believer at times…but just like the sick child’s father in Mark 9:24, we too can ask Jesus to,” Help me overcome my unbelief.”
Mark 6: 48-50 ” He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night He went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw Him walking on the lake, they thought He was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw Him and were terrified.”
In these scriptures we see the story of Jesus walking on the water and the disciples initial reaction. The disciples had been rowing for hours…fighting the rising winds and rough water. They were exhausted. With heads down, they were battling to just keep moving forward. So when Jesus approached the boat, fatigue and stress blinded them to be able to even recognize Jesus…irrationally, they imagined that it was a ghost rising from the waves. The same thing will happen to us when we fight the storms of life alone. Heads down, we power through, battling to keep moving ahead, but becoming more and more drained. It’s then that the combination of stress, anxiety, and exhaustion often leads to unfounded fears that overtake us. It’s also at that time, we suddenly come to the end of ourselves and finally cry out, “Lord, I can’t do this!”
Safetypinlove 