OK, my message today is LIVING YOUR FAITH …. But first, I came across a bit of humor that I will begin things with…. I heard the government is putting chips inside of people, so
I’m signing up for ranch flavored doritos…
Here’s some COVID Humor that comes out of the quarantine….
We reset our clocks and went from Eastern Time to the Twilight Zone.
I'm excited that it's time to take out garbage. But what should I wear?
I used to spin the toilet paper like I was on Wheel of Fortune. Now I turn it like I'm cracking a safe. I still haven't decided where to go for vacation----- The Living Room or the back porch.
You need to put on your skinny jeans once in a while. Pajamas will have you believe all is well in the kingdom. Let’s all practice social-distancing with the refrigerator.
OK our opening scripture is…Mark
She had the key to her own healing, and she held the turn around to her own situation all along. It was her faith that pushed through the crowd, it was her faith that refused to be denied, it was her faith that said “If I can only touch Him, I shall be made whole! When Jesus said “Your faith has made you whole”, He was saying that her faith actions made the difference. Like Jacob of old, who said “I will not let you go, until the blessing I receive”… He would not be denied….
It's having faith when the feeling is gone, and you still obey the master, when there is no silver lining to the black clouds over head, but you know the Sun is going to come out soon….It’s about believing when everything you’ve tried has failed and laysdead at your feet….So you still pay your tithe, and you gather with fellow believers in church, and you visit the sick when you are sick yourself…. It’s those “Hold on my child, joy comes in the morning” actions that are motivated by a belief in the unchanging reality of the character and nature of God… The Job kind of faith that says “Though God slay me, yet will I trust Him! Someone said, “We used to have Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now we have no jobs, no hope and no cash.... I just hope Kevin Bacon doesn’t dienow….
We speak words that release heaven in the earth, but we must combine that with faith actions. We push through the barriers by faith, and virtue begins to flow….Our words are like a single match which may not seem like much, but it can start a forest fire that spreads further than we could ever imagine. Be a fire starter with your words of faith….
By faith we see our problems as God’s opportunities…Our dilemmas bring us into God’s solutions, Our barriers of resistance can create the updraft that becomes God’s wind beneath our wings…. Without resistance, flight could never have happened. The formula for flight is LIFT+ RESISTANCE + THRUST= FLIGHT..
Believe it…. THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES!!!!
Shel Silverstein wrote….”Listen to the Musn’ts, my child, Listen to the don’ts, Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles and the won’ts. Listen to “You’ll never have”, then listen close to me…Anything can happen, child, anything can be”…
In our next story Luke
If Alan, found out that he had leprosy, he could no longer be in here with us, he would have to leave the building and even leave the city! He couldn’t hug Mary and his children and grandchildren, because they might get the disease. How terrible is that?!
You can see that leprosy wasn’t just bad for a person’s body, but it was also terrible for their ability to enjoy friends and family, since they lived alone. Sometimes lepers would get very lonely and seek out other lepers to live with. That’s why the ten men in this story were together. They all had leprosy, and they were not allowed to be a part of their original family and community of friends. In some parts of the world today, groups of lepers living together are called “leper colonies.” Think about walking along and your ear, or your nose or fingers start falling off. Their bodies were daily falling away…..
Leprosy made a person “unclean”. Because leprosy was so contagious, people long ago would shout “UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!” when they were walking on the road or were in the company of people who did not have leprosy. No one wanted to be near a person with this terrible disease, so anytime a leper was within shouting distance of anyone, they had to walk along shouting the word “unclean” so everyone could get clear of them. Lepers didn’t just need healing, they needed wholeness. Jesus looked at the outward appearance, but He saw the person on the inside, the person they could be, in spite of the social stigma…. Their problem was embedded with a promise, and the promise contained their solution, and it was written some 600 years before…. And Jesus brought it’s reality into their lives. Hallelujah, God’s word will not perish from the earth until all is fulfilled…And Jesus has a promise that He is ready to bring to you Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope”.
God’s voice is in your mouth…. God said to Moses… “I will be with your mouth”…..You are His voice in the earth….Claim your promise…. Let’s all give a voice to this.. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”Ephesians 1:3
How about “And the peace of God, which surpassesunderstanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. Philippians 4:7
We need to speak it out…. Don’t Let Your Struggle Become Your Identity, let your identity be shaped by the values and principles of God’s word and His intentions towards you…. Stop living according to what the world intends and live by what the Father intends for you…..
In our next story….Mark 10 states that the blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting on the side of the road begging. He heard Jesus was passing by, and it was by his faith that he called out to Jesus.
Mark 10:46-52 “They came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, ‘Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!’ Many people told him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, ‘Have mercy on me, Son of David!’ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ Sothey called the blind man and said to him, ‘Have courage! Get up; He’s calling for you.’ He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. Then Jesus answered him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ ‘Rabbouni,’ the blind man told Him, ‘I want to see!’ ‘Go your way,’ Jesus told him. ‘Your faith has made you whole.’ Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.”
Wholeness - this is a word that is very familiar in our society today - We have: Whole Foods, Whole wheat, and Whole grain. Then you have words like:Wholesome, Wholehearted, We want the whole story, We want the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Holistic is about- dealing with or treating the whole of something, not just it’s parts or individual symptoms. A doctor who takes a holistic approach will take into account mental and social factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease.
A group of doctors from the University of Minnesota, secured a grant from the government to study alternative healing methods.The doctors said, in effect, “We went back and examined all the old folk remedies. And we found that some of them we had said wouldn’t work did work. After running them through our laboratory, we found out why they worked. We even tried old wives’ remedies. We didn’t turn any of them down. We are in the healing business after all. “We also found out that divine healing works. We have records of people who were in the last stages of cancer, and were going to die.
But after a man of God came in, anointed them with oil, and laid hands on them, these people got up and left the hospital completely well, sometimes within two or three days.
We know divine healing works, but we can’t put it through the laboratory like we did the other remedies. If we knew how it worked, we would share that approach to healing with people also.”
They think that their microscopes and their centrifuge machines, and their smudges on litmus paper provide substance. But they miss the fact that the word which spoke the worlds and all that is in them into existance, is the same word substance that speaks to our human condition here and now….
Jesus said “be made whole”….The woman, and the leper, in scripture, were not just healed, they were made whole, emotionally, psychologically, and in every area of genetic susceptibility they may have had. They were not only healed but they were delivered and set free of all the effects …. The shame, the hurt, the loneliness, the feeling of being less than everyone else…
There is a prayer of wholeness which we are given in scripture… It’s found in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And cause your spirit, soul, and body to be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it”. You should write that down and confess it over yourself and all your family!
When my son Chris was a little tyke, he had dyslexia, spacialdisorder, and Attention Deficit Disorder. He would bring papers home from school and it was completely backward. You could hold it up to a mirror and it would be perfect. He got an infection in his tonsils and we were going to have to remove them. A minister who moved in the gift of healing was having meetings at our church, and he called Chris up. As he laid hands on him and prayed, Chris swallowed his tonsils, but what we didn’t know was that the Lord had also made our son WHOLE!
Not only were his tonsils gone, but after those meetings, all of his disorders were gone. His writing was corrected, his spacialproblem was gone, (he still had problems like any kid paying attention) BUT HE WAS MADE WHOLE!
The blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting on the side of the road begging. And I like that part where the folks tried to quite the man down, because he was crying out so loud, but it says he cried out even louder… He was determined to stop Jesus…. Listen, faith with corresponding action will stop Him every time!!! People will try to hold you back, intimidate you, “sit down you’re rocking the boat”!!! He Got Up!!! He couldn’t see yet, but he got up!!! Don’t let your faith be subject to what someone else thinks….Theyhaven’t walked in your moccasins… Like the crowd in Bartimaeus’ day, they will shut you down, and push you aside….You’re not trying to get their attention, you’re wanting to get God’s attention!!!
If you say you believe healing is yours, but you don’t start acting like you are being healed, then you don’t really believe it….HeGot Up!
If you say you believe you are set free from whatever you’re struggling with, but you don’t start acting like you are set free, then you don’t really believe it….He Got Up!
If you say you believe in forgiveness, but you don’t start acting like you have forgiven others, or that you are forgiven, then you don’t really believe it….He Got Up!
AM I TALKING TO ANYONE?
There must be a transition from I hope it will happen, to I believe it has happened and I will now order my life by it’sreality. I will talk like it, I will think like it, and I will act like it!
Heaven and earth are waiting for Your confession, your declaration, your words and your actions, because they are whatsets things in motion… I’ll tell you what… Let’s practice right now….join me…. “I DECLARE God’s blessings and goodness over my life.
I DECLARE I will experience God’s faithfulness. He will not fail me.
I DECLARE I am full of power, strength, and determination. I will overcome every obstacle, outlast every challenge, and come through every difficulty better off than I was before.
I DECLARE I have not missed my window of opportunity to accomplish my dream. This is my time. This is my moment. I receive it today!
I DECLARE I am receiving opportunities, and favor and I will focus on what is right and not what is wrong, and what my God is able to do.
I DECLARE that I am a part of a legacy of faith and future generations will be blessed as I live with excellence and integrity.
I DECLARE that God has a great plan for my life. He is directing my steps. And even though I may not always understand how, I know He will work out every detail to my advantage, in His perfect timing.
I DECLARE that God’s plan for me will not be stopped by people, disappointments, or adversities. God has solutions to every problem I will ever face, including the right people and the right opportunities in my future. People will go out of their way to help me.
I DECLARE that I will move forward from barely making it to having more than enough. God will open up supernatural doors for me. He will speak to the right people about me. I will see Ephesians 3:20 exceedingly, abundantly, above-and-beyond favor and increase in my life.
I DECLARE that I will speak favor and victory over my family, friends, and loved ones. I will help call out their seeds of greatness by telling them “I’m proud of you. I love you. You are amazing. You are talented. You are beautiful. You will do great things in life.”
I DECLARE that I have a sound mind filled with good thoughts, not thoughts of defeat. By faith, I am well able. I am anointed. I am equipped. I am empowered. My thoughts are guided by God’s Word, every day. No obstacle can defeat me because my mind and spirit are programmed for victory”.
You need to understand your power….. here’s a word that graphically addresses that…. “Now (your) faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)
Sometimes we hear someone say that they are stepping out in faith in a new venture. Generally, they mean they don’t know what is going to happen or what the future holds. They feel an urge to try something new and take a stab at it. That’s not what Hebrews is talking about.
When a person steps out in this Hebrews kind of faith, he will be standing on substance, something solid with corresponding evidence.
What about Hope….Hope is important, but hope alone lacks substance. You can hope that you are saved, but hope always puts it out there some where in the future. There is no substance, even though it gives you a target to shoot for. God’s word says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved”…So you believe on the lord Jesus Christ….Now you have substance. Now you are SAVED! You begin to speak like it, think like it and act like it… It has substance! Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ, (our substance) the same yesterday, today and forever”.. You are not saved because you feel saved, or that you hope you’re saved. You are saved because you have put your faith in the substance of God’s Word and acted on it. Now next week if you don’t feel saved, are you still saved? Yes, because there is substance underneath your salvation!!!
Let’s say that Scripture tells us “God has prepared a table in the presence of our enemies”….
Jesus is saying look to me, listen to me, watch me…..But you are so busy focusing on all the enemies, that you don’t ever sit down at the table and enjoy what’s prepared. You’re hungry, you see and smell all that is there, but you are distracted by the enemies in the valley…. It doesn’t mean that the table doesn’t have substance, it simply means that the enemies are more real to you than the table He has prepared….
It is all yours for the asking. God just wants you to believe His Word and take what has been set before you. It doesn’t offend God for you to take all you need at His table... With the blind man, Jesus said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you? (Now that’s a question loaded with substance) The blind man said to Him, ‘Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.’ Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you whole.” And he received his (substance), which was his sight. Because his focus was on Jesus!
To the leper He said “your faith has (touched substance) and made you whole.”
To the frail little woman, who pushed through all the hinderances, the interference and the distractions, and focused on Jesus….He said you touched my garment, (you touched substance) and it made you whole”….. Our faith must be established on the substance of God’s Word, not what we feel, not by what the circumstances look like, and not by what others tell us that sows doubt and unbelief. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “we walk by faith, not by sight” and faith is the victory (the substance) that overcomes the world, the flesh and the devil!!! Take a moment and celebrate your victory! Not just hoping you have it, but by faith knowing you have it, so you can declare you have it!
