“Faith: It Goes a Long Way”

All is well when God's presence is near, and we can count on His presence being near whenever we may feel like we need Him more than ever.

In the passage about the dead girl and the sick woman, Jairus’s daughter was dying and the sick woman had an internal bleeding for 12 years.

Even though the story doesn’t mention how long the daughter was in the stage of dying, one can assume that it was definitely long enough to the point where it was more than her and her family could bear.

The same goes for the sick woman; imagine bleeding or having the worst disease you could think of, going to doctor after doctor to find a cure for it with no answer, and having to deal with it year after year!

It sounds like it all eventually got to being more than she was able to bear, too.

Fortunately, both Jairus and the woman were in the right place at the right time while Jesus was passing by, so they took advantage of the opportunity they were blessed with.

When we seize the day and place our faith in the God who can be depended on for anything, we can believe that He will show out in due time, which is His perfect time.

FAITH IS KEY.

Having faith is a key component that goes toward receiving what God has in store for us and wants to offer us.

The sick woman had enough faith story believe that touching the edge of Jesus’s cloak in the midst of the large crowd would heal her, and of course, it worked.

There is so much power held in the faith we place in the Lord, even if it means carrying that faith out through the smallest act in the middle of a chaotic situation.

So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Luke‬ ‭17:6‬

Not many people would probably build up the courage to do something like what the woman did (I honestly don’t think I would), but it’s a good thing that she set this example for anyone who feels desperate and hopeless about a situation they are currently in.

I certainly took her situation to heart; I believe that it’s important to pursue faith in God with no limit and under no condition.

Going on to the dead girl’s situation, one thing that really caught my attention in the story was how the crowd of people at Jairus’s house laughed at Jesus when He said the girl was only sleeping and was not dead.

As we place our faith in the Lord, many people may try to bring us down by ridiculing us for believing that something seeming almost impossible could ever happen;

that’s why Jesus only allowed a few, selected amount of people to be in the room with Him when He went to see the “dead” girl.

Instead of surrounding ourselves with people who will make us question our faith in God and discourage us from having any, we need to be around people who will help us hold on to it.

When we remain faithful to the end, we will see the great things God is able to provide us with start rolling in: victory, prosperity, deliverance, success, healing and restoration as they were seen in this situation, all of it!

We simply need to remember that having faith in God is key. Faith is never a waste of time, it is never something that is done in vain, and it goes a mighty long way.

[Passage found in Luke 8:40-56]

"Living by Faith"

First of all, what is faith?

I think the best way to describe faith is by taking a look at what God’s Word defines it to be:

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

Faith requires doing God's will for our lives, even when it may not make any sense at the moment; it’s impossible to be faithful while doubting the Lord and His all-knowing ways at the same time.

When we faithfully start working on what God has instructed us and called us to do (even when we don't see the purpose of it quite yet), we will never regret it!

That’s why we should get started on His plans for our lives right away!

Faithfully doing God's will prevents us from experiencing the regretful guilt of disobeying Him when we decide to go against His will; from personal experiences, I could honestly say that looking back at what could have been is one of the worst feelings ever.

To refrain from having regretful feelings of "what could have been," we need to faithfully obey the Lord right now in order to receive the rewards that will inevitably come along with doing so afterward.

Called for New Beginnings

Going off of the idea of having a faithful lifestyle, there may be times when we're in a certain position in life that God isn't in favor of;

not necessarily because of anything that we've done wrong, but because of the fact that He wants to take us to a higher position and a better environment in life.

When God wants to make improvements in our lives, we shouldn't argue with Him or make excuses for why we should stay somewhere we've outgrown.

Similar to Abraham's situation after He received a calling from God, we may not know where we're headed specifically either (Hebrew 11:8). Even though we don't know all the details, by faith, we can always put our complete trust in the ultimate guide: the Lord our God.

After getting to where God wants us to be, we may feel strange and out of our comfort zone without the environment of people, places and things that we have been used to for so long.

Our job during this stage of transition is to have faith in our Heavenly Father; He is the One who is constantly molding us into everything He has created us to become during the whole process.

Life can be tough at times when we are going through new beginnings.

However, in spite of it all, keep in mind that we serve a God who always comes through about keeping His promises.

When we place our faith in Him completely and wholeheartedly, we will soon see His work being performed and carried out in our lives.

He is the God who is able to work in ways that will make us, and even others, prosperous and blessed as we uphold a life of remaining faithful to Him.

[Passage found in Hebrews 11:8-19]

"The Right Surroundings"

In so many ways, God lets us know that we can't do this thing called life on our own, without the right people by our side.
Simply by asking Him, He is able to send these people our way.

While Elisha was with the other men in the passage, he was able to get them out of a dilemma that they were worried was impossible to get out of (with God’s help, of course).

The whole situation reminded me of Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, which says
"Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up."

It is best to have people like Elisha on our side who are willing to help us when we need it the most;
those couple of verses lets us know that being alone and lacking a positive relationship with others means there's no one to help us in times of trouble, which is an unfortunate position to be in!

I feel like the axhead in this passage represents people who do NOT have the right people in their lives to accompany them in this journey of life.

Later on, having the axhead fall into the water is where the problem began for these men;
similarly, being alone can lead to being plunged into the toughest situations in life where, most of the time, we honestly don't know what to do.
On top of that, we can't swim our way out on our own because of the heavy burdens that come along with these tough situations in the efforts of weighing us down even more.

BUT, if we ask God to provide us with people who have the same spiritual mindset as us, who have a connection with Him, and who are willing to pray FOR and WITH us while we go through difficult circumstances, He will send us what is represented by the stick Elisha threw into the water in this passage:
the right people; the right surroundings.

By throwing the stick into the water to lift the sunken axhead up, Elisha (again: with God's help, of course) was able to help his friend out of the situation he found himself in,
which shows the importance of having the right people in our lives.

I don't think it makes sense to constantly be surrounded by people who make us feel even worse than we already do when we're going through a hard time, or people who make our situations a whole lot worse than they already are.
When Elisha found out his friend was in trouble, he didn't make him feel worse;
instead, he asked "where did the axhead fall?"
He had intentions of doing something about it, which shows that he genuinely cared.

Choose to surround yourself with people who are willing to assist you in solving your problems instead of pushing you towards dwelling in them more and more;
Choose to surround yourself with people who are able to push you towards reaching your fullest potential, and who are willing to WORK with you to reach them;

Choose to surround yourself with people who represent the axhead + stick combo;
people who are willing to help you and uplift you when you need the help and encouragement the most.


[Passage found in 2 Kings 6:1-7]

“The Challenges We Face” (Part 2: Peer Pressure)

There are two challenges being faced in this passage:

self-identity and peer pressure.

PART 2: PEER PRESSURE

Living to please God is a necessity in our walk with God;

but at the same time, there will always be people around who will try to force us into living in a way that satisfies them instead, which can lead to living against God’s will...

better known as peer pressure.

This peer pressure is exactly what Pilate went through in this passage when deciding whether or not Jesus should be set free (Matt. 27:17);

Pilate was stuck in the middle of making a decision that would satisfy the rioting crowd or that would truthfully be the right thing to do.

When you find yourself in a situation like this where you’re stuck in the middle, who will YOU choose to please?

Always remember that God gives us our own free will; at the end of the day, you are the one who holds the power of deciding who you want to please and who you want to live for.

Don’t be like Pilate, who ended up doing what the crowd, the leading priests, and the elders wanted him to do even though he knew it was the WRONG thing to do (Matt. 27:21-24).

Our job is to recognize and pin point who these certain people are in our lives in order to put a stop to peer pressure.

I think it’s only right to say that the only “pressure” we need in life is the one from God;

the type of pressure that will mold us into becoming who He has created us to be, not break us down and drift us farther away from Him (Isaiah 64:8).

By being confident in the fact that God knows what’s best for you, you’ll start to learn how to depend on Him instead of looking for validation from others.

Don’t let the pressure of others make you say or do something you know you might regret, but instead, choose to live to please God;

I guarantee you that you won’t regret it!

[Passage found in Matthew 27:11-26]

“The Challenges We Face” (Part 1: Self-Identity)

There are two challenges being faced in this passage:

self-identity and peer pressure.

PART 1: SELF-IDENTITY

The moment we accept the Lord into our lives, we become children of God and find our true identity in Him.

Despite what others have to say about you and who you are, trust in who God has created and called you to be.

When Jesus was before Pilate, even HE had to face this challenge of staying true to His identity; when everyone denied who He really is and made accusations against Him, He remained silent (Matt. 27:13-14).

Silence.

This is something that plays a huge role when dealing with others who try to denounce who you have already been called to be.

Through the many silent moments of Jesus, He was falsely accused to the point of reaching the cross, where He died; and what all those people who were ridiculing Him didn’t know is that God always has the final Word.

Three days later, after all that silence and no action, Jesus rose from the dead and clearly assured everyone who kept saying otherwise that He truly IS the Son of God!

In the same way, God has the power of revealing to our own naysayers that we are His children; because of Him, we have been called to be great and nothing short of that, no matter what others have to say.

At the end of the day, THEY will be the ones to be left silent and jaw-dropped when seeing all that God is doing in our lives (Psalm 8:2b).

[Passage found in Matthew 27:11-26]

“An Act of Prayer”

When you feel down or overwhelmed about any situation you may be encountering in life, the best thing to do about it is pray to God.

This is exactly what Nehemiah did in this passage; he addressed a prayer to God about what was on his mind at the moment.

It’s normal for us to want to share our problems with friends and family,

but in all honesty, a weeping soul can only be satisfied by the One who knows our deepest thoughts and feelings: GOD!

Only God has an attentive ear to hear our most profound sorrows, and an opened eye to see what we’re truly going through.

There are many things that may doubt us from having a connection with God through prayer, such as thinking that we aren’t valued or won’t be considered.

Even though we may have constant feelings of unworthiness after falling short of God’s glory, He is always willing to accept us with open arms and bring us comfort because He values us;

even though we may feel like our problems are too small in the eyes of God, He is concerned about every little aspect of our lives!

So when God sees that we cast all of our worries and troubles on Him, He’ll make our burden light by carrying them out of the care He has for us (1 Peter 5:7).

When He sees that we’ve made the decision of praying about everything instead of being frantic about things that are out of our control, He’ll grant us His favor and give us success (Philippians 4:6).

It’s not that God doesn’t know what we need or what we’re going through;

He just wants us to put our faith into action by taking the time to talk to Him through prayer.

When looking at the many examples of people in the Bible who made great accomplishments (e.g. Nehemiah), they were also overwhelmed at times;

but what brought them so far was having a connection with God.

So on top of everything God has already done for us, praying faithfully and believing that He is able to answer us will soon give us much more to thank Him for!

[Passage found in: Nehemiah 1:1-11]

"Work With What You Have"

Work with what you have.
Whatever you're blessed with is a gift from God above, and no matter how small it may look at the moment, He is able to multiply it into something greater. This is why we should never take anything for granted, because we never know what God is about to do in our lives with the simple things we tend to overlook.

In the passage, when the boy gave Jesus just two fish and five loaves of bread to feed so many people (John 6:9), this seemed like an impossible task to complete in the eyes of others.
But what many of them failed to know is that nothing is impossible for God!

He was able to work with what was brought to Him to satisfy the hunger of thousands, regardless of the small proportion given to Him. If this, along with His many other miracles, is not enough to prove what God can do in our lives with what we have right now, I don't know what is!
When we fully place our trust and hope in the Lord with what He gives us so far, He will turn them into abundant blessings.

What I really like about this passage is that in spite of what Jesus had to work with in the beginning, there was still a good amount of food left over after everyone got the chance to eat. Just like there were leftovers after this miracle of feeding thousands (John 6:12-13),
God can overflow us with His blessings... until we run over, too!
*Overflow by Tasha Cobbs*

Think about what would happen in this situation if the boy and the disciples didn’t take the two fish and five loaves of bread into consideration. If they took what they had for granted, the huge crowd of people would be left completely unfed before going their separate ways; but most importantly, they wouldn’t experience seeing the great things Jesus was able to do right before their eyes (which is actually what really left them truly satisfied)!

So never be discouraged with what God has given you to start off with, but hand it all over to Him and let Him multiply it into what you'd never imagine; and to end with one of my favorite verses,
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things God has prepared for those who love Him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9.


[Passage found in: John 6:1-13]