"Lord I Want To See!"

During my study time today I read this:

Matthew 20: 29-34 As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

“Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them.

But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him. (Emphasis mine)

This hit me so hard! I felt these blind men’s cries deep inside of me. I immediately cried out too, “Lord, I want to see too! Touch my eyes and remove any logs or hindrances that are blinding me. If you will only touch my eyes I would be able to see your will for my life and then I will follow you to the ends of the earth!”

I don’t know about you but living in this busy world sometimes I find that my vision can get a little blurred or obstructed by my emotions, offenses, hurts, responsibilities, or even ministry work. Maybe its temptation, hidden sin, selfish desires, or compromise that has crept in and is trying to blind us. Whatever it is we need to remember that Jesus is just a holler away. We need to cry out to Him in the middle of our crowded life, “Lord, Son of David have mercy on me!”

Of course there will always be hindering spirits (shame, condemnation, unworthiness, lust,fear, heaviness, depression) that will try to oppress us and keep us from crying out. But shout out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!!”

I promise that He WILL stop and ask, “What do you want me to do for you?” That’s your chance to tell Him, “Lord, I want to see! I want to see where you want me to go. What you want me to do. Who you want me to see today. I want to see your plan for my life, not my own. I want to see with new eyes. Your eyes Lord..”

He will open our eyes to see things we could have never seen before with all of the obstructions in the way. Fresh revelations and new insight can be ours if we stop and ask the Lord to open our eyes to see what He wants us to see. Once our eyes are truly opened to see we can avoid these obstacles that serve to blind us and we can put our focus on helping others. I think Brandon Heath says best in His song..

‘Give me your eyes’

Because You Believed It Has Happened!

“And because of their unbelief, He couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their unbelief.” Mark 6:5-6

Our Lord wants to work mighty miracles in our lives. He wants us to receive healing and restoration in every area of our lives. However sometimes he can’t do the mighty miracles He desires to because of our unbelief. This greatly sadness and grieves our Lord. After all that He has done for us and revealed to us. Still there is so much unbelief in the body of Christ. There are many believers that do not believe that Christ will heal or restore them and therefore they remain broken and hindered by their unbelief.

The people of Nazareth heard Jesus preach the Word of God with authority and boldness. They were amazed at His wisdom and power to do miracles. Still they refused to accept Him for who He truly is, their Messiah and Savior. They saw Him as just a carpenter, the son of Mary. They saw Him as just an average man. Their perspective of Jesus hindered their ability to receive from Him. He couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them. (Mark 6:1-6)

All throughout the Gospel there are stories of people receiving healing and restoration from Jesus. These people received their miracle because they believe and had faith in Christ Jesus.

• To the Gentile woman Jesus said, “Dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted.” Matthew 15: 21-28
• To the Roman officer who asked for healing for his daughter Jesus said to His followers, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” He then turned to officer and said, “Go back home, Because you believed, it has happened.” Matthew 8:5-13
• To the woman with the issue of blood who believed that if she could just touch the hem of His robe she would be healed He turned and said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” Matthew 9:18-22

What is your perspective on Jesus? Is He everything to you that the Word of God says He is? Or is He Jesus who healed people and did miracles back in the bible days. Do you believe that the Word of God is the same yesterday, today, and forever? Do you believe that He can and will heal, deliver, and restore you? Your perspective on Jesus affects your ability to receive healing and deliverance, as well as the ability to manifest His power.

Remember Peter when he walked out on the water to Jesus. He began to sink when we started looking around at the wind and the storm and took His focus off of Jesus. He allowed His faith to decrease to the point that He started sinking. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him and said, “You have so little faith. Why did you doubt in Me?” (Matthew 14:22-36)

Then there is also the time when the disciples tried to heal a demon possessed boy and couldn’t. When they asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast the demon out Jesus replied, “You don’t have enough faith. I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

It is time for us to meditate on all the miracles that we have seen the Lord do in our lives. It is time to sit with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to show us the Jesus of the bible. Get in the Word of God and do not get up until you receive a revelation of how Powerful and Awesome God is. Then look at your own life and remember how He has delivered you in the past. There were times where you thought that everything was going to come tumbling down on you and just before you couldn’t handle it any more our Lord reached out and grabbed you. He did not let you fall even though you may have stumbled. He is faithful! That is what we have to remember. That is how you stir up your faith.

Stir up the Holy Spirit in you. Stir up your faith and believe once more that you serve God Almighty. He is not limited by your problems or circumstances. They do not bewilder Him. He has already made a way of escape. Put all of your faith in Him and receive your miracle. Do not walk by sight. Instead walk and be lead by the power of the Holy Spirit. Walk in faith and rebuke doubt and fear. Remember that He has not given you a spirit of fear. You have the Spirit of Christ in you which is full of power and ability. It is that same power that raised Christ from the dead.

Get up now and keep pressing forward. Your faith has made you whole!

Picking Up the Broken Pieces

“For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.” Jeremiah 29: 11-13

In my last posting I wrote about how I bought a beautiful mosaic candle holder. Well, I wanted to share another word the Holy Spirit spoke to me about that mosaic. You see when I saw the beautiful red and gold glow behind the cross I remembered what my sister in law had just recently told me about a project that her and her mother took on. They were making a mosaic tile for her mother’s garden. She said that they found the project to be difficult because the glass would cut their hands and fingers. I heard the Holy Spirit say,

“When people try to pick up the broken pieces of their life on their own they will find themselves getting cut and hurt. It is too painful. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that I pick up the broken pieces and make a beautiful master piece for all to see and stand in awe of.”

We don’t have to worry about picking up the broken pieces in our lives. That is not our job. This difficult job belongs to our Lord and Savior. When we surrender to the healing power of the Holy Spirit He puts the pieces back together again, better than we ever could. Then He fills us with His joy and peace. His fire will be in us and will illuminate us.

I remember when I lost my mom at the early age of sixteen. My life was shattered into a million pieces. The years after her death were consumed with drug abuse, extreme feelings of loneliness, and depression. I was a mess for many years. Every time I tried to pick up the broken pieces of my life I found myself more frustrated and discouraged. The more I followed my own ideas and ways of healing the worse things got for me. I needed the Healer to come and mend my broken heart. I needed Him to help me forgive. Most of all I needed to surrender to Him and lay down the broken pieces of my life at His feet. And that’s exactly what I did.

He has healed me and has showed me that He can use any situation good or bad, happy or sad to make us stronger Christians. We don’t always understand why we go through some of the troubles that we do, but we have to know with all of our heart that He truly does work everything out for our good. We have to trust Him with every part of our life. There is to be no holding back from Him.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 reassures us that He does have a good plan for our lives. It promises us that when we call on Him that He will hear and answer us. The Holy Spirit can heal every part of us and make us beautiful in Christ Jesus.

If you are still trying to pick up some of the broken pieces of your life on your own, STOP IT! That is the Holy Spirit’s job. Allow Him to have His way in you. He loves you and has a wonderful plan in which He will use every broken piece to make you whole again. Trust Him and you’ll see that your faith will make you whole.