Be persistent

What do you think and how do you feel when our Father does not answer our prayers? despondent? frustrated? even angry? I can think of many times that I have prayed, only to see my requests completely unanswered and as a result given up. Reading the story of blind Bartimaeus in Marks Gospel, I realized the parallel this story has to prayer. The story begins with Jesus leaving the city of Jericho accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd, and continues, "a blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Mark 10:47). It is clear by his reaction that Bartimaeus had heard of Jesus and the miracles he performed, so began to call out to him. Likewise we recognize Jesus as our God and loving saviour so we call out to him in prayer. But see the reaction Bartimaeus received for his efforts "Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet" (Mark 10:48). Don't we feel like this sometimes when we pray? We think God's not answering, so we conclude we should be quiet and stop praying about it; almost rebuking ourselves for asking. However I believe God's desire for our response to these feelings is illustrated in the reaction of Bartimaeus, "but he shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  and see the result "Jesus stopped and said, "Call him"", (Mark 10:49) ... ""What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you".(Mark 10:51-52). So the faith of Bartimaeus was demonstrated by his persistence to get Jesus attention despite the opposition he faced from the rebuking crowd/ disciples. When we pray we should be persistent, because persistence demonstrates faith, and our heavenly father rewards such faith.    

Do as He says

What kind of faith do you think our Father delights in the most? Is it the faith we experience when we feel his loving presence, when he clearly answers our prayers and we are assured of his will and guidance in our lives? While this might be a strong and confident faith to our human minds, I believe our Father delights more in a different kind of faith, and I see this illustrated in the following exchange between our Lord and Peter in Luke 5:4-6. I was listening to the Gospel of Luke on MP3 last night, and this brief passage jumped out at me as a wonderful illustration of the kind of trust God wants us to have in him. The exchange begins with a request from our Lord, "He said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch"' (Luke 5:4), this instruction illustrates the promises and commands we have from our Father in his word and in our everyday experiences. How does Peter respond?. "Simon answered and said, 'Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing"' (Luke 5:5). Is this not the feeling we so often express towards God? When we doubt his promises, don't feel his presence, question his love and experience unanswered prayers? But see what Peter says next, "but I will do as You say and let down the nets". Here lies the act of faith that I believe our Father delights in the most; when we obey him despite our doubts, when we don't feel like it, when we don't feel his love or presence, when we just take him at his word even if our flesh is screaming against it. And what was the reward of Peters act of faith? "When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break" (Luke 5:6). His faith was rewarded richly as ours will be if we trust our Father above everything.

Trust in the unseen Jesus

Today I've been looking at 1 Peter 1:8, "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy". I was thinking of examples of things we believe and have faith in that are unseen in this world that help to illustrate this scripture. One great example is the pilot of an airplane. When we board an airplane before take-off, we are putting our lives in the hands of the pilot; in the same way we must entrust our lives to the control of Jesus. When turbulence occurs mid-flight we trust that the pilot is skilled enough to handle the problem and keep us safe; similarly, when trials and tribulations occur in our lives, we must trust in Jesus to handle our hardships and needs, and keep us safe. Finally, when we near the end of the journey we trust the pilot to bring us into land safely at our new destination. In like manor, when we come to the end of our lives here on earth, we must trust Jesus to bring us safely to our new home in heaven with Him. Throughout the flight we never see the pilot, but more often than not, he will stand at the doorway welcoming people to their destination as they disembark the airplane. How great that day will be when we will get to see Jesus face to face, and say thank you for all He has done. In the mean time we must live by faith. As our Lord said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed", John 20:29.

He Knows

Do you know how many hairs are on your head right now? Our heavenly Father does. Jesus said, "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered", (Matthew 10:30). Now you might be thinking that this is a strange illustration for Jesus to use, what difference does it make if God knows how many hairs are on my head? Could Jesus not have referred to more significant and important things?, like every crisis in our lives is numbered, every prayer is numbered, or every need is numbered. However I believe that this was exactly Jesus point. If God knows exactly how many hairs are on our heads, he knows how many times your heart has beat today, what you ate for breakfast this morning and what you will eat tomorrow, how many times you've thought about the weather this week and what the weather will be like next week, the exact time you woke up and what time you will go to sleep tonight, your excitement about tonight's football game and what the final score will be. If he knows such seemingly trivial and insignificant things about us and our lives, how much more does he care and know about the significant and important things in our lives. God knows more about you, than you know about yourself! He wants to be involved in every little area of our lives, not matter how unimportant they seem to us. And so I challenge you, next time you wonder if God notices and cares, pluck a hair from your head and remember that God saw that!!         

Children of the Father

Throughout the New Testament we read those who believe in Jesus being referred to as 'Children of God'. I've been thinking about what it means to be a 'child', particularly in relation to faith. In Mark 10:15, we get a wonderful insight from Jesus into what our faith should be like, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it". Thinking back to my vivid memories as a little child, I remember looking up to my earthly father and genuinely believing that he knew everything there was to know, that he would always be there for me and that he loved me perfectly. I completely trusted him and was dependent on him for nearly everything in my life. This is an example of the kind of faith I believe Jesus is implying in this verse that we should have in our heavenly Father. As I grew older, I began to see the imperfections in my earthly fathers knowledge, his love for me, his trustworthiness; but these are not the characteristics of our heavenly Father, his knowledge is perfect, his love is perfect, his trustworthiness is perfect and that is why we should throw off all skepticism, doubt, fear and worry and come to him as a little child.

A Microcosm of Salvation

Last night I was reading Luke 5:12-13, and it struck me that this scene is a microcosm of God's salvation; let me explain my insight. "While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy" (Luke 5:12); this man represents the human condition without Christ; "covered" in sinful nature. "When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him" (Luke 5:12). As this man did, we must recognize Jesus as our Lord and God, humble ourselves, and fall before Him. "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean" (Luke 5:12); the man realized and believed that Jesus was able to cleanse him of his leprosy, likewise we must believe He is able to cleanse us completely of our sin. Then in faith we simply ask him. And what was Jesus answer to this man's, and our request? ""I am willing", he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him" (Luke 5:13). As soon as we ask in faith we are "immediately" cleansed by Jesus. What an amazing offer we have, what a compassionate God, what a loving God.    

His love in Gethsemane

What image, scene or parable comes to mind when you think of Jesus love for us? Perhaps it's his healing of the sick and diseased?, When he wept over Lazarus death?, or his physical crucifixion on the cross? All, I agree, are illustrations of the love Jesus had for people of his time on earth and for us today. I have been focusing lately on the time in the garden of Gethsemane where we see our Lord in extreme distress, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" (Luke 26:38), and "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me" (Luke 26:39). Jesus was distraught at the prospect of having the world's sin's (the cup) punished upon himself. However he followed this up with the ultimate sacrifice, and arguably the point at which He made his most powerful gesture of love towards us, "Yet not as I will, but as You will". Whenever I question if Jesus could really love a ragamuffin sinner like me, I think back to this scene and remember that he has done EVERYTHING, just to be with me and you.