My grandson, Charlie, recently sat on my lap and, with wide eyes, began to tell me his story. Spiderman, Batman, Pink Venom, Black Venom, and Green Goblin were having a “spend-the-night party.” He animatedly continued to create this adventure, which eventually led to a gi-normous (that’s bigger than gigantic or enormous alone) box falling on them and they had to fight it off.
All of us hearing the three year old elaborate enjoyed listening to his imagination on steroids. What a creative mind!
Later, in a quieter moment, I began to think how we adults lose that creativity. What happens to it? Why are we always so methodical and logical about our visions? Why do we always settle for the “norm?”
If everyone “settled for the norm,” we would have none of the cutting edge technology, space travel, or medical wonders of our generation. So some are not settling, but how about you? How about me?
The Bible says that faith is the substance of things “hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” The “hoped for” is the thing I want to talk about today. The hope is like a blueprint in your mind of what you are believing for. If you don’t have a picture in your mind of what you are believing for, then how can you have faith for it? You can’t! (more…)
There are so many people trudging through life with very little hope in their hearts. They get up, go through their routine, and go to bed lonely and unfulfilled. But this doesn’t have to be.
In this video, you will meet someone whose life was in an extreme downturn, but God turned her life around.
He can do the same for you – or someone you know.
Thanks to peacewithgod.net for sharing this video. It inspires me!
Do you know someone who is an extravagant believer? I mean someone who holds back nothing as they expect God’s hand in their lives. I don’t mean someone who is foolish, but someone who knows that God can accomplish what we can never do on our own. Are you such a person?
The Bible has lots of stories about people who believed extraordinarily. There were those around them who believed … sort of, but these people believed in ways that seemed extreme. One such story is in Luke 8:43-48.
I want you to put yourself in the story – in the crowd. There was a huge throng of people following Jesus as He walked through the street. He had no body guards as He walked with His disciples. The crowd was pushing and shoving, trying to get closer. They wanted to get a good look at this unusual man, who was becoming famous.
Suddenly, Jesus turned and said, “Who touched Me?”
His disciples were confused. “What do you mean? The whole crowd is pushing up against you.”
Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I felt the power going out of Me.” And He turned and looked at the woman who was touching the hem of His garment.
In the crowd, there was a woman who had been sick for a very long time. She had a hemorrhage of blood which had lasted for 12 years. She had spent all of her money going to doctors, and no one had been able to cure her. In fact, the Bible says that she had just grown worse.
Yet that day, when she saw Jesus, she was inspired. She had heard about Him and she thought, If I can just touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made well. And that’s exactly what happened. When she touched Him, the flow of blood stopped, and just like that, she was well.
Jesus then said something very different from our mindset. He said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
Let this picture sink in. Jesus didn’t even know that the woman was there until He felt the power go out of Him. Her faith had put a demand on the power within Him, and she received her healing.
Let’s fast forward to today. Our Savior is alive today. There is a crowd of people all around us, some believing in Him and some not – just like when He walked the earth. Within the crowd of “believers,” there are a few – maybe just one or two, who really believe. They are the ones who see His hand in their lives more than the norm. They are the extraordinary believers, and they see things happen that the others don’t.
So how do you fit in? Are you willing to believe for miracles in your life? In your health? In your family? In your finances? Don’t look around at the crowd. They probably aren’t believing that much.
If you would like to be extraordinary, but think that you just honestly can’t muster the faith, don’t be discouraged. Start reading the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and let the reality of Jesus be burned in your heart. He is looking for super believers to show Himself strong.
For the last thirty years or so, there has been a lot of teaching about faith. In fact, so much so, that sometimes we think, okay, I’ve got that, you don’t need to say anymore. Yet if we were really walking in the faith that God desires for us, we would be light years ahead of where we are – in ourselves, our homes,and our communities.
So what’s the problem? What is this thing called faith, and why aren’t we operating in more of it?
