“Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?”  John 11:40

Our relationship was blocked. For years I experienced the loss within my family, even though I wanted desperately for this member and I to be reconciled. I almost lost hope that we would ever connect again. Then someone came alongside me and filled me with encouragement that one day it would be restored.

When Jesus came to the tomb where Lazarus lay dead, He told his sister, Martha, to take the stone away so He could get to him. She immediately gave him the excuse that there would be a repulsive smell since he had already been dead for four days.
Jesus responded, “…if you would believe….”

Unbelief is an obstacle in our life, like a stone rolled over an entrance. It can keep us from knowing God. It drives us to make excuses, as it did Martha, eventually hindering us from experiencing all that God has to offer.

Just like the stone kept the mourners from Lazarus, it also kept Lazarus from becoming free from the bonds of death. It kept Lazarus from experiencing Jesus.

Sometimes we need to help remove the stone for someone else that is keeping them dead inside. And at other times, we need to allow people in our lives to help take away the barriers that are keeping us from being truly alive in Jesus.

Jesus, I come to you and ask that you would help me in my unbelief in _______________ (name a specific area you are struggling in). I want nothing in my life to keep me from experiencing all that you have to offer me. Forgive me for my unbelief, and give me strength so I may know you more. Amen

By Brigitte Straub
Used by Permission

https://thelife.com/devotionals

FURTHER READING

• Overcoming Unbelief
• Our Complex Negotiations with God
• Mighty Things Through Faith

The post The Stone of Unbelief can be found at Thoughts about God.

Jairus is in a hurry. If you have children, or even if you don’t, you can probably sympathize with his plight. You see, his little daughter is dying. Or, as the Message paraphrase puts it, his “dear daughter is at death’s door.” Mark 5:23

So you can imagine why he’d be more than a little perturbed when, the Lord tarries on the way to Jairus’ house. “Who touched my clothes?” Jesus suddenly asks the crowd. The disciples, perhaps a bit anxious themselves given the gravity of the situation, reply “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask? Who touched me?'”  Then Jesus proceeds to leisurely engage the woman in conversation. It turns out that she’s suffered from a medical condition for the last twelve years.

“Twelve years?” thinks Jairus, “My daughter is dying! Surely this woman can wait a little longer!”

Then, while Jesus is still talking with the woman, messengers arrive with the most dreaded news imaginable: “Your daughter is dead.”

“Oh Lord, why couldn’t you just have hurried?” Jairus probably cried to himself. From a human perspective, all was lost. But from a heavenly perspective, “all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27) Jesus responded immediately: “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36)

God’s timing is not ours: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8) But we can be confident that whenever and however God chooses to respond to us, it will be good, just, and to His glory.

If you’ve been patiently praying with seemingly no response, don’t lose heart. Jesus implores us to not be afraid and trust in Him; consider the parable of the persistent widow Jesus told in Luke 18:1-8, which Jesus told to encourage us that we “should always pray and not give up“. Be encouraged that while God’s timing is not ours, because He is always for you, not against you, and we will someday, at just the right moment, fully understand His divine timing.

Questions: What is a prayer that you have been earnestly praying for lately? Are you ready to leave it in God’s competent hands when/how/if he answers it?

By Darren Hewer
used by permission

FURTHER READING

• Right on Time
• A Season for Everything
• How to Know God Personally

The post God’s Timing is Not Ours can be found at Thoughts about God.

Truth

“Truth is incontrovertible. Ignorance may attack it and malice may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” Winston Churchill

The concept of truth has fallen on hard times lately. Something I grew up assuming everybody knew existed is not a given anymore. Post-modernism has rendered truth relative to each individual, personal experience has trumped it, and fiction has cast waves of doubt upon it, but in the end, there it is. Or perhaps we should say, there he is, because Jesus is the one who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

That would mean that John the Baptist looked at Truth when he said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Peter answered Truth, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)

A Samaritan woman had a conversation with Truth and said, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” (John 4:29)

A man born blind to whom Truth had given sight, said, “Lord, I believe,” and worshiped him. (John 9:38)

The council of elders asked Truth, “Are you then the Son of God?” and Jesus replied, “You are right in saying I am.” (Luke 22:70)

And Truth said, “He who believes in me has everlasting life.” (John 6:47)

Pilate stared Truth in the face when he said, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)

A criminal hanging on a cross looked over at Truth in a similar circumstance as he and knew there was something different about this man. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Truth replied, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43)

A Roman soldier who felt the earth shatter when Truth died, said, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)

Mary Magdalene saw the Truth alive again and said, “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18)

Thomas touched the wounds of Truth fresh from the grave and said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

And two men dressed in white said to a crowd of followers who had just seen Truth pass into the heavens,

“Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go.” (Acts 1:11)

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Philippians 2:9-11) In other words, everyone will eventually recognize the Truth.

 

“Truth is incontrovertible. Ignorance may attack it and malice may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

And there He will be.

Question:  How will you choose to respond to the Truth today?

by John Fischer
used by permission

FURTHER READING

Truth – Thoughts By Katherine Kehler

The Right Vision – by Max Lucado

Competing Voices – by Suzanne Benner

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The post There It Is can be found at Thoughts about God.

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24 (NLT)

In life, we are faced with many challenges that test our faith. It is so easy to get bombarded by what we see. It becomes a constant battle, almost like a game of tug-of- war, to keep the faith our faith intact.

In our reference scripture, we find the father of the little boy asking God to help him to believe. I applaud his momentary weakness. If we are going to experience breakthrough in our lives we must be willing to admit we need help. It is not our job to keep it all together. It is our job to trust in a God that never fails us.

Today, I challenge you to take a moment and pour your heart out to God. Express your weaknesses before Him. Ask for the help that you need to go on. You are not required to carry the weight of the world upon your shoulders. He is more than able to bear every burden. He is concerned about what concerns you. He is concerned about those very issues that weigh heavily on your heart. It is time to make an exchange. Will you?

Lord as the Father of the little boy prayed, I believe, but help my unbelief!  At times, it is hard for me to believe what I don’t see, but You said in Your Word that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, whatever we ask will be done for us, if we ask according to Your will.  Today, I stand on Your Word, trusting that You will perform with Your Hands what You have promised. I trust that You will work all things together for my good. I trust that You care for me and about what concerns me. I trust that You are already at work on my behalf. In Jesus’ name Amen.

By Mary Pinckney
Used by Permission

Further Reading

• Don’t Be Afraid, Just Believe – by Rich Vega

• Three Things to Believe Today  by Roy Lessin

• Anything is Possible – A Devotional by Bill Bright

The post Help Me Believe can be found at Thoughts about God.

Many people say,

“Sure, I believe in God. I’ve gone to church most of my life.”

But is this all there is to it? What does it mean to believe?

To believe means more than intellectual consent. It involves surrender. We must give ourselves to God before He can give Himself to us. We practice this kind of surrender every time we fly in an airplane. We board an aircraft, sit down in our seats and put the seat belt on. And for the next four hours or so we’re at the mercy of a pilot whom we don’t even know. We trust that he knows what he’s doing and he’ll get us to the right destination safely.

We do the same with a doctor. Before surgery we sign a consent form, right? We allow the anaesthetist to put us to sleep. Talk about complete surrender! Then the surgeon can help us and not before. The principle of complete surrender holds true in many situations in life. Complete surrender is needed before help can  come to us.

It’s no different with God. Before He can help us, we must give ourselves to him completely.

Being totally dependent upon God is one of the hardest things we Christians have to do in life.
We fear the helplessness of it. We want to be in control. Still, God cannot work unless we surrender to him. His way is always to work through weakness.

We have the mistaken idea that when we surrender completely we’ll become spineless and mindless persons. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, when we surrender we tap into God more fully. We become more alive, more realistic, more courageous, more truly ourselves than we’ve ever been before.

Dear God, forgive me for being so independent. I want to trust you more in every situation. I give  myself to you now in full surrender. In Jesus name, Amen.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”  Proverb 3:5-6

By Helen Lescheid
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  Yielded Heart –  by Kathy Cheek

• Fully Surrender to the Lord – Christian Poem by Hope Tshuma

•  Salvation Explained

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The post Are You Afraid to Fully Surrender to God? can be found at Thoughts about God.

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” Mark 9:23 (KJV)

“My doing all depends on thy believing” is what Jesus really said to the desperate father of the demoniac boy. And it is what He says to you and me today.

The Lord sought to bring forth faith in that struggling soul, and – through pain and travail – it came to birth. Realizing that the solution rested not upon God’s power but upon his own faith, the man became conscious of conflicting principles and delivered himself of a noble utterance:

“Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief.“

Mystery of mysteries: even the very faith that we must exercise to bring down the power of God is a gift from God Himself. But some conditions are laid down before we receive that gift of faith.

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”

When I spend time in God’s Word – whether reading, studying, memorizing or meditating – that faith is being built up in me. Not faith in myself, not faith in a routine, but faith in the Almighty Ruler of heaven and earth.

That physical illness; that unsaved loved one; that financial need; that faltering relationship; that broken home – whatever the need might be – the solution is as close as the Word of God, for our dependence upon it, and upon the God of the Word, brings the faith that unlocks the solution to every need.

Bible Reading: Mark 9:24-29

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I shall believe God today for every need I face, at the same time building up my faith in Him by feasting on His Word.

by Dr. Bill Bright
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  Reading the Bible – Where to Start?

•  Bible Studies

•  Salvation Explained

Follow Us On:  Facebook  • Twitter  •  Instagram  •  Pinterest

The post Anything Is Possible can be found at Thoughts about God.

“Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping — believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, ‘That’s how many descendants you will have!’ And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead — and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.” Romans 4:18-20 (NLT)

It is highly frustrating when you are waiting on God and expecting your current state to change. God doesn’t always show you how things will turn out, but He often gives you a glimpse into what He has waiting for you. Let’s look at Abraham, the father of faith.

Even though they had passed child bearing age, God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son of their own. I can imagine the anguish I would have felt even after the promise was made. I am someone who needs to know the exact details. I need to know the “ins and the outs” of how it will all work out.

Unfortunately, this is not the walk of faith.

Faith believes that what God says will take place without a shadow of a doubt. Faith believes that we will see the promises of God unfold even when it looks impossible. Faith believes in what we can’t see, and knows it is there.

We learn a lot from Abraham as we watch him wait upon the promise of God to be fulfilled in his life. The Scriptures tells us that he hoped against hope, believing that God was faithful to perform that which he had promised.

As Abraham walked out his faith, we also learn what not to do. We learn that it is much better to wait on God rather than working out our own plans. When we believe we have the answers, we miss God’s best.

Father, I come today asking that You strengthen those who are still waiting for what You have promised. Grant them a glimpse of hope today. Help them to see what You are doing during the process as they await Your next move. You always have our best interest at heart. May we learn to trust You, just as Abraham did. In Jesus’ name, amen.

By Mary Pinckney
Used by Permission

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The post Faith Believes can be found at Thoughts about God.