"FAITH DOES NOT DOUBT" - PART 1

Your faith will change your life!

Have you ever had someone warn you of something and you thought to yourself, "I'm not so sure about that", only to find out later that they were right?

It is at the moment that we realize that something is for real and we know without a doubt that what we have heard is true, that faith takes seed in our hearts, our minds and our body! It's at that moment that we also find ourselves moving into action, as the situation becomes more clear.

Jesus gives us an example about the man that digs deep and lays his foundation on the rock so that his house will stand when the water beats against the house. Jesus was referring to the man that will listen to what He tells him and then "do" what he has heard. It is through the believing of something that we experience faith and this faith will cause us to act accordingly. Right now, what I want you to concentrate on is what you believe! Take all other thoughts and interruptions and leave them in the next room. I want you to focus your full attention for the next ten minutes on what you believe and look at how it has changed your life. Ready?

It is simple to say we believe in something, but it is different to believe in it so much that we have faith in something or someone. We use the words faith, believe, commit and dedication so casual in our day, that we often miss what it really means, but I find that the parables and experiences of Jesus actually take us to a level of understanding where we receive wisdom and knowledge that we are able to apply to each of our lives. "Faith Doesn't Doubt!" There seems to be allot of confusion about this simple, yet profound statement today.

I hear people say so casually, "I believe in God,but...this or that" and people say, "I have faith, but I think there's a limit to how far you should take it!". Another one I have heard is, "I asked God to save me, but I never did anything that bad anyways".

It is good for us to take time to study the parables and teachings of Jesus, as this will show us what we need to build a solid foundation for our lives. Jesus teaches all of us that the first thing we need to do in laying our firm foundation is to believe without a doubt, have faith. Let's all take a few minutes to look at a place in time when Jesus had been performing miracles. He was invited to the home of a Pharisee to dine and Jesus had accepted the invitation. He had been teaching and performing miracles, so I'm sure that there was quite a crowd gathered around the man's house, just waiting for Jesus to reappear and continue demonstrating His miraculous power and the pouring out of His compassion on them. Somehow though, a woman had slipped into the room where Jesus had taken His seat on the couch. The Jews would eat while laying on their side and their knees bent with their feet behind them.

I can imagine this woman showing herself at the doorway and Jesus motioning for her to come in and join them. Perhaps the Pharisee had gone to check on the food or may have been inviting some of the others that were his friends, as we see later that there were others at this meal.
None the less, the woman who is not ever named, enters the room. She has been listening to Jesus teaching and has seen His miracles performed...TO BE CONTINUED

TRUE TO YOURSELF

Posted on Feb.8,2011 @ focusontheheart.org
"hope for the heart" page

What do you think about yourself and what makes you think it's true?

But Jesus said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." ~Matthew 19:14

I'd like for you to open your minds up to a thought process that has been studied for many years. Growing up we may have been told that children are to be seen and not heard or to sit down and be quiet. Then when we brought our report cards home that reflected that we had a real problem with public speaking, our parents told us to be courageous; stand up and speak out! It is these mixed messages that have caused many children to grow up with the mixed messages about themselves that have virtually held them back in every area of their life.
We find ourselves in the trap of thinking,"I believe I must be this way in order to survive." This is basically the results of past programming. Moreover, "I hate myself for feeling the way I do." Even as an adult, we create our own report cards as we compare the things we own, who we think we are and our successes to everyone else. This actually becomes a factual reality in our minds to determine our belief in ourselves; good and bad! The problem is that this isn't anywhere close to being true to reality or yourself, especially when we consider the great truths concerning what Jesus said to His disciples about the children and people.
We'll grade ourselves on what we've accomplished compared to our neighbor.....C+; what we own compared to our coworkers.....A-; who we've become compared to others with the same education....D. That is when we begin to hear the whispers of those voices that remind us, "Won't I ever learn? Why do I feel this way? You should have known better? Why do I always mess up?". That's our very own self-judgment accounting system. It keeps us thinking about what should have been or how I should have known better. Living in the past causes us to develope beliefs about ourselves and has a huge impact on our future decisions.
With the very high divorce rate in our society today, some children say that they will never get married because their parents divorced. It is the experience of the pain and feeling of guilt that has cause these children to believe that it is a mistake to get married. They don't believe that they will be able to have a lasting relationship based on this feeling. As soon as we hold some false idea about ourselves rather relying on a direct perception of what's really happening, we inevitably give rise to anxiety and fear. We create suffering of our own through the repetition of our confusion. It's like pushing a wheelbarrow with a flat tire. It rolls, but a little rough and slow. We keep thinking that something is wrong, but not sure what's causing the bump.
That explains why the disciples were so sure that Jesus had not wanted the children in the way that day when they began to tell the parents who had brought their children to take them back. See, we often even think we are doing right when we act based on our beliefs that were developed according to our experiences and traditions growing up. The fact is that Jesus had the divine ability to understand the needs of every child that day! Don't you think that the disciples learned something new that day as well? We all need to be willing to learn; to keep our minds open to the reality of the truth rather than living our life based on the things that we have been told about ourselves. Jesus wants us to put aside the past experiences and come to Him as a child again. By the way, this was so important for us to remember that Mark and Luke also give an account of this day in history so that we could be enlightened thousands of years later. (Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16) Doesn't it only make sense that Jesus addressed His followers as children as He was ascending into Heaven? I believe it is a fact that we are to be known as His children and Jesus gave us a commandment that we can trust will never leave us feeling like a failure or comparing ourselves to others. Be His child, open your mind to the truth about yourself and your children starting today! Learn to be really TRUE to yourself!

"Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. " ~ John 13:33

"IS IT POSSIBLE?"

If You'll Believe, All Things ARE Possible!

Have you ever had a problem that seemed so big that you just couldn't see any possible way to get through it?

Have you ever had a sickness or a family crisis at a time when your job stress was at it's peak?

Do you have something going on in your life right now that just seems like it will never end and the struggle seems to be pulling you down to the point of giving up?

If you are a mom, dad or grandparent you could probably say "yes" to at least one of the above, if not all. I'm going to be short and to the point today, since Christmas is past and you probably have allot of activities planned as the new year approaches. As you plan your next year, take a moment to look at a man who couldn't plan his year. His life was full of despair. Pay attention as I tell you about his life, my friend! Take a minute to look at his circumstances, not yours!

There once was a man who had dealt with a problem for most of his parenting life. He had a child that was filled with evil spirits. His son would foam and thrash about on the ground like a lunatic. The spirits would throw him onto the fire to burn him and into the water to try and drown him!
Can you imagine what this child must have looked like? He was probably covered with scars and scabs. Maybe he had long dirty broken nails on his hands and feet and most likely hair matted and dirty like an animals would look in the wild. But this young man's father had not given up hope for him. He had heard that Jesus was coming to town! He went to Jesus for help. Take a look at the passage where I read this in Mark;

Mark 9:22 "And often it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."

Before the father called out for help, he most likely had been thinking,"Lord, if you can; please feel my pain; please understand; please don't run away from us like everyone else does; please "HELP US"! The response that Jesus gave was so awesome! Let's look at what happened next;


Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believes. "

Need I say anything else? Let's look at what happened next.


Mark 9:24 And immediately the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief!"

This man was blown away when Jesus told him that "all things are possible". He had come to Jesus asking him if He could help his son and Jesus sent him away on that day, knowing that all things are possible for those who will just believe in the power of His name.

Do you want something that to happen in your life today that seems impossible?

Do you need help with unbelief?

It's ok! Jesus loves for us to come to him with those kind of requests! Jesus knows we are human and we have times when our faith grows weak, due to overwhelming circumstances.

Believe today and You too will experience what others may see as impossible! You might ask,"How does he know this? How can he say this with so much confidence?"

Because Jesus said," ALL things are possible to those who Believe!"

"Drop by "Daily Light" on facebook and ask to be added & get a little light for each day!"

"GOT PEACE?"

Psalm 29:11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

What is the most peaceful place you've ever been?

Many times we think of some place in the mountains, the islands or the coast line of our beautiful country. Is it any wonder that people buy second homes way up in the mountains overlooking beautiful lakes? Then there are those who prefer the home built right on the beach front! We often think of going to those places to either enjoy the serenity and quiet or the roar of the surf as the waves crash into the beach over and over. Well, I have been blessed to have enjoyed allot of both the mountains and the beach and never even had to buy the first piece of real estate. My friends would ask me how it's possible to do that and my only answer to them was, "God totally provided my hearts desire!" and they wanted to know, "How did He do that?" as if it was a great secret that I had found and possessed.

The secret is not at all a secret that I possess, but is actually available to us all! The places I stayed in the mountains and on the beach were made available to me and my children because of something called "peace". You see, I had found a peace inside of me and that's when I understood the freedom that I had to care about others and reach out to do something to help them! When my desires changed towards people and their needs, that's when God began to provide all the other things that I found peaceful about this earth. How did I find that inner peace?
That's what was talked about in today's RU Sunday School class! But the lesson was about something that will take away our peace every single day, if we let it! The thing that steals our inner peace is "fear" and that comes from our adversary, satan himself. When you become afraid, you lose your strength. Your hands and feet get cold; you begin to perspire and you become weak physically, mentally and spiritually.

What gives us the power to not be afraid? Answer these three questions honestly!

Did Jesus overcome satan?

Did Jesus overcome the world?

Did Jesus overcome death?

We all know that He did and that is why only Jesus can offer total inner peace. Satan wants to cripple you with fear! Satan wants to take you away from Christ! He knows that you are healthy and strong in the presence of Jesus Christ, so he tries to pull you away from Christ. If he does this, he can begin to create fear in your life and your soul. How would satan try to pull you away today?

Satan has a mismanagement plan for your life today! Satan loves to see us distracted from our walk with Christ. Every minute not spent in communion with Christ or not accomplishing His purpose for our lives, is time available for satan to distract us and cause us to begin to worry. We learned in the RU class that worry is a soft form of fear. Worry is something we do when we become unsure of ourselves and our future. Worry makes us feel like we have lost control of something in our life and it is that need for control that can become an addiction if we don't turn to Christ for our strength.

Remember who overcame satan, the world and death? Yes, it is Jesus! It is with this assurance that we can face anything without fear! I know the grammar professors may not like the way this sounds, but the next time you see a "NO FEAR" sign or sticker, let it remind you, that with Jesus Christ you've "GOT PEACE!"

God's management plan puts the Spirit in control and our souls ought to give up control to the Spirit of God. That's where real inner "Peace" is found! That's My big SECRET!

Philippians 4:6-8 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.