Miracles Are Real

Our God is a miracle-working God. Miracles are not miracles to Him; they only appear that way to us because of the smallness of our faith. More to that point, many of us have never seen what we would call a miracle precisely due to the smallness of our faith.

Perhaps our quick response is to resolve to ask God for more faith. Before we go there, we must be reminded that God has already given us the prescription: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God!”

Want to live in miracles? Dust off your Bible!

Faith is not a matter of us working up enough courage to believe or expect. No, Jesus is the “author and the finisher of our faith”.

Seek Jesus in His word and you will be surprise how faith flows to and through you.

Images

When I look in a mirror I see the same person I have seen for many years now. When I look across the room at my lovely wife, I see the same wonderful women that I have seen many, many times. So what do I see when I look at God?

The image that I see of myself in the mirror is quite different, in many ways, from the image that I see across the room. Both are images; both are significantly different.

The image that I see when I look at God is first:

- one that looks exactly like Jesus. This is why our investing time with the scripture is so vital,

- one that looks like the collection of the redeemed. This is why scripture exhorts us to “not forsake the gathering together of the saints”, and

- one that looks completely different from any other image ever seen or known. This is why scripture calls us to “be still (or cease striving) and know that I am God”.

God is not far off. He is not hiding; He is not playing games with you! He’s just not like that. It was “that when we were sinners Jesus died” for us. If that isn’t love and intimate pursuit there never was such a thing.

So now, what is the image that you have of our God? We all tend to shrink His image to one that we can understand. I encourage you to grab hold of the avenues for obtaining a realistic presence.

Thank you to those of you who have stepped up to the embarassment of admitting that you follow ths blog.

Possibly you, and everyone else, might consider inviting others to drop by for a test drive.

On another note, there is an incredible message the God is writing on my heart that I can hardly wait to share with you. Each Monday will be a new update but there will be one coming that I can hardly wait to share with you.

Living in the Light

A few days ago, I took the opportunity to make a long drive home during the night. From 8PM until 4AM I drove across long stretches of highway. I discovered many things during this time alone with God.

The miles that I drove on that night were quite familiar to me; I have driven those same miles many times over the years. Because it is mostly through Wyoming, little ever changes.

So what could one discover from such a trip?

There is an interesting parallel between my trip and life in general. Throughout the night of driving familiar sights were consumed by the dark. Mile after mile slipped by with little notice. I was surprised over and over again by the progress I had made as I stopped for gas or to walk around and clear my head. The little things that previously had been reminders of the slow progress that I was making were invisible to me.

Life without Jesus is very similar. I suppose that having Jesus only on the periphery of one's life would be quite the same. Life slips by with little regard for the things out of sight. One awakens from this autonomous slumber from time to time in the dramatic realization of how fast life is slipping away.

Jesus identifies His true friends as those who are involved in others' lives. He doesn't necessitate our involvement, He knows that it is "losing our lives in others that we will truly find life". It is our choice!

No, it is not easy in already busy lives. It won't necessarily give us more time, more energy or more resources. As a matter of fact, like after driving all night, there is a cost. The immediate cost is so much less that the long-term cost of ignoring the invitation.
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"A long-time friend of mine sent me some thoughts that might coordinate with the above message:

It is amazing to me how parallel are words can be not exact but similar. Last Wed. I was reading Daniel. Early in the book when he is still a young man he declines the king's food. He "overcame" being taken out of everything that gave him comfort - family, culture, surroundings. The familiar was gone, instead there was a promise of good food, comfort, leadership and influence after 3 years of training. He (actually there were 4) would not let go of God for earthly reward.

Their faith was rewarded. Daniel never doubted God is in control. Daniel definitely placed his trust outside of what he saw and what he knew had been taken from him. " Dennis Lewis

Positioned For True Life

What keeps you from celebrating your freedom in Jesus? There is a sobering scripture that indicates the probable issue:

2 Peter 1: 2-9

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

So if we do not know the true joy of being IN Jesus, we have a mistaken idea of who we really were before He claimed us! We have fooled ourselves into thinking that we were really not that bad after-all.

This leaves us living in the nether land of living in Jesus and living in our old patterns. The conflict leaves stress, anger, depression, anxiety and weariness in its wake.

Please, allow God to show you who you were and, now, who you are!