Believe

“Do not persist in your unbelief, but believe!” John 2:27

We could read this as, “Do not perish in your unbelief, but believe.” Let us put ourselves in Saint Thomas’ shoes, or as he is most commonly called, “Doubting Thomas”. When he was told by the disciples that they had seen Jesus, he adamantly proclaimed the famous line, “Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 

Thomas was not at the crucifixion but he certainly heard all the gruesome details from an eyewitness. The imprint of the nails, and the piercing of the sword at the side of Jesus became so concrete to him, that not even the testimony of the disciples that they saw the risen Lord, convinced him that Jesus was alive! How about us? What keeps us from believing in the power of Jesus to change lives and hearts, transform circumstances for our good and perform miracles? 

In Matthew 13:58, we see that Jesus was not able to perform many miracles in His hometown because His neighbors were skeptical. Perhaps we are too much like Jesus’ neighbors. We grew up with all the Bible stories. They are too familiar to us. We are not new believers, excited and eager to delve deeper into the Word, to dig into the truth.  

How do we get out of this mindset? I think it is as easy as asking Jesus to reveal Himself in a new way to us. Just as Jesus showed Himself to Thomas, and said, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.” 

If we just open up a little, and allow Jesus in, He will meet us where we are. 

God’s Dreams in Our Hearts

“If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Psalm 95:8

It would be so easy if we heard God’s voice every morning and just had to follow what He said. We would be successful, have the perfect family, security for the future and know with absolute certainty we were going to heaven. Life would be simple, and we wouldn’t be confused about our priorities and busy ourselves about things that had no value. True?

God wants to speak to us, and if we read His Word every morning, and keep quiet enough to hear Him, we will get His instructions for most anything we need to know. It just takes a bit of effort every single day. But do we do it, and do we obey? 

One day in 2007, when Christine Caine, an evangelist and speaker, was in the Thessaloniki airport in Greece, she saw many handmade posters of missing girls. She found out that these young girls were trafficked and some sold on an auction block like slaves. She heard God tell her to help. “But God,” she argued, “I just gave birth! But I’m a woman! But I’m an Australian who lives so far from here...” Her buts were a mile long. God knew all those buts. He also knew that in 2008, Christine with all her buts would obey and start the A21 Campaign with her husband Nick, and would be instrumental in rescuing babies from pedophile rings, and young girls and women from sexual trafficking. Just last month, the head of the largest sex trafficking syndicate in Greece was put in jail from her organization’s efforts. 

Christine studies the Word, listens to God, and obeys. First it was the little things. How about us, do we listen and obey the little things God instructs us? Let us not harden our hearts so God can put His dreams into our hearts. 

Faith Connection

"Daughter, your faith has healed you." 

Mark 5:34

The story of this woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years can be discouraging. She spent everything she had for doctors and medicine and she was not getting better. In fact she was getting worse! I know so many people who have been sick a long time. In fact I am one of them! I have Pemphigus Vulgaris, an auto-immune disorder, very strange and very uncommon. Sometimes I feel like that veiled woman in a crowd in search ofJesus. "If only I can get close to Him. If only I had enough faith."

This woman was very fortunate in that she managed to touch Jesus' garments and she was healed instantly. Jesus looked around at the crowd surrounding Him, and asked, "Who touched me?" What is important to me in this story is that Jesus looked for her. For 12 years, perhaps she was feeling neglected by God, insignificant. How many times do we pray, "Do you care, God? Do You know what I am going through?" This is what our enemy wants, that we think God does not care, God does not know what we are going through. In this battle of the mind, we need to fight for the truth.

God does care. We matter to Him. Every single one of us. We are loved. That is what we want to know in our heart. "Who touched me?" is the cry of a God who wants to connect with us. Faith is our connection. 

"Daughter, your faith has healed you," Jesus said. And so with us. Our faith that whatever we go through, whether 12 years or not, whether it is about healing, or broken relationships, or lack of money or whatever, God walks with us. God is there, loving us whatever we are going through. He will never allow things to happen to us that is not good for our character. That will not make us bloom. In the next story of Jairus and his daughter, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid. just trust me."

Yes Lord, I trust You. You will work everything in my life for my good, because I love You and I trust You! (Romans 8:28)

Faith Muscles

“As you have believed, let it be done for you.” Matthew 8:13

Whenever I give an art workshop, I always say that creativity is like a muscle. We all have it, but if we don’t exercise it, it will be limp, and useless. Use it all the time, and it will bloom and grow. There are many exercises and challenges available online to increase creativity. Creativity is not just for artists. Business people, teachers, mothers and fathers, every one on the planet  needs it all the time to be more effective, and successful in their jobs, roles and relationships. 

In Matthew 13:58, we read that Jesus did not do many miracles in His hometown because of the people’s lack of faith. Is faith like a muscle as well? Can we grow in faith just as we can grow in creativity? No doubt about it! Like the gift of creativity, God has also given each one of us, a seed of faith. We can go to God’s gym to develop our spiritual muscles by exercising our faith everyday, by believing in God’s promises, by rebuking the enemy’s whispers of hopelessness and deception. If someone is sick, we should pray over him and not be shy or insecure that our prayers will not work. Whatever challenge comes our way, let us use our faith muscles and one day we will be spiritual Schwarzeneggers!!! 

Let us become so strong in the faith that the devil trembles when we get up in the morning!!! 

Jaws of Death

“The jaws of death shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

If we were to pick sides, we would rather be on the side of victory, true victory. On one hand, there are all these mortals attacking the Church, persecuting the Church, insulting the Church, throughout history, in different corners of the world.  There was Nero who invented all sorts of barbaric torture for the early Christians, making them human torches. The persecution continues today, and there are many unknown martyrs in different parts of the world. But just as Nero’s systematic oppression of the followers of Christ made them stronger and more fervent, so today where there is persecution, there is also more growth in the number of Bible believing Christians. 

On the winning side, we have Jesus Christ, who allowed Himself to be crucified so His followers would have not only fullness of life but eternal life. Before He died, He prophesied that He would rise up on the third day (Matthew 27:62-64). It may surprise some to know that there is solid historical evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. The proof is so strong that serious historians of all stripes, even atheists, concede the empty tomb, and the appearance of Jesus after his death. This is why the Christian church was established and grew in spite of the persecution. 

One shrewd Jewish businessman got baptized a Catholic after staying with a Borgia Pope in the Vatican and doing business with the Vatican bank . He was asked why he was becoming a Catholic after witnessing all the scandals and corruption. “I'm a businessman,” he answered, “and I know one thing for sure: no earthly business that stupid or corrupt could possibly last fourteen weeks;  yours has lasted fourteen centuries.  It's a miracle;  I'm convinced!"

Our Church and our faith, and even God is attacked today. But as Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle urges, let us stay calm. “Be fools for Christ. God is the Savior. We do not need to save God. It is God who will save us."

Building on Rock

“Anyone who hears My words and puts them into practice is like the wise man who builds his house on rock.” 

Matthew 7:24

Many buildings have collapsed in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria. That is because developers have to build on swampy ground. They need to spend more money, time, and expertise on the foundation of the building. Sometimes more than half of the cost of the building is spent on the foundation and still the building falls. 

Many people like to “experiment” with their lives. We already have a manual given by our Creator, our “manufacturer”. If we follow His instructions, we are guaranteed fullness of life. We do not need to be an expert to know that car maintenance is important if we want to improve its performance. We need to bring it to a qualified center for scheduled service check ups specified in the manual. What makes us think we “know” how to live our lives without going back to our manual, the Bible? 

Sometimes when we look around, all we see is shaky ground. That was the challenge that faced the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He was asked to build the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on land that was a slush of soft mud. Tokyo is a city that averages 2000 earthquakes a year. It is so seismically active that in 2011, Tokyo experienced more than 10,000 earthquakes! What did Wright do? First, he made sure to float a solid foundation on the 60 foot layer of soft mud underneath the hotel. The building withstood the worst earthquake in 52 years while many buildings around it fell. 

Even if all around us is confusion, fake news, relative truths, we need to build our life on rock, the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. 

WOYWW: By My Fruit

I am preparing for a workshop tomorrow entitled, “Creative Faith Journaling”. I have given this workshop many times before but this is the first time people are actually paying for it! 

This was a workshop I gave last week and it was a lot of fun! 

I so enjoy helping people bring out their creativity! 

“Every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:17

“By their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:20) These days there’s a lot of temptation to judge people and even wish they get thrown into the fire for all eternity. One “false prophet” pronounced that our Philippine President has shown the highest levels of spirituality after the President declared God to be stupid. It is tempting, but we should not issue final judgments. “Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged.” (Matthew 7:3) We can however judge a tree by its fruit: “by their fruits, you will know them.” 

The first “tree” we should examine is ourself. What kind of fruit is on our branches? In Galatians 5:22, we can find a checklist of the fruit we must bear: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When people meet us, do they see this in us?

One time a supplier for our business found out I was a Christian, and he asked: “You were not a Christian last year when I came here, were you?” How painful for him to point out that I was unusually impatient that day! 

It is said that the Christian is the world’s Bible. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are His hands and feet here on earth. May You Lord enable us to exhibit the fruit of Your Holy Spirit. 

Previous Posts

For my growing collection of prompts, 

inspirations, creative pursuits,

courageous artists and their art, join me here!

or on Facebook and Instagram

Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 

peek at desks and projects!

I find a lot of inspiration

visiting my friends here:

Mondays @ Soul Survival, A Round Tuit
One More Time, Dream Together
Small Wonders, Testimony Tuesday,  Titus 2 Tuesdays, 
Count Your Blessings, Word Art Wednesday, 

 Unite,  Rubie Tuesday Link Up, Be Inspired

 A Little R and R,  No Rules Weekend Blog Party
Cheerleaders of our Faith, Reflect
Wow Us Wednesdays, Sitting Among Friends

The Weekly Creative, Three Word Wednesday
Word Filled Wednesdays
Great Blog Train Bloghop, Cheerleaders of Faith
Women with Intention Wednesdays
Christian Blogger Link Up, Word Filled Wednesdays

Thoughtful Thursday,  Hearts4Home Thursdays, Thought Provoking Thursday
Tune In Thursday Homemaking Party, Purposeful Faith

Thriving Thursdays with Serving Joyfully

Thursday Favorites, Desire to Inspire Legacy Leaver Thursday
Beloved Brews Thursdays, Sincerely, Paula

Creative Things, Bloom! Soul Survival, Inspiration Gallery
Hearts for Home Thursday

Dance with Jesus Friday, Lyli Dunbar, Fresh Market Link up
Grace & Truth Link Up, Dance with Jesus
Glimpses of His Beauty

Blessings!

Patsy  

Listen to Me

“Listen to me, O Lord!” 2 Kings 19:16

Many of us would like to have God’s undivided attention. Oh wait! We do! In history books we read that the ambitious king of Assyria waged military campaigns, destroyed walled cities and towns and in 2 Kings 19, he was gunning for Jerusalem. He started mocking not only Hezekiah, the king of Judah, but also the God of the Israelites. 

Hezekiah came before the Lord in the temple, and prayed, “You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and listen! Open Your eyes, O Lord, and see! Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God! Save us from the power of this man, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.” (2 Kings 19:15-19)

Like Hezekiah, we too have an enemy that wishes to destroy us. He prowls around like a lion, looking for any way he can attack us and take us down (1 Peter 5:8). He wants to destroy our country, our Church, our families, our health, our relationships, everything we value. He taunts us and tries to make a mockery of our faith from all directions. 

Like Hezekiah, we need to humble ourselves and pray. God will make a way where there is no way. The Assyrian army was not able to breach Jerusalem’s wall. They had to turn back because of a plague that killed 185,000 Assyrian troops. King Sennacherib had to return to Nineveh. 

As people of God, we have His ear. We should always hope, always be thankful, and aways be patient. God is working. Dictators and tyrants come and go, but the Word of God endures forever. 

All the Chances

“Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye...” Matthew 7:5

I have to admit I am a very judgmental person. It’s one of those sins I keep confessing to the priest and can’t get rid of. So I can imagine Jesus saying to me, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” 

All of us, with no exemption, are sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And yet... I find it’s always “and yet” with our Father. He forgives us. He looks at us with compassion. He opened a way for us to get into heaven and have eternal life. 

God always makes a way when there is no way. For us and for others. When we see the worst in others, we just need to pray for them. To see them through God’s eyes of love and compassion. It is sometimes, maybe often, difficult to believe God loves the most obnoxious person on the planet, but He does. Perhaps that’s the reason he or she is still alive right now, driving us nuts. Perhaps that’s the reason we are still alive right now. God is giving us more chances to learn, to grow into more loving, generous, kind, servant-hearted people fit for His Kingdom. 

God-given Purpose

"I wonder what this child will turn out to be?" Luke 1:66

John the Baptist was born amidst amazing circumstances. His parents Zechariah and Elizabeth were very old, and they had no children because Elizabeth was barren.  One day Zechariah, a Jewish priest, was on duty inside the sanctuary in the Temple, burning incense.  An angel appeared, and Zechariah was overwhelmed with fear. Who wouldn't be? “God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth will bear you a son!"  Angel Gabriel then proceeded to list the awesome qualities of his son, and instructed him to name him John. "He will be great in the sight of God."

 

True enough, Elizabeth became pregnant, and she gave birth to a baby boy. When Zechariah wrote that the baby was to be named John, he instantly began to speak. Everyone was so amazed and the news of what happened spread throughout the Judean hills.  

When we were born, God knew us too. No angel came to announce our arrival, but He formed us just as "fearfully and wonderfully" as He formed John the Baptist. When we were born, I do believe all the angels and saints rejoiced in heaven.  If an angel came to deliver the news, the angel would have listed our awesome qualities too! 

In Philemon 1:6, Paul prays that Philemon would recognize and acknowledge all the good things he has in Christ.  WE have so many good qualities! We just have to recognize them and bring them out. If we obey and work with God, nothing is impossible.  "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he," Jesus tells the crowd in Matthew 11:11. We may not aspire to be greater than John the Baptist, but I think it would be exciting to work with God who wants to bring out the best in us. That is how we will find meaning and our God-given purpose for our life! 

Mess Makers

“Observe how the lilies of the field grow...” Matthew 6:28

This is one of the most beautiful and reassuring passages in the Bible. Just reading through Matthew 6:25-34 made me peaceful. We can see how God takes care of the birds, how beautiful they are, the wild flowers in the field that grow even without care. “They do not toil or spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these!” Jesus goes on to say we should not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. “Each day has enough troubles of its own.” 

Yesterday when I was going through my Facebook feed, I could feel myself growing anxious. So many worrying things about our country, the economy, law and order, ballooning debt, human rights, the list is long and getting longer. We can say our country is in a big mess and can get messier still. Sigh. 

But yesterday I also facilitated an art workshop. In it I told the young participants to make a mess with the paints and mark makers. “The messier the better.” And then a masterpiece will emerge from the mess. 

Human beings are naturally mess makers. In the first reading for today, 2 Chronicles 24, the mighty prophet Zechariah told the people: “Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands, so that you cannot prosper?” God wants us to prosper, to live well, but we do not follow the good instructions He gives us. So our lives get messy, our country gets into a big mess. 

There is only One who can save us. We can depend on Him to make a masterpiece out of our lives. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

A Good Investment

 "Where your treasure is, there your heart is also." Matthew 6:21

Everyone loves a good investment, don’t they? And we hate it when we lose money! The stock market today in the Philippines is experiencing an alarming downturn. I don’t even want to look at how low the value of my stocks have gone. 

In the 6th chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives us His financial advice, His divine blueprint for estate planning. "Do not lay up for yourselves earthly treasure." Earthly treasure is not going to last, it can be stolen, burned, it can rust and devalue. Instead we should make it our practice to to store up heavenly treasure. We can think of storing heavenly treasure as buying stocks in heaven. The difference is it's not going to devalue, the price won't go down! Whatever we invest is going to go up, up, up! But how can we buy Kingdom stocks? What is of value in heaven?

Jesus told the story of the pearl of great price in Matthew 13. When a merchant found the pearl more beautiful than all the others, he sold all his possessions to buy it. What is it that Jesus was willing to give up everything for? Jesus bought us, the pearl of great price at the cost of His very life! He became a man, left His power and glory in heaven, just so He can give us His greatest gift, eternal life in Heaven with Him.

Saint Lawrence is one of my favorite saints. When asked by the Prefect of Rome to turn over the treasures of the Church, Lawrence went throughout the city and gathered together the poor, the lame, the blind, the sick. Then he presented them to the greedy Prefect. "Here are the Church's treasure!" he announced. The Prefect was not amused and the saint was roasted over an iron grill!

We need not follow Saint Lawrence to buy stocks in heaven, but we should remember that if we use our time, talent and money to bring people to God, we are investing in what God values most! 

My Father Knows

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:8

Before you EVEN ask Him. We may not pray like we need this, but the ONE most important thing we need is a SAVIOR! My prayer list is quite long, including intercessions for my family, friends, my country, brothers and sisters who are sick, the crisis in Nicaragua, etc., but not one mention of me needing someone to save me. I do not have to ask for a Savior, God already provided Jesus long before I asked. 

The whole of His story in the Bible is primarily how much He loves us, and provides the perfect sacrifice required by His holiness, righteousness and justice. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, we would not have a single, solitary chance to enter heaven, a place where there is no sin, no spot, no blemish, no rotting, no decaying, no aging, no poverty, no want. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are made holy once for all time (Hebrews 10:10). His blood is our entrance ticket to heaven if we but accept it. 

We can be confident if God provided this most essential of our needs, He will also make a way to answer our other needs as well. Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, “"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” So I will keep asking for what is in my prayer list, confident God has my perfect good in His heart. He desires to give us all that most wonderful of gifts, fullness of life. Sometimes His answers are wrapped in painful or perplexing circumstances, but if we keep in faith, we will see that God is weaving a most amazing tapestry for each one of us. 

WOYWW: War Room!

Started out with these magazine pages. 

I have to close her eyes!

“When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.” Matthew 6:6

I am reminded of a story of a little boy saying his bedtime prayers beside his mom and grandma. He started by mumbling, “Thank You for my parents, my grandma and my brothers and sisters. Thank You that I passed my math exam...” then he ended by shouting, “and please may I get a bike for Christmas!” His mom asked him why he was shouting. “God’s not deaf!” she said, and he responded, “No, but Grandma is!”

We all have our little quirks when we approach God. Before Him, we are naked. We cannot pretend to be who we are not. He knows exactly who we are, what we are capable of, what we can be. He knows our foibles, our idiosyncrasies, our weaknesses and strengths. Here is a God who knows us inside out and loves us anyway. We are precious in His eyes, whether we are a heroin addict, a foul mouthed President, an inmate in the bloodiest prison in the country, or a harried mother too busy to pray. I can see Him waiting for us to come to Him. 

It is inconceivable, that kind of love! Here Jesus is telling us that the Creator of the Universe has time for us. One-on-one time. He wants to be alone with us. He waits. No cellphone. No one to tell us our time is up. He waits for us to tell Him about our day, our frustrations, our battles, our victories. What a comfort it is to tell Him of our sins, our burdens, and have Him carry it for us to Calvary. 

Our prayer room can be our war room where we battle against cancer, against the crisis in our country, against the enemy who steals, kills and destroys. It can be our sanctuary in the storm, a place of rest where we can claim our Father’s promises of restoration and peace beyond understanding. For me it is a place where God reveals His inexhaustible treasures. 

Thank You Lord for one-on-one time with You! 

Previous Posts

For my growing collection of prompts, 

inspirations, creative pursuits,

courageous artists and their art, join me here!

or on Facebook and Instagram

Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 

peek at desks and projects!

I find a lot of inspiration

visiting my friends here:

Mondays @ Soul Survival, A Round Tuit
One More Time, Dream Together
Small Wonders, Testimony Tuesday,  Titus 2 Tuesdays, 
Count Your Blessings, Word Art Wednesday, 

 Unite,  Rubie Tuesday Link Up, Be Inspired

 A Little R and R,  No Rules Weekend Blog Party
Cheerleaders of our Faith, Reflect
Wow Us Wednesdays, Sitting Among Friends

The Weekly Creative, Three Word Wednesday
Word Filled Wednesdays
Great Blog Train Bloghop, Cheerleaders of Faith
Women with Intention Wednesdays
Christian Blogger Link Up, Word Filled Wednesdays

Thoughtful Thursday,  Hearts4Home Thursdays, Thought Provoking Thursday
Tune In Thursday Homemaking Party, Purposeful Faith

Thriving Thursdays with Serving Joyfully

Thursday Favorites, Desire to Inspire Legacy Leaver Thursday
Beloved Brews Thursdays, Sincerely, Paula

Creative Things, Bloom! Soul Survival, Inspiration Gallery
Hearts for Home Thursday

Dance with Jesus Friday, Lyli Dunbar, Fresh Market Link up
Grace & Truth Link Up, Dance with Jesus
Glimpses of His Beauty

Blessings!

Patsy  

As Far as the East is from the West

“Have mercy on me, O God, in Your goodness; in the greatness of Your compassion wipe out my offense.” 

Psalm 51:1

In High School I had to memorize a portion of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, the part where Portia proclaims, “The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown: His sceptre shows the force of temporal power...But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's when mercy seasons justice.” 

Here Portia, disguised as a lawyer, is telling the court that Mercy must be freely given. It should not be constrained or forced. When we show mercy we not only bless the recipient, but ourselves as well. And when a powerful man shows mercy, he becomes most like God. 

Indeed all of us have greatly sinned against God by rebelling against Him. We were created in His image and to be in effect, mirrors of His glory. When we sin, we smudge that mirror. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." 

But no matter how smudged and dirty, and even broken our mirror is, God in His mercy can restore it for us. So great is His compassion and love for us, that when we come to Him for restoration, He will remove our transgressions “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). 

Listen to My Groanings

“Lord, listen to my groaning.” Psalm 5:1

The whole book of Lamentations in the Bible is a funeral song written by the prophet Jeremiah. He was an eyewitness to the devastation of Jerusalem. Jeremiah wanted to record the destruction in vivid detail to warn future generations of what would happen when a people willfully disobey God and fall into sin.  

“Lord, see my anguish! My heart is broken and my soul despairs...My groans are many, and my heart is faint.” Lamentations 1:20-22

In Lamentations, Jeremiah speaks of how the leaders of Jerusalem deprived the people of their rights. They perverted justice in the courts.  “Do they think the Lord did not see it?” Lam. 3:36

Jeremiah cries out: “Lord, remember everything that happened to us. See all the sorrows we bear! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We are orphaned and fatherless...Why have you forsaken us? Restore us O Lord, and bring us back to You again.” Lamentations 5

Like Jeremiah, let us bring our groanings to the Lord. Just as an eagle does not fight his enemy, the snake, on the ground, but takes it up into the air, where he is weak, we too should take our battles into the spiritual realm where our enemies are powerless. 

Whatever it is we are groaning to the Lord for, He will fight for us. The battle is not over yet. “The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14

Mustard Seeds in My Hand

“To what shall we compare the kingdom of God...It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.” Mark 4:30-31

Mustard planted today could begin growing tomorrow. It is a very tiny seed, but it has to be scattered by the farmer. It has to fall to the ground. A seed held in the farmer’s hand has no chance of growing into a bush. 

All of us are given gifts by God. Most of these gifts are very small and to our untrained eyes, quite insignificant. “What is in your hand?” God asked Moses in Exodus 4:2. Moses had a shepherd’s staff, an everyday thing during his time. “Throw it to the ground!” God told Moses, and it became a snake. Moses used his staff to perform signs that gave God glory. 

We too have some insignificant things in our hands, but if we “throw it to the ground”, it can grow from tiny seeds to shrubs scattered across the desert, life-giving, and beneficial. It even grows in the desert. 

Whatever we have in our hand, however small or insignificant, we should offer to God. We will be surprised at what He can do when we open our hand and let our money, time, gifts, talents, abilities, or influence, fall to the ground of God’s field. Moses had his staff, David his slingshot, the little boy had loaves and fishes, Mary in Luke 10 had time. God took all of these ordinary, every day things, and used them to build His Kingdom. 

Lord, show me what I can offer You. Show me what You can use. I know You will bless and prosper everything I give to You.