Stronger

I know that God is using me right now. He's building up an amazing testimony that will knock the socks off of everyone who hears it someday. It's going to make a difference in many lives. It will even save some.

Lord, I want you to use me. But please, as you use me, as you build up this testimony, make me stronger. 

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. -Isaiah 41:10

He has promised me. And He will. For I have mustard seeds.

In fact, I bought five packs of them to throw at the enemy when he attacks me.

I. Will. Win.

Bigger Miracles

Anyone can heal a man, but raising him from the dead?  Now that takes a bigger miracle.

Jesus had a friend named Lazarus.  He was very ill, so his sister, Martha, sent for Jesus.  "Lord, the one you love is sick." (John 11:3)  He loved him.  And although he knew his cherished friend was dying, he stayed where he was for two more days.

Why did he do that?  Lazarus was very ill, on his deathbed.  And Jesus loved him....he LOVED him.  Why did he wait if he knew that he was so close to death?

Lazarus died.  Jesus already knew that.  He waited the two days so that Lazarus would die.  What?  Didn't we just establish that he loved him??

"So then he told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe." -John 11:14-15

By the time they got to Lazarus, he had already been in the tomb for four days.  I tried to look up how long he was actually dead before Jesus got there, but Google frustrated me, so I gave up.  BUT think about it.  In this day and age, funerals are typically 4ish days after death.  Who knows about back in those times, but I would assume they had to take some time to prepare the tomb and the body before it was buried.  So Lazarus was dead probably about a whole week before Jesus got there.  Now we have established that Lazarus was not just barely dead, but completely dead....a week's worth of dead.

"'Lord,' Martha said to Jesus, 'if you had been here, my brother would not have died." -John 11:21

Martha and Mary (her sister) were mad.  They knew he could have gotten there before he died, but he didn't.  In fact, Mary wouldn't even come out to greet Jesus when he arrived she was so upset with him.  

Jesus cried for his beloved friend.  Everyone around him saw how much he loved Lazarus.  But still they were so confused as to why he waited to come.  Why would a man that can heal a blind stranger not come running to save the life of his dear friend?

Martha and Mary took Jesus to Lazarus' tomb and when Jesus said to remove the stone, Martha protested that her very dead brother would stink.  But Jesus had bigger miracles for those who believed.

"Then Jesus looked up and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." -John 11:41-42

After he spoke, his completely dead friend walked out of the tomb.

Like I said, anyone can heal a man, but it takes a bigger miracle to raise him from the dead.  Jesus knew what he was doing the whole time.  He knew his friend would die, and he knew he would bring him back to life.  He knew that they would be sad that he got there too late, but he knew raising him from the dead would make them believe more than healing him would.

Have you ever caught yourself in a really big trial in your life and wondered why God was taking so long to heal you?  It's because He has a bigger miracle to show you, to show the world.  He's waiting for the right moment to raise you from the dead because that is bigger than what you expect Him to do.  And when that bigger miracle happens, when you see the "glory of God" (v.40), you have no choice but to believe.

Mustard Seeds

"For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” --Matthew 17:20

A mustard seed is 1 to 2mm in diameter.  Jesus says in the parable of the mustard seeds that it is the smallest of all seeds. (Matthew 13)

One of my sons has had a really tough life.  He has knocked on deaths door many times in his almost 7 years of life (and even before that in the womb).  I fully believe that he is here today, and a healthy little boy for that matter, because of mustard seeds.

My husband used to walk around at the hospitals our ill son was living in and sprinkle mustard seeds as he prayed.  He used to whisper the verse above to our son and tell him he "better get to moving those mountains".  He believed that all it took was faith in God's hand on our little teeny tiny baby boy and he would live.  And not only live but surpass all that the doctors said he would ever be able to do with that life.

If one tiny mustard seed can move a mountain, what can handfuls of mustard seeds do to a mole hill?  I'd say they can stomp on it and blow it to smithereens.  Amen.

What do you do when you are knocking on deaths door?  Have faith.  What do you do when a situation looks impossible?  Have faith.  What do you do when the devil chips away at your soul?  Throw mustard seeds at him.

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong." --1 Corinthians 16:13

Hello, My Name is....

If it weren't for the fact that I keep in touch with the majority of my friends and run a business through it, I would get rid of Facebook. Hurtful talk and acts run rampant on that site. People use it to passively speak to others which can be either about you or about someone else, but still hurts you all the same. It ruins relationships, it cultivates gossip, it destroys communication, it distracts from work and what needs to be done in "real" life. In short, Facebook is the devil's playground. Beware!

The other day, someone said something mean about me on someone else's public Facebook status. Just plainly put it out there where they knew I would see it.  They persecuted my new found love of Christ and my blatant display of my walk with and trust of God saying that I was putting on a show. 

Normally, I would publicly fight back and call said person some choice names that would not pleasing to the Lord. I would retaliate by sharing their missteps and downfalls publicly and banding my friends together to form a hate group about them. Basically, I would stoop to their level.

But just as this happened, God said, "You got it wrong!"  Remember the other day when I posted a blog about standing up for myself and time to speak? I was wrong. My interpretation was off.  I'm glad I sat back and prayed about that more asking God for a very clear answer as to whether or not I was to speak yet. What I thought He was saying to me was wrong.

God was preparing me though the book of Nehemiah to be able to defend my faith.  He was telling me that it was time to speak in this situation. Not in what I had thought a few days ago.

I wrote to the person, who is a "Christian" woman, and asked if she believed that the Bible is truth.  I said that if she did, as any Christian would, then she would believe that anyone can be made new in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Through my time in the word over the last 2.5 months, I was able to stand up straight and use scripture to say what needed to be said.

I am Nehemiah. I am rebuilding a home, I am fighting the enemies' persecution and mocking, I am using scripture to defend what I am doing.  I will continue to build no matter what comes my way and I will defend.

I am Saul.  I persecuted Christianity and let my faith fall, I was blind...then I heard God's voice and now I see.  I am Paul.  I am mocked. I have people who do not believe me.  I have people casting stones and trying to beat me down. But I will stand as God has asked me to.

Hello, my name is child of the one true King 

I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free

“Amazing Grace” is the song I sing

Hello, my name is child of the one true King

I am no longer defined By all the wreckage behind

The one who makes all things new

Has proven it’s true

Just take a look at my life

-Matthew West