Let's Approach!

TGIF Greetings :)

Mark 10:49 "Jesus stopped..."

Remember all the ruckus? Blind Bartimaeus heard Jesus was passing by. He shouted out for mercy. The ones with Jesus rebuked him, but Bartimaeus shouted all the more?

What was Christ's reaction? He stopped.

He put everything else aside and stopped. He was on His way to Jerusalem where soon all the events leading up to the crucifixion would unfold, but He interrupted His busy schedule and brought all His love, mercy, and attention on the one who was shouting for Him.

Amen and glory!

Let us never ever think that Jesus is uninterested, too busy, too tired, or unmerciful and/or aloof. If we call, He will stop - each and every time.

In fact, when we read the New Testament we learn that Jesus never ever turned anyone away. Anyone who approached Him was welcome, and everyone is still welcome. The key is that we need to make approach.

What are we waiting for? Let's approach!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that You have stopped right now and are listening to me. All Your focus is on me, and I am grateful. You asked Bartimaeus what he wanted You to do for him; this is what I want You to do for me: __________________. In Your precious name I pray, Amen~

Shout all the More!

I hope you're all having a terrific Tuesday :)

Mark 10:47-48 "When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

"...but he shouted all the more..."

Kudos to Bartimaeus for not letting others detract him. He knew what he needed to do, and he wasn't going to let anyone silence his voice. The louder others get--speaking all negatively and/or rudely--the more we need to shout.

And you can be sure there will be times when we stand alone against popular opinion, but that's when we have to shout all the more.

Bartimaeus did not let anyone stop him from calling on Jesus and neither should we.

 

Truth is not everyone will respect or agree with our decision to keep on trusting and praying and believing for our answers. Job's wife is a perfect example.

 

Job 2:9 "His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to be godly when God has done all this to you? Curse Him and die.”

 

Job's name has become synonymous with suffering because of all the tragedy in his life. He lost it all - money, health, family - and it bothered his wife to no end that he was still trusting the Lord. Still reaching out--clinging to hope. She finally exploded and said, "Curse God and die."

 

Lord, have mercy! Job hung in there, and the Bible says in Job 42:20 that, "The Lord blessed Job at the end of his life more than at the beginning."

 

What if Bartimaeus had allowed the others to silence him? His tombstone would have read: Here lies the blind beggar Bartimaeus.

 

I prefer this one: Here lies the formally blind Bartimaeus whose sight was restored because he shouted all the more!

 

AMEN!

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Today we shout shout shout for healing and restoration in our lives. We will not allow others to detract us from reaching out to You. In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Get out of the Way~

Happy Monday :)

Back to the story of the Bartimaeus, the man who was formally blind.

Mark 10:47-48 "When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Here was Bartimaeus, blind and begging by the side of the road, clearly in need of help, and Jesus walks by. Bartimaeus has heard a thing or two about Jesus being a miracle worker because he starts shouting for help. And what is the reaction of the folks who are closest to Jesus? The ones who are walking with Him? They rebuke Bartimaeus.

Dictionary.com--REBUKE: to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand.

The irony in all of this makes me want to cry.

How can I, someone who walks with Jesus every day, get in the way of someone else who wants to get closer to Him? How could I ever actually scold someone because they called out to Christ? Are you kidding me? I spend half my waking moments praying that my children will call out to Him more and more everyday, and yet these folks told Bartimaeus to be quiet.

First lesson of the week: Let's not get in anyone's way when they are trying to get closer to Jesus. Let's actually try to help. Let's offer to pray with someone. Listen to someone's heartache. Help them get up and bring them closer to Christ.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Make us sensitive to those around us who are seeking You. There are so many blessings for those who help others. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

What Do You Want Me To Do?

TGIF Greetings~

Someone wants to ask you a question today, and His name is JESUS!

Mark 10:51 ““What do you want Me to do for you?”
Jesus was directing His question at a blind man named Bartimaeus.
Bartimaeus responded, “Lord, I want to see!”

Excuse me while I take a moment to relish this scene in my mind…

When we read a few verses before this one, we learn that blind Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging.  Jesus, the disciples, and a large crowd were leaving the city, and Bartimaeus somehow heard it was none other than Christ Himself Who was walking by.  He started to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

That’s when Jesus asked the famous question, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus knew the answer and didn’t hesitate to ask for a healing miracle. “Lord, I want to see.”
Mark 10:52 “…Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”

Connect the dots time.
·       Bartimaeus is blind.
·       He has heard of Jesus before because when Christ was on that road he called out for his miracle. 
·       Jesus stopped what He was doing and paid attention to Bartimaeus.
·       Jesus asked Bartimaeus a compelling question.
·       Bartimaeus was specific, non-hesitant, blunt and to the point.
·       Bartimaeus received his sight and became a follower of Christ.

We will break this all down a la Macarena style next week, but look at the order.

There’s a need, Jesus is the miracle-worker, we must call out to Him and tell Him what we want.  We will always get the best answer for our situation.

Amen Amen Amen!!! I pray that Bartimaeus has inspired us all today.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I take You up on Your Word, and this is what I want You do to for Me today: ___________________.  By faith I receive the answer.  In Your name I pray, Amen!  

Ask the Blind Man~

Good afternoon~

Would you like me to make fun of you?  Last week I made fun of my father-in-law, Chini, because he has had a suitcase packed and ready for over a year waiting to get the call to go on a free cruise.  And on Saturday he finally got the call and promptly left for a week to the sunny Caribbean.  When I make fun of people, good things happen!

 

I am passionate about a lot of things, like cows, for example.  I have cow pillows, cow mugs, cow planters, a cow coffee pot, cow espresso demitasse cups, and even a cow sleeping mask.

But if you were to ask me what I am the most passionate about I would not hesitate to answer, “PRAYER!”

There’s a Southern Gospel group called The Booth Brothers, and they have a song entitled He Saw it All.  It refers to Jesus’ miracles of healing a paralyzed man, a deaf girl, a mute man, and a blind man.

Part of the lyrics go like this:

I was trying to catch the crippled man,

Did he run past this way?
He was rushing home to tell everyone
What Jesus did today
And the mute man was telling me and the deaf girl

He's leaving to answer God's call
It's hard to believe but if you don't trust me

Ask the blind man, he saw it all
Ask the blind man, he saw it all

I love this song (YouTube link at the end of this DEVO), and I very respectfully and humbly identify with the blind man; this is why I am passionate about prayer.  This is why I want you to find a Bible verse and grab it by the horns until God answers you.

No one on the planet could have ever convinced the blind man that Jesus wasn’t a miracle worker; he had first-hand knowledge of His might and power.

Likewise, Jesus has done so much for me through prayer that no one can tell me otherwise.  And I want all of us to be encouraged greatly today that Jesus is still in the prayer-answering business. 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Answer us when we call upon You and we will testify of Your goodness and greatness.  In Jesus' name, AMEN!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGHFC2t3deE

There's a Verse for That~

Happy Saint Patrick's Day~

He was born in Scotland, and as a teenager he was kidnapped by slave traders and taken to Ireland. This unthinkable circumstance turned Saint Patrick to God and he once said, " The love of God grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same."

Amen to that! Some days we just have to pray without ceasing!

So many of you commented about the verse I wrote about on Thursday, and I lovingly reminded everyone that, "Likewise, it does not matter what your struggle or concern is. There is a verse or more you can hold close to your heart and ask God to do what it says for you. But first you must be hungry for what God has to say."

Then I had a conversation with someone whose adult child is making some seriously foolish decisions, and she feels utterly helpless. And then God whispered to my heart, "Yenisita, there's a verse for that; help her find it."

We started our search and found this doozy: Luke 15:17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!'"

Luke 15 tells the story of the prodigal son. He left the comfort and love of his home and made one catastrophic decision after another until he finally came to his senses and returned home.

My friend and I honed in on the very beginning of that verse, "When he came to his senses..."

"Lord, we cried, let so-and-so come to his senses. Let him realize that there is a loving home that awaits his return. Open his eyes so he can see the foolishness of his behavior."

There is just something so exhilirating and awe-inspiring about praying a verse that you know had a beautiful outcome.

Let's not allow any difficulty we face to freak us out. Rather, let's find our verse and pray it through--up to 100 times a day if necessary.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for the completeness of Your Word. There is something in there for everyone, and we are grateful. In Jesus' name we pray, AMEN~

Hunger for God~

Thursday greetings~

One final thought on desiring God's Word like a baby desires milk.

The Bible has sold more copies than any other book in the history of the world; yet it is hated as much as it is loved. Earlier this week there was news of an Air Force cadet whose Bible verse was erased because the white board he had written it on was in a common area, and the verse offended some folks. But check out this headline from the Daily News: Rickey Wagoner, 49, was ambushed by three goons early Monday morning after he stopped his bus on the side of the road. Wagoner was shot three times, but the two bullets meant for his chest became lodged in the Bible he was carrying.
I am certain Mr. Wagoner loves his Bible more than ever, and I'm with him. God's living Word continues to inspire me, comfort me, and help me day after day. Sometimes the truths contained therein have also provided a lifeline when I desperately needed something to hold onto.

I never gave much thought to Genesis 24:50 which says, "Laban and Bethuel answered, "'This is from the LORD...'"

And then Hormone started dating someone who rubbed me the wrong way. I did not know how to act or react. On the one hand, every person deserves dignity and respect because they are God's child. On the other hand, that doesn't mean just anyone is qualified to marry my child. So I dug in my heels and started reading everything the Bible has to say about relationships. And this verse right at the beginning of the Bible changed the way I prayed and changed my life.

Laban and Bethuel were the parents of a young woman named Rebecca who was just chosen to marry Isaac, the son of Abraham. As her parents they gave their blessing saying it was a God thing. I grabbed ahold of that verse and told Jesus that just like Laban and his wife, Jorge and I wanted to freely give our blessing because we actually loved Hormone's choice and not because we had no other choice. For a long long time I woke up every morning saying, "This relationship is not of You, dear Lord, no way. If it were, I would be enthusiastic and excited and happy. Please bring that young lady you have for Hormone. I long to say that he is dating someone who came from You."

That verse kept me alive, people, because there were many many days when I feared where my child was headed.

Likewise, it does not matter what your struggle or concern is. There is a verse or more you can hold close to your heart and ask God to do what it says for you. But first you must be hungry for what God has to say.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, There are so many sources of information and advice out there. Keep us focused primarily on You. Lead us in truth and teach us how to pray. Thank You for your life-changing Word, in Jesus' name, AMEN~

* For those of you who are wondering, Jorge and I were finally able to say "This is of the Lord," within five minutes of meeting Lis, who is now our beautiful daughter-in-love. Amen, Glory, & Praises!