God’s Work in Our Life?
Matthew 15:3
The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
David Copperfield is a Las Vegas headliner with one of the great magic shows of our era. When people see his shows they know it is a trick and slight of hand but are amazed. We are amazed not of the trick but how well he can do the trick and we cannot determine how he did it! Years ago he made a space shuttle disappear and reappear. It was most amazing.
When Jesus healed and taught, repeatedly the crowds were amazed, Matthew 7:28, 8:27, 9:33,13:54, and many others times throughout the Gospels, people were amazed and astonished at what Jesus could do! From the Greek Bible and Word Study we learn that amazed in these cases can mean any or perhaps all of the following: astonished, thrown into wonderment, astounded, surprised, dumbfounded and several other meanings. People of Israel would wonder where Jesus received His wisdom, His power, His abilities. They were yet to understand His divinity and most thought Him to be only human like everyone else. They were astonished because He could do what no one before Him had ever done!
Why is it then that as Christians, who profess His Divinity and believe because of His Resurrection can too often, as in Jesus’ time, feel amazement at the fulfillment of our humble prayers? Yet, we know of Jesus’ creativity (John 1:3 *), His powerful wisdom, His Healing Abilities from our studies, personal experience, and the experience of believers around us. Why then should we be amazed when He answers our prayers of need?
During the storm described in Matthew 14:29-31 Peter goes to Jesus and walks on water as Jesus does. However, as soon he is alone between Jesus and the safety of the boat and he looks around at the storm, and in loosing sight of Jesus becomes afraid and loses his faith; then he begins to sink into the water. Jesus is faithful and at hearing “Lord save me” Jesus pulls Peter out of the storm.
We pray for our needs because of our faith but why should we be astonished, astounded, or surprised when our prayers are answered? Could it be that our faith like Peter’s dissipates as we travel though our storms? In the midst of our storms, we must cling to our faith that God’s promises will be fulfilled in our lives.... and not be surprised at fulfillment in our prayers for our needs. Pray often ...... everyday ...... and let God's fulfillment of your prayers build your faith. Fulfillment is God’s promise, pray and feel God build your trust, in doing so your trust in God will never stop growing especially in the midst of a storm. Prayer truly prepares us for the storms in our lives. But! We must Trust.
Trust is like a garden, either growing and producing fruit or ... it is withering. We must understand that prayer is the water and fertilizer component developing our Trust. Jesus is the provider and perfector of our Faith (Hebrews 12:1-2), but, we must build our Trust to achieve the greatness of our Faith. Jesus commands us to Trust God, and Trust Him - John 14:1.
Pray everyday, focused on needs and not our wants,
pray counting your blessings rather than your "problems",
pray more for others than self,
pray in the good times to know better how in the bad,
pray in humility rather than feelings of self pride,
pray in thankfulness especially when in disrepair,
pray in real expectation rather than expected fruitlessness,
pray in feelings of gratitude rather than attitude,
pray in faithfulness rather than faithlessness,
pray in desire of His will to live in us, rather than our will,
pray in selflessness rather than living in selfishness,
pray often everyday,
pray for faith greater than Peter's,
pray for inner peace in our chaotic world,
pray for understanding the fullness of God's Grace,
pray for guidance of the Holy Spirit,
pray as Jesus prayed,
"not my will but your will be done".
Pray, and Pray, and Pray, Everyday,
pray especially for the little needs in our lives,
and
as Moses said to the Hebrews at the Red sea,
"... watch what God will do for you today."
Then, do not be amazed at His Glory in your life, but
show His glory to others in the way you live your life.
With God building our Faith,
With us praying and building our Trust in Him,
our Faith and Trust will not be based
on the occasional amazing results of prayer but
the Greater Realization of
His Constant Force in our lives:
Providing for us always
Planning for us constantly, and
Protecting us continually in ways
we do not see, feel, or completely understand.
Finally, we must pray most especially and expectantly for
God to grow and build us in our Greater Faith in Him.
We should certainly be thankful for God's work in our lives, but amazed? His work in our lives is His everyday work! Perhaps we do not spend enough time realizing how much He loves us, He wants to do for us, and especially, that He wants to hear from us. Pray often everyday and watch what He will do for you.
Thanks be to God.
lonnie (c)
References:
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* John 1: 1-4 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not ONE thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ... 14 And the Word became Flesh.....
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Sharing these messages
You are welcome to share these messages. You can send the links to your friends, copy and insert the link on FB or you can print the message and share it with your friends.
You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit. You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document. After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:
© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.com
If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission. Typically, I will most likely give permission.
Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.
intro:
We humans can so easily be amazed at so many tricky things. It usually comes from a lack of understanding. But, there is something so very important to our lives that involves no trickery that we should understand and should perhaps not be amazed. You can decide.
http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-do-we-stand-in-amazement-of-gods.html
pray for understanding the fullness of God's Grace,
pray for guidance of the Holy Spirit,
pray as Jesus prayed,
"not my will but your will be done".
Pray, and Pray, and Pray, Everyday,
pray especially for the little needs in our lives,
and
as Moses said to the Hebrews at the Red sea,
"... watch what God will do for you today."
Then, do not be amazed at His Glory in your life, but
show His glory to others in the way you live your life.
With God building our Faith,
With us praying and building our Trust in Him,
our Faith and Trust will not be based
on the occasional amazing results of prayer but
the Greater Realization of
His Constant Force in our lives:
Providing for us always
Planning for us constantly, and
Protecting us continually in ways
we do not see, feel, or completely understand.
Finally, we must pray most especially and expectantly for
God to grow and build us in our Greater Faith in Him.
We should certainly be thankful for God's work in our lives, but amazed? His work in our lives is His everyday work! Perhaps we do not spend enough time realizing how much He loves us, He wants to do for us, and especially, that He wants to hear from us. Pray often everyday and watch what He will do for you.
Thanks be to God.
lonnie (c)
References:
Hebrews 12:2 NIV
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
John 14:1 NIV
[Jesus Comforts His Disciples] "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
=============================================
* John 1: 1-4 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not ONE thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ... 14 And the Word became Flesh.....
==============================
Sharing these messages
You are welcome to share these messages. You can send the links to your friends, copy and insert the link on FB or you can print the message and share it with your friends.
You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit. You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document. After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:
© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.com
If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission. Typically, I will most likely give permission.
Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.
lonnie
Publication 0000
intro:
We humans can so easily be amazed at so many tricky things. It usually comes from a lack of understanding. But, there is something so very important to our lives that involves no trickery that we should understand and should perhaps not be amazed. You can decide.
http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-do-we-stand-in-amazement-of-gods.html
I'm loving this blog already.
ReplyDeleteThank you
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