Amazed

Lk:7:1-10

Will Jesus be amazed by seeing your faith? Jesus here is amazed by the faith of a Roman solider. Not even a Jew. This man was supportive to the Jews. He was friends with many respected Jewish elders. If anyone needed Jesus' help, it was he, testified the Jews. Still a gentile. But still believed that Jesus had the power to heal his slave by just His word. And this much of faith was with not much spiritual back up. Jesus was amazed seeing his faith.

After all the spiritual input that we have got from church, and the Sunday schools and the fellowships that we are involved with, Jesus would still be amazed at our faith (or the lack of it). We still fret. We are still anxious and worried, when the tables are turned against us. Trust is the only thing that He wants to see in us. And we need to grow in faith, not decline. The graph is to go upward, why is it directed downward, or status quo?

Make Jesus amazed and proud of your faith.

Image credit: https://www.shutterstock.com/search/comfort-hand-on-shoulder

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Endure

2 Cor:4:18 For the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal. Unless we live with this perspective, there is no hope, there is no strength to endure, there is no sap left to hold on. For endurance depends on your ability to look beyond the physical to the spiritual, beyond the present to the eternal and beyond the visible to the invisible. It is not imaginary. But a reality into which we place our trust. Therefore our afflictions though may appear heavy when we face it, it is in reality light and momentary, for the glory awaiting is much more heavy - far beyond any comparison. So look forward. Look beyond. Focus on eternal things. Store up treasures in heaven and not here in this earth. Set your heart in treasures above. That will help you to face your afflictions here on this side of eternity. That will help you to have faith and put your trust in the One who called you. He will not leave you half way. He who has taken care of your et...

Comfort in sorrow

2 Cor:2:7-8 You should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. When someone is sorrowful. 1. Forgive - forgive him for what He has done unknowingly or knowingly, personally and publically, verbally or physically, out of his sorrow. Just forgive. Just forget. Give another chance. Keep on giving one more. 2. Comfort - tell him it's okay to feel so. To feel overwhelmed. Tell him, I am there for you. God sees you and knows you. 3. Affirm your love to him - tell him I love you. I am there for you through thick and thin. To the best that I can, I will be there. You are not facing it alone. I am praying for you. Do not judge. Do not label. Do not gossip. Image courtesy: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/child-and-dog-comfort-and-sorrow-vector-61716299

Love

But do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Cor:13:2 Love is the center. Love is the core. Paul talks about apostleship, prophesy, miracles, gifts of healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues as secondary to love. 1 Cor:12:32. But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way. Lord, teach me to love - my loved ones - unconditionally. With no tags. Just as you have loved me. Lord, teach me to love - my neighbour, my brother. Just as I love myself. Remove the self tag in my love. Lord, teach me love. Your love. Love that is patient. Love that is kind. Not seeking my own. Not taking into account the wrong suffered. Help me to still love. Bearing all things. Enduring all things. Teach me to love with a love that never fails. Teach me to love with a love that will always be there. No matter what. Lord teach me to love. Image credit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/15niky/just_because_youre_mad_at_someone_doesnt_mean_you/

Be a man.

1 Cor:16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in faith; act like men; be strong. Watch out. Look out. Be on the alert. Stand firm in faith. That is what men do. Be strong. Stay strong. Dwindling in your trust in God is what children do. Act like the man you are. Be a man. Stay strong on your faith. No matter what happens, hold fast to your God. That is mature faith. Do not let go to fear or anxiety. Be strong. Faith is trusting God, the Father despite what the circumstances look like. Knowing fully that He is in control. That He will take care and thats enough. He is enough. Image credit; https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/hand-holding-fist-symbol-determination_139829368.htm

Smell good

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 2 Cor:2:15 Do you smell Christ? Do you exuded His fragrance to God, among others? Do you have that sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ? Or do you stink? The knowledge of God and sim cannot stand together. Sin will run in the presence of the knowledge of God. Wash clean of your dirt and apply the aroma. Similarly, wash clean of your sin by the blood of Jesus through confession and apply the knowledge of God. Simple. Image credit: https://gulfnews.com/amp/story/friday%2Fbeauty%2Fyou-smell-nice-choosing-the-perfect-fragrance-learn-the-art-1.1643542938723

Sting

O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting? 1 Cor:15:55 The sting of death is sin. Death is effected through sin. The inevitable. The unescapable. The unavoidable. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. None can escape. I was inexorably dead. I was to die for eternity. The pain of separation for eternity from my Lord was fully mine. Deserving for endless ages. But the cross cancelled it all. The cross dissolved it all. Deleted it all. My trust is on the finished work of Jesus on the cross. God bore all my punishment including the crown of it all, death. And therefore it stands cancelled for me. I can no longer be stung. Immunized. Free. Free from the punishment which was destined for me. Oh! Thank you Jesus. What about you? Are u still stung? Image credit: https://www.alveole.buzz/blog/bee-stings-guide/

Imitate

1 Cor:11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. As I imitate Christ always. There is not even a second that Paul is in doubt, whether he doesn't imitate Christ. He can be an open book to his brethren to see. Is there a duality in my life? Fearful of being exposed. Fearful of being pointed fingers at. Why can't I live a life that fully reflects His image? Why do I still yearn for things not of Him? Why do I still seek things which are not His? Why do I behave in a way the world behaves? The carnal worldly man, with all his lusts, fears and dreams. Why is there no difference in me? Lord make me fully yours. Make my heart turned to you alone. Help me to imitate you. And as I imitate you, let others imitate me. My children, let them see you fully in me with their tiny little eyes. Let my bosses see you in me, with their judgemental eyes. Let my colleagues and my friends see you in me with their equivocal eyes. Let my acquaintances see you in me with their a...

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