Hi Folk,
Today we speak of a wonderful God, full of unending love and compassion. There is a testimony about our own faith. Faith leads to action, a generosity in love. How do we show this? How do we show our enthusiasm for serving such a wondrous Lord God who deserves recognition from each one of us? In penitence, we cry to the Lord God for mercy and plead on his grounds for assurance. “If You kept a record of sins, who would stand? With You there is forgiveness; therefore You are honoured, worship trusted and SERVED as the one true God! If God is so forgiving! We need not run from Him in terror! In His promises, we put our hope! There is unfailing love from God. With Him, there is full redemption from all sin.
A woman with a hemorrhage believed this, managed to touch only the hem of Jesus’ cloak! SHE WAS HEALED! Jesus noticed this and asked who had touched Him. Of course Jesus knew, but he really wanted to encourage, or to have the woman SPEAK OUT and admit why she did it.
Jesus wants US to ‘speak out’ about OUR FAITH. What holds us back? The woman responded. Jesus confirmed it was her FAITH IN HIM that HAD HEALED her! Many people today don’t actively take part in showing their faith in our Lord God. What is faith worth, with no action? How can people be healed? People not actively showing or proclaiming their faith; will they receive God’s mercy and love?
Jairus’s daughter died. People were dissuading Jesus from continuing. ”Don’t be afraid; just believe,” he said. We must not give up on Jesus’ capabilities in dealing with circumstances in life. ”Don’t be afraid; just believe.” We DO NOT NEED to wail loudly amid any commotion.
Encouraging generosity: A believer’s “grace of giving” cannot compare with the self-giving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was rich, and then poor, for our sake. We were poor, then rich because of Jesus! “Just as you excel in faith, speech, in knowledge – in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving. This is not a command. It is a test of the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. (2Cor.8:7, 8) Take this to heart: ‘Last year you were the first to give, not only that, but the first to show a desire to give. Finish this work so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
Be blessed in the Lord’s Love.
Brian Clark.