"Rise take up thy bed and walk.

It has really been exciting to look at my relationship with the Lord with new eyes. To ask Him to speak to me and grow my faith and walk with Him through the study of His word.

The section of scripture that I have been reading and meditating on is John 4:46-5:16. The Lord performs two acts of healing. The first one a child's father went to the Lord to seek healing. The second, the Lord went to a man who needed to be healed.

It is amazing the way God works. The father of the child knew where to go for help. He had heard of the wonderful things that our Lord was doing and knew where he could get the help his child needed. Do we go to the Lord for those we know need His help?

Think about it. Do we have the kind of faith that we would go to the Lord and seek healing of any sort? There are physical and spiritual healing that the Lord performs. Do we have the faith to go to the Lord and seek His favor like the father of the child? Or are we like the man at the pool of Bethesda, just hoping that one day we will be able to get into the pool and have the the chance to get healed? We can sit around all day for many years and wait on a chance healing, wallowing in self pity, " I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming another steppeth down before me."

God has a lot of patience with me. He has, in my lifetime, spoken to me and revealed His will for my life many times in many ways. I have just chosen to focus on problems and struggles that I have created or put myself in. I look at the daily life I am living and focus on what I need to do to get by.

Well the Lord has been speaking loud and clear to me the last week. He has been saying, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk". Walk with me, I have healed you. I have many wonderful things for you to see and experience. Go tell all who ask, that it was I who healed you.

The man whom the Lord "immediately" healed, took up his bed and walked. I want to be that man.

Father, help me to demonstrate trust in You. May I have boldness to tell all that need a healing where to find it. It only comes from You.

The fields are white already to harvest.

Today is a beautiful day in SO-CAL. The sun is shinning the birds are singing and everything is starting to bud and turn green. Spring is a wonderful time. On days like this I wonder what heaven will be like. To be in the presence of God, mind boggling to try and think about it.

As I stated in the last post, having a new Bible is like being a new believer, excited about getting into the word and hearing from God. In John 4:34-38 Jesus made a statement about the work of kingdom laborers. He points out the fact that we look at the earthly seasons and can estimate when the harvest will be. But He stresses that we should lift our eyes and look upon the fields, the time of the harvest is now. The fields are white ready to harvest.

How is it that I have lost that sense of urgency. I will tell you. I have let the daily grind of this life become my focus. I have taken my focus from up on high to things below.

The time is now to harvest souls for the kingdom of God. Father I thank you for showing me where my focus should be. Help me to be bold for you and the salvation offered through Your son Jesus.

I can't live without the Word

The other day when I was heading to work there was an incident that totally bummed me out. I usually always make a thermos of coffee to enjoy throughout the day. Well, I have been working a lot of hours 65 to 70 a week, and was real tired that morning. I made my coffee as usual, put it in my bag with my lunch and proceeded to work. Little did I realize that I had not pushed the plunger on the pour spout. The bag tipped in the seat, and I did not think any thing of it until a few miles down the road I started to smell coffee. Oh no, I thought I would not have any coffee today. I was going to have a terrible day. Well that was not the worst of it. My Bible was on the seat, under my lunch bad. It was ruined. All the notes I had taken were gone. The personal notes about how God spoke to me and personal reflections of God and His love grace and mercy upon me were gone. I also did not have my Bible to read at lunch or in my devotional time. Then God spoke to me through a Bible teacher I heard on the radio. He said It is not how much you mark up the Bible that is important, it is how much the Bible marks up your life. I have a new Bible now. Clean crisp pages. I feel like a new believer excited about having a new Bible. I want to read more and desire to have God change me in deeper ways.

Father please continue to use Your word to mark my life. Use it to bring glory to Your Son. Change me through the renewing of my mind that I may prove what is the good and the acceptable and perfect will of God.