Nothing Without the Father.

Joh 11:41 … And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 

Joh 11:42  And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

Jesus lifted His eyes heavenward.

Jesus spoke to His Father.

Jesus thanked His Father for hearing Him.

Jesus told His Father that He always knew that His Father could hear Him at all times, but He had to say this, had to do this because He wanted people to believe that truly the God they'd known all their lives from their childhood on up was the FATHER of the declared SON before them - walking, living, breathing, teaching, performing miracles in their presence. Jesus wanted those around Him to believe that God the Father sent Him to them. 

We might think they automatically should have accepted Him, but you have to remember- a lot of these people knew Him from boyhood, some knew His earthly parents and relatives. He looked just like a normal man of the time. Jesus prayed so they would believe He was God's Son.

Jesus didn't want them simply believing in Him as a man who could do miracles of His own accord. Jesus wanted the credit to go where it needed to go- HIS FATHER.  His Father heard Him and that was why the miracle occurred. If His Father hadn't heard Him there would have been NO miracle.

Joh_8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

I do nothing of myself - He said.

What does Jesus do - NOTHING of HIMSELF!

Joh_5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me

The WILL of the FATHER.

Jesus COULD NOT and CANNOT do anything of HIMSELF!  So why do we ever imagine we of our own selves can do anything. 

Believe.

Joh 11:40  Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? 

If thou would believe.

Mat_9:28  … Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

Do you believe I am able to do this?

Mar_5:36  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

Be not afraid, only believe.

Mar_9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

All things are possible to him that believes.

Mar_11:23  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Not doubt in our hearts…but believe.

Mar_11:24  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Believe you receive.

Luk_8:50  But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

Fear not,  believe only.

Joh_6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Believe on  him.

Joh_7:39  But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive…

Believe on him.

Joh_9:38  And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

I believe.  Worship Him!

Joh_14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

You believe in God- believe in Jesus.

Joh_17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word

Believe on Jesus through the word.

Joh_20:31  But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

These are written so you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Believe and have life through His name.

Act_8:37  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Act_13:39  And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

All that believe are justified.

Act_15:7  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

Should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

Act_15:11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

We believe.

Act_16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, and thy house!

Lord, I believe. Help, thou my unbelief!

Please!

Cry day and night to God.

Luk 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 

Luk 18:2  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 

Luk 18:3  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 

Luk 18:4  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 

Luk 18:5  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 

Luk 18:6  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 

Luk 18:7  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 

Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? 

Pray- not faint.

Pray.

Crying night and day to God.

Do we cry night and day to God? We certainly have every right to do so, don't we? Seriously. This world we live in filled with sin, filled with pain, filled with death, why would we not cry night and day to God? We long for Christ to come, don't we?

2Th_3:5  And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

While we must patiently wait for our Savior's return we must also not neglect praying to this end. 

God will avenge His own elect. God's own elect will be crying day and night to Him.

To read this--  God will avenge His elect speedily- NEVERTHELESS when Jesus comes will He find faith on the earth? 

What a question to ask.  Will Jesus find faith? I pray He finds faith, I pray I have the faith I need, all by His grace, His love, His mercy.

Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 

I believe, Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief!

Quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Lam 3:21  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 

Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 

Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 

Lam 3:24  The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 

Lam 3:25  The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 

Lam 3:26  It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. 

The LORD has mercy on us, the LORD had compassion on us- new EVERY morning- GREAT is HIS faithfulness.

The LORD will never let us down, not ever. I can say that and believe it even though in my life I've had great disappointments, tremendous heartache, awful pain. I've been witness to tragedy, I know that life can be awful in so many ways.

The LORD does not pretend to be our friend, He doesn't pretend to care for us and then turn His back on us when we need Him most.

God is our God because He IS.

God is NOT our God because of any contrived reasoning.

God did not come into existence by my willing Him so.

Some people love to say that weak people made up a story about our creation, that God is a fictional being for those who needed someone to have control over them to keep order and such. People have delegated God into nothing more than any fictional character a person can create. Is it any wonder people want God to be the magic genie for them. How many people throughout time have turned their back on God because He didn't fulfil His so-called designated job as prayer answerer in a positive way?

We are NEVER to test God by asking HIM to prove HIMSELF by answering a prayer we have in the way we desire. That isn't acknowledging God in faith at all!

It takes a tremendously strong person of FAITH to believe in God, not a weak, faithless person.

The thing is…our strength of faith isn't measured in any kind of standard we'd fully understand. Take a mustard seed- a tiny, tiny mustard seed and that is all the faith a person needs. It's the quality of faith that matters. It’s the faith placed properly.

Truly if we can expect all manner of ill will to befall us and KNOW it doesn't mean God doesn't favor us, we can then live in true faith. We place our lives all the good, all the bad, all of it in the hands of God for His purpose. We take OURSELVES out of the equation and in our place we put faith in Christ.  In our place we PUT Christ!

As LONG as we put ourselves before Christ we will forever be lacking in quality faith.

Lam 3:21  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 

Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 

Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 

Lam 3:24  The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 

Lam 3:25  The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 

Lam 3:26  It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. 

The LORD is my portion.

May I, by the GRACE and MERCY of my LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Take no thought- Lean not unto your own understanding.

Take no thought--

-- for your life.

--for what you shall eat.

--for what you shall drink.

--for what you'll wear.

Take no thought--

-- for tomorrow.

Don't worry.   Easier said than done especially for those prone to worrying.  Faith has to become a reality for this to be possible.  We have to believe that God WILL take care of us according to HIS plan whatever that entails.

A few days ago we talked about Paul and how many beatings, imprisonments, tumultuous sea journeys, and such that he'd experienced as a Christ follower, as a faith believer. Paul didn't spend his days in worry, his nights lamenting his fate. He counted it ALL JOY.  How? Why?  Because he had faith in His Savior. If his Savior, his redeemer could suffer and even be put to a very brutal death after being tortured by the whip and a crown made of thorns, then who was he to believe that he shouldn't have to suffer?

We suffer and complain because we have that right, don't we? Everyone complains about their suffering. Oh, maybe not in the loudest of ways, but people complain. Our suffering doesn't necessarily have to be with physical pain, we complain about not having food- or the right sort of food. We complain about not having what we desire to drink and the clothes we long to wear. We even complain about tiny things. We have fresh water, but it's just not cold enough to drink. We have decent clothes but they just aren't quite fitting in with our current style. Yes, we have food, but it's not the food we are craving. Yes, we complain in what we deem our suffering- legitimate suffering or not, we lack faith, we lack trust, we lack humility and humbleness.  We are so incredibly lacking and what do we do- we cry out to God to stop our sufferings, to give us what we want and then when we continue to suffer we question whether or not God is hearing us, if He loves us. We equate our quality of life in all its aspects with how much we've been blessed by God. Rarely will you hear someone say they are blessed in their terminal disease, or their lack of money and all that entails. Yet we are BLESSED- forever BLESSED in the only way it really matters and that's with eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord! It doesn't matter whether or not we have anything at all, or if we are pain free- GOD LOVES us through it all and until we believe this we are not loving God as He loved us- unconditionally. Loving God as we watch a loved one suffer, as we watch an innocent baby or young child endure agonies is true faith not stupidity as many would have us believe. Believing that God has our ULTIMATE good in mind as we suffer in any way- even in watching others suffer- is FAITH.  We do NOT have to understand it all, we just don't! We are living for a better world, NOT this world! We are living for eternity not whatever years are allotted to us here and now pre-Christ returning. 

Truly we do need to do this--

Pro_3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

All through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD NOW AND FOREVER!

Mat 6:25  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 

Mat 6:26  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 

Mat 6:27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 

Mat 6:28  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 

Mat 6:29  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 

Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

Take no thought for your life...

Mat 6:25  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 

Mat 6:26  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 

Mat 6:27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 

Mat 6:28  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 

Mat 6:29  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 

Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

How often do we NOT take thought about our own lives, what we are going to eat, drink and wear? We think about these things constantly. Daily we are bombarded by these thoughts. We've given ourselves so many choices it's not simple any longer. When we do know what we'll drink, eat and wear as a matter of routine we get very put out when those things we expect aren't available to us. How many of us have our days ruined when our favorite piece of clothing is ruined, or a meal has turned out awful, our drink out of stock at the store? The opposite side of the coin- so to speak is not having anything at all and worrying about that. As bellies are aching, cramping in pain from lack of food, when lips are so dry and crack and there is no spit in our mouths to lick them because we are that thirsty, as we shiver violently from the cold we can choose to worry. Most would think us bizarre and completely crazy if we weren't worried. It is natural to worry. Our natural selves will worry unceasingly if allowed. We will worry in the best of times and the worst. We worry the good will disappear and we worry the good will never come, an endless circle of worry.

We are told to take NO thought- no thought of the natural things that we've grown very accustomed to worrying about. We are told we have little faith when we worry.  Is this a testament to our relationship with Christ- our faith being strong enough to trust in ALL things- good and bad? Setting aside the obvious, the natural, the things we are inclined towards is this our calling as we choose spiritual over nature flesh nature?

IF we truly are seeking first the kingdom of God we are seeking God's will first no matter what that entails. The will of God very well may be our extreme suffering, or a loved one's extreme suffering. And why could this be His will? Because He knows the end from the beginning. He knows the path ahead and if we are HIS that path will ultimately lead to eternal life with Him, saved by grace through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

More tomorrow by the grace of our Lord, now and forever!

No Fellowship With Devils.

1Co 10:20  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 

1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. 

1Co 10:22  Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? 

Rev 9:20  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk

Psa 106:35  But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. 

Psa 106:36  And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. 

Psa 106:37  Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils

*******

Truly, we've spoken of it before and we'll speak of it again by the will of God. Devils are real.

If you believe in JESUS you have to believe in the Devil.

We cannot serve God and devils yet we try to all the time. We do as we please and call it acceptable all the while often what we choose is not of God but had roots elsewhere. You see, even now as I write this I don't want to believe I could be accepting devils and their works in my life. We really cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of the devils. We need to use the discernment our Lord will give us, and in doing so we need to recognize the works of Satan, the works of devils in our lives all around us. Once we recognize those works we need to renounce them, to repent of them, to seek to do the LORD'S will first and foremost.

Please, Lord, let us do Your will, let us be Yours and partake of your table and only your table.