ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS

Matthew 20:32-34 MSG Jesus stopped and called over, “What do you want from me?” They said, “Master, we want our eyes opened. We want to see!” Deeply moved, Jesus touched their eyes. They had their sight back that very instant, and joined the procession.

These two blind beggars were shouting their heads off to get Jesus’ attention in the middle of a great crowd of people. People tried to shut them up, but those men knew what they wanted and were prepared to make a spectacle of themselves to get it! They wanted Jesus’ attention more than anything else!

Those men hadn’t earned Jesus’ mercy, had done nothing to deserve His attention, hadn’t done anything other than call out to Him for mercy and for His help.

I wonder if we sometimes make the mistake of coming to Jesus to ask for our healing based on our good works, thinking ‘Jesus you ought to heal me!’ I’ve heard people say “They’ve been such a faithful servant, such a good person, God ought to heal them, they deserve it!” Actually, none of us deserve it!😊

We forget that the only way to receive anything from God is by His grace through faith. If we feel we ‘deserve’ to be healed then we’re believing we’ve earned it! If we know we don’t deserve anything but are just asking because of God’s great mercy (like the blind men) and because of Jesus’ shed blood, then we’re remembering it’s all because of what Jesus has done in His finished work on the Cross. By Jesus wounds we are healed. (1 Peter 2:24) It’s always all because of Jesus, not us!😊

We know we received the forgiveness of our sins by believing what Jesus did for us, and we receive everything else in exactly the same way. So whatever it is we need today let’s ask for His mercy because it’s new every morning, and for His grace, believing we receive it, and that it’s on its way.

I hope that encourages us to remember it’s not depending on us, and we can receive all God has for us, purely because of Jesus and His grace.😊 Amen.

Photo by Miriam G on Unsplash

GETTING OVER IT

2 Samuel 22:29 NLT In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.

We all have times when life feels like we’re trying to climb a wall to get over it, and if you’re trying to get over something, let David’s life inspire you.😊 

We know he’d been through more than the average heartache and cried till he could cry no more. He experienced the loss of two sons, known the anguish of his daughter being sexually abused. He had fought a lion, a bear and a giant but he praised God through it all. 

He’d pretended to be insane when Saul threatened his life, he’d lived in a cave and a palace, he’d looked after sheep and led a nation, and through it all he praised His God. His wife treated him with contempt, and gone off with somebody else. He’d given in to temptation, made huge mistakes and suffered the consequences, but he got over it and praised God through it all. We read he was a man after God’s own heart who had this ‘getting over it’ mentality. 

No matter what has happened, regardless of what is still to come, God wants us all to have a getting over it mentality not a victim mentality. He wants us to know that with His help, His strength, we can not only get through anything, but we can ‘get over it’. 

Even when walls of disappointment, rejection or discouragement have built up around us and tried to pen us in, God says we can scale that wall with His power within us, if we’ll just keep our eyes on Him.

David said, “With my God, I can…” That inspired me and I hope it does you too. With God, you and I can do whatever it takes and we can ‘get over’ whatever wall of difficulty we’re facing, or get over whatever has upset, hurt or harmed us! 😊

Let’s give God praise today, because with our God we can. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Martin Wyall on Unsplash