Wonderful Jesus!

Category: Faith

• Faith That Grows!

  Posted at 1:00 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on December 31, 2019

  Matthew 17:20 – So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

  We’ve been looking at this verse and learning about faith that is like a grain of mustard seed. I won’t review what I have written, but if you are just getting in on the blogs, I encourage you to go to the beginning, “Mustard Seed Faith 1” and then come back to this post.

  Jesus talks about a faith that moves mountains. Many have, I believe in error, taught that a little faith will move mountains. Of course, you already know that I don’t agree with that. But here’s a point about little faith that I think is truly important, it can grow to become great faith!

  A mustard seed in a capsule around your neck is a dead seed. It isn’t doing anything. But had that seed been planted and cultivated, it would have grown. I learned recently that mustard seeds are grown into plants and they are grown for the seed. In the form of a seed it can be used to grow mustard greens, it can be used for medicinal means, and it can be used to make mustard. But a seed encased for a necklace is a dead seed.

  Using the simile that faith is like a mustard seed, I would first like to say that it must be used. Faith that is not used is faith that dies and becomes unfruitful. So if we want a vibrant faith that will grow, we must use it. And like a mustard seed, it will produce a variety of products. And when we use it, it grows!

  Some of the ways we can cultivate and use our faith is:

  1. The seed of God’s word. Faith must always start with the word of God. I once heard that faith begins where the will of God is known. Well, that happens by getting into God’s word and gaining insight to His will. As you study and meditate on what the word says about finances, healing, or anything else, faith will begin to arise in your spirit and then you can put it to work for you!

  2. Then you must begin to use your faith. The first time any of us will use our faith in God is when we receive Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. But after that, we must continue to use it. For the just shall live by their faith.

  3. Begin exercising your faith for things in your life that are not major but give you an opportunity to learn to trust God. For example, you are running late for work and you believe God that the traffic will clear up and that you will make it on time. I’ve done this on more than one occasion, making it to work with time to spare.

  Or you have a headache or pain in your body, exercise your faith, don’t reach for medicine, and believe that God will heal it. Again, I have done this and seen great results. This is how I started praying for the sick. Someone would get sick in the house and I would pray and ask God for healing. And the majority of the time, it would happen, without the aid of medicine. Just this week a woman came to the altar in intense pain in her right knee, but left free of pain! Glory to God! Faith increases!

  Word based faith that is exercised will grow. Paul said that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This is not some mystical, fanatical, hocus pocus stuff, for faith in God and His word is sure. But if you don’t know what His word says, and you don’t believe it and obey it, then you won’t see it come to pass. But if you get in the word, and obey the word, you will see it come to pass. And one day, your faith will move mountains in your life and in the lives of others.

  As 2019 come to a close and move into 2020, a new decade, make this decade the one that will find you exercising your faith and growing in faith! I know I plan to! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Believers, Christian, Faith, Matthew 17:20, Victorious Living | 3 Comments | Tagged Believer, Christian, Faith, Jesus, Matthew 17:20, mustard seed, word of God

• Mustard Seed Faith Explained!

  Posted at 4:39 am by wonderfuljesus8, on December 24, 2019

  Matthew 17:20 – So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

  So I’ve been reading everything I can find on the topic of mustard seed faith and I have listened to a lot of sermons on the subject, and I am amazed that so many theologians are stuck on the size of the mustard seed. I won’t pretend that I understand all of what Jesus said and meant, and I am still searching for answers, but I am absolutely certain that a small amount of faith doesn’t move mountains, trees, or Jesus!

  If we look at the situation that causes Jesus to make this statement in Matthew and again in Luke, we can hopefully get some more understanding of what mustard seed faith might mean.

  A man came to Jesus, knelt before Him and asked for mercy for his son who was epileptic. Now I don’t know if that catches your attention, but I have been a parent of a child who was diagnosed with abnormal seizure disorder, which from what I can tell, is epilepsy. As a two week old baby she was having involuntary shakes that led to the diagnosis. She was immediately put on phenobarbital and given an evil report of things only getting worst and of never having a normal life.

  I can tell you right now that this man’s son was not in a good place. So he goes to Jesus’ disciples and they could not cure his son. But Jesus could and He did! Thank God for Jesus! Then the disciples asked, “Why could we not cast it out?” Jesus replied, “Because of your unbelief, for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you…”

  I think that because Jesus first mentions that the disciples were in unbelief, many have come to think that a little bit of faith is all we need to move mountains. I believe this is a trick of the enemy to keep us from receiving the things that we desire when we pray, as he knows small faith doesn’t move the hand of God, it only disappoints the individual.

  When we compare things in writing, we use similes or metaphors. As a matter of fact, in the YLT it states that Jesus is using a simile in Matthew 13, comparing the size of the kingdom of heaven to the size of a mustard seed. Let’s take a quick look at this passage:

  Jesus mentions the mustard seed in only three conversations in the word of God. In Matthew 13:31 -“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Here, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. He talks about the mustard seed being sown into the land. He then makes the point that if you sow this seed, though it is the least (smallest) of all seeds, it will become a tree that birds of the air flock to. I do believe that in this instance Jesus is referring to the size of the seed. After all, the kingdom started with Him, then He included His disciples, and it has grown to billions of souls over the centuries. I get it!

  Now in our key verse, faith is compared to a grain of mustard seed. This is also a simile, where we compare two things using the words “like” or “as”. A familiar simile would be, “I am as hungry as a bear.” My hunger is being compared to the hunger of a bear, not to the bear itself. I believe that faith is being compared to a grain of mustard, not in size, but in its productivity.

  You see, when a grain of mustard is planted or sown, it produces a mustard plant and nothing else; so faith when it is sown should produce what it is sown for. In Matthew 17 Jesus was instructing the disciples to know that when demons manifest, sow faith to cast out demons.

  In Luke 17:6, “So the Lord said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard see, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.”‘ As I was typing, I heard in my spirit, “If you faith as a mustard seed” meaning, if you have the same kind of faith that a mustard see has you will say…Meaning that a mustard seed will produce a mustard plant, and when it is sown, it knows it will produce mustard and not apples. And if you have that kind of faith, the kind that knows what it is producing, you will be able to say to the mulberry tree…or even forgive seventy times seven.

  After Jesus tells the disciples that faith as a mustard seed (this time He doesn’t say “grain”) will give them the ability to say to a mulberry tree to be uprooted, He goes on to talk about the role of a servant. He tells the disciples that a servant serves, even when he is tired and doesn’t receive thanks because it is his duty. I believe that Jesus is saying that faith has a responsibility to get done what we believe it will do, even if that means telling a mulberry tree to be uprooted or a mountain to be cast into a sea.

  When the doctors gave us the evil report about our baby, we put faith to work. Six months later, our baby was off the phenobarbital and given a clean bill of health. She has gone on to graduate from law school and has authored and published several novels. And she has never had another seizure. The seed of God’s word was planted in our hearts and we sowed it for her complete healing, and that’s what we received!

  What do you expect a mustard seed to produce? Mustard plants or trees! What should faith produce? The thing hoped for! Even today, I am still learning about faith. I can quote the scriptures and pull the books off the shelf, but I don’t always operate in mountain moving faith. But this blog has even opened my eyes to understanding faith in a different way. Faith, like a mustard seed, will produce what it is sown for: healing, finances, forgiveness, deliverance, a mate, a job…the possibilities are unlimited! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Christian, Faith, Jesus, Matthew 17:20 | 4 Comments | Tagged Believer, Christian, Faith, Forgiveness, Jesus, Matthew 17:20, miraculous, mustard seed

• Mustard Seed Faith-Part 2-R&R

  Posted at 1:00 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on December 16, 2019

  In my previous post, I wrote how I don’t believe that Jesus was referring to size in Matthew 17:20 when He spoke to His disciples about mustard seed faith. Let’s look at that verse again:

  Matthew 17:20-So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

  I don’t want to leave the impression that I don’t believe in mountain moving faith, because I do. I just think you need more than a “little faith, the size of a mustard seed” to move it.

  The Word of God does not share much with us about Jesus being impressed with people, but when it came to great faith, He did not hold back His praise!

  Matthew 8:10 – When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

  Earlier in this chapter Jesus was asked by a Roman centurion to heal his servant. And Jesus told him that He would come and heal the servant. “The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. ” (Matthew 8:8-9) Jesus marveled at his faith and said it was “great faith” and his servant was healed. Jesus marveled, meaning He was impressed by this man’s faith in His ability to speak the word and his servant would be healed!

  Matthew 15:28 – “Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”
  This is another beautiful account of Jesus being impressed with someone’s faith. And it was great faith that got her daughter healed, not a little faith. If you are unfamiliar with the passage, let me paraphrase and you can go back and read it on your own: The woman came to Jesus and wanted Him to heal her daughter. He didn’t acknowledge her presence. She continued to plead with Him, and then He said something that would have totally offended the average person, “But He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’ (Matthew 15:26)
  This woman came to Jesus for a healing for her daughter and instead of getting offended she replied that even the dogs get to eat the crumbs which fall from the master’s table. In other words, she dared to believe that she would get the thing she desired and she wasn’t going to let ANYTHING hinder her faith! It is at this point He makes the above statement from verse 28- “great is your faith!”

  All you need to do is read Hebrews 11 to see that the people mentioned in the “Faith chapter” had great faith! Mustard seed faith means something other than the size of our faith. If we want to move the mountains in our lives, we are going to have to understand that “little” faith won’t get it done! Wonderful Jesus!!

   

  Posted in Believers, Christian, Faith, Matthew 17:20, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Believer, Christian, Faith, Jesus, Matthew 17:20, miraculous

• Mustard Seed Faith! Repost and Revised!

  Posted at 3:56 am by wonderfuljesus8, on December 14, 2019

  With all of the end of the year things going on, I thought I would repost a blog I enjoyed writing in my early days when no one was reading my blog! LOL! Hope you enjoy this blog!

  What did Jesus mean about mustard seed faith? While I cannot say with certainty what He meant, I can say with certainty, what He didn’t mean. Traditionally, we have been taught that mustard seed faith was having just “a little faith, the size of a mustard seed” to move a great big mountain. Well, I don’t think so!

  Matthew 17:20-“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “move from here to there’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”NKJV

  In the Young’s Literal Translation, this verse reads, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Through your want of faith; for verily I say to you, if ye may have faith as a grain of mustard, ye shall say to this mount, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you.”

  As I have already mentioned, Jesus is not talking about the size of the seed. In both of the above versions, size isn’t even mentioned  But we have taught faithfully that Jesus is talking about the size of the seed comparing it to the size of our faith. Let’s look at what Jesus thinks about “small” faith:

  Matthew 6:30-Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (This doesn’t read as a compliment!)

  Matthew 8:26- But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.” (In this verse they were both fearful and had little faith, no wonder they couldn’t rebuke the storm!)

  Matthew 14:31- “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ” (Peter walked on water, but “little faith” caused him to doubt and sink). How can little faith move a mountain when it couldn’t handle a storm or keep Peter on the surface of the water?

  Matthew 16:8-But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?” (Again, little faith is not being applauded as a wonderful thing by Jesus.) Just the opposite!

  These four scriptures of truth, spoken directly by Jesus, confirms that the size of the mustard seed is not what Jesus was referring to in mountain moving faith. Many Christians have been disappointed in the results of their “little faith” not producing mountain moving results. I believe it is time to get rid of this myth in the Body of Christ and that is why it was my first post and I have chosen to repost it! I thought it was a very valid point and yet it had gone unseen!

  Think about the times you have been disappointed in not seeing faith produce for you what the word promised when you knew that you didn’t have great faith, but you had a little? Well, that’s because little faith didn’t produce anything for the people in Jesus’s day and it won’t produce anything today! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Believers, Christian, Faith, God’s Blessings, Matthew 17:20 | 0 Comments | Tagged Believer, encouragement, Faith, Jesus, Matthew 17:20, Prayer, testimony

• Where Are All the Miracles?

  Posted at 2:20 am by wonderfuljesus8, on November 11, 2019

  Judges 6:13 – Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

  If you haven’t read the account of Gideon in a while, or never, you may not remember that during the discourse between him and the Angel of the Lord that he asked this question, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about…?”

  The thing is, people are still asking the same question today! They may not know that Gideon asked it of the Lord many centuries ago, but it is a question many have asked; if not verbally, than certainly in their hearts. I know that I asked it!

  The Angel told Gideon that the Lord was with him, and Gideon responded, “if the Lord is with us?” I can imagine that the thought that the Lord was supposed to be with him was too much for him to take in at the time, so he included others in his question. He couldn’t believe that in his present circumstance that God was with him because the proof of God’s presence to Israel was always demonstrated through miracles. And since he was in hiding from the Midianites trying to scrape up enough wheat for food, he wasn’t buying it! No miracles, no God, no brainer!

  People are so confused today about miracles. Does God perform miracles today like He did in the Old Testament and the New Testament? If so, where are they? This is a legitimate question that needs to be answered in the Body of Christ! After all, how can we say that we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who sent His Son Jesus through a virgin, the very God whose name conjures up miracles in our mind, and yet we have never seen a miracle?

  Jesus’ ministry was validated with miracles. John asked, are you the Messiah? Jesus said, check out all the miracles! (Luke 7:19) The miracle working power of God had to be in the life of the Messiah! And the Son of God would definitely have to operate in miracles, since the Father did!!

  Before Jesus left the earth He gave what we call the Great Commission in Mark 16:15-18. And in this commission He stated that if we believed in His name, signs would follow us; and He named a few—they would cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover! People who believe God, see miracles. He fully expected His church to operate in miracles as He did. Remember He even said the Church would do greater works than He did! (John 14:12)

  In Acts the disciples were threatened and told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, but they prayed that God would stretch forth His hand to heal, and that signs and wonders (miracles) may be done through the Name of Jesus! They absolutely expected miracles to be with them!

  But today, we have a problem with wondering if miracles are for the church. We argue about the validity of any miracle that we hear, calling it hype, fake news or anything else to discredit it. We would rather look for any explanation we can come up with than to believe that God would intervene on our behalf. But He does, and He will!

  Gideon did see the miraculous, once he began to trust God. God told him that he would deliver Israel, and with 300 men that’s exactly what he did! As a matter of truth, God gave Him several miracles before that one. He was and is the God of miracles!

  So where are all the miracles? Well, what are you believing? Do you believe that God doesn’t care enough about you and your circumstance to give you a miracle? Or do you believe that miracles are not for today? Or maybe your believe that miracles happen but only when God wants them to! Well, therein lies your problem! None of this junk will produce a miracle! Faith produces miracle!! Not a little faith (read my post on the mustard seed), but great faith moves the hand of God!

  I have seen God move miraculously in my life. I’ll only share one. It’s at the forefront of my mind because of a song I heard this morning. The song my husband and I sang to each other on our wedding day! “Only God Could Love You More!”

  As a young woman I watched many of my girlfriends get married. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. But when I began to pray for a husband, I asked God to give me a love story in the process. Well, one day, out of nowhere, He told me to join the Navy. I didn’t really have an interest in the military, but I obeyed. After I did, He told me that I would marry an officer.

  I shared this with friends and one told me that it would never happen. But I want you to know that one day I was sitting in an airport in Sicily waiting for a flight to the States when he walked in and spotted me. A naval officer, single, saved, and handpicked by God was sent to say hello! And the rest, as we say, is history! A miraculous meeting, a call to a phone booth in a military barracks in Italy, and a date to meet in Florida ended with a wonderful love story, an amazing friendship and a godly marriage that demonstrates there is no area of our lives that is unimportant to Him! He’s just good like that! He gave me a miracle love story that I can’t tell in its entirety, but you can believe me when I say it was so!

  I encourage you today to stop asking “where are the miracles” and start trusting Him to do the miraculous in your life! You don’t have to continue a humdrum life. Find out what the word says about your situation and what God has promised to do. If it is your finances that need a miracle, He has one for you! If it is your body, your relationship, your children, your job, or whatever, He cares and He can and will perform a miracle for you! Read Pastor Brannon Carnes miracle on my blog-“Tell Me Your Story” to get another witness to the miracle working power of God! It’s true! He’s true! Then share your miracle with me. I would love to hear it! Wonderful Jesus!!

  Posted in Christian, Faith, miracle, testimony, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Christian, Faith, Jesus, miraculous, testimony

• Weights and Besetting Sin

  Posted at 7:12 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on October 23, 2019

  Hebrews 12:1 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

  Have you ever stopped to wonder what sin the writer of Hebrew is referring to? I have! And since I have, I’d like to share that with you!

  Let’s remember for a moment what precedes this verse, Hebrews 11. I believe every one calls this chapter the faith chapter. It begins with verse one, where faith is described. Now faith is…and continues throughout the rest of the chapter reminding us of the mighty victories that faith brought into the lives of different ones. By faith Abel did this, and Abraham did that, and Sarah did this, and so forth and so on.

  Then we come to our verse in chapter 12. Let me remind you that they didn’t write in chapter and verse when scripture was written. Chapters and verses were later added to help us to easily identify different passages in the Bible. So this verse is not a different thought, but a continuation of a thought.

  As a matter of fact, it is easy to see that the writer of Hebrews is still addressing the subject of faith, for his first word in this chapter is therefore. Therefore, what? Therefore means “for that reason” or “consequently” and Kenneth Copeland is known for saying, “When you see the word “therefore”, see what it is there for! The writer is saying, “for this reason, because so many have won victories through faith, you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. People whose very lives are a testament to the fact that faith works. That what Jesus said to us, “If you can believe, all things are possible” is a true statement! That what the writer said earlier, that faith pleases the heart of God is where we need to be.

  Therefore lay aside every weight!!! Lay aside every single thing that hinders you and keep you from obtaining what you ask for in faith! Lay it aside. Weights can be drugs, pornography, homosexuality, divorce, lying, grief, people…those things that cause us to feel as if God isn’t real, the word doesn’t work, or there is no hope for us. Those things that make us feel as if we will never be free, we will never have the victory, we will never experience the kingdom, we will never amount to anything! Those are weights, and it is time to lay them aside!

  So now you might be asking, aren’t these are sins? Yes they are, but they are not the besetting sin. You see, this besetting sin is singular. Meaning everyone can have this same sin to entangle them, beset them. And if you haven’t guessed it yet, I will now reveal it. The besetting sin is the sin of unbelief! Let me show you how I figure that to be.

  As I already mentioned, Hebrews 11 is all about those who conquered “weights” with their faith. Isn’t the death of a loved one a weight? If you don’t think so, try losing someone dear to you, you’ll recognize how hard it can be to get up the next day or to carry on. Or how about the desire for a baby and you can’t seem to have one? It’s a weight. What about being strung out with an addiction? It’s a weight for the individual and the family of the individual. What gives power to these weights? Unbelief! These weights are so burdensome they have us questioning the word, questioning our salvation, questioning our faith, questioning God. And in many cases, abandoning them.

  And if that doesn’t convince you that unbelief is the besetting sin, then look at verse 2: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and developer of our faith!” Well, why am I looking to Him? Because of His role in our life of faith! Don’t shout me down!! Something that is besetting is something that is persistent in threatening us or causing us trouble. Unbelief does an outstanding job at threatening our life of faith. As a matter of fact, unbelief short circuits faith every single time!! So we are encouraged to lay unbelief aside. We absolutely must lay it aside if we want to have life more abundantly in the kingdom!

  Over and over in the gospel Jesus was grieved over unbelief. He is hindered, even as the Almighty, by unbelief. Unbelief constant threatens our walk with the Lord. Unbelief constantly threatens every promise, and is a constant threat to the abundant life promised us.

  Once we lay aside the weights and the besetting sin, we are on our way to the abundant life. Then we can run this race that is set before us, and we can run it with endurance. We can go the distance! Because faith fuels our life with hope, with joy, with peace, with confidence, with excitement…

  Let’s recap: weights are those things that make you feel like you are never going to overcome in this life and unbelief is the thing that keeps those weights hanging around. Throw away your unbelief and your weights today and look to Jesus, the developer of your faith. He’ll help you to believe you can live free of it all! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Christian, Faith, Hebrews, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Christian, Faith, testimony

• The Children’s Bread- A Repost

  Posted at 11:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on October 10, 2019

  I have to admit that I have a few posts that no one read. As I was preparing to write on the last part of Psalm 19 I thought about these posts and decided that maybe I should repost some of them since people are now reading the blog. So this is one from the archives I hope you will like!

  “But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” -Matthew 15:26

  As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have learned that Christians say a lot of things that they have no idea why they are saying it. As a matter of fact, when I was teaching the discipleship class at church, I would often ask people to explain sayings to me like: “saved by grace”, “sanctified”, or “the righteousness of God” to make sure we were all on the same page.

  Recently I preached a message that referred to “the children’s bread” and thought it would be a good idea to explain what it means in case you have heard the phrase but have not understood it. The Bible does say that in all of our getting we are to get understanding.

  In the above verse Jesus makes the comment that it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. The background to this verse is that a Gentile woman has come to Him for her daughter’s healing and He makes this statement to her implying that healing belongs to the “children”.

  I heard a wonderful story  that illustrates this point: Pastor Bill Winston shared that he went to get some ribs. The lady ahead of him got her order, but as she was leaving she decided to check it to make sure that everything was present. When she looked inside she apparently didn’t see her bread, so she walked back to the counter and asked, “Does bread come with this?”

  Now here’s the point that Jesus was making: Healing is a part of the benefit package of salvation. There are numerous scriptures where this truth is mentioned besides in Matthew: Psalm 103:1-3 and Isaiah 53:4-5 are my personal favorites. In other words, if you are a child of God, according John 1:12, then “bread” (your healing) comes with your salvation! It’s in there!!

  Years passed before I understood that this was not just a phrase people pulled out of a passage and turned into a cliche, but a profound Bible truth! Healing belongs to those who are born of the Spirit of God, it is their right! It is your right, if you are a child of God! So don’t let the devil tell you differently, no matter whose voice he’s using to do so! Just tell him that Jesus decreed that “bread comes with that” and you want your bread!! Just like the lady in this story went and let it be known that she was expecting bread with her meal and so wanted it,  we have to understand that God is expecting us to be just as bold about getting our healing!

  Just as you wouldn’t settle for part of what you pay for at a restaurant or grocery store, don’t settle for part of what Jesus paid for with His blood! Healing comes with your salvation, it’s the children’s bread! So the next time you read this verse or hear this saying, you can say, “I have a clearer understanding of what Jesus was talking about!” I know I do! Wonderful Jesus!!

   

   

   

   

   

  Posted in Christian, Faith, Healing, Jesus, Victorious Living | 2 Comments | Tagged Faith, Healing, Health, Jesus, miraculous

• BY FAITH I UNDERSTAND!

  Posted at 4:17 am by wonderfuljesus8, on August 23, 2019

  Hebrews 11:3 -Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. KJV

  Have you ever had a situation in life that you didn’t understand? Well, if you haven’t, I have had enough of them to share with you! And it is doing those times that our trust in a loving God is challenged. It’s a time when the wheat is separated from the tare.

  Loss is a huge disappointment to us all. Whether you lose a job, a promotion, a family member, a relationship, or your health, it can be pretty traumatic causing you to say, “God, I don’t understand!”

  Well, one day I was going through a pretty tough time in my life and I said this very thing. Then I heard a whisper in my heart, “By faith we understand!” NKJV states by faith while the KJV states through. But the bottom line is that faith is the key to understanding those difficult things in life. Those things you really don’t have a logical answer for. Like creation!

  We believe in creation because the Word of God, which authenticates itself, says that God created the heavens and the earth. Of course, any rational person can look at the majesty of the world and draw that conclusion. It takes beyond faith to believe in evolution, but that’s for another day!

  Faith, is about trust. It isn’t blind faith, as some would have you believe, but it is faith in the character and the word of the person you have placed your trust in. For example, I have absolute faith in my husband’s commitment to me. Over the years I have found that I can trust him and what he says to me. He comes home every day looking for me to spend time with me. He wants to hang out with me and talk to me throughout the day. We enjoy each other’s company today as much, maybe more, than we did when we were dating. If someone accused him to me of being unfaithful, I would trust him over them.

  This to me is what that phrase meant when God spoke it to me. When I don’t understand the things that are going on around me, by faith I just trust that God understands. He knows what is happening and why, and He is not shocked by any of it. His character and His word has been proven to me over and over again, and I refuse to line up with the accuser against Him and His word.

  Some attribute their heartaches and disappointments to God, either directly or indirectly. They even dress up tragedy and disappointment by saying He is Sovereign. And He is! (Also a topic for another day!) But not me! By faith I understand that God loves me as much as He said that He loves me and is looking out for me. By faith I understand that in this world I will have tribulations, but Jesus has overcome the world and so can I! By faith I understand that “it’s not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit” that I will win the battle over disappointment and hurts. By faith I understand that this trial I’m going through, God will show me what to do! By faith I understand that if God be for me, who can be against me. By faith I understand that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. By faith I understand that the thoughts that God think towards me are for good and not for evil to bring me to an expected end! I think you get the point!

  It’s not always my first thought, but it doesn’t take me long to get there! I am truly training my heart and my words to understand that what I don’t understand in this life, I choose to understand by faith! God has truly been so good to me. I won’t disappoint Him and break His heart by having Him to thing that I don’t trust Him to take good care of me as He has promised. Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Christian, Faith, Victorious Living | 4 Comments | Tagged Christian, encouragement, Faith, hard times, trust in God, Victorious Living

• This Life I Now Live!

  Posted at 12:01 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on July 12, 2019

  Galatians 2:20 – I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

  Living a life in the flesh by the faith of Jesus is my daily aim. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it or even look like it, but it’s the life I choose. Everything Jesus did He did for our example and He did well. In the flesh without being fleshy. That’s the life I desire and there are a few things I can do to make it happen. Today my blog is to highlight a few things that demonstrate Him living in me and through me.

  First, I believe it’s a life of deep and intimate fellowship with the Father. Jesus was known to be a person of prayer. (Matthew 14:23). And when He prayed things happened because He didn’t just say a lot of religious words, for Him, it was a place of prayer. A time to commune with God. A place of prayer that ceases to be about needs, and fears, and desires, that centers on the majesty of the Father. A place where communion is so sweet that all you want is more of Him and to give Him more of you.

  Let me be perfectly honest! That isn’t the case always. I am a praying woman, but I don’t always lose myself in His Presence and have a time of worship where I know I have communed with the Father. I know my prayer life is good, but deep in my heart, I want it to be so much more. I have experienced that place of communion where I have known His presence to enter my room and surround me, but I have to admit, not nearly as frequently as I could. Notice I wrote could and not should, because this is not a place of obedience but a place of adoration! When I think of the faith of Jesus, I always start here. His life of faith that He lived was developed through a deep communion with the Father!

  Secondly, loving others! A prayer that I pray more than I care to admit is Lord, help me to love like You love. Living this life by His faith deeply centers around loving people like He loved. John 3:16 is such a challenge to the believer. To love like He loved, to give my life (not on the cross) but in prayer and service for the kingdom, making a difference, impacting others, showing them the Father because I love them, not because I want to be able to testify that I led someone to Christ or I blessed someone. Is it a testimony? Yes! But the testimony should not be the motivation, only love when reaching out to people. His motivation for the cross and everything He did was love!

  Lastly, (only because I don’t like long posts), a life free of sin. He said that the devil had nothing in Him. (John 14:30) That’s a powerful statement to know that the devil has never been able to infiltrate your life or your heart with sin. Yes He was born without sin, but when we are born again, we are free of sin. (Romans 6:18)

  Letting Jesus’ faith live through us is allowing Him to keep us from sin, having His heart and His attitude about sin. No sin can be ok in our lives. We can have no place for lying, no place for cheating, no place for sexual immorality, no place for worldly acceptance, and the list can go on. Jesus was born free of sin but He chose not to live in it and not to allow to give any place to the devil. And then He freed us and told us that we are no longer slaves to sin and to give no place to the devil. That’s His life! That’s to be my life!

  This life that I now live in the flesh, I still live in the flesh much too much. Work, pleasure, church, and the cares of this world are always vying for my time, but I press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ! (Philippians 3:14) Paul wrote, walk in the Spirit and we’ll not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

  Therefore, if this life I now live in the flesh, I’m to live by the faith of the Son of God I am going to have to be a person of communion with God. Jesus still wants to commune with the Father and since He is in me, it’s what I am to do. Since He is living in me, love should be my life’s motivation. Not just with the people I like and whom like me; but simply allowing Him to love through me. And lastly, a life free from the domination of sin and the devil. Jesus still has dominion over sin and has given it to me, to you! We can allow Him to live His life through us in such a way that we too can make the claim that Paul made. Father, help us to live by the faith of Your precious Son! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Faith, freedom, Galatians 2:20, Jesus, love, Prayer, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Faith, freedom, Galatians 2:20, Jesus, love, Prayer

• Faith is a Time Changer!

  Posted at 2:47 am by wonderfuljesus8, on June 24, 2019

  John 2:3-4 – And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

  I was sitting in Sunday School this morning when we were discussing the miracle of the water being turned into wine. During the discussion, different opinions were being given about why did Jesus say it wasn’t His hour and yet Mary told them to do whatever He said? As we were sitting there I heard the Spirit of God share something with me.

  Jesus was at the wedding feast with His family and disciples. The wine runs out and Mary, His mother, comes to Him and makes Him aware of the situation. Mary knows that she is talking to the Son of God, One who is capable of doing miracles. We can surmise all day long about maybe God gave her a dream, maybe He had already done a miracle, or it really was His time and she knew it; but scripture tells us that Jesus said it was not yet His time.

  So how did Mary get her son to perform a miracle when it wasn’t His time? Her faith! Mary very confidently and filled with faith looked to the servants and said, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” And at that moment, Jesus recognized her faith filled words and responded, because He always responds to faith.

  We see this happen when the Syro-Phoenician woman goes to Jesus on behalf of her daughter who had an unclean spirit. In Mark 7, starting at verse 24 we can read the account of what happened. She was a Gentile and she wanted healing for her daughter because she had heard about Jesus. Jesus tells the woman that the children must be fed first, meaning this was the time for the Jewish people, not the Gentile people. He even called the Gentiles dogs. But this woman was not to be deterred by the fact that she was a Gentile and it wasn’t her time. She responded in faith that even the dogs eat the crumbs from the children’s table. In other words, she wasn’t looking to be denied!

  I hadn’t seen this before, but I saw it today just as clearly as if Jesus Himself had explained it to me. Her faith caused Jesus to respond even though it wasn’t His time to heal the Gentile girl. That was Paul’s assignment!

  The Bible establishes a truth on the grounds of two or three witnesses, so I will add an Old Testament witness.

  Look at the life of David. He was an Old Covenant man with a New Covenant experience. He had the Spirit of God with Him while others experienced the Spirit of God when God needed them to do something. He initiated worship to the King, while others waited for those who served in the temple to lead them into worship. He had a personal relationship with God when it had’t even be thought to be possible. David’s faith pulled the God of the New Testament into his Old Testament life. God loved David and David lived as if he knew it!

  You may be saying at this point, okay, that’s fine, but what is the relevance? The point is simple, Jesus is greatly moved by faith and not by timing. A lot of the time, we place Jesus within the confines of time and say it’s not my time, it’s not your season, or whatever! But Jesus, while working within the timeframe given Him, can be moved upon by faith to grant you what you need now even if it is scheduled for a later time in life.

  I know that there are some fixed times in the Spirit realm and in Scriptures, but faith causes God to shift the calendar of events on our behalf. I thought that was news worth sharing! Don’t let time pass you by waiting on the right time when scriptures say, “Now faith is!” Believe He’ll do it today! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Faith, Healing, Holy Spirit, King David, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Faith, Healing, Jesus, miraculous, witness

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