Jesus said in John 14:21,
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."(Jesus said that we show our love for Him, by obeying His commands.) Has God shown Himself to you? He says He will if we do what?
God chooses to reveal Himself, by experience, to those that love Him, that keep His commandments. The more He reveals the depth of His love for us, the more we grow in our love for Him and in our faith. As we grow to recognize Him as "the lover of our souls" and "the keeper of all His promises"we will be able to surrender in our trust, more and more, to His will and His ways.
Mark 9: 17-32 says,
17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
19 “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 ” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
Jesus emphasizes and encourages this father in the importance of believing, He says, "Everything is possible to him that believes." I can still relate to this fathers response, how about you? "I believe, but help though my unbelief." I'm grateful for God's patience and long suffering, that He understands our frame! Yet He, lovingly, continues to provide opportunities for us to grow in His knowledge and grace; giving us those opportunities to practice and grow our faith!
Hebrews 11:6 says,
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." We want to please Him, we want to trust, but when we fall short, He is there to help us back up.
Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Praise the Lord, the Father sees us through Jesus' cleansing blood!
We long to please Him by our faith, but our love for Him isn't perfect, nor our understanding of the depth of His perfect love for us; if it was perfect, our love would cast out all our fears and we would trust Him, completely. I am learning to rest in His perfect love and allow Him to do what I can't, to transform me and mine.
Zephaniah 3:17 says,
"The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
When we feel we're faltering at times in our faith, we can keep reading His love letters to us, that can be found in His Word. As we recognize more and more, with each passing day, the depth of God's love for us, as the Father reveals Himself and His love to us, as we walk with Him, our faith and love for Him will grow, as will our desire to obey.
He is the lover and transformer of our souls! If we really believe He is God, it will change how we live!
Philippians 1:6 says,
"Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Praise the Lord!
It's been 7 months today since my husband, Jim went home to be with the Lord, to his new heavenly home! God's love is so amazing, He is so faithful ~ He is still enough!
May God bless you! If you're reading this, I'm praying for you!
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