Friday... What we give to God does make a difference.

Matthew 8:2 (AMP), "And a leper came to Him and bowed down to Him, saying, 'Lord, if you are willing, You are able to make me clean (well).'"

Friday... What we give to God does make a difference.

Now there was this big crowd and Jesus had given to them a very important sermon and he had finished but there was a man who had leprosy who believe that Jesus could heal him but he wasn't sure that he would want to. I mean, the man was a leper. Matthew 8:2 (AMP) says, "And a leper came to Him and bowed down to Him, saying, 'Lord, if you are willing, You are able to make me clean (well).'"

Yes, we may believe that God has the ability but we're not always sure that he has the desire. And a leper could feel that way and we also in our situation could feel that way. Our belief in God's ability sometimes doesn't go far enough. Yes, we know that he can do it but does he want to. We give ourselves that inch so we don't look bad if it doesn't happen.

But another way to look at this is that it is important for God to be willing. He sees everything from his point of view. Yes, it is important for us to believe he can but also to trust him to do what is best. To trust his willingness.

Well verse 3 says, "Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleaned."

Now could it be that there are things in our life where we need God but we don't ask because we don't believe it is his will when what he wants is for us to ask and trust him to do what is best. Yes, what we give to God does make a difference and what we don't give also makes a difference.

So go ahead and ask, "Lord, if you are willing, You are able to make me clean (well)." And give him the chance to say, "I am willing; be cleaned."

Now another guy came to Jesus with another response. Verses 5-7 (NLT) says, "When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, 'Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.' Jesus said, 'I will come and heal him." Now here this man believed he could do it and Jesus was willing but there was a problem.

Verse 8 says, "But the officer said, 'Lord, I am unworthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed." What the man felt made a difference and verse 10 says, "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, 'I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel.'" and verse 13 says, "Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, 'Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.' And the young servant was healed that same hour."

Now there is a humility in there that makes a difference. And that feeling of unworthiness had a power of faith that God honored. This guy didn't need to be the center he just needed to be the channel of faith. And God honors that. He really does.

Yes, what we give to God does make a difference in his response. "I am willing; be cleaned." "Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

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