faith

Cheer Up!

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The day started out like every other day he could remember.  As soon as he felt the warm rays of the sun strike his face, he pulled himself up from his makeshift bed on the side of the road.  Thankfully, it hadn’t rained during the night and the temperatures were still manageable this time of the year.  Of course, this good fortune would change all too soon.

He shook the dust off his motley robe, took his cup and placed his last two coins in it.  “Alms for the poor?” he constantly pleaded, as he rattled the coins in his cup.

Thankfully, an occasional passerby would reward his begging with another small coin.  Maybe he would have enough by day’s end to buy some stale bread to temporarily appease the constant gnawing in his stomach.

He couldn’t help that he was poor, as no one would hire him to work.  After all, what kind of work could a blind man do?  It appeared painfully obvious to him and everyone else that his life’s work would amount to nothing but begging.

While hope was normally a thought that rarely crossed his mind, he had recently heard some amazing stories of sick people being healed, cripples walking, deaf hearing, and yes, even blind people seeing!  Not surprisingly, hope was not only crossing his mind these days, hope was blazing a major pathway through it!  Could this be the day he received infinitely more than a few coins; his sight, his life?

His dreams were interrupted when he heard a large crowd coming his way.  His curiosity piqued, he stopped begging for alms, and started begging for information.  Thankfully, a passerby had  mercy on him and responded, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”  Could it be true that Hope was within reach?  But how could he speak to Him since He was surrounded by such a large crowd?

He had no recourse but to shout above the noise of the crowd, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Unfortunately, some within the crowd heard him and rebuked him for his outburst and demanded he be quiet.  But they didn’t understand that this, no He, was his only hope for sight; for life!  So he shouted even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Hope heard and Hope stopped!  Those who had just chided him for his annoying shouts, now encouraged him, “Cheer up!  He’s calling you!”  Bartimaeus threw off his cloak, jumped to his feet and felt his way to Hope.

He sensed His presence even before he heard His question, “What do you want me to do for you?”  They were unfamiliar words to him, yet more exhilarating than anyone could possibly imagine!  Trembling, knowing the audacity it took for a beggar to ask such a thing of a King, the words spilled out anyway, “I want to see.”

“Go,” He simply said, “your faith has healed you.”  Immediately, he saw Hope, and his life reborn!

Eyes That See

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What do you see when you look at someone?  I was told recently that one of the first things that people notice about you is your shoes.  Maybe, but I would think it might depend on what is important to you.

Of course, a shoe salesperson would probably notice our shoes.  But, a hair stylist would likely notice our hair.  An athlete would notice our muscles.  An optometrist would notice our glasses or contacts.  A clothing salesperson would notice our clothes.  A dental hygienist would notice our teeth.  A car dealer would notice our car.  A Realtor would notice our house.  You get the idea!

But there is more to what we see.  Men would notice particular characteristics about men, and different attributes about ladies.  Conversely, ladies would notice certain characteristics about ladies, and different qualities about men.  Our age could very likely cause us to notice unique characteristics in the people we see.  But is there still more?

I remember getting on an elevator at the hospital one day with a family member of someone having surgery.  After we exited, the family member told me that she was fascinated about how I stood in an elevator full of people.  Why?  Because she was in the elevator business!

In case you are wondering if I was standing on my head, I wasn’t.  But, I was standing facing the people in the elevator rather than facing the door!  I’m pretty sure I don’t normally do that, and that I had no particular reason to stand facing the people that day, it just turned out that way and I didn’t give it a thought.

This family member went on to say that I had validated the research of people in the elevator business.  They had found that only people from a handful of careers (preachers was one of them) would be comfortable facing people in the close confines of an elevator!  Accordingly, the inside of elevator doors should look as good as possible!

But we may be seeing just the tip of the iceberg of what and how we see!  Do you have eyes that see what Jesus saw?  Did Jesus notice what kind of sandals people wore?  Or, how they styled their hair?  Or, what kind of clothes they had on?  Or, how nice their teeth were?  Or, what breed of donkey they were riding?

I’ve noticed Jesus saw at least a couple of things that I often miss.  Jesus had eyes that saw when people were harassed and helpless (Matthew 9:36).  Wow, what does that look like?  Would I even notice that if I was looking for it?

Jesus also had eyes to see faith (Mark 2:5).  We often think faith is an internal, invisible quality.  Yet when we read about the people in the “faith chapter” of the Bible, Hebrews 11, we see that their faith obeyed, offered, pleased, sacrificed, built, left, blessed, spoke, worked and so much more!  Their actions made their faith visible.  Do you see what Jesus sees?

Where Are You Going?

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flight planning on chart           You will never get lost if you always know where you are and where you are going!  I used that statement often when I taught flying.  After all, present position is a simple extension of where one has been in the past, combined with the direction and speed one has traveled since the last known position.

For instance, pilots always know the airport they are departing from.  And as long as they kept track of their time in flight and the direction and speed they were heading, then they would always know their approximate position, even if they couldn’t always pinpoint it on a map.

Then each time they could positively identify their present position on the map, the navigating process would start all over again.  They were always a given number of minutes away from their last known position, and they had been flying a given direction and speed.  So even when they were in between positive identifications of their location on a map, they still had an approximate idea of where they were, and where they were going.

Unfortunately my students didn’t always know how the winds aloft would affect their direction and speed, and because they often wandered from their desired heading, they would get off course.  But once they determined how much they were off course, I would teach them how to make course corrections to get them back on course to ensure they would reach their ultimate destination; before running out of fuel.  Obviously, everything they were doing before the flight and during the flight, should be a means to getting them safely to their destination airport!

Have you ever been lost?  Do you know where you came from?  Do you know where you are?  Do you know where you are going?  Can you get where you want to go on the direction you are presently traveling?  If you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean, you must proceed on an easterly course.  If you are heading on a westerly course, you will never make it!

Some people tell me they want to go to heaven, yet they want to get there maintaining a  misguided course.  Sadly, if their present course is not heading in heaven’s direction, they will never make it!  They must make a course correction before they run out of fuel, or miss heaven forever.  Since heaven is God’s home, He alone has the prerogative to advise us on the required course to get there.

The only course that will take you to heaven is to aim for Jesus Christ!  He said that He was the only way to the Father, and the only way to the Father’s eternal home in heaven.  Reaching heaven will only be by God’s grace, through your faith in God’s Son alone.  Are you heading the wrong direction, or just off course?  Since your fuel is limited, get on course today by turning from anyone or anything, to Jesus alone!