God For You part 3
HEALED + WHOLE

Romans 8:31b-32, 37
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

37… we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:28 (NLT)
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.


REALIZATION:
God wants you to be HEALED + WHOLE
Mark 5:21-24 (NIV)
21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.


Get Jesus involved
Mark 5:24b-34 (NIV)
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”


Healing is unlocked by your faith
2 Kings 9:11 (NLT)
11 But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!


Don’t allow your limited perspective to limit a limitless God
2 Kings 9:13-14 (NLT)
13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River…


Lean into the process even when you don’t see the proof
2 Kings 9:14b-15 (NLT)
… and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed! 15 Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.


As you search for healing God intends for you to find wholeness
Mark 5:35 (NIV)
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”


Mark 5:36 (NIV)
36 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Mark 5:38-43 (NIV)
38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.


Amy’s Post:
What I’m about to say will most likely be misunderstood, or for some, hard to hear. Recently I watched a TV show about some children who have found a portal to go back in time and they are working to change something bad that happened.

After finishing several episodes I started thinking, if I found a portal and could go back in time, to May 19, 2014, would I change things? And as hard as it is to say (and I’m sure for you to understand) I came to the conclusion that I would not change things. Although I still deal with grief and lingering trauma…I would not change things… and even I’m surprised by my response.

What situation in your life do you believe Jesus has mismanaged for you?
What I’ve learned is that Jesus is willing to be misunderstood by us in order to do good things for us. I don’t understand or have all the answers but I know that He works all things together for our good…and, oh there was a time I could not stand to hear that verse…but it is such a powerful (hard to understand) truth.

God for Your Freedom

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.


John 8:30-42
30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you.38 I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”
39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You’re doing what your father does.”
“We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me.


You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.
—Aldous Huxley


Galatians 5:7
You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?


PRIDE
Solution: Ask for constructive criticism from people you trust


LUST
Solution: Take some time off social media


ANGER
Solution: Pray for the person who angers you


FEAR OF PEOPLE
Solution: Spark a conversation with somebody about Jesus


Dependency
Solution: Evaluate if it’s a NEED or WANT and then limit your consumption of that thing.


John 10:7-10
7So Jesus went over it again, “I speak to you eternal truth: I am the Gate for the flock. 8 All those who broke in before me are thieves who came to steal, but the sheep never listened to them. 9 I am the Gateway. To enter through me is to experience life, freedom, and satisfaction. 10 A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect —life in its fullness until you overflow!


There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.
—Charles Kingsley

John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.”


2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

God For You
Part 1: For Your Breakthrough

Romans 8:31 (NLT) – If God is for us, who can ever be against us?


Isaiah 58:8-9 (NKJV) – Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’


Three Breakthroughs of Fasting and Prayer:

1. Healing
Isaiah 58:8 (NKJV) – Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily…


Matthew 17:15-18 (NKJV) – “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.


• Faithless – Not connected to God.

• Perverse – Too connected to the world.


Matthew 19-21 (NKJV) – Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 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. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”


• PRAYER Connects Us to God

• FASTING Disconnects Us from the World


Key Thought: Whereas FAITHLESSNESS disconnects us from God, PRAYER connects us to God. And whereas PERVERSITY connects us to the world, FASTING disconnects us from the world.


2. Holiness

Isaiah 58:8 (NKJV) – Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you;


1 Peter 1:14-16 (NLT) – So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”


3. Help

Isaiah 58:8-9 (NKJV) – Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’


Zechariah 4:6 (NIV) – Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.


John 15:5 (NIV) – “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”


Isaiah 58:8-9 (NKJV) – Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

Un$trapped: Biblical Wisdom on Money
Part 3: The Generous Life

Three Characteristics of a Generous Life:

1. Trust

1 Kings 17:12 (NLT) – “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”


1 Kings 17:13-14 (NLT) – But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”


1 Kings 17:15-16 (NLT) – So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. 16 There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.


Malachi 3:10a (NLT) – Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple.


Malachi 3:10b (NLT) – If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!” Try it! Put me to the test!”


2. Consistency

1 Corinthians 16:1-2 (NLT) – Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.


3. Sacrifice

Leviticus 23:22 (NLT) – “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

Un$trapped: Biblical Wisdom on Money
Part 2: Stewardship not Ownership

Matthew 25:14-15, 19 (NIV) – “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey….19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.


Three Truths about Stewardship:

1. Stewardship is a Trust not a Possession

Matthew 25:14 (NIV) – “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (NIV) – You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.


2. Stewardship is Management not Ownership
The MASTER was the OWNER.
The SERVANTS were the STEWARDS.

Psalm 24:1 (NLT) – The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.


Matthew 25:16-18 (NIV) – The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.


MAKE ALL YOU CAN. SAVE ALL YOU CAN. GIVE ALL YOU CAN.
—John Wesley


Wise Money Management:
• Give 10%
• Save 10%
• Live on 80%

Foolish Money Management:
• Give 0%
• Save 0%
• Live on 110%


3. Stewardship is Faithfulness not Recklessness
Matthew 25:19 (NIV) – “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.


Matthew 25:20-21 (NIV) – The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Matthew 25:24-25 (NIV) – “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’


Matthew 25:26-30 (NIV) – “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’


“Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life.”
—William Borden

Stewardship is a trust managed faithfully,
not a possession owned recklessly.

Un$trapped: Biblical Wisdom on Money
Part 1: Who is First?

Matthew 6:24 (MSG) – “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.


Matthew 6:21 (NIV) – For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


The First is Given by Faith on the First
THE FIRST…


Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV) – Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.


Leviticus 27:30 (NLT) – One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.

Malachi 3:8-10 (NIV) – “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.


THE FIRST IS GIVEN BY FAITH…
Genesis 4:2b-3 (NIV) – Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering.


Genesis 4:4-5a (NIV) – And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor…


Hebrews 11:4 (NIV) – By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings….

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) – And without faith it is impossible to please God…


THE FIRST IS GIVEN BY FAITH ON THE FIRST
1 Corinthians 16:2 (NLT) – On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.


Mark’s Tithing Story
Due to poor decisions I had made, I had been at a point in my life where I did not have any extra money, and at times had to decide which bill I was going to pay and which one could maybe slip a little. I was using credit cards to pay bills, creating a wheel that kept on spinning into frustration and despair financially. I was a financial mess (which affected other areas of my life as well).

I was giving to church, but not tithing. I gave a little each time I went, but it was out of what I had leftover, after making decisions on what to pay. It was never very much.

The church I was attending began a challenge. The challenge was to tithe (yes, a full 10% of a person’s income) for 90 days. Their challenge was that if a person’s life did not change for the better within that 90 days, the church would give that money back.

The numbers regarding my income and bills did not support doing this. I did not have enough money coming in to pay my bills. How could I possibly give away 10% on top of that. However, after thinking about it a lot, and praying for guidance (admittedly, my faith was not very strong then), I decided to give it a try. I had no intention of asking for my money back after the 90 days if things did not show improvement, but that option was there.

I made it through the 90 days of tithing and made all of my financial obligations. I made changes in spending. I was able to earn a little more at work through assignments. My attitude changed, this time for the better. That was a turning point in my life…

Now, my tithe to church (based upon my gross income, not my net income) is typically the first “payment” I make each month. Anything else I give is above and beyond the tithe. And I am blessed beyond measure….

We are debt free again, and it is a freedom unlike any other. It opens so many doors and opportunities to give. God blesses the giver. My blessings have come in so many ways; from getting a grasp on anxiety, depression, anger, and PTSD issues to simply becoming more aware of the everyday sightings and hearings from God.

Advice from the future: Pursue Peace with Others

Matthew 5:9 (NLT)
9 God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.


How do we actively pursue peace?


Hebrews 12:14-15 (NLT)
14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

1 - Give Grace Abundantly

Hebrews 12:15 (NLT)
15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.

How do we ensure that no one fails to receive the grace of God - we give grace - the best example.

Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

No one EVER has been more wronged than God.

Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)
25 “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake
and will never think of them again.

Jeremiah 31:34 (NLT)
God says… “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

Psalm 103:12 (NLT)
12 He (God) has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

Before we can give grace we have to understand grace and accept grace.

Find your place in grace


2 - Beat Bitterness Appropriately
Hebrews 12:15b (NLT)
15b Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Unforgiveness — Bitterness — Corruption


Ephesians 4:31-32 (NLT)
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

What happens when we don’t forgive?

Matthew 6:15 (NIV)
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.


You lose your place in grace.

Romans 12:17-18 (NLT)
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

“this is more powerful and sweeter than forgetting, because if I can remember the sin and yet still love that person…Wow, God has done a miracle.”
—Unknown


Colossians 3:12-15 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.

Dear Younger Self: A Letter from Your Future
Part 4: Take a Risk

Three Truths about Risk:

1. Risk Exposes Our Excuses

• The Untimely Death of Her Parents

• The Unpredictable Nature of the King

• The Undeserving Opposition of Haman


Esther 4:11 (NLT) – “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.”


2. Risk Requires Action
“There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.”
—John F. Kennedy


Esther 4:13 (NLT) – “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed.”

Esther 4:14a (NLT) – “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die.”

Esther 4:14b (NLT) – “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”


3. Risk Begins with a Single Courageous Step

Esther 4:15-17 (NLT) – Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.


“One saw the problem there, that a lot of these children were in danger, and you had to get them to what was called a safe haven, and there was no organization to do that. Why did I do it? Why do people do different things? Some people revel in taking risks, and some go through life taking no risks at all.”
—Nicholas Winton