The portrait of God that Jesus provides for us so different from every other religion in the world.  We have a God who cares for us individually, who we don’t have to fight with to notice us.  He is a God who cares for us compassionately, He suffered for us and still suffers with us.  Jesus reveals a God who loves us perfectly in spite of our imperfection.

The story of Jesus and the deaf man who stood before Him - displays the heart of God is such a beautiful way!  It’s not just who God was for that person who was overwhelmed and hurting, it’s who is presently is for me when I am overwhelmed and hurting.

Be refreshed by taking the time to admire the heart of Jesus on display in this story.  And, choose to love like Jesus does.

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To be a person of faith means that we trust in the goodness and power of Jesus before we see the answer to our prayers or the resolution to our broken stories. This week we talk about a woman who is willing to take Jesus at His word and worship before she sees the miracle that she is asking for.

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The gospel is not about external modification. Though it’s tempting to reduce the Bible to a list of rules, the gospel is ultimately about internal heart transformation. The purpose of the law is to show us what perfection looks like & it functions as a mirror that reveals our true need of a savior. 

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Faith isn’t natural; fear, doubt, and envy are. Sometimes it can be hard to trust that God is really in control, and that He really cares about us.

But this story is about a God who comes near in the midst of a storm. 

He asks us to not just be amazed by His power, but to trust in His goodness and faithfulness while the storm rages on. 

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Intuition and well-tread arguments tell us we have good reasons for our belief in the Creator God of the Bible. But is there any evidence that His purported son Jesus actually rose physically from the dead and appeared to his followers, as Paul records in his letter to Corinth? Actually, there is a particular set of twelve facts of history supported by the vast majority of scholars (including skeptical and even atheist ones) that cannot be accounted for with any other explanation except the bodily rising of Jesus of Nazareth from the grave.

References from:

Matt 22:37

Acts 5:33-39

1 Cor 15:3-8

Phillipians 3:4-11

1 Peter 3:15

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There are times that we may feel tempted to take on the burdens of others, or even to try to fix all of our own problems. Unlike us, God is not limited by limited resources. He has the ability to bring growth and healing in our lives, but we have to be willing to surrender those burdens to Him.

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Following Jesus is always the best option, but it is rarely the easiest. Through this challenging story, we are reminded that we can’t judge Jesus’ love for us based on our circumstances. We serve a God who is faithful and kind; but what happens when our circumstances leave us to doubt that? 

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Jesus wants us to know Him and to trust Him. He offers us a place to rest, provision, and His own faithfulness. He doesn’t require us to produce results and success – He just wants our willingness to follow Him.

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We have a habit of making Jesus in our own image, rather than recognizing ourselves as His creation. Although it can be very uncomfortable, it’s a good sign when we still find ourselves offended or challenged by Jesus. 

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God is not a cosmic vending machine, but a loving parent. While He is our provider, He wants to be so much more than that.

God sees value in the process of getting us somewhere, even if we are only focused on the destination.

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