15 November 2013

whoever, whatever, whenever


Jesus said this,

"Have faith in God.

Truly, I say to you,
whoever says to this mountain
be taken up and thrown into the sea,
and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass,
it will be done for him.

Therefore, I tell you,
whatever you ask in prayer,
believe that you have received (or are receiving) it,
and it will be yours.

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone,
so that your Father also who is in heaven
may forgive you your trespasses."
(Mark 11:22f) 

On occasion (particularly in the middle of the night or when dinner is late or when stress is turned on high), I have been questioning in my heart if we are crazy. We daily ask God for healing. In our spirits, we sense that he is leading us to believe. And now that I re-read the gospels, I see that I am right--Jesus is asking and promising and commanding us to believe. He is telling us to believe that we have received  (or are receiving) whatever it is we asked for AND that it will be ours. Interesting tenses, interesting play on time. But whatever the case, it is a finished thing.
  • We have the opportunity to speak to the mountain (crazy or what?), to ask in prayer, to stand. 
  • We are told "do not doubt...believe...believe...forgive."
  • We can expect "it will be done...you have received it and it will be yours...that your Father may forgive your trespasses."

What a wild passage. 

In the first portion, Jesus talked about us talking to the mountain. This morning I talked strongly to the sickness and fear. The sun shines bright in and I laugh at the days to come.

And then the last part--the whenever--how does forgiveness play into all of this? How is it connected? I'm not really sure, but I do know that forgiveness and repentance always initiate and open the path for relationship. So, yes, you probably don't even know who you are :) and I highly doubt that you are even reading this...but I forgive you. I do!

Maybe we are crazy. But Jesus talked to things like fig trees and demons and storms. And Jesus asked and believed and forgave beyond imagination. And he's telling me to do the same. So here goes! (Help, help.)

My faith is in God. 

08 November 2013

challenged by this

Sophia and I listened to this today. She smiled when he mentioned truth and reconciliation. Sure do love this girl's heart.



I am challenged.