Rock Solid! 

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 
Matthew 16:18
 
When Jesus declared these words, he wasn't inaugurating a dynasty of ultimate and superior leaders... a papal dynasty.
 
Rather he was declaring two things
 
l                     Peter will be the early church leader, anointed to kick start the early church at Pentecost
 
2                    Anyone who confesses Christ, in the way Peter did just before this passage,
                      will likewise be a rock in the church of Christ.
 
Of course Jesus, is the superior rock …
        Upon which the Church is built ...
                The Church foundation ...
                        The stone the builders rejected.

But you can be a Rocky!
        You can hold the kingdom keys
                You can do the stuff.

Permalink

Wake Up God! 

But Jesus was sleeping.  Matthew 8:24
 
In this story Jesus shows us that ...

True peace is not the Absence of Storm but the Presence of Father.
 
True faith in our Father God allows us to smile at the storm,
        knowing that nothing will pass through our hands
                that hasn’t already passed through His Hands.
 
In Mark’s account Jesus says
        ‘Let us go over to the other side’.
 
If Jesus said it, that should settle it! 

Over the water,
    or under the water
            … we’ll get there!

 

Permalink

Hang on! 

Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again.
Job 7:7
 
Job was hit with colossal life tragedies in terms of family, business and health. 
It’s no surprise that Job vocalises his feelings in terms of the verse above.
 
        my eyes will never see happiness again.

In times like this you need to dig deep and draw on what faith you have and look to God.
In the story, Job’s fortunes were restored big time and he lived for 140 years.
 
When the past hurts and the future is uncertain, we need to live one day at a time and count our blessings … the change will come.
 

Permalink

If I only ... I will be ... 

She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Matthew 9:21
 
Twelve years sick …
 
Time couldn’t heal her
    The doctors couldn’t heal her
        Nobody could heal her
 
So the mere touching of a cloak is unlikely to turn things around.
 
Somehow … at some point … a seed of faith was planted by the Holy Spirit, deep inside this woman.

"If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
 
She receives that seed.
    She acts on that faith, pushing through the crowd
        She touches the cloak of Jesus.
            And she is instantly healed.
 

• Every healing is unique. 

• There is no one ‘technique’. 

• But the source is the same. 

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is behind every healing.
 

Permalink

God Hears 

She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."  1 Samuel 1:20
 
Samuel means, literally, 'God Hears'. 

Peninnah taunted Hannah in her distress ...
    Elkanah couldn't comprehend the extent of her pain in being barren ...
        Eli lacked priestly discernment and mistook her actions ...

            But God heard her.

Ultimately it is only God who stands with us in our pain. 
Others may come close and lovingly empathise, but only God truly knows.

Such a child should be held close and cosseted in loving care by its mother but not so Samuel.
'I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always'. 1 Sam 1:22


Hannah, at great cost to herself, fulfils her vows to the Lord and releases Samuel into the divine will. 
'A boy wearing a linen ephod'.  1 Sam 1:18

Samuel will become a mighty priest and prophet in Israel because of Hannah's action.
 
Never forget, in your time of greatest need ….

God Hears You

 

Permalink