Tag: struggle

No Words Necessary

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96653AF5-CF3C-43A3-9686-2B3FA4A6768BOne of my favorite lines in a song is “though she spoke no words, everything she said was heard, as she poured her love on the Master, from her box of alabaster.” This beautiful song, by artist CeCe Winans, depicts the story of the woman with the alabaster box who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. This beautiful account is found in Luke 7:36-50.

When the woman began to wash Jesus’ feet, the Pharisees who invited Him to his home began to question, within himself, whether Jesus was truly a prophet. These unspoken words were addressed by our Savior. Jesus, through a parable, explained the gratitude and love shown by this woman.

This woman said nothing, but there were shouts of praise. She uttered no words, but thankfulness flowed from her heart. Maybe she didn’t know what to say, or maybe the words just wouldn’t come out right. Either way, no words were needed! Our beautiful Savior heard the cries of her heart. This reminds me of a beautiful scripture found in Psalm 56:8. It says, “You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?” (NKJV).

God is not unaware of the struggles we face. Every tear that falls is accounted for. More beautiful than that is an ancient custom that when friends visited a person who was suffering, that friend would collect the tears of the sufferer in a tiny bottle as a memory of the event. God, our faithful friend, visits us during our suffering. He doesn’t leave us all alone. Yes, He is there all the time, but when we are hurt, in distress, and in pain we become more acutely aware of His nearness. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

Our loving Father sees our tears and hears the silent prayers that we pray. He truly knows the whole content of our hearts. He visits us in our suffering and comforts us with His precious presence.

Every prayer will not be only tears, we need to employ strategic warfare through praying God’s Word, praying in the Spirit, and supplicating before Him. But there will be times when we don’t know what to say, or the words escape us, or they just won’t come out. In these times, posture your heart in prayer, fall down at the feet of Jesus, and cry out to Him.

 

Declare the Word day 1 (The Word W.OR.K.S.)

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Day 1
Let’s declare God’s Word!
Colossians 3:15; Deuteronomy 28:9; Colossians 1:10; Philippians 2:4; 3 John 1:3
#TheWordWORKS #DeclaretheWord

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Write The Word-July

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Hello Everyone!

     We are finally in July! We are midway through the summer, children are out of school, schedules are changing but God’s Word still remains! Things are shifting and changing all around us, but we can still be confident that the Word W.O.R.K.S!  I’m still hearing great things from you all and hope to continue hearing stories of renewed faith, hope, and joy as you Write the Word.  God is so good.

Look out for our new challenge coming in July 7th!  We are going to Declare the Word for 31 days.  Join us as we speak life into our situations and circumstances and exercise the power of our tongues.  

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

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Your friend in the journey,

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Keep Walking on to Your Miracle

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I have heard that a miracle happens instantaneously, and healing over time but that doesn’t explain the miraculous healing that happened for the ten lepers in the Bible. Read the story here Luke 17:11-19.

As He traveled, Jesus met ten men who were plagued with leprosy. These men asked Jesus to have mercy on them (vs. 13), and He did but, it didn’t appear right away. The lepers “stood at a distance” (vs. 12). There was no laying on of hands. There was no crowd, no music, no lights, no camera and, seemingly no action! But there was a Word! A word spoken by the giver of life—‘Go, show yourselves to the priests’ (vs. 14). Without hesitation, the lepers went.

Some would say, ‘Your blessings are tied to your obedience.’ And that is true. Having free will, the lepers could have scoffed at Jesus’ direction and continued to be lepers. However, faith was essential to the lepers receiving their healing. As Jesus explained, “your faith has made you well” (vs. 19). These lepers had faith in Jesus. As they called to Him from their place of desperation, they believed He had the power to heal them. Their faith, coupled with obedience led to their miracle.

Some of you may be in a place of desperation. You may be in a desire situation and need answers. Maybe you’ve been dealing with a condition that has troubled you for some time. Think back to this story and see the steps the lepers took:

1. The ten lepers knew who to call. The lepers were fully convinced of the power Jesus had to heal. He is both able and willing to meet our needs. Some times we forget, or even forsake to do the simplest thing—ask. James 4:2b says “You do not have because you do not ask God”. Have you truly asked God in faith for what you need? Don’t think you are worrying God. It is His good pleasure to give you what you need (Luke 12:32).
2. The lepers received Jesus’ words in faith. Jesus said “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” According to the levitical law, only the priest could declare these men healed. Why else would they go to the priest except to receive a declaration of healing? Jesus Words were like a promise of healing to these men. What had Jesus promised you through His Word? He promises healing, miracles, and deliverance from all kinds of circumstances.
3. The lepers walked in obedient faith. The priest could indeed declare these men healed, but at the time the Word was spoken, they still had the physical appearance of leprosy. Nothing happened immediately in the physical. But they received their healing when they believed. Then they obeyed until healing manifested—“And as they went, they were cleansed” (vs. 14). I can imagine them checking their skin, to see if the sores were still there, but continuing to walk. I imagine them checking each other over, looking for signs of restored health, yet journeying on to see the priest.

“As they went,” all ten were healed. Are you continuing to walk? Are you journeying on? Waiting can be the hardest part (for me it is). But we’ve been graced to wait on the manifestation of God’s promises. But we must keep walking in obedience and keep believing what He has promised.

I can’t leave out the last part of the story. Only one leper came back to say thank you. One of ten. How sad. Jesus refers to this one as a foreigner, a Samaritan. Presumably, the others only believed they had one need, to be healed. But this one Samaritan came and threw himself, in gratitude, at the feet of the Master. He needed more than just healing—he needed Jesus. And when he entered the presence of Jesus, even being a foreigner, he knew the appropriate response—gratitude and worship.

Dear ones, don’t allow your situations and circumstances to stop you. Ask God for the things you need. Believe the Word of the Lord in faith. Move forward in faithful obedience. When you enter the presence of the Lord, respond to His goodness with a grateful heart of worship. And don’t stop. Keep walking on to your miracle.

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Mission Accomplished

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I sent three students on a mission to deliver some treats to a buddy classroom.  Twenty minutes later, they had not returned. After finding another teacher to watch my class, I went searching for the three missing students. As I passed the playground, I saw that the class I had sent my students to were at an early recess. I frantically asked the teacher had she seen my students, who were now, in my mind, missing. She said no, but also let me know that they had been outside for about 25 minutes. That said, I ran up to the other teacher’s classroom only to find my three sitting outside her door, patiently waiting for them to return. I was less than pleased, but glad that they were okay. I asked them “why didn’t you just come back?” One little darling answered “we didn’t want to come back until we finished the job.”

After breathing a sigh of relief because I hadn’t lost someone’s children, I began to reflect on a passage of scripture from Isaiah 55:10-11:

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Precipitation such as rain and snow follow cyclical pattern. When it falls from the sky it doesn’t evaporate until it waters the earth to bring forth growth so that the cycle of sowing and reaping may continue. The rain and snow does its job. It causes the ground and all forms of vegetation to prosper.

More beneficial than the rainfall are the Words of God. It goes forth from the mouth of God for purpose. Every Word spoken has a purpose; a mission for which it has been sent. The powerful Word cannot return empty without accomplishing the purpose for which it was sent. The Word sent forth will accomplish whatever the Lord pleases. Don’t be confused, the Word accomplishes what He wants, not always what we want. Dear friend, this is where trust comes in. We can trust God because He is trustworthy. He cannot lie (Numbers 23:19). We can trust God because He knows what’s best for our lives (Isaiah 55:9). We can trust God because He is working—He is present and actively orchestrating things in our lives to produce good results (Romans 8:28).

Not only do God’s Words produce results, but it will cause us to prosper! Again, this is a matter of trusting God’s will and His ways. Prosperity is not only a matter of material and financial gain, but also of spiritual prosperity where we grow from faith to faith and from glory to glory.  When we grow and move forward in the things of God, we are prospering.

Stake your confidence in the Word of God! Hold on to its promises and apply its precepts. It is powerful and effective, producing great results in our lives. Like my sweet little students, God’s Word will not return without accomplishing its purposes.

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