When Jesus Speaks...

When Jesus Speaks…
The words of Jesus have been spoken all over the world. They are typed in red in our bibles. They are our guidelines for living. The word of Christ is the message by which we are saved and hearing it strengthens our faith. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17 NIV) As we read the words that Jesus spoke, our lives are transformed by the grace and truth which has made God known to us. Jesus Christ displayed power through words during His time on earth. He is interceding for us now, and we look forward to the day when He will command God’s children to meet Him in the air where we will spend eternity with Him.
We have witnessed many articulate speakers that were able to sway crowds, but none were like Jesus! As Jesus walked the earth, His words had so much power that crowds followed Him wherever He went. Large crowds listened to Him with delight (Matt. 12:37), and He spoke like none of the teachers of the law, but with such authority that people were amazed. (Matt. 7:28) In fact, some of the chief priests and Pharisees demanded that the soldiers arrest Him, but they could not. They simply responded that no one ever spoke like Him. (John 7:44-46) When Jesus spoke, people listened.
It is interesting to study the miracles that Jesus performed and note the similarities and differences between them. One similarity among most of them is the manner in which He operated. Jesus reordered nature, performed miracles, and raised the dead with His words. He rebuked the wind and water and calmed the sea. (Matt. 8:26) He instructed Simon to let down the nets to catch fish. Simon replied, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your Word I will let down the net. (Luke 5:4, NKJ) When they pulled their nets up out of the water, they had caught so many fish that their nets began to break. They called their partners, and both boats were filled and beginning to sink.
Although we know that His power came from the Holy Spirit and the miracles were dependent upon the faith of the recipient, in most cases Jesus simply spoke a word to heal and raise the dead. In the case of the Roman Centurion’s Servant and the Syrophoenician’s daughter, Jesus was not even in the same town, yet He spoke a word. The servant was healed that very hour (Matt. 8:5) and the demon left the daughter. (Mark 7:25-30) Jesus has complete authority over all demonic spirits. When He landed at Gadera, He spoke to the evil spirits which had possessed the man there, commanding the spirits to leave the man and permitting them to go into the swine. Immediately, the swine ran into the sea, and the man was sitting and clothed, and in his right mind. (Mark 5:28-34) Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus with the words, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” (Mark 5:41)
When teaching us how to pray, Jesus instructed us to speak in our daily lives and in prayer. “So I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9) and “When you pray, say:” (Luke 11:2) Jesus made it clear that the words spoken have great power. When we pray, we are to speak, and “In that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”(John 16:23) Then again in verse 26 and 27, “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray to the Father for you; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved Me and believed that I came forth from God.” The same power which Jesus exercised during His time on earth was given to the disciples, and passed down to those of us who believe, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18) By using Jesus’ example and words, we know that in order to exercise this great power which will act as a witness, we must speak. We do all these things by speaking the name of Jesus!
Even today, Jesus is still speaking on our behalf. At this moment, he is sitting at the right hand of the Father and is interceding for us. (Rom. 8:34) As we come to Him, we can be completely confident that we are saved because the word says, “Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him because He always lives to intercede for them.” (Heb. 7:25) At this very moment, Jesus is speaking to our father about us. When we hear His word and believe in God, we have eternal life and we will not be condemned. Because we hear Christ’s word, we have crossed from death to life! (John 5:24) Because He is the Word, Who was with God and is God, He has given us the right to become children of God. (John 1:12) And we can only be children of God, having peace with Him because of the sacrifice and intercession made by Jesus.
As children of God, we are looking forward to the day when Jesus will return to call us up to meet Him in the air. “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thess. 4:16-17) When Jesus comes down from heaven, He will be coming with a loud command. His word will raise the dead and those who are alive to meet Him in the air! We have such wonderful hope because Jesus died for us and rose again so that we are called the children of God and will spend eternity with Jesus. “Do not be amazed at this for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil rise to be condemned.” (John 5:28-29)
“Therefore encourage each other with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:18) These words of hope bring joy and comfort to those who are in pain and remind us of our mission when we get tired. We are instructed to speak these words, reminding each other of the power of Jesus’ word, the word that saved us, healed the sick, raised the dead, intercedes with the Father on our behalf, and will be spoken on that glorious day when He returns. We have confidence in our salvation because, even now, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father making intercessions for us. In prayer, we can speak directly to the Heavenly Father, praying in the name of Jesus, so that we have healing in our soul and body. Finally, we have the power to perform miracles in the name of Jesus so that we can share the Word with the world so that others might believe on Him also.

Why Do We Do What We Do?

Carrie sat in her small office. Deep creases ran across her forehead as she ran the figures through her calculator one more time. The numbers just did not line up. After all of her hard work, planning, and scheming, she still showed no profit. As she slumped back into her chair, she wondered what had gone wrong. She had followed her marketing plan. She had prayed desperately for success, and she knew her product was marketable. She just could not understand why she was not profiting. As she leaned back in her chair, she could see her name in lights, the fame, the glory, and the money she would be able to spend on herself if she could just hit a bigger market.
Behind every effort lies a motive, a deep-seated reason for doing something. Proverbs 16:2 states “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord” (NIV). We can reason with ourselves to make decisions that seem perfectly acceptable, but are they truly the best choice we can make? How can we determine that we are making a good decision based on God’s plan for us? How can we be assured that our plans will succeed because we have the Lord’s blessing and anointing on our lives?
Based on the word of God, I believe the answer lies in the simple question, “why?” We can determine that there is a definite need in our family, church, or community. In such a situation, it is likely that our first response would be to question, “What can I do?” We begin making plans, forming committees, and charging into a situation without listening to the small, quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. We are determined to make a change, hopefully for the better.
Could it possibly be more productive to ask, “Why do I want to do something? What do I expect to gain?” The answers to these questions will determine your results. We can trust that our plans will succeed if we commit whatever we do to the Lord, according to Proverbs 16:3. However, will the Lord bless our plans if we are working diligently to fulfill our own desires, laboring to bring glory and honor to ourselves?
Searching deep in your heart takes courage. As we search, we may find unpleasant things, hidden desires and motives that we thought had been buried long ago. However, as long as these desires remain hidden, we cannot allow God to do a true working in our lives. We must bring to the surface and deal with those issues that may not seem so pleasant for even though we may be unaware, “God searches man’s hearts and understands motives behind every thought,” 1 Chronicles 28:9.
As we search our hearts, we may find an unresolved need for justification from ourselves, our peers, and even God. Although we know that we have been justified by faith, we may continue to work to prove to ourselves and others that we are worthy of redemption, love, and mercy. We may be seeking material possessions, hoping to gain them by our own means rather than by seeking first the kingdom of God. It could be that we are expecting a returned favor or simple gratitude.
Although each of these motives may seem harmless, its innocence is refutable on biblical terms. Further, if these motives are masked by our call for pure Christian brotherly love, our efforts are futile for we cannot love our brother more than ourselves while blessing our brother for personal gain. James states in chapter 4, verse 3, “When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
As we examine our motives, it is imperative that that we seek God, asking Him for wisdom and guidance. Only He can change our hearts, and as we spend time in His presence, He will mold us into the image of Christ. If we find that our motives are leading us astray, pray for His divine intervention, that we may reflect His glory, doing all things for His honor. First and foremost, pray that His love can be seen through us so that others may see His face and come to learn of Him.

Lana Mowdy
http://www.publishedauthors.net/lanamowdy/index.html