Author: ccooke

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Hope from A Hem

Luke 8:43-44.  

 

43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 

44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.—NIV

 

Are you at the end of your resources?Do your problems seem beyond solutions? There is a person who knows how you feel.  The bleeding that has plagued her for 12 years has left her weak and exhausted. This causes her to be an outcast to her family and place of worship.  Each trip to doctors who have no answers fills her heart with hope, but empties her wallet.  Now, she is propelled forward by miraculous reports of the blind seeing, the lame walking, and the deaf hearing. A spark rises within her as she braves the crowds following Jesus. At the risk of making this man unclean, she quickly touches the hem of his robe, believing she will be healed.  

 

Her touch of the garment of God is the act of faith that Jesus recognizes. Jesus rewards her risk, and acknowledges her faith with complete healing. She can now return to her family and place of worship with the assurance that she is truly clean. A step of faith always changes us and brings us closer to God.

 

You can come boldly at your hour of need

Expect what you are seeking

Give thanks

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Darkness Before the Dawn

Mark 6:48:  He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard against the wind and waves, about 3:00 in the morning.”—NLT

 

The Disciples are in one of the sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee.  With muscles aching and morale waning, they fight the headwind.  The harder they row, the more frustrated they become.  Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 is a distant memory.  No one thinks to call on Jesus for another miracle.  After all, He is not with them, but up on the mountain, spending time with His Father.  In the midst of His quiet time, he sees their struggle and comes to them in the noise of their chaos.

 

But why does He seem to wait in the midst of our storms?  He wants us to learn that His strength will sustain us.  It is really He who waits for us.  We find Him just before the dawn,.  When we call on Him for help with our finances, families, or future—He is there with us, providing His answers and resources.  The headwinds of life are no match for Him.  Why?  He allows us to fight the headwind because It is at this time that we reach out to Him.  Only then do we realize that His answers and provision are never late.  

 

Look to Jesus

 And lean on his everlasting arms that lift you into his peaceful care.

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Giving Until It Hurts

1Kings 17:12-14:  12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

 

A poor family in 1946 was so moved by their pastor’s request, that they raised money for another family who was in dire need.  They took odd jobs, went without, scrimped and saved, and then presented their money to the church, which totaled $60, a large amount for them.  The pastor soon told them they were the family in need and had raised most of their own donation.  2500 years earlier, a nameless widow, gave her last meal to the prophet Elijah.  She stated the facts:  This is our last meal and then my son and I will die.  Amazingly, she didn’t hold back.  Since she was obedient, God sustained her through the famine.  She is recorded for all of history as an example of sacrificial giving.  

 

Let your heartbeat match God’s as you see a need.  Giving with a cheerful heart at God’s prompting will bless the need, and you, in the process. 

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Easter Saturday

Easter Saturday:  the Day Between Despair and Joy

Proverbs 29:18, MSG:  If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
    they are most blessed.

 

Place yourself in the midst of the darkest day–Easter Friday.  Are you among the scattered disciples, afraid and confused?  Are you John, the only one to stay at the foot of the cross?  Are you one of the women, with an aching heart,  who stood near Him?  

 

Those who loved Jesus most are the ones who watch as He suffers a merciless death.  At the last supper, He promised He would be raised to life (John 14:20.  Though He promised they could go with Him, now, even He is gone.  The fog of despair is a shroud that hides the promise of Easter Sunday.  Their vision is now clouded by their own grief.  Caught up in circumstances, they stumble and are filled with questions.

 

When life turns upside down and you experience loss and betrayal, Jesus is with you because He’s been there, too.  When you cannot see beyond the next step, you can walk in the footprints of the One who sees clearly.  When you are caught between Friday’s despair and Sunday’s joy, You can receive assurance that His victory and answer are just ahead.  

 

Pray to have His vision.

walk with the One who sees clearly.

Experience victory by the power of the empty tomb!

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What Do You Have in YourHand?

Mark 6:38:  “How many loaves do you have?  Go and see.”  

 

Are you facing an insurmountable problem?  

Are you being asked to use meager resources to do the impossible?  If so, you can relate to the disciples.  Jesus told them to provide food for 5,000 men, not counting women and children.  They struggled to do the math and count the cost. They even suggested sending the people away to eliminate the problem altogether.  Jesus didn’t explain how He would work this out because heaven’s supply was the answer.  He simply challenged them to give what they already had.  Five loaves and two fish became the starting point for a miracle meal.  These resources, blessed by Jesus, satisfied their hunger and even provided leftovers.  If what we have is enough, we do not need to call on Jesus.  

 

  Figuring out how God will multiply what we have keeps us from trusting Him.  The things that don’t make earthly sense find perfect solutions in heaven’s economy.  Why?  He uses what we already have, blesses it and then multiplies it.  The more we depend on Him, the less we own the outcome.  He is looking for us to give what we have—to commit those “loaves and fish”  to Him.  

 

Give Him what you have.  Release ownership of the solution.  Give thanks for the answer.

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What Brought You Here?

Even a great man of God finds himself answering God’s question:  “What brought you here?”  1 Kings 19:9:  And the word of the Lord came to Him:  “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah was paralyzed by exhaustion but propelled by a whisper from God.  Elijah had been hearing from God for a long time.  Listening to God compelled him to pray for rain in a drought and it rained.  Listening to God challenged him to show the prophets of Baal that they were no match for God.  Exhausted by conflict, he found himself in a cave.  

 

When you’re discouraged, all you can see are circumstances.  Past victories are a distant memory.  In the stillness of the cave, God asks a question:  Elijah what are you doing here?  God cares about what brings us to where we are.  Elijah puts forth his resume and pours out his discouragement.  Then, God shows His power.  Elijah is allowed to experience a wind, fire and earthquake, but God is nowhere to be found.  Then, the same question, same answer, same discouragement.  Finally, Elijah hears God in a whisper.  The God-whisper is where we find the One who asks the question:  “What are you doing here?”  It is a change in focus from where we think we are to where He wants us to be.  

 

The God whisper prompts us to act.  Recognize what brought you to where you are, listen to the whisper of God and act on what He says for your life. 

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Where Are You

“But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

 

The One who knows all and sees all asks the question:  “Where are you?”  God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden, in a perfect life.  They had unbroken fellowship with Him and His creation as long as they did not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  They wanted what they could not have—the forbidden fruit.  They were lured by the prospect of having all knowledge.  Shame and blame have now entered the world.  Now realizing he was naked, he hid.  The man answered God’s question with blame.  The man blamed God for putting the woman in the garden to tempt him. The woman blamed the serpent for making her eat it.  

 

Beyond this question in the garden:  The “Where are you?”  is the question at the center of the cross.  We were meant to live forever, but are now banished from perfect harmony with God.  We were meant to have unbroken fellowship but that was shattered by the desire to do what was forbidden.  However, the Where are you?  Prompts the Here I AM to come to our rescue.  God needed a plan and Jesus is the answer to our plight.  

 

Even though there are consequences for disobedience God still has a plan to restore that which was lost.  We can answer:  “Here I am, I am yours.”

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Worthy to be Found!

In Matthew 18:12, Jesus asks:  “What do you think?  If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”

 

A lifeboat can only hold four people, but five need to be rescued:  a young child, a doctor, an engineer, a housewife and an elderly man. The young child has a future.  The housewife can have more children.  The doctor and engineer have valuable knowledge.  Though the elder has wisdom, his time is short.  It is a hopeless cause—of who to keep and who to let go.

 

In this world, we are defined by so many things: Status, education, position, or money …. but none of this matters when we meet with eternity.  The One who died to save us doesn’t rule us in or out.  He pursues us all as lost sheep because he values us equally.  Jesus sees a sheep, wandering and weary.  That is why He searches for it, lifting it onto his shoulders to be carried back to the safety of his flock and care.

 

Are you that weary sheep, tired of what is not working in your life?  Do you long to be carried to a better place on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd?  Ask Jesus to carry you back to His flock.  Recognize the One who gives you that salvation and claim his gifts of forgiveness and life.

 

You can pray this prayer:

Jesus, I know you are the Good Shepherd who died on the cross for my sins. You rose again, conquering sin and death so that I can have eternal life with you. Please forgive my sins and come into my heart today.  Amen.