Ennui: weariness or dissatisfaction resulting in inactivity or lack of interest. Can God suffer?  Is He suffering from ennuye, boredom? 

What have you heard from the LORD that your faith is to act on? Does it seem insignificant?  Does it seem impossible? No matter what you think about it - it is your responsibility to pursue what the LORD requires of you. The assumption you make depends on the outcome, so beware of making the wrong one. It's your choice whether or not you want to be amazed with the LORD blessing your faith. Faith is your work in life.  There is no other career that pays off in the end.

If we don't look forward to each day then more than likely we aren't living by faith. When your ministry isn't exciting then more than likely you are in ministry by the will of someone else, not God's. We were never meant to be "assembly line" Christians. When our imagination or creativity is stiffled we live a slave's life. With God's Spirit we are meant to discover and conquer our fears and limitations. We are meant to fulfill our dreams. We are meant to prosper in every way. We are meant to be the pillars in society with God's standard, His principles and promises of the abundant life Christ came to give us. 

Churches today are full of bored men.  God can not be excited about this. Bored men bore God. Although faith will be trying at times faith was never meant to be boring. Faith is how we connect with God and how we become real men according to God's design. 

In the Bible there was a woman who had lost everything, but she obeyed the Word of the LORD through the prophet and she, along with her son, became wealthy from a continual flow of oil. Take the disciples who watched Peter come to Jesus on the water. Take Moses who saw the Red Sea open up for the LORD's people to escape slave drivers. Take Martha and Mary who watched their brother Lazarus walk out of his tomb of death. Take David who saw Goliath the arrogant giant fall by one small stone. Take the blind man from birth whose eyes were opened for the first time. Take the crippled man who stood and walked. Take the disciples whose net was filled with fish, to the point of their nets almost ripping. Take Jonah who saw a whole city come to the LORD starting with its leader. Each of them obeyed the "Word of the LORD" and they were amazed. 

Don't let wrong assumption rob you of your faith's amazement.  Let your faith lead you to see the promises of God fulfilled in your life. Don't let fear forfeit what belongs to you by faith. Give God something to get excited about!  The only thing that pleases Him is our faith compelled by our love for Him and others.      

I’ve been puzzled by what has been called new wine and old wine. Luke 5:39 says that the old wine is better. Then what is God referring to when he talks of the wine whether old or new?  And, what does He mean by saying new wine will burst old wineskins? Might the New Wine be our love for God? The older the wine becomes the more it is enjoyed by God for it has proven to be faithful. 

Wine needs to age; mature for usefulness.  When it is useful – it is poured out for the very purpose of the wine-grower (husbandman), the Owner of the vineyard. The aged old wine is better; full of grace and compelled by the love of God. The skin that holds the new wine is conditioned for the maturing of our love for God. Therefore, fresh wine can not age in the same skin that matured other wine to its usefulness to God.

In the LORD's parable (Matthew 21:33-46) He sends messengers to His vineyard managers for the release of wine, but so many times messengers have been rejected because of their message to the managers who don’t want to hear. They don’t want to give up the wine cellars. They want to use and enjoy the wine themselves, but the wine as well as the vineyard belongs to the LORD.

If the matured wine is not poured out who will enjoy it?  If the wine is kept in the cellar to accumulate then what good is it?  Aged wine is to be used, fully released for service, and poured out for God’s enjoyment at His proper time. Aged wine, when poured out, has to breathe and I think of this as our freedom to do what we were intended to do. The air allows the full flavor to be tasted by the one who is to take it in. I have noticed godly people not attending church assemblies and some who attend but do not participate in them. Why? Could it be that what they have been made useful for is not recognized there? Could it be that men are bored with church assemblies because they don't mature there?  

In the parable wicked managers refuse the Owner His vineyard and wine. (Matthew 21:33-40) These managers were instrumental in working the vineyard and producing the new wine, but they forgot who they were working for. Jesus taught that the Owner judged these managers severely. “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”  Matthew 21:43

It is not a choice between new or old wine, for you need the fresh new wine for it to mature and become the best wine it can be. A manager’s fear of running out of wine for himself or wanting to control the use of the vineyard's wine is not up to him, but it’s the Owner’s responsibility over His vineyard.

Wine that is the best is wine that has been proven faithful and given freedom to be used at the Owner’s chosen time of use. The Owner of the vineyard knew when it was the right time to come and collect His fruit. If out of fear or greed we refuse the timing of the LORD for the pouring out of His aged wine then that aged wine will turn to vinegar and become bitter within that old dry cracked and leaky wineskin.

The wineskin has one opening for the release of wine and the wineskin belongs to the LORD, the owner of the vineyard, the employer of the managers and the King of the messengers. Managers of the LORD’s vineyard will be judged ever more severely for refusing His messengers sent to collect and use what belongs to Him.  The "aged wine" is wise to know when fearful and greedy managers want to control the vineyard of God. Maturing has to do with godly wisdom, discernment and action. In fact, the Scripture says:

“Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity….”  Hebrews 5:12-6:1

Jesus warned His Church what would happen if we let our love for Him grow cold.

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” Revelation 2:4-6

Grapes that are made into new wine have been put under pressure, tested. Our love for Jesus is to age gracefully in the wineskin of the LORD’s making because you are for His use and enjoyment first and foremost. It would be wise to ask the LORD if you’re in the right place for maturing. 

"Like wine for you to drink LORD, I'll pour my love on You. Till every drop if gone."  (Words from the Song - Pour My Love On You, by Phillips, Craig and Dean) 

DOWN, BOUND & BLIND

Far too many Christian men, or any man for that matter, are down in a hole, bound by chains and blind to how it happened or how to get free. They’re discontent with their lives, over their heads in debt and so deeply discouraged and distressed about a whole lot of issues. They are blindly going in circles and blind to the way out. More than ever men need to get alone with the LORD to hear from Him; to first repent and then hear what He would say to them directly so they eac can begin their journey of faith with Jesus Christ their LORD.

How does God speak to a man?  From what I’ve read in the Bible and from what I’ve personally experienced I know that He speaks in five ways: He speaks audibly from Heaven. He speaks to your inner spirit by His Spirit with thoughts. He speaks through dreams and vision. He speaks by His Spirit in His written Word. He speaks through His Spirit-filled prophets who have God's pure wisdom. 

When I think of the LORD’s man Samson the first thought that comes to me is not of his great strength, but a blinded enslaved man living each day down under and bound to a treading mill going in circles.

"Then the Philistines seized Samson, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison." Judges 16:21

Samson was called to deliver God’s people, but Samson took sin lightly. He played the sexual game with Delilah and then was surprised when his sin took everything away from him. Now at a great loss, shamed and bound to a mill he repented of his sin and asked the LORD to free him from the heavy hand of the wicked so that he could glorify God once again. I know of so many called and gifted men who are not doing anything for God who likewise have been playing with sin, blind to how it has robbed them of their God-given power and purpose. There is hope for those men because the Word of the LORD assures: “’The deliverer will come… He will turn godlessness away…This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’      As far as the gospel is concerned...they are loved…for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.” Romans 11:26-29

What Satan wants you to believe is that your best years are behind you and there’s nothing you can do to change a thing. God wants to break the enemy’s lies that blind, shame and enslave men. The LORD is able to break the hold that keeps men down and unable to become who they are in Christ Jesus. No matter how many scars or defeats you have God will do something great with your life if you will repent and hold fast to His Word. I know this is true because it happened to me and is still happening to me as my potential has no limitations. 

“Though my back is cut to ribbons with their whips, the LORD is good. For he has snapped the chains that evil men had bound me with.”  Psalm 129:3

Before David became king of Israel he freed the men God sent to him in the cave of Adullam where David hid from King Saul. David kept himself close to the LORD, his Shepherd, and the LORD was faithful to David all his life. Men today have drawn near to the wrong things and wrong people that (and who) ruin a man’s reputation and good future. These men in the cave with David were set free in their hearts and minds by David’s encouragement with the coming kingdom the LORD had anointed him for; a righteous kingdom unlike Saul’s, the one they were all under at the time. It is the same for the LORD’s men today in that we need to think and act as though we are in the LORD’s kingdom even though we are still within the temporary kingdom of Satan.

"David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader." 1 Samuel 22:1-2

David was one godly man who made a difference. The men God sent to David were burdened down with debt wanting out of debt but not finding a way. They were men who had lost jobs and homes. They were men distressed about their failed marriages and their children ruining their lives by bad choices. They were in distress about their future. They were men in need of doing something important with their lives. They were men who had tried many things, even wicked things, and were still unfulfilled. These are the men God sent to David at a time in David's life when he was in hiding and discouraged – wanting to be left alone. I’ve been in this same place when the IRS shut down my 18 year old business, confiscated and sold everything for pennies. I wanted to be left alone to hide from brothers and sulk. But, the LORD didn’t let that happen, just like He didn’t let it happen to David – His anointed.

“The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.” Psalms 146:7-8

“The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” Psalms 145:13-14

“Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.” Psalms 113:5-8

David had been deceived by Saul and treated as an enemy because Saul had found out that David would succeed him as king. Those whom God has called and anointed will be sought after by Satan’s army. David left everything to temporarily live like a fugitive. The Scriptures do not say how long David and his men stayed in the cave, but I would imagine that when you put all these problems together you will have some very strong conversation and emotions.

Why would God throw all these men into this cave with David? David had the anointing of the LORD on him to be the next king after Saul and because David knew this he was fully capable of encouraging himself in the LORD and in any situation. The LORD has much to say about whom you are to Him and what He has for you to do. This personal revelation from their LORD is what every man needs in order to live out their lives. These men were without any hope. I see this same hopelessness in men today that takes them down, deeper and deeper into a dark lonely cold place. David was a man who understood what these men were going through and what they were feeling and so he could sing this song:

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.  Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come — it is written about me in the scroll.  I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.’" Psalms 40:1-8

While in this dark cold lonely place they all began to worship and see the LORD and by David’s testimony they all began to understand the LORD’s purpose for their lives. They began to mesh together for the glory of the LORD. Do you have a group of men you can mesh with for the glory of the LORD?

We are like single raw hard dirty potatoes before we are ready for the LORD to use. After we have come to Jesus Christ the LORD and we ask Him to use us as He chooses - He begins. He peels, He cuts and then He throws us in with others just like us. He turns on the heat and the potatoes start to soften. Impurities surface, but it's not until God starts the mashing that we blend, ready for service. This must have happened in the cave with these men because they came out and took a nation. In the cave, one godly man made a difference in the lives of others and a united force made a difference for the whole nation.

The presence, purpose and praise of the LORD are what make a difference in a man and in a nation. This is all that a man and a nation need in order to see their good future with days of peace and prosperity. Men need to return to the LORD and be led by Him, to walk with Him as friend to friend as the disciples did with Jesus.

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13-14     

Peter and John were men the world did not recognize as important or influential. When Jesus walked the earth He chose twelve men of this type but what He knew about them made them the mighty men with faith that they were who turned the world upside down. Like David with his men, Jesus spent time pouring Himself into the twelve. He taught and trained them in what He came to do with them. People could see that these men had been with Jesus because they began to talk and act like Him. United they brought the kingdom of Christ into the world and it has been increasing ever since with like-minded disciples of every generation since. 

I can see why Satan is afraid of a man who becomes spiritually challenged by the Holy One. The man who is closely bound to the LORD is bound to make a difference in his family and community. Men who eagerly and joyfully live with the LORD and who hear Him speak to them are united to His love and purpose. Free men free other men.

Satan wants you to stand on the side lines bound by sin living a life going no where and feeling sorry for yourself. That ancient liar will always tell you who you are not and what you can't do. But, when you’re with Jesus you find out who you truly are and what He has for you to do that will not only fulfill you but bless the world around you. The disciples followed Jesus and did what He did. He taught them and showed them how to live contrary to the world's religious, financial, educational, industrial and governing systems which are all under the control of Satan, the temporary god of the world.

As we live with Jesus He teaches us and trains us in all we need to know and for all we need to do. The choice is ours. We can remain in debt, distressed and discontented in life or start the journey of faith with Jesus who will show us how to make our life count for eternity.

The morality in our society is slipping away fast. Our marriages and families have suffered for it. Our government and economy no longer benefit the good of the people. The morally depraved want total control and they are getting it.  Christians have been deceived compromising the Word of God. They have resigned to the passive life of going to church and enjoying life the best they can.  They have put God in a box called religion and do not expect God to do the impossible. They have found no reason to put themselves on the line for the LORD who put Himself on the cross for us.  Most Christians have no idea what the LORD requires of them, not really.  They know what their pastor or their employers or their government requires of them and this they do whole-heartedly and they have the wounds, the loss and resentment to show for it.   

Jesus said to his disciples, “Let me illustrate this. You can’t enter a strong man’s house and rob him without first tying him up. Only then can his house be robbed.” (Matthew 12:29)  Are you tied up, bound by chains like Samson?  Are you going in circles no where? Are you watching all you’ve worked hard for slipping through your hands and going out the door?  What is missing in our thinking that would turn this around so that God’s men are free and alert to the battle all around them able to fight and conquer and possess?  What do they really need in order to live successfully and spiritually challenged?  What makes the difference between a man whose enemies are daily robbing him blind and the man with clear vision and who overcomes his enemies and is prospering in every way?

I don’t think the answer is giving men more to do and more programs to manage in the church. I believe that these men need a demonstration of the power of God in their lives that would not only wake them up but ignite the conqueror within them.  Our active faith on the Word of God is our weapon that cuts us loose from ropes and chains.  The powerful and purposeful life of God’s Holy Spirit not only shows us what we need to know, what to do and where to go in faith, but He heals our wounds and keeps our passion for the LORD fresh and alive.

Family, jobs, money, and good health will not satisfy and fulfill a man without a strong relationship with the LORD. Jesus taught us that the greatest thing a man can strive for is to seek God with all his heart, mind and strength.  God is to be our only stronghold.  Nothing else can give a man satisfaction and peace.  Without the strong hold of the LORD on us we will have worry, fear and far more concerns than we can handle. Under any one else’s yoke but His we will be depressed, angry, bitter, and destructive. We will be ever searching and never finding.

Jesus taught His disciples that the Father knows all that we need. If we seek after Him and live our lives according to His kingdom values and principles He will meet all our needs and give us our heart’s desire.  God wants to live in each man’s heart so that the man desires to do His good and perfect will, overcoming sin in his own life and conquering evil throughout the world.  

Inviting the LORD to live out His life in us will have great challenges: daily surrender, personal sacrifices, victories and continual enemies to conquer. But, we will also be among those whom the LORD trusts with all His secrets and works of miracles. Is this the “spiritual challenge” men are hungry for?  Are men even aware that this is what they really need?  If not, then how do Christian men lay down their lives so that the life of Jesus can be lifted up for all to see?

The choice is mine and yours. God waits as long as He has to wait until we want Him more than anyone or anything else.  He watches and waits as we get whipped, cut, chained, blinded and robbed. He watches us procrastinate and resist the good convictions of His Holy Spirit. At the moment He hears our humble cry of repentance and commitment He is ready and fast to pour out His grace and favor. There’s nothing greater than Jesus living out His will through a man without anything left to hinder or beset him.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”    Galatians 5:1

God uses free men; men free from fear, guilt, debt and idols. People are watching us to see if we are living out the words we speak concerning the LORD; if we ourselves believe and if we believe – do we obey what the LORD has said in His written word. Before God can use us like He really wants to use us we need to be consecrated to Him; all reproach removed. And then ask what Joshua asked, “What message does my LORD have for His servant?” (Joshua 5)

In India elephants are controlled simply by being tied to a little wooden post by nothing more than a piece of twine around their foot.  Why don’t they break free? What are they waiting for? Certainly an elephant has plenty of strength to do so.  So what’s in his mind that keeps him convinced that he must stay there bound by a thin piece of string?  When the elephant is young his owner takes him from his mother and with a heavy chain binds him to a large tree.  For a long time the little elephant will tug and pull trying to break free. With no success he only injures himself and eventually he gives up on his freedom for fear of further injury.  He accepts what his trainer wants him to think.  Has the enemy been able to do the same with us?  What’s the chain he uses with you to keep you from your God-given freedom?

To most men the life they believe they are living by faith is nothing more than the life of a trained elephant.  Men are shackled in their minds because of false belief and teaching. Or, they are held captive by some unhealed wound of the past. Or, they are deceived by their own selfish ambitions. This is not the life of faith God has in mind. With all that is coming against us today to deceive and control us - more than ever men need to hear direct from the LORD so that they can be set free to live the life that is truly life.

“Guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.” 1 Timothy 6:20-21

ASK ME

In my quiet time I read from the New Living Bible and as I read - parts of the scriptures stood out to me as though someone had highlighted them for me.

Psalms 2:8 “Only ask, and I will give you.”

Psalms 3:4 “I cried out to the Lord and he answered me.”

Psalms 4:3 “The Lord will answer when I call to him.”

Psalms 5:3 “For I pray to no one but you. I listen to your voice in the morning Lord, and wait expectantly.”

As I meditated on these verses I was compelled to ask of the LORD.  When I thought about asking for the needs of others, as I usually do, I sensed that what the LORD was telling me was not for anyone else, but me. So I began to consider what to ask of the LORD.

In Ecclesiastes 9:11 the Spirit said to me, “It is all decided, by being in the right place at the right time.” Then again in 2 Corinthians 6:2 He spoke, “At just the right time, I heard you - the right time is now.” This got me thinking as to what is missing in most of my prayers. I thought about knowledge and wisdom and I meditated on each one separately and then together. I believe the most frustrating thing is to have one without the other. Knowledge without wisdom is like knowing what to do but not knowing when to do it. Wisdom without knowledge is like knowing you need to do something, but what? What good is knowledge of what to do but not recognizing God’s timing for it? Worse yet, is neither understanding what should be done nor the right timing for it.  Jesus told the Pharisees that they had missed their great opportunity because they did not recognize God’s timing for them.  (Luke 19:41-45) 

Along with these Scriptures from my quiet time I saw that knowledge and wisdom are two great spiritual commodities. I began to pray asking God for knowledge and wisdom, and as I prayed I saw a big fruit tree with the ripest fruit hanging low and easy to pick. Each fruit had a name on it: family members, finance, different businesses and many more.  

Like Solomon who asked for wisdom over wealth and riches, I realized that when I asked for knowledge and wisdom – the best thing, that God showed me this tree as if to say that I am also giving you all this fruit with it. When both are working together there is power, prosperity, and purpose fulfilled. 

Being in the right place at the right time with the right vision and being right with the LORD – is power. Miracles are bound to happen. 

Friends,

The LORD, through His spirit, spoke to me and then confirmed it by His word and again by what was shared to me later in that day.

Some of you will not accept what I am about to say, but that is okay. I am only responsible to share with you what the Lord says. How you receive it is between you and Him.  He has been speaking to me about future events, showing me that there are 3 sets of 7 years ahead of us. This is the year 2010. These next 7 years are the first set which will bring abundance to the Lord’s servants. The next 7 years will be of hardship. The third set of 7 years will be a time of great tribulation.

In these next 7 years (beginning 2010) the Lord is going to bring abundance to those whom have proven trustworthy. We are to live as if living in the second 7 years, the years of hardship, during those 7 years of abundance. That means we are not to use what God is going to give us for our selfish pleasures. We are to be disciplined and wise with it because…..

In the 7 years to follow (second set of 7) people will come to us to buy from us because they (believers) did not prepare for this time. This is a time for the wise to acquire great wealth. This release of wealth is not just for us but to be used to prepare for the last 7 years of tribulation, for those who will call on the Lord in the worse time on the earth. 

I was reading (online) about Russia wanting to send a rocket into space to detour an asteroid from hitting the earth in the year 2027-2028. In the book of Revelation – a star falls from the sky.

Revelation 8:10-11: "The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water - the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.”

I sense the Lord seriously wants us to grasp how soon His return is.

Then I read Titus 3:14 which says, “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.”

Then the LORD continued to speak to me in Jeremiah 12:5 which says, “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”

I believe the wisdom in all this is that we need to understand the times in which we live, be productive and self sufficient so that we can provide not only for ourselves but for others during the time of hardship & tribulation. Life as we know it has changed. Hard times will increase quickly, picking up speed. We need to be watchful and ready for every opportunity the LORD presents us.  Windows of opportunity will quickly come but also shut quickly. We won’t be able to hem and haw around; we will need to move by faith keeping in step with the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 24:45-48 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

I was thinking about the movie “City Slickers.” There’s a place where Billy Crystal and Jack Palance are riding together and Billy is telling him about his busy life, that he finds no satisfaction in it. Jack looks at Billy and raises one finger to say, “One thing.” Jack never tells Billy what that one thing in life is that brings satisfaction, but Billy is so moved by it that he goes in search of it. 

In Luke 10:38-42 Jesus is coming to the house of Mary and Martha.  Martha knows that when Jesus comes He will not be coming alone and so she prepares for His arrival by making sure the meal is ready and that everyone will be comfortable in her clean house. Mary, on the other hand, goes to Jesus’ feet and listens to Him talk. Martha comes to Jesus and complains that Mary isn’t helping her. Jesus says, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it.”

Most of you know that every Saturday I play golf. This last week while preparing for a tournament on the driving range I either tore my ACL or have a meniscus tear in my knee, so I was told by the doctor.  I could barely walk so I went to have it looked at and then went home. I asked the Lord, “Why?” The thought that came to me was Psalms 23; that the Lord makes me lie down by still waters. The key words are “He makes me” because it’s hard for me.  He will do whatever it takes to get us still with Him so we can hear His words to us.

Luke 9:35 came to me, where God speaks to Peter and says, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to Him.”  I sensed the Lord was telling me I was like Martha. I am busy in this life and have not chosen the one thing that will give me peace, satisfaction and direction in life, which comes only by listening to Jesus.

When a shepherd has a lamb that keeps wandering off, the wise shepherd breaks its leg and then places it around his neck and carries it till the leg is healed. In this, the sheep learns to know the shepherd’s voice. Jesus said my sheep will know my voice.

Then I was reminded what Jesus told his disciples earlier in Luke 9:1 that He was sending them out with His power and authority - in His Name. When they came back they reported to Jesus with amazement all they were able to do in His Name. Then came a test on the words they had heard from Jesus. People had followed them for days and were hungry. To the disciples their solution was to send them away so they could go get food, but Jesus said, “You feed them.” He wanted them to realize they still had their power and authority with His Name.  Jesus asked them, “What is available?” The act of faith was to act upon Jesus’ words and take a basket of 2 small fish and 5 loaves of bread to Jesus to be multiplied. So, with empty baskets they came and they saw them being miraculously filled so that everyone was full.

Putting myself in their place I wonder if those words “You Feed Them” rang in their ears each time they brought another empty basket to Him to be filled.  By acting upon what Jesus said they saw the power of His words.  In this case, they saw one basket being used by Jesus to fill all the other baskets until all 5,000 men present were fed along with their wives and children.

So what does all this mean to me?  Am I too busy with living my own life that I have missed the only one thing that can bring me satisfaction, peace and that gives me purpose in life?  Have I been too busy to listen to Jesus? Faith is based upon what we do with His direct words to us. Faith comes by hearing (from Him) and acting upon what I hear.

Faith is very simple but so hard for us to do. The Lord’s words will stir some fear in us because it is beyond what we can do in our selves, and yet, it is the only way we will be able to see that HIS power and authority, His favor and approval is in us. If we should be brave enough to get going with what He said, then once we’re on that journey we will see obstacles in the way that will try and stop us from doing what Jesus told us to do. Faith keeps going and knows that what is seen and in our way cannot stop us because of what the Lord has said.

Some of us are like Martha who had her feelings hurt by the Lord. We might even need some drastic thing to happen like our leg being crippled for a time.  Whatever it takes, the Lord will do - so that we will listen to Him and no one else.

My challenge to you: What has Jesus said to you personally and directly, through His word, through His Spirit to your spirit?  Have you heard Him audibly or in your dreams? The key is to act upon what He has said. Don’t look at the visible things because what Jesus says to do will not always make sense at first. Be like the disciples who found out, by their active faith, that they had the power and authority Jesus said they had. Take what is available now and bring it to Him and watch it be multiplied to you. The world around us needs to see Jesus, His provision and protection in a time of lack.