Faith moves God… there is no doubt about this.

Two women as an example:

The woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:21-34)

Jesus was with his disciples and there was a crowd around them, pushing against Jesus. But then, in the midst of the crowd pushing against him, he noticed that someone had touched him differently. Just imagine! In the midst of the crowd, he noticed a touch that was different, that was deliberate, that was a conscious step… he noticed even in the midst of the crowd!

Lesson: There might be so many people praying and calling out to him for different reasons, but faith will catch his attention, faith will make him turn towards you…

Even his disciples said “ You see people crowding against you and yet you ask “who touched me?” but Jesus kept looking for that woman who touched him differently. Knowing she was healed, she came to Jesus feet… Her faith healed her.

The Canaanite woman (Matthew 15: 21-28)

She was a Canaanite asking for her daughter to be healed, "am here for the lost sheep of Israel.." Jesus said. But she was desperate and his disciples urged Jesus to send her away. So Jesus turned to her and said,"it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs”. The woman agreed with Jesus but she replied saying “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the masters’ table”.

And that statement moved Jesus to heal her daughter.

Lesson: Regardless of who you are, where you come from, where you have been… Your faith in him will make you whole.

So, this morning my husband preached this message to me and it was a word I really needed at this time and I felt I should share it with someone. A lot has been going through my mind recently and I just felt that I needed God’s direction on so many things and these were God’s words to me through my husband. He said to me;

Honey, great battles are won by faith, you cant continue to wallow in self pity, you need to brace up and be courageous and trust God to move on your behalf. Its ok to wallow in pity, but it is faith that moves God to do the unimaginable. God is compassionate, he can decide to have compassion and satisfy your desires, but faith will move him to do much more than you desire.

Remember the man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15), God had compassion on him, there were so many people by that pool waiting to be healed, but God knowing that man had tried for years decided to have compassion and heal him. But do you remember the woman with the issue of blood? (Luke 8: 43- 48) God said your faith has made you whole. Faith wrought great miracles.

Its good for God to have compassion on you and grant you your heart desires, but if you have faith, you please him (God) to do much more, (without faith, no man can please God). So do you want your miracle by faith or by compassion? God is always ready to help either way, but let your faith move him, he is waiting for you, seek him and trust him, he wont fail you.

Still walking…..

“ A person who says “ I will meet you halfway” is a poor judge of distance”. -Michael Easley

The 50/50 approach to a marriage relationship especially when it comes to roles and responsibilities is not always the best. These are some of the characteristics of a 50/50 marriage:

*Acceptance is based on performance: in this case, performance becomes the basis of what holds the relationship together. Therefore failure to perform will lead to a break down.

*The giving affection is based on merit: in this case, the husband or wife will give affection to each other, only when the other party deserves it or has earned it.

*Motivation for action is based of feelings: “ I don’t feel like it”. Most times feelings are deceptive and are prone to change. Should the way we feel stop us from doing the right thing? I don’t think so.

*Rejection is based on focusing on weakness: in a marriage relationship, both spouses should go all the way in satisfying each other. Both parties will constantly fall short of halfway because each person defines the midpoint differently.

There is a thin line here, focusing on the weakness of the other party should not lead to rejection, also the strength should not be the basis for acceptance. The idea is that, either weakness or strength, we should love our spouses all the way- 100%.

A lot of times we say “ how can I submit, if he does not love me has Christ love the church?” or “how can I love if she is not respectful?”If Christ loved us while we were yet sinners, are we not supposed to be Christ-like in love?