Double Miracle | Miracles of Jesus Christ

Up until now we have seen the miracles of Jesus in three of the four Gospels. Today we will read about a double miracle that is only found in the book of Matthew. This account follows on the heels of the two miracles we read about last week: the 12 year old girl raised from the dead and the woman with the issue of blood healed after 12 years of suffering. Let's read the text first.

Matthew 9:27-31 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when He was come into the house, the blind men came to Him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad His fame in all that country.

After word spread about Jesus healing the woman who had been hemorrhaging for more than a decade and raising Jairus' daughter from the dead, people started seeking Jesus for their own miracles. Much like today, the world was in desperate need for a Savior, a Healer, and a Teacher. Two blind men were in need of one such miracle. The Bible says they beg Jesus to have mercy on them. Jesus went into a house and they followed Him. They wanted to see! Jesus point-blank asked them if they believed He was able to do this. Why was their faith in Him so important?

Imagine for a moment there is a pipe in the ground. The pipe is a conduit for water in our example. Now imagine there is a blockage of some sort in the pipe. The water is not able to flow freely through the pipe. The water cannot come out of the pipe, not because there is no water, but the water is not free to flow. Now think of our lives as that pipe. The blockage to our own miracles is often doubt, or unbelief. We simply do not trust God. The water is the power of God in this example. The problem is not that God does not have the power to perform miracles, but rather, His power does not flow through us when we do not believe.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Jesus wants these blind men to trust Him. He asks them specifically if they believe that He is able to restore their sight. These men said yes! What are you wanting God to do in your life? Do you trust Him to do it? If you want things like power, money, fame, notoriety, etc. you probably will not receive those things. God desires to be in fellowship with you. Often those things will lead to pride and selfishness instead of drawing you closer to Him. This is why we must be careful to check our motives when we are asking God for things.

1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.

These men had confidence that Jesus was able to heal them and I believe they were expecting a miracle. Jesus did that for them. Their faith caused the power of God to flow freely in their lives. Others did not get the same flow of healing virtue because of doubt. We read about that just a few chapters later, and Mark's account agrees.

Matthew 13:57-58 And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Mark 6:4-6 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And He marvelled because of their unbelief. And He went round about the villages, teaching.

This text tells us that Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith! We must believe God is able to help us and if we do not have faith we cannot expect to receive anything from God. James 1:6-7 reads, But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

Once the blind men were healed Jesus sternly warned them not to tell anyone what happened. But as soon as they left they told everyone in the land what Jesus had done for them. Of course they were elated to have the gift of sight. They wanted others to rejoice in what the Lord had done for them. Why would Jesus not want them to tell anyone?

Friends I believe that Jesus did not want the focus to be on the miracles then or even now. Jesus died to save us from our sins. His precious blood was the currency to pay for our sin. The Bible says in Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 22:14-20 And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God shall come. And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you.

Jesus tells the twelve that He earnestly desired to eat this special meal with them. He is telling them then and us now that the most important thing to remember is not the miracles, the loaves and the fishes, and all the supernatural things He did to help us have better lives. The most important thing to remember is the miracle of the cross! The redemption of His body and blood to save us from eternal separation from Him. 1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Let's ask God for the things we need but do not seek the miracles, seek Jesus!

I have enjoyed studying the miracles of Jesus Christ with you all. I hope to continue these blog posts on Mondays beginning in November. We will continue to study them throughout the rest of this year. We are to read about these miracles and be encouraged and build our faith, but we must not forget that Jesus never came to perform miracles, but rather we know He came to save us.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

I hope you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and are walking with Him. If not, please call upon the name of Jesus Christ and be saved today. He loves you so much that He took your punishment and offers you a free gift of eternal life with Him.

If you are saved and seeking a miracle, do not give up! God loves you and wants to help you and heal you. That might be instantaneous or it might be a journey, but the outcome is the same: He wants to draw you closer to Himself. Allow Him to transform your life!

I hope something I shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Psalm 32 | Wednesday Bible Study

Welcome back to Bible Study Wednesday! Before we start our Bible study together, I wanted to make a couple of announcements. First of all, today is my baby boy's 15TH birthday! Wow! My brother and I were talking today about where has the time gone! He used to get off work in the wee hours of the morning and take care of Javan so I could sleep for a few hours. It was pretty brutal in the beginning and I am so thankful for his love and care for my newborn. Javan is so much like my brother it is actually a little scary! But I am thankful for my brother and my baby boy, who is not a baby any longer but he will always be my baby!

He loves to go fishing and this summer he did quite a bit of that with his daddy while he recovered from surgery. It was really nice to see him do something fun near the water since he couldn't get in. Paul and I picked out his birthday cake and it was just a lot of fun to surprise him with this particular cake! He loved it!

In other, not so exciting news, I have injured myself. It happened on Saturday and it hurt quite a bit, but I just went on about my day. Sunday I missed church. I could hardly get out of bed, but I figured maybe I had slept wrong. I watched church online and getting out of bed was a chore! I did not put the injury Saturday afternoon together with the Sunday morning aches and pains. I got worse as the day went on. Monday I could hardly walk and I had to cancel my training for Tuesday at my new job. I was really disappointed but I could not even stand up straight.

I made an appointment with my chiropractor and he got me in Tuesday. Paul helped me from the vehicle to the office and then I literally was wheeled out in a wheelchair. The pain has been excruciating. I felt a little better Tuesday afternoon and was able to lay on some ice and take some anti-inflammatory medication and rest. My doctor said no work for me the rest of this week. I was back in there today for more therapy. I was walking a little better, but still require assistance and cannot stand up straight. It is all I can do to walk to the car and then back inside. I have an appointment tomorrow and another on Friday. I am hoping to be back to walking upright and without the pain on Tuesday and throughout the week next week. Please say a prayer for me.
 

If you have been with me on this journey this year, you know God pressed upon my heart to study the book of Psalms. Each Wednesday we take a closer look at a new chapter. Today we are going to chapter 32. If you have not done so, please take the time to read through these 11 verses. I will be sharing some thoughts about today's passage and break down this chapter below. Please pray and ask Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes and ears to receive everything He has to teach you in today's passage. Let's begin!

Verses 1-2

Did you ever think of how blessed we are to have our sins forgiven? Our sins are covered by the precious blood of Jesus Christ if we have been saved by His mercy and grace. We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb if we have surrendered our lives to Him, confessed our sins, and asked Jesus to be the Lord of our life.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-21 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Friends, we are reconciled to God, our Heavenly Father, through the blood of Jesus and His work on the cross. That is why we are blessed! That is a reason to rejoice. Our sins are wiped away and He will blot them out, never to remember them anymore.

Verses 3-5

David is having a hard time wrestling with his sin that is separating him from God. He has no peace. He has no pleasure. He is miserable. Sin causes us to live in a miserable state. Do you remember what David had done? He used his power and influence to have an affair with another man's wife. He got her pregnant and formed a plan to cover it up and look like it was Uriah's baby. Uriah was an honorable man and would not take the bait. He was a man of war and he would not leave the war and his men behind while he had pleasure with his wife. David ordered Uriah be put on the front lines and have the soldiers pull back which would end Uriah's life in the battle.

Think of all the work David did to hide his sin, but it did not work. He says there was a heaviness on him day and night. He could not sleep it off. He could not busy himself with the affairs of his kingdom. That sin was constantly gnawing at him. He knew he had messed up. He lost his strength. He was not the man he used to be and he could not even look at his own reflection.

2 SAMUEL 12:7-14 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee *such and such (much more) things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

Now that we have looked back in time to that instance and we see how David was burdened and disconnected from God, we also see David's quick admittance that he was guilty. He acknowledged the sin without excusing it away. He was repentant and that is why God forgave him. When we admit our guilt and we do not wish to continue in that path, God forgives us, too. 1 JOHN 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I am so thankful for this promise.

Verses 6-7

David gives us a prayer to pray when we need forgiveness and during a time when we need to find God. He says to pray:

Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto me. You are my hiding place. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Then David asks us to Selah, or pause and wonder.

Isn't that fantastic? David is saying though our sins and troubles may seem overwhelming and like a flood of emotions washing over us, we can rest in the hiding place and be safe from trouble. The forgiveness of God will surround us with singing of our deliverance. What a beautiful picture of God's redeeming love, mercy, and grace for you and I.

Verses 8-9

In response to that prayer, God speaks to us as well. He says:

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse, or the mule, who have no understanding. Their mouth must be held in with bit and bridle to control them. Do not be like that!

Friends, if we respond to the Lord as He leads us and guides us, we will walk in the paths He has created for us. He has already gone before us and the roads may be hard at times, but they build us and strengthen us to have more faith in Him. If we trust Him we will follow His lead. If we give in to fear or selfish ambitions we are like the stubborn horses and mules who must be forced to go where they would rather not. Let's follow along in obedience.

Verses 10-11

It's hard to disobey God. It may seem easy to follow the crowd and do what we want to do with no regard to what would please the Lord, but the lifestyle is hard. Do you remember the sorrow and torment David went through? Many sorrows will be felt by the wicked. The good news is when we trust and obey the Lord and do what we know is right and pleasing in His sight, we will have mercy surrounding us. That is a wonderful blessing!

David usually gives us instructions, or something to do -- a call to action, perhaps. The last verse of this beautiful chapter is telling us to be glad in the LORD. We are to rejoice and shout for joy. Get excited about what God is doing in your life. Great things are coming your way and it will overtake you! Another verse in Psalms comes to mind along these lines. It is one of my favorite scriptures.

PSALM 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

What a wonderful time in the Word this has been. I pray it has been a blessing to you. Lord willing, I will have a blog post up tomorrow sharing what I am thankful for, and some Biblical insight to think about throughout your weekend. As always, I hope that something you have read on the blog today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Psalm 25 | Wednesday Bible Study

Welcome back to Bible Study Wednesday! This year God has pressed upon my heart to study the book of Psalms. Each Wednesday we take a closer look at a new chapter. Today we are going to chapter 25. If you have not done so, please take the time to read through these 22 verses. I will be sharing some thoughts about today's passage and break down this chapter below. Please pray and ask Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes and ears to receive everything He has to teach you in today's passage. Let's begin!

This is another psalm composed by David. This particular psalm is like a prayer that we might pray when we face difficult circumstances and obstacles in our way. Have you ever been there? I know that I am facing some tough situations that have left me shaken to my core. I am fighting with every fiber in my being to just get back to the closeness I once felt with God. I have not turned my back on God and He absolutely will never forsake nor abandon me. But sometimes when He is the closest we may feel Him the least. Did you catch that? Sometimes when He is the absolute closest to us, we may feel His presence the least. He is teaching us to wait and to trust, instead of to fear and run.

Verse 1

I want to sit with verse one for a minute. I do not want to glaze past this key verse. If you want to have a close relationship with God, you can take a literal page from David's book and watch how he speaks to God. Watch how he composes his thoughts and how he makes his requests known. First and foremost David does not go to God with a list of a bunch of complaints. He does not lead with that, in fact, we will watch how he communicates with God, but the key to all of this is to first acknowledge God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy steps.

David says in verse one, "Unto Thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul." David goes straight to God and he says, "God, I lift my soul to You. This is bigger than me. This is smaller than you. You can handle this, God, but I cannot. I lift my soul to You." Have we done that? Believe me when I say that this particular study is more for me, Bridgett, than for you, the reader. I hope you get some revelation and clarity and encouragement from this, but I desperately need this right now.

Jesus said, in Matthew 6:9, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name." His name is to be revered, respected, hallowed. We are to come to God with humble reverence knowing He is Sovereign. He is God. He is Holy. He is Righteous. He is All Powerful. We must not approach Him the way we speak to our fellow man. He is to be reverenced and respected. David said, "I lift up my soul to You, LORD." He is Jehovah. He is first and He is exalted. We must not forget that. Society tells us Jesus is our personal Savior and then we start putting God in a personal size box. Please do not do that! Yes it requires a personal relationship but it is not to diminish who He is.

Verse 2

Do you trust God? Do you really trust Him to take care of the things going left in your life? You try to do things upright with integrity, but are you allowing Jesus to take the wheel and be in full control of the destiny? Are you trying to manipulate the situation to go in the direction you think it should go? Remember what happened when Sarai gave Abram her handmaid to conceive children with? Sarai grew tired of waiting on God to open her womb so she took matters into her own hands, but it was not what God wanted.

Genesis 16:1 and 3: Now Sarai, Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

God promised to bless Abraham and Sarah with a son in Genesis 17:15-16. Abraham laughed and questioned how a child could be born of him who is 99 years old and Sarah that is 90? He said, "O that Ishmael might live before Thee God." But God said the blessing would not come through Ishmael, but through Isaac that Sarah would bear. Sometimes we get our hands in the mix and muddy the waters. God is trying to do something spectacular and they are not able to comprehend it, so they do not wait well. Could this be our story?

David says in the second verse, I trust You God. Don't let me be ashamed. In other words, he is putting his confidence and steadfast, unwavering faith in God. He is praying that God will not allow David to be put to shame in front of those who are watching him. He is asking for victory over his enemies. The devil is our enemy and he wants us to run in fear and cower when he threatens us. He is a liar and we must run to the shelter, the High Tower, and be saved!

Verse 3-7

These are David's requests:

*Do not let anyone who waits on You, God be ashamed.

*Let the ones who deal treacherously and sin without a reason be ashamed.

*Show me Your ways, O LORD.
*Teach me Your paths.

*Lead me in Your truth.

*Teach me.

*Remember Your mercies and loving kindnesses.

*Forget my sins from my youth.

*Forget my transgressions.

*According to Your mercy, remember me for Your goodness' sake.

He declares:

*You are the God of my salvation.

*I will wait on You all day.

*Your mercies and loving kindnesses are from eternity.

What does your list look like? David is asking for forgiveness and mercy. He wants to be pardoned and redeemed. He wants to be remembered by God. He wants God to teach him and lead him in God's ways. He knows he cannot do anything on his own. What are we saying to God? What declarations are we making? Are we willing to wait all day on God? Do we long for His salvation, His mercy, and His loving kindness?

Verses 8-10

David goes right into the characteristics of God.

+Good

+Upright

+He teaches sinners the right way to go.

+He guides the humble in justice.

+He teaches the humble the right way to go.

+The paths of the LORD are mercy.

+The truth is for those who keep His covenant.

+The truth is for those who keep His testimonies.

Are you living your life in a way that reflects the righteousness of God? He teaches sinners and the humble. He is not just showing a few people the right way to walk, He teaches everyone. It is up to us individually if we say yes to His ways or yes to our own.

Verses 11

David repents of his sins. He asks God to pardon him for God's name sake. David knows he is not worthy of forgiveness: none of us are. God chooses to forgive us because He loves us that much! Do you have unconfessed sin in your life? Take the time now and ask God to blot it out. Ask Him to cleanse you from all filthiness of the flesh and all unrighteousness.

Verses 12-14

David says that the man who fears God will be taught what way to go. His soul will live at ease and his children shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." The LORD God will share intimately with those that fear Him. He shares secrets others cannot know and He will show them what He has promised them. Are we living in a way that this verse is about us? If not, we can repent like David did, and ask for that connection and partnership that God longs to have with us.

Verses 15-22

David has his eyes on God. If we keep our eyes on Jesus we will not fail. Remember Peter walked on the water with Jesus but the moment he stopped looking at Jesus and looked at his circumstances surrounding him, he began to sink. Matthew 14:29-31 And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous (violent), he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Are you like David with your eyes steadfast on God? Or are you more like Peter and you start out locked on the Master and then you feel the waves and violent wind and you know that it does not make sense for you to be able to walk on water and yet you are, and now confusion and doubt sweeps through your mind? Are you of little faith like Peter who started out well but then began to sense the trouble surrounding him? If you are more like Peter and less like David in this particular instance, just ask for Him to save you and He will immediately pick you up out of your miry clay and will set you in the safety of the boat. He will not leave you stranded. What if Peter did not ask for Jesus to save him? He would have struggled and possibly drowned in the horrible storm. Jesus did not let that happen, but Peter had to ask for His help. Are we still trying to prove that we are tough, or are we willing to stretch our hand out and ask the Master to save us?

Again in verse 20, David asks God to keep his soul because "I put my trust in Thee." He again asks that God not let him be put to shame for trusting in Him. He prays, "Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on Thee." In the waiting we must maintain our integrity and honesty. Though the promise seems to be delayed and we cannot see what God said He would give us, we cannot lose our faith and hope in the only Trustworthy God. We cannot give up in the waiting, but we must continue to trust Him. David ends with, "Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles." Are we asking Him the same thing?

God is a good, good Father. He is going to hear and answer our prayers. We can have confidence of this. 1 JOHN 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us; And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired (asked) of Him.

I pray that today's Bible study has been a blessing to you. It has been encouraging to me and I really hope it has been the same for you. It is good to find a place in the Bible where someone else was in similar situations and we see their prayers and questions and how God blessed them and answered them. We know we have confidence to ask for things from God that He wants us to have and we will have them. We may have to wait a lot longer than we anticipated and it can feel like we should just give up and walk away, but God is going to come through for us and it will be better than we ever could have imagined it to be.

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

3 Ships | Fuel For The Weekend

Sometimes God gives me a word, a phrase, or a concept and I will write it down, but then it may be a while before God gives me the full download. On May 4, 2022, God gave me three words: Relationship, Friendship, Kinship. Today, I want to share three SHIPS God wants us to join Him in, what can hinder us from being in each SHIP, and what our responsibility is if we say yes.

RELATIONSHIP -the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected; the state of being connected by blood or marriage; the way in which two or more people or groups regard and behave toward each other.

God wants a relationship with us. We are connected to God by His Son Jesus. It is through the blood of Jesus that we are redeemed to God, and it paid for the sins that separated us from God. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We have all sinned and so we are all separated from God until we are cleansed in His blood. Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

If we will not choose Jesus to be our Lord, and if we refuse to admit our sins or turn from them, then we will not be in relationship with God. John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. John 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. Jesus is the only Way to get to God. If we try to get to God any other way than a real relationship with Jesus Christ, we will not make it to heaven. That will hinder us from joining Jesus in the ship.

What is our responsibility to have a relationship with Jesus? Matthew 10:32-33 Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven. We must confess Jesus Christ is Lord and admit we have sinned. He will forgive us and cleanse us. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  When we do these things we will have a relationship with Jesus.

FRIENDSHIP -the emotions or conduct of friends; the state of being friends; a relationship between friends; a state of mutual trust and support between allied nations.

Jesus showed us what it is to be a friend. He said this in John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus loved us so much that He laid down His life for all of us, His friends and His foes. Abraham was the friend of God. What did he do to get that title? James 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

It sounds great to be called the Friend of God, doesn't it? So what are some things that hinder us from being His friend? James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adultresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. In today's culture, that is some strong statements, isn't it? To be a friend of the world is to be the enemy of God. What is friendship with the world? What does that look like? It looks like living for yourself, pleasing others, looking for fulfillment apart from God; in a career or relationship or being famous. Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? What good is it to be rich and famous in this life and have the entire world applaud you but in the life to come you are tormented for eternity because you never made room for God? You never put Him first. How can we prevent being friends with the world and instead be the Friend of God? 1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Our responsibility to have a friendship with God is found in the book of John. John 15:14-15 Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. We are to do what Jesus commands. We are to love one another. We are to love our enemies. We are to love God. We must keep His commandments and they are not hard. 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. When we choose to obey Christ and follow Him instead of dancing to the piper of this world, we will have friendship with God.

KINSHIP -blood relationship; a sharing of characteristics or origins.

God granted our pardon through the blood of Jesus. 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Our relationship with God is secured by the blood of Jesus Christ.

We were without salvation before we had a relationship with Jesus Christ. Now we are family of God when we are born again. Ephesians 2:11-13 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at the time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. The blood of Jesus washed us clean and it allows us to draw near to Him. In Revelation chapter one, verse five it says that Jesus loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. That is such a perfect picture of how He cleansed us.

What can hinder this kind of kinship with Jesus? John 3:16-21 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world: but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. To hinder kinship with Jesus is to reject Him. To hear the truth of God's Word and refuse to believe it. To want the darkness and evil deeds more than to walk in the light and revelation of Jesus Christ. This will not only keep you out of the family of God, but it will give you permanent residence in hell for all of eternity.

It is through the love of Jesus that we are free and in kinship with Him. We are in His family. 1 John 3:1-2 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. How do we become the children of God? We must accept Jesus Christ. John 1:11-13 He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Our responsibility in being in the family of God is to accept Jesus Christ, be washed in His blood, have our sins forgiven, and live our lives to please Him. And the greatest responsibility is to tell others about Jesus so they can be in the family of God, too. Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 

I hope that you will be in relationship with God, enjoy friendship with God, and become a family member in kinship with God. You have the choice right now. If you are a part of God's family, have you invited your family and friends to be a part of God's family, too? Remember the Great Commission Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20. We must tell them all. This weekend, as you encounter friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers, be sure to invite them to join Jesus in these three ships today! God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Psalm 21 | Wednesday Bible Study

School is officially out for the summer here and the weather did not get the memo. I am not complaining because it is still spring for another month and I do not particularly care for heat and humidity. It has been in the 60's and very rainy! The bad part about so much rain is that I have heard many of the farmers have not planted crops yet!!! It has been too wet. What is the weather like where you are?

I hope you are ready for another Wednesday Bible study session. We are jumping right in to the twenty-first psalm today. There are only 13 verses in this psalm of David. As usual, if you have not read the text, please do so. Remember to take some time in prayer to ask Holy Spirit for insight, wisdom, and understanding. If you want to take notes, grab a notebook and something to write with. I encourage you to keep your Bible open during our study. Feel free to leave me a comment below sharing your thoughts on today's lesson!

Verses 1-2

This is a psalm of rejoicing. David is taking great joy and pleasure in God's strength and salvation. He is happy that God has given him the desires of his heart and not withheld anything from him that he spoke. 

Psalm 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.

To fully understand the joy that he feels, we must turn back a few books in 2 Samuel chapter seven. David wants to build God a house of cedar and God said, "Shalt thou build Me an house for Me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying, Why build ye not Me an house of cedar?"

David is in a good place. His enemies are at peace with him and he is in a place of rest. God tells David He took him from shepherding sheep to ruling His people. He says, "I was with you wherever you went, destroyed your enemies, and made you a great name, like other great men known in the earth." He gives David a vision of what He will do for His people, the children of Israel, and even a promise of what is to come after David dies. God said this of David's son, Solomon, "He shall build an house for My name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever." That's a lot to shout about! 

2 Samuel 7:26-29 And let Thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of Thy servant David be established before Thee. For Thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to Thy servant, saying, I will build Thee an house: therefore hath Thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto Thee. And now, O Lord GOD, Thou art that God, and Thy words be true, and Thou hast promised this goodness unto Thy servant: Therefore now let it please Thee to bless the house of Thy servant, that it may continue for ever before Thee: for Thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with Thy blessing let the house of Thy servant be blessed for ever.

Verses 3-7

David is elated and in these next few verses he is honoring God with his praise. He says God met him with the goodness of His blessings and put a gold crown on his head. He asked for life and it was granted him. God established the kingdom of David forever! In verse seven he says, "For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved." My Bible says the word MOVED means SHAKEN. So, David is saying through God Almighty's mercy nothing will shake David! He is immovable! Can we say that today? Yes!! We can say the world can come against us, surround us and make us feel afraid, but we have a strong and high tower to run into and we are saved. Jesus is our refuge and through His mercy and grace we are unshakable!

Verses 8-12

These verses leading up to the chapter wrap-up is all about God's ability to find, destroy, and annihilate David's enemies. We have an enemy, too. His name is Satan and God is much stronger. He knows where the enemy is and when we call upon God we are helped, saved, and victorious over our foes!

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

These verses are encouraging to us, because like David, we are fighting an enemy of God, and we know God will bring us the victory! 2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him. (Amplified Bible) Isn't that a beautiful picture of what God does for us?

Verse 12

David ends this psalm magnifying God like he does so often in this book. "Be Thou exalted, LORD, in Thine own strength; so will we sing and praise Thy power." Yes, let's exalt the name of Jesus. Let's magnify Him and lift Him up. Let's end this Bible study in praise and worship adoring our King Jesus and all His goodness and love.

I am sure this song pleased God so much. What are we singing to God? Are we lifting our voice in praise and adoration? Will we remember the blessings God has given us and rejoice with David today? We have so much to be thankful for. It's not Thankful Thursday, but we should be counting our blessings every single day. God's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-24), and He has daily loaded us with benefits (Psalm 68:9), so His praise needs to be continually in our mouths (Psalm 34:1) (Luke 1:64)!

I hope you enjoyed today's Bible study. I enjoy sharing what I have learned and each week I am gleaning new hope, new inspiration, new joy, and new strength as we study together. I hope something you learned today has given you strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Answered Prayer | Thankful Thursday

It's Thankful Thursday; time to count our blessings. What has God been doing in your lives lately? What blessings are you counting today? I read a really encouraging passage this morning. I opened my Bible and there it was on the page. Don't you love how God does that? I want to share the verse today.

1 JOHN 5:13-15 (13)These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (14)And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us; (15)And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired (asked) of Him.

This encouraged me when I read it because it tells me that I have assurance in Jesus that if I ask anything in line with God's will He will give me what I am praying for. Why is this so important to know? It is important to know that when we pray for things that God wants us to have, we will get them because it increases our faith. We do not have to doubt or fear that God will say no or ignore us. The enemy likes to torment us and say that our requests are trivial and God is too busy to be bothered. He makes us believe that God does not care about the cares and passions we have but that is a lie.

Today I am excited to know God loves me. He hears my prayers and He is going to answer me! That is something to be thankful for!! God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

National Day of Prayer | Thankful Thursday

Hello friends. Today is National Day of Prayer. It is a time of fasting and prayer for many of us. Some may have prayed in a group before work or school; others may have a special ceremony at church or elsewhere. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. That is very possible to do. It is to have a direct line of communication with our Heavenly Father who will meet our every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus according to Philippians 4:19.

In our world today, we have so much to pray about. There are issues in our cities, states, our country, our government leaders, and in our world. We have personal issues we are dealing with as well. There is no shortage of things to pray about.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus. Whatever we are facing, we can, and should, take it to God in prayer, asking our Heavenly Father, with gratitude. We are promised that when we take our problems to God and spend time with Him in prayer, we will receive the peace of God to keep our hearts and minds through Jesus. What kind of peace is it? It is the peace that does not make sense. It is peace that will cause others to look at you and wonder, "How can you go through all that and still have peace?" It is only peace that comes from God. Jesus said in John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. We may be facing some scary situations and we begin to allow fear to take up residence in our hearts, but Jesus is telling us not be worried or afraid because He gives us His peace.

We can confidently go to our Lord Jesus and ask anything we need and we know that He is listening to us and will help us in our time of need. 1 John 5:14-15 reads, And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, we know that we have the petitions that we desired Him. The key to this verse is that we ask according to the will of God. We cannot ask for selfish requests so we can be popular, have more money to spend on vain things, or to promote ourselves. We are here to carry out God's plan for the world and if more money or material possessions will cause us to stray or glorify self then we already know we are not going to receive those things. We must be in line with God's will.

A very popular verse, one that many of us have heard and/or quoted many times is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14. I feel that it is so important to include in today's blog post. It says, If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. It is no secret our land needs healed. If we take the confidence we just read about and humble ourselves, pray, seeking God's face and not His hands, and repent of the evil and wickedness then God in heaven will hear us and forgive us and heal our land. America is a very sin-sick nation. It is time we return to our Savior Jesus Christ and repent of the wicked ways we have done and allowed in this nation. It is time to honor and bless God as a country. We must become humble again. We need to seek the face of God, not to get more blessings and things from Him, but to spend time with Him and honor Him and love Him.

I am so thankful there is a day set aside to pray and fast, for those of us who will do that. I am going to spend time praying and seeking God about some big needs in my life and in this world. I know He will hear and answer me. I have confidence that He cares about us and the things we care about. I hope that you will be praying, too.

There is nothing like praying to God and Him answering prayers. I love to prayer journal because there are so many things that we can look back on and see God's fingerprints all over. We see how we struggled and how God answered and how we grew. Many of you know that we, at Blue's Blessings, have three prayer journals available on Amazon now. You can see the Men's Prayer Journals here. We have a Women's Prayer Journal here. And we have Youth Prayer Journals which is an interactive workbook with devotionals, prayer prompts, memory verses, SOAP Bible study pages and room for note taking, plus so much more. It is a wonderful gift for graduations, Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, or anytime.

This Thankful Thursday I am thankful for the gift of prayer. I know God hears and answers the prayers of His children. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Psalm 17 | Bible Study Wednesday

Hello friends. We are continuing right along through the book of Psalms this year in our Bible study each Wednesday. If you have not done so, please take a few moments to pray and ask Holy Spirit to teach you what He wants you to know about today's passage. Read through chapter 17 and reflect on what Holy Spirit is showing you. There are 15 verses and we will look at those together.

This particular psalm is a prayer of David. We can tell from these first handful of psalms that David enjoys communicating with God. He often sings praises to God, our Creator but He also runs to Him as a safe refuge in time of trouble. David is also a prayer warrior. He knows how to get God's attention and get the answer He needs to His prayer. Before battles, David would ask, "Should I go up to the battle?" God would tell him yes, or no, and David would follow God's command. That is why David was so successful because he allowed God to use him to bring about victory over the enemy and not just on a physical battlefield. Let's pause for a moment to reflect on what we do in times of hardship and despair? Do we grumble and complain and get calloused toward God? Do we run to Him in prayer knowing He has all the answers we will ever need in life? What is your response when push comes to shove and you feel your back is against the wall?

Let's turn our attention now to the seventeenth psalm. This is David's plea to God for protection.

Verse 1

David starts out asking God to listen to him. He is crying out. He is not being deceitful; instead he is proclaiming his innocence. He is struggling and he needs God to move on his behalf. Are you there? Can you relate? What are you facing right now and you just need God to bow down His Holy ear and listen to your heart's cry?

Verse 2

David wants to be sentenced in God's presence because He alone can vindicate David. Why? Because God sees what is right. Sometimes we are so broken and injured from the lies of satan and it is so important that we run to the Righteous Judge and allow Him to speak our pardon! We are slaves no longer. We have freedom and liberty in the presence of God. 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. What do you need God to vindicate you in? He can do it! He wants to do it!

Verse 3

David says to God, "You have proved my heart, visited me in the night, tried me and found me innocent. So I am determined not to let my mouth sin." What an incredible statement! Psalm 66:10 For Thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. The hell and torment we are going through today, friends, is the fire that is refining us. We cannot get refined without the fire. Let's open our hearts and ask for visitation from God in the night, in the dark, in the hard times, and ask Him to find us innocent.

Verse 4

Because of God's Word, His plan, His promises, David declares this is the reason he has not danced with the devil. He is not walking hand in hand with the enemy into the flames of hell. God's wonderful Word will keep us from the paths of the destroyer. Are you reading His Word? Are you living it out? Do you believe every Word of God? Has His wisdom filled your mind so you make better choices?

Verse 5

Look at this request. David wants God to hold up his goings in God's paths so that his footsteps would not slip. He does not want to mess up, to slip into sin, or to go off course. He is asking God to help him walk the straight and narrow. I just see the hand of God on David, helping him to walk steady the path in front of him. God does the same thing for you and me.

Verse 6

Why is David going to God with these requests? In David's words, "For You will hear me, O God." That's confidence. God is not too busy to listen to our heart's cry. He is not too busy to take time to sit with us and hear what we have to say. Have you called on God? Do you believe He will hear you? Psalm 86:7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me. If we know that in our trouble we can call upon Him, and He WILL answer us, then we should pray and talk to Him. Psalm 116:2 Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live. Will you declare what David says here? I will call upon God as long as I live because He hears me and listens to me and makes a way for me!

Verse 7

David tells God, Show Your marvelous loving kindness as You deliver them with Your right hand, those who put their trust in You, to save them from those who rise up against them. It is in God's loving mercy that He stretches His hand out toward us and delivers us from the enemy. His kindness and goodness is so marvelous that it surrounds us and protects us from those who want to hurt us and destroy us. Have you seen God's mercy show up like that in your life?

Verse 8

The apple of the eye is to say to God, "Lord allow me to be seen as precious in your sight." He asks to be hid beneath the shadow of His wings. Do you know God wants to do that for us? He does see us as precious. Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Friends we matter to God. He loves us and He wants to shield us beneath His wings.

Verse 9

Have you ever felt surrounded with worry and guilt and shame? Have you felt like the world was against you? David says in this verse that He wants God to be a fence about Him to protect him from those who surround him and want to harm him. We can run to our Father and He will protect us.

Verse 10

They are proud. God hates pride! It is a sin. It is what caused satan to rebel against God. Psalm 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. They are not running to God because they do not trust Him. They do not even think about God. They think about themselves. 1 Samuel 2:3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. Do you remember that pride is listed in the New Testament as something that defiles the person? Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Verses 11-12

David feels like his enemies are surrounding him, caught up with him, and desire to throw him to the ground. Like a lion, ready to pounce on the prey, we often feel like the enemy is ready to attack us. Jumping out of the hidden places, it attacks at just the right moment. We have felt that before if we are serving God. The enemy does not want us to live our faith out loud. When we serve God and surrender to His will for our lives, we will be fought by the enemy but the good news is he is no match for God. 1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Verses 13-14

David asks God to confront the enemy and deliver his soul with God's powerful sword. He will deliver us when we ask. David says the men in this world are full of wickedness. They pass down the hidden treasures to their children but they have no hope of eternal life in God. We know we have hope of eternal life. If this life is all there is then we would have no hope. 1 Corinthians 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 

Verse 15

David ends this prayer with a bold statement. He said, "As for me, I will look into the face of Your righteousness. I will be satisfied, when I wake up, with Your likeness." David was not going to be content with riches on the earth. He was not going to be happy with just knowing God in this life alone. He is saying when He wakes up in heaven after sleeping in death, He will behold the face of God and see Him as He is. 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. Psalms 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

David used prayer as a means to tell God what he wanted. He explained his circumstances, described his enemy and what they were doing to him, and then requested God's help and deliverance. In the end, David holds to hope that after all of this suffering and pain in this life, He will one day wake up in heaven to see the face of God, his Redeemer. What a beautiful prayer. I hope that you will spend some time with your Heavenly Father today to let Him know what you are facing. Tell Him all about it and then get your hopes up again. God is in control and He loves each one of His children. He will hear and answer our prayers.

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Don't Put It Off | Fuel For The Weekend

I like spring cleaning. I know it is not for everyone, but there is just something so satisfying about sweeping away the cobwebs, shaking out the rugs, and polishing the wood furniture. It is so refreshing to open the windows and allow the fresh air to blow through the house. I miss having my own home and being able to do all of those things.

Tonight I was able to do some deep cleaning. My kids have been lax about putting away their clothes and things. There was so much stuff that it was impossible to neatly organize it. I feel bad that my children do not have their own rooms and we are still not in our own home. But, that does not mean we should not be good stewards of what we have been given. So, this evening I helped my children sort through clothes, art supplies, memorabilia, hygiene products, you name it! We have bags full for donations, some bags full for the landfill, and bags for the storage unit. We briefly had the window open and the fresh air was much needed. It was so nice to see the room transformed before my eyes.

As satisfying as it is, deep cleaning is a lot of work. My kids both have medical conditions that cause pain and hinder them from doing certain movements easily. More than once I heard complaints and groans and sighs of exasperation. I allowed some breaks but I reminded them we must stay on task and focus. It is similar to how we must be on our Christian journey.

We are to daily take up our cross and follow Jesus. Do you remember reading that? LUKE 9:23 "And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." The first part is to deny ourselves. Deny ourselves what? EPHESIANS 2:1-3 (1)And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: (2)Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3)Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Let's deny ourselves conversations that lead us to envy, or desire what others have. Let's deny our flesh the desires that will cause us to be distracted from following the laws of God. We must deny our thoughts to creep in that keep us thinking about what the world is doing. Are we worried? Are we anxious? What is the status of our mental health? We were once just like the world. The first part of falling in step with Jesus Christ is to let Him do the leading.

Step two in walking with Jesus is to daily take up our cross. We must put on the mind of Christ. PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8 (5)Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6)Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7)But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8)And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The mind of Christ is humility and obedience to His Father. He obeyed all the way to the cross. He knew who He was and He knew who His Father was. He was willing to do anything the Father asked Him to do, including lay down His life in a sacrificial offering on the cross. Daily taking up our cross is carrying the burden the Lord gave us to do. It is not hard. 1 JOHN 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. He did not ask us to do anything that He didn't do Himself. His commandments are not hard. He does not give us heavy crosses to bear. MATTHEW 11:28-30 Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29)Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30)For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. What an invitation! We can rest and learn about Him and draw strength from Him. How often? Daily! All day long the invitation stands. We must not just take up our cross when others are looking, or if it is convenient, or if we want to that particular day. We must make a choice every single morning before we start our day that we are going to pick up our cross and carry it wherever He says to go.

The third and final step to walking with Jesus is to follow Him. He has to be the leader. We cannot run ahead and hope He follows along. We cannot just go out and do our own thing and think He should bless it and honor our own way of doing things. No, Jesus said to follow Him. MATTHEW 4:19 And He saith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Jesus does not want us to play a childhood game of Follow the Leader. No, He wants us to follow Him so we can know Him and know His will for us. He wants us to be fishers of men. I like the phrase I read once, We catch them, He cleans them! We are to go and make disciples so we can reach the whole world in telling them about Jesus. Remember the young man who had kept all the commandments from his youth and asked what else he lacked? MATTHEW 19:21-22 (21)Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me. (22)But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.  Follow Jesus and do not work for money and chase the purse all the days of your life. Jesus is able to meet our every need and we only must trust Him and love and serve Him. 

So often we have comfort in our riches and in the things we possess and we do not want to get out of our comfort zone. We are afraid we will be poor and destitute. The rich young man had no idea that serving Jesus would give him a richer life than his fortune ever could, and the rewards are eternal. MATTHEW 10:37-39 (37)He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. (38)And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. (39)He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it. Jesus made it very clear, we need to deny ourselves, daily take up our cross, and follow Jesus. Let's not put it off and procrastinate. Let's not wait until we feel like it or everyone else is doing it. We may be the only one doing it but if we love Jesus we will want to.

My daughter was ready to give up when we had accomplished so much. She only had a little work left to do. I pushed her gently because I knew she would feel so much better when that stuff was all cleaned up and put up nicely. Afterward she admitted she was glad it was done. She saw the effort paid off in the end. We may be struggling along on our journey with the LORD. We may not see a break coming up and only see the overwhelming work everywhere we look. Do not give up friend. You can keep going. Take a break with the Master. Rest in Jesus and learn about Him. Then go set the world on fire for His glory. He is so worth serving and loving. He is such a good and wonderful King. He is helping you. Will you do it? Don't put it off. The rewards are coming.

I hope something I have shared today has made you take a look at your daily walk with Jesus. I was procrastinating on sharing a post today. I told God, "I just don't think I have anything to say." He said to me, "You're right. You don't have anything to say, but I do." I understood and grabbed my laptop and my Bible. I am so glad I did. This was like a deep cleansing of my soul. I am so thankful for the nudging of Holy Spirit to help me hear and obey. I hope as you start your weekend you think about what I have shared today and that it gives you strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Broken | Thankful Thursday

 

Hey everyone! Today I am going to tell you why I am thankful for the broken things. Thank you for joining me on this Thankful Thursday.

I have a broken windshield. It started with a small crack in the glass. You can see it here:

That was in Alabama. It was like that when I purchased my vehicle. It was just the one little place, not the cracks to the left and to the right. In Alabama, it rarely got cold enough to require defrost to thaw out a window, so it never became an issue. It was just there as a constant reminder that the windshield was not perfect, but it did not obstruct my view and I did not see a reason to purchase a new windshield for one small flaw.

The Holy Spirit started ministering to me. This is how we are in our spiritual walk with God. We may see a sign of decay but we choose to ignore it. We say things like, "It's not hurting anyone else," or "It's just a small flaw, we all have issues." And when we are in certain seasons of life we can get by without checking our heart. It is dangerous to do this, but many of us, including Christians, will choose to go about their business without dealing with the issue that is in front of them. It is a constant reminder that there is something in your life you have not dealt with and we can choose to shift our eyes to the clear parts of our lives and ignore the flawed parts.

Something interesting happened. God told Paul that it was time to move back to Indiana. He had already told me but I had to wait for Paul to let me know what God had told him. He did not know God had put the same idea in my heart at the very same time he put it in Paul's. We are one flesh, so of course God would do that, but we do not always think of that at the time. I did not want to move back. None of us really wanted to uproot and do the whole moving and trusting God thing again. It is hard. If you have never done it, it is very hard, but we knew God is faithful and He would take care of us. So we moved back on Kadesia's birthday 12/27/20.

In Indiana it is winter and trust and believe it does not play with cold temperatures. We were having a true winter with snow and everything. (All the things I dislike.) So I had to go to work and I put on my defrost like I had done oodles of times in my life living in Hoosier winters. One morning my windshield cracked from the center flaw to the left and to the right a few inches either way. I did not know what to do. My jaw dropped!

Holy Spirit said in the right conditions that is the same thing that happens to us in the spiritual realm. We are just going about our business, doing what we know we have to do to survive, and then the small flaw becomes an even bigger one. My windshield cracked down low, which you can see in the picture below. Since it was below my line of vision to drive, I ignored it. It was okay. I still did not want to address the cracked windshield right in front of my face, but it was always a source of stress for me. 

Each time I got into the car I was reminded that my windshield needed to be fixed. The crack that shoots off to the right was not there at this time. So I just kept ignoring it. I did not have the extra money to buy a windshield. I was not sure my insurance would cover it (they didn't). So I simply ignored the fact that I had a busted windshield and needed a new one. Sometimes it was like I forgot it was even there.

Holy Spirit said we can be so comfortable in our sin that after a while we just forget it's there. We are losing close fellowship with Jesus and we do not even realize it because it is so gradual and we are so aloof about it. This is dangerous! We have to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit's nudges for us to check our hearts.

Well a year passed and guess what. I am still in Indiana. I am in the winter season and this time my windshield cracked and it shot off to the right and then it curved and each day I saw it getting worse. I remember hearing the crunchy sound and as I looked up the line of cracked glass ran across the windshield another three inches. I was scared the windshield would shatter. 

Holy Spirit again said this is when people will finally wake up. There will come a time when you will be shook and you decide, "Okay! This is enough for me!" Now I prayed for God to help me with the windshield. I prayed He would provide the money for me to get my windshield fixed and praise God He has done exactly that! I received 4 brand new tires for my vehicle and a brand new windshield and it cost me absolutely nothing! That is God!

Sometimes we have to be broken in the Spirit and then we come to God with sorrow and repentance. He loves us and will forgive us. David said God does not want a sacrifice or burnt offering. We can sacrifice things, we can give tithes and offerings and not be in right standing with God. He does not want those things from us. Yes He wants us to tithe and give, but not in an effort to sweep everything else under the rug. He does not want us to go through the motions of religious protocol when our hearts are burdened with sin. This is why David writes these words:

PSALM 51:15-17 (15)O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise. (16)For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. (17)The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

My mouth is showing forth God's praise. He receives us in our brokenness. He mends us and helps us and loves us. He puts us back together. My mother is a resourceful woman. If something is broken, she carefully gathers the pieces, glues them all back like they were, and many times you cannot even tell where the flaw was. God does that for us. And if there are holes in our hearts where we have had gaping wounds, then just remember, it is just another area for God's light and love to shine through us onto others who have had similar circumstances.

If you are broken, caught up in sin, disobedient to the things He is calling you to do because you are scared, or maybe you have just allowed compromise to weaken your relationship with Jesus, please come to Him. God sees you broken and busted like my windshield. He will mend your heart for free! It will cost you nothing but you will enjoy freedom and joy like you have never known. Do not let your heart be troubled. Do not worry! Believe in Jesus Christ and His power to free you from sin.

1 JOHN 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I hope something I shared today has been encouraging for you. I hope it has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens