God Uses Anyone Anytime | Thankful Thursday

 

When I was growing up, we were daily spending time with extended family. Our house was full of family and friends. My parents had four of us kids, my aunt next door had four girls, and my aunt who visited often had three boys. Most of my cousins and two of my siblings were older than me. I heard this phrase often, "No, Bridgett. You're too young." That was so frustrating because I did not think I was too young to participate in the conversation, the activity, or to watch the tv show or movie. I was one of the youngest granddaughters and so I was constantly told, "Not yet. Someday you will. It's just not time yet. Be patient, Bridgett."

After years of being told things like that, it is easy to start believing it. One day turns into weeks then months and even years. God has asked me to do so many hard things through the years and I might say things like, "I can't God because I am too young, too inexperienced, not educated enough, not popular enough, not (fill in the blank) enough." But God did not ask me to be enough. He is Jehovah Jireh God my Provider! He is the God of more than enough! So, on October 31, 2021 God gave this passage of scripture to me: Jeremiah 1:4-9. We are going to discuss it today and if you feel inadequate maybe you will be strengthened and empowered by the same verses God has given to me.

1. GOD MADE YOU WITH A PURPOSE.

Jeremiah 1:1-2 (1)Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2)Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Before you were formed in your mother's womb, God already knew you. Before you were ever on the face of the earth, God knew all about you and sanctified you. He set you apart for His glory and His purpose. He made Jeremiah to be a prophet unto the nations. He has created me for a specific purpose and He has done the very same thing for you. You may be older now and look back and think of all the things you have done for your personal glory or satisfaction. Maybe you have regrets, but there's a Bible verse for that!

Isaiah 49:1-5 (1)Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name. (2)And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver He hath hid me; (3)And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. (4)Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet, surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. (5)And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. 

This reminds us that God named us, called us, and equipped us before we were ever born! Everything He has called us to do, He has already made provision for it. No matter if we used our strength for nothing and worked in vain, God is able to turn it around and get the glory. He is the single source of our strength! That is good news!! And when we ask for guidance and direction, He will give that to us like He did Moses.

Exodus 33:11-14 (11)And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. (12)And Moses said unto the LORD, See, Thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me. Yet Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou also hast found grace in My sight. (13)Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, shew me now Thy way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight: and consider that this nation is Thy people. (14)And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Isn't this a beautiful glance into a very special moment of Moses and the LORD GOD? They speak together face to face like friends. Moses tells God, "Even though You have not said who You will send with me to do everything You are calling me to do, I will trust You because You know me by name and You said I found grace in Your sight. So if I have found grace in Your sight, please show me Your way. I just need some direction." (I paraphrased here.) God said to Moses, "My presence will go with you and I will give you rest." What a beautiful promise! And we know in Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus promises to give us rest, too! But, just in case you think God only called Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Moses and so it must just be an Old Testament thing for a select few, let's read what Paul has to say about this.

Galatians 1:15-17 (15)But when it pleased God, Who separated me from my mother's womb, and called Me by His grace,  (16)To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: (17)Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went unto Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

Paul is talking about his track record; how he persecuted the church and then God revealed to him the purpose and plan He had for Paul. Paul realizes it was when he was born and called into God's grace and plans that he had been destined to preach and teach about Jesus Christ. When Paul realized it was his destiny and purpose, he did not ask men their opinions, did not go visit the apostles who walked and talked with Jesus for three and a half years, but went to Arabia and came back to Damascus and if you continue reading this text he will speak about the rest of his journeys and eventually going to see Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. So, when God calls you to do something, do not go ask a bunch of people. In fact, do not even ask your pastor for confirmation. Ask God to bring you confirmation and He will do it, but often flesh and blood will fail you and cause you to miss your destiny and purpose because it often won't make sense to other people. Trust God and His plan for your life.

2. BREAK FREE FROM LIMITATIONS.

Jeremiah 1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. (youth) We hear God tell us to do something that seems too big for us to handle, too spectacular for us to be successful, and we say to God, "I can't do that God because I am too young, too old, too quiet, too loud, too (fill in the blank). We have to remember that God is not looking at our credentials, our bank account, our location, our immediate situation. He knows all of that but none of that is influencing His decision to use you for His great purpose. We are not alone in thinking that we are not qualified. Jeremiah did not give God a resume of all the reasons he should be picked, but rather was astonished God wanted to use him and he thought he should remind God he was so young. Moses did the same thing: gave God a reason to not want to use him but it did not work.

Exodus 4:10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O  my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. The truth is that God already knew Moses was not an eloquent speaker, that he had a speech impediment. That did not disqualify Moses. Think about it, it only gives God more glory and honor and praise when He uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. Moses would never be able to say he did any of the great feats he accomplished apart from God. So it is with you and I. So, Moses overcame the insecurity about his speech over time right? Uh, not quite.

Exodus 6:12 And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? 

Exodus 6:28-30 (28)And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt (29)That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. (30) And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

Moses questions God, "If the people You sent me to deliver do not listen to me, what should make me think Pharaoh will hear me? I speak slow and I am unskilled and inept." Have you ever thought about the things God is telling you to do and felt unqualified? I know I have. God told me to write books and I thought about it and was not sure I had it in me. Even after writing books, how can I publish them? I did not go to school for journalism, I went to nursing school. I do not have the money to pay someone to do the work for me: to publish my books. How can I do this big, hard thing when I do not know how to navigate these uncharted waters? But like God did for Moses, He will surely give me what I need and bring people beside me to help me do what He has asked of me. What big thing is God stretching you to do?

3. YOU ARE NOT GOING ALONE. GOD PROMISES TO BE WITH YOU.

Jeremiah 1:7-8 (7)But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. (8)Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. 

What a beautiful example of God meeting us right in our fears and insecurities and lovingly promising to not only give us success in all He is calling us to do, but then pledging that He will never leave us or abandon us. We are not out on a journey to do this hard task for God and left to fend for ourselves. No, God meets us where we are and is with us every step of this journey. Remember Jesus saying this in the Great Commission we just talked about?

Matthew 28:19-20 (19)Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20)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.

It is not God's plan to send us out into the world and then not give us protection or provision. That would be a very unloving thing to do to His children and we have a perfectly wonderful Heavenly Father who loves us way too much to ever do that. But sometimes we are afraid of what God is asking us to do. God was sending Ezekiel to a rebellious house and so the work was going to be tough but God did not require Ezekiel to convert them. It was not Ezekiel's job to make these people repent, it was only Ezekiel's job to tell the people what God wanted them to know. Let's read about that.

Ezekiel 2:6-7 (6)And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. (7)And thou shalt speak My words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. 

God just wanted Ezekiel to be obedient to Him and to say what He wanted Ezekiel to say. It was not up to Ezekiel to force them to believe what he said, it was only up to him to speak the truth.

Ezekiel 3:10-14 (10)Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. (11)And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the LORD GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. (12)Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place. (13)I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. (14)So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

We may not like the situation God is putting us in, or we may be upset about the sins of the people we have to go to, but no matter what God is asking us to do, we are promised that God will be with us and like Ezekiel we can feel God's strong hand upon our lives and know we are in His capable hands.

Exodus 3:12 And He said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

God is reminding us that we will know He is with us when we accomplish what He has asked us to do. He said to Moses and He says to us today, "Certainly I will be with you." We will know He is with us every step of the way because we will find ourselves saying and doing things we did not even know to say or do otherwise. God will equip us to do everything He is asking us to do. We must only trust and obey. It may not always be easy but Jesus did not have everything easy either and He is the Son of the Living God Most High.

4. GOD PROVIDES WHAT YOU NEED.

Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth.

God is putting His words in our mouths, too. He is putting the tools in our hearts and is placing inside of us everything we need to be successful on the mission He is sending us on. Maybe we need to be healed of a speech or hearing issue. God is able to do that. Do you remember how He healed the man in Mark?

Mark 7:31-37 (31)And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. (32)And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech (begged) Him to put His hand upon him. (33)And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers into his ears, and He spit, and touched his tongue; (34)And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. (35)And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue (impediment) was loosed, and he spake plain. (36)And He charged (commanded) them that they should tell no man: but the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal (widely) they published it; (37)And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: He maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb (mute) to speak.

Sometimes God does not do the miraculous to heal, but He will give you someone to help you, like He did Moses. Do you remember that?

Exodus 4:11-16 (11)And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? (12)Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. (13)And he said, O my LORD, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send. (14)And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. (15)And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. (16)And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

God promised Moses He would be with him to help with the speech impediment. Moses had zero confidence in his own ability to do anything that important. He asked God to send someone else. God was angry with Moses because Moses not only had no faith in himself, but he had no faith that God would be able to use him. God knows the purpose and plans He has for Moses and He does not change His mind. He simply gives Aaron to Moses as a spokesman to be in the place of Moses' mouth and Moses is to Aaron in the place of God. In other words, God tells Moses what to say, and then Moses tells Aaron what God wants said and Aaron says it.

Friends, God always asks us to do things out of our comfort zones to bring glory to His name and to build up the Kingdom of God. God knows our limitations and our shortcomings, but He chooses to use us in spite of these issues. He does not throw us away and pick the stronger, the better, the wiser. Why? Because He made us with a specific purpose and whether we will run from it, or embrace it, is up to us. I hope this has helped someone today. It sure has been an encouragement to me. I am learning right along with the rest of you. Today I am thankful that God will use anyone, anytime, including me! God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Ezra Chapter Eight | Bible Study Wednesday

 

Welcome back to this week's Bible study. We continue in the book of Ezra, picking up in chapter eight. If you have not read these 36 verses, I encourage you to take a few moments and do so. If it has been a little while since you reviewed the text, you may want to refresh your memory on the passage. Keep your Bible open and if you choose to take notes, have a pen or pencil and notepaper handy. I am not doing a line by line study of this book. I will be dividing each chapter into sections and hitting some of the highlights. I am so thankful for those of you who take the time to participate in these weekly Bible studies. Let's begin.

Verses 1-14 Those Who Went With Ezra

You may be tempted to gloss over these verses as it lists the names of those who joined Ezra on this journey, I encourage you to compare these names with the list in Ezra 2:3-15. Do you see repeated names? Now 80 years after the first roll was called, we see the descendants: family lineage, continue on just as they had before.

The trip these brave men, women, and children took with Ezra was not for the faint of heart. It was dangerous. This 1,000 mile trip through the desert made them an easy target for robbers. It appears as though 5,000 said yes to this journey and just the fact that they all made it safely to Jerusalem was another testimony of God's hand on them.

We may be going through tough, dry, desert times, too, but remember the God who had His hand on Ezra and the 5,000 men, women, and children has His hand on us, too!

Verses 15-20 No Levites

They reached the point where the river runs to Ahava and they camped out for three days. A long journey like that would require rest stops. The humans and animals would need to rest and eat and regain their strength before going on. Ezra started looking around and he noticed there were people and priests but no Levites with them. Ezra called for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, Meshullam, Joiarib and Elnathan who were men of understanding and had good insight. He sent those men to a city called Casiphia to speak with Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants. They were to request ministers for the house of God. 

So God's hand was upon them again and they sent Ezra a son of Mahli, Sherebiah. Sherebiah came to serve in the temple with his sons and brothers, 18 men! What a great answer to a big need they had! But that was not all! Hashabiah and Jeshaiah with his kinsmen and their sons added another 20 men! That was not including the 220 temple servants king David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. The Bible says they were all named. It was not just any group of men. They were sent with a purpose. You and I may feel like we are lost in a sea of other Christians who are working for God, but He knows our names. We matter to God.

Verses 21-23 Fasting and Prayer

The best thing Ezra could do was start out with prayer and fasting. He did not want to ask the king for supplies and provision. He knew the king would honor his requests, but Ezra had already bragged on God. Ezra decided God would provide everything they needed, so he called a fast where they were camped out. This denial of their flesh gave them an opportunity to hear from God clearly about what they should do. They fasted and God heard and answered their prayer.

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we just don't know what to do. We realize we are in over our heads and since God is the one who is telling us to do the thing, we must pray and fast and wait for Him to answer us. He will do it. The answer will come. The clarity will come. The provision will come.

Verses 24-30 Priests and Treasures

Ezra selected 12 leading priests and weighed out the silver, gold, vessels, and offerings for The Temple of our God that had been given by the king, advisors, and Israelites. There were:

25 tons of silver

100 vessels of silver valued at 3.75 tons of gold

20 gold bowls weighing 18.5 pounds

2 vessels of bright red copper, as valuable as gold

Ezra instructed the men to guard them until they could be properly weighed in their tradition. Ezra told the leading priests that they were holy and the vessels were holy. Sometimes we need to remember we are holy and our work for God is holy. We are to guard and watch the things God trusts us with until we can properly do with it as He has called us to do.

Verses 31-36 Journey To Jerusalem

Verse 31 tells us that God's hand of protection kept them as they went on this incredible journey. The robbers and criminals hiding out, watching the large caravan, wanted to attack, but God was with them. He kept them safe, all the way to Jerusalem.

They made it to Jerusalem and they stayed there three days. Meremoth and Eleazar were with Jozabad and Noadiah as they numbered, weighed, and recorded the treasures in the house of God. Upon their return, the exiles offered burnt offerings to God: 

12 bulls representing all Israel

96 rams

77 lambs

12 he-goats

And finally they delivered the king's orders to the king's provincial administration, whom gave support to the people and the house of God. God can do anything and will do anything for His mission to be a success. If we put our hope and trust in Him, we will all succeed. He is the God that cannot fail. When we throw our plans out the window and fully embrace the journey we are on as we yield to His leadership we will do everything He wants us to do. 

My goodness! I never realized what an encouraging book Ezra was. I know I keep saying that but it is so good for the season that I am in right now. We will spend two more weeks in this book as we wrap up this study. I have a really fun idea for July's Bible Study Wednesday blog posts. I hope you'll join me. It's a little different than I have done on here before but I really hope we can have fun with it. Until next time, friends. I hope that something I have shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way! God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Change | Fuel For The Weekend

God told me to share my faith on Fridays and call it Fuel For The Weekend. It's my desire that the posts I put up on Fridays will give you something to think about, ponder, consider, and reflect on throughout the weekend.

I like to think that I embrace change. I honestly don't mind change for the most part. Sometimes change can be good. I enjoy a change of scenery, a change of mind, a change of subject... but when it comes to interrupting the routines of my day, I don't embrace change so much. 

Humans have been called "Creatures of Habit." Often we take the same route to the store, church, work, a friend's house, or whatever. When my son was very small he would get upset if I did not turn down the same streets to get home. He loved consistency and he did not do well with change. We all have a little bit of that tendency; some adapt easier than others. If my husband suddenly goes a different way, we quickly ask, "Where are we going? What are you doing?" It's out of our norm.

I think back to the life of Jesus. He shook people free from their comfort zones, didn't He? He challenged traditions and rituals. He emphasized relationship. He was always pointing back to the Father and glorifying and honoring Him with the things He did and said. He was always Kingdom minded. He desires for us to do the same.

It would be easy for us to ignore the still small voice of God as He leads us back to Indiana. Leaving Alabama is not simple. Our home is here. We have friends here. We have a community here. We have our church here. We serve here. We work here. We live here. It is not easy to uproot and leave everything again, to the unknown albeit somewhat familiar, again. God did not ask us to do EASY things, but He does expect us to trust Him and obey Him. We can do the HARD things as He gives us the strength.

JOHN 5:30 I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.

PHILIPPIANS 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Sometimes we get stuck in tradition and ritual whether at church, work, home, or wherever. We sit in the same pew each week. We go through our day with the same routine. We purchase the same items repeatedly. We cook the same meals until we get burned out on them. While there is something to be said for routine, and it certainly has its place, we have to be careful that we are not going through the motions and not being intentional in our walk with the LORD.

Can you imagine being disabled for 38 years? That is a long time. Imagine for a moment you are that person and you want to get better but something always prevents you from getting healed. It would be so frustrating and after nearly four decades it might be easy to think it will never happen. The Bible tells us this actually happened to someone. This was his "new normal." The routine of his life was to try to get into the pool of water and get healed and then someone always got in front of him and received the blessing before he could. It was always the same, but Jesus is about to change his routine... and his life!

If you read John chapter 5, we find that Jesus went up to Jerusalem during a time of feasting. Bethesda had a pool and at certain times an angel troubled the water and whoever stepped in first after the angel came was made whole of whatever disease they had. So the crippled people hung out there, lived there, waited there. 

Jesus looks at the man and knows he had been in a disabled state for a long time and asks him, "Do you want to be healed?" Sometimes we get so comfortable with the way things are that we don't want to change things. I knew someone who did not want to get better because they said they would lose their disability check. They were comfortable with the way things were. I couldn't imagine choosing disability and subpar living if I could be well and have no limits to what I could do or earn. Jesus asks the man if he wants to get better.

The man doesn't answer the question, instead he explains to Jesus why he is still crippled. He says he has no resources to get him to the water when the angel troubles it. He watches as someone else gets in the water in front of him and they are healed but he is not. Let's read what happens next.

JOHN 5:8-9 (8)Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. (9) And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

There is the crippled man who cannot stand up, let alone walk, and he just explained to Jesus that he had no help to get in the water to be healed. The routine was to wait for the angel to trouble the water, look for help, no one would be there, someone else would step into the water and get the healing this man thought should have been his. Jesus told him to get up and take his mat that he was laying on and walk! Jesus always shakes people out of their comfort zone.

The miracle is that immediately the man was made whole. He did not need physical therapy to gain range of motion, learn to walk, get stuck with a limp... no, immediately the man stood up, picked up his mat, and walked. He was able to stand up without falling. He was able to lean down, reach the mat, pick it up, and stand back up with the mat and not fall or stumble. He was able to bear weight and move muscles and tendons and ligaments that were dormant for 38 years with only the command of Jesus. That is incredible! The man's life is changed! The routine is over. He will have to find another one!

The Jews always find Jesus doing the miraculous and instead of allowing their calloused hearts to melt and be changed by the power of God, they choose to find fault with Him! They tell the man Jesus healed that it was not right for him to walk around healed because it was the sabbath. Taking up his bed and walking around was work! We must rest on the sabbath. Look at how they embrace the traditions. They are so stiff-necked they refuse to celebrate the miracle of what just occurred.

He answered the Jews by saying, "The man that made me whole told me to take up my bed and walk." They demanded to know who dare tell him such a thing on this holy day. A multitude of people were there for the feast and Jesus was able to blend into the crowd, so the man doesn't even know His name. He cannot tell the Jews who healed him. Later Jesus finds the man in the temple and tells him, "Look, you are made whole: don't sin anymore unless something worse happens to you." The man leaves and tells the Jews it was Jesus that healed him and they were so angry they wanted to kill Him because He healed a man on the sabbath day. 

Jesus wrecked their rituals and routines. He steps into their religious arena and offers them an opportunity to have relationship. They don't want that. They want harsh laws that no one could keep and they want self-righteousness instead of His righteousness. Jesus did not come to make things better for us to continue as is....He came to give us life more abundantly! Let's read what Jesus tells the Jews.

JOHN 5:37-47 (37)And the Father Himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape. (38)And ye have not His word abiding in you: for whom He hath sent, Him ye believe not. (39)Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. (40)And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life. (41)I receive not honour from men. (42)But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. (43)I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (44)How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? (45)Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. (46)For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. (47)But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?

Wow! Jesus shakes people out of their comfort zones. Most people would think it was a great thing that this man could walk. It's miraculous! Instead they were mad that He did it on the "wrong" day! They like vain repetition. There is nothing wrong with order and protocol, but if you choose routine over relationship you miss the whole point! Jesus did not puff up Himself. He constantly glorified the Father. He always put the spotlight on God.

We may be asked to do hard things, uncomfortable things, and things we might not want to do. If it glorifies the Father, and helps others come to know Him, then it's worth it. If God puts something in your heart, it's okay to feel uneasy or unsure. Do not doubt God. Do not be afraid. Just tell Him that you want to be obedient. Ask Him to help you every step of the way and He will do it. When Jesus told the crippled man to take up his bed and walk, the man did it and immediately he was made whole. Obedience always unlocks the blessings. I am taking this to heart today and this weekend as we continue to pack the boxes and donate the excess and trust God to lead us all the way back to Indiana. Not our will but Thine Lord.

I hope something I shared today has helped you see that change can be good, especially if the change is coming from God! I hope that you enjoyed today's post and that something I shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens