It Takes Faith

Click Here: Read Luke 8

“In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.””  – Luke 8:25

He came to this earth to bring salvation to all mankind.  His actions throughout his ministry demonstrate the Love of God the Father.  He taught his disciples as they walked together from city to city and across the countryside and desert of Israel.  In Luke’s 8^th chapter we find Jesus performing multiple miracles, calming the waters, casting out demons, healing the sick and restoring life to a girl who had just passed.  In each situation, faith is required.

Where is your faith?  If you, like me, run into problems in life, and immediately look around your surroundings for an answer, are we really exercising faith.  Mary, had faith in what the Angel Gabriel told her, about her child. Joseph, had faith in what the Angel Gabriel told him, about Mary’s pregnancy.  Elizabeth had faith when she hosted Mary, during her pregnancy.  Peter, John, James, Andrew and the others all had faith to follow Jesus Christ, when He called them. 

In Luke 8 even the demons had faith in Christ, and knew He was the Son of God, for they cried out in fear when He came upon them, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” (Luke 8:28)  The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years touched His robe, she showed faith in His healing powers, that just a touch could heal her.  The centurian, enemy of the Jews, had enough faith to know that Christ’s healing powers could save his daughter, even though she had just died.

All of these demonstrate to you and I that with true faith in His authority and power we can take on any challenge we face.  From the smallest problems to the biggest, He has authority over everything – nature, finances, health, sin and even demons.  Our job is to believe, trust and have faith that He will act on our behalf.  During this Christmas season, exercise your faith to know the Christ child in your daily walk.  Be blessed.



© Sondove Enterprises, 2018
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Witnessing a Miracle

Click Here: Read Luke 7

 

“When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”  At that very time, Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.  So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”  – Luke 7:20-22

Everyday activities that are taken for granted or explained away as coincidence or luck are actually miracles given from our heavenly Father. It's amazing to me how many miracles take place every single day. The birth of a new child, sickness' are healed, the lost are saved and the hungry are fed. Bills that couldn't be paid are suddenly somehow manageable. The gas gauge is below empty and there isn't a dollar or coin to be found in the car, yet there is enough gas to get home and back to the gas station the next day. A child slips and falls from the monkey bars landing on his back, yet there are no broken bones or internal damage. Christmas presents are unobtainable because of a lost job and someone leaves a bag of toys and a bicycle on the porch as a secret Santa.

“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy....”  – Isaiah 35:5-6

In your life think back and ask yourself where has God interjected His miraculous grace? Don't wave the little miracles off nonchalantly, look for them and thank God when they happen.  The preceding verse (Isaiah 35:3-4) describes how God will come with a vengeance and save His people.  The prophecy in Isaiah 35:5-6 foretells that when God comes in the form of the Messiah, He will be bringing miracles along with salvation.  Throughout the New Testament, we find numerous miracles performed by the one, Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father. 

There were certainly those that performed magic in those days as there are today. Some would look upon Jesus as nothing more than a magician until he began restoring life, healing the blind and the deaf, curing leprosy and healing the lame. Also, note that in each situation He gave the glory and honor to the originator of life.  This is one thing that differentiated him from the magicians and wizards of the time.

When John the Baptist was in prison he sent some of his disciples to verify that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. In Luke 7:20-22 we see through Jesus own words to the men asking, that He fulfilled the prophecy from Isaiah 35 – heal the blind, the deaf, the lame and the leper.  This separates Jesus from the magicians of the day to all that heard and witnessed His miracles.

Jesus Christ came to open the eyes of the blind and open the ears of the deaf, such that they might hear His words of salvation and fully experience the glory of the Lord as intended by God's original design. Do not let the views of the world blind your eyes or mute your ears from realizing His miracles in your daily life.

 



© Sondove Enterprises, 2018
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37 Days – Take A Step: Pray

Pastor Randy’s devotional:

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. James 5:13-15

January 21^st Prayer:

To the God who answers prayer—I repent of my lack of prayer. I ask forgiveness of You for losing confidence that You even hear my prayer. You have called me to pray and I am committing to pray. I will pray for healing— pray for provision—pray for the lost—pray for family—pray for direction and guidance. Father, I am excited today to renew my faith in You. You would not call me to pray if it had no value. You are going to hear a lot from me in 2018 . . . in Jesus’ name!

My thoughts:

Her spine was deformed at birth, but unknown to her mother and me.  When she was 2 she fell and through an MRI at the emergency room the deformity was discovered.  There was one neurosurgeon specialist in the US who could perform the surgery, and he was booked solid for months into the future.  We hit our knees, we went to the church and prayed with our pastors, we reached out to our friends and family for prayers.  Within a few days we received a call from the assistant to this skilled neurosurgeon, and they wanted to see her the next week.  Was it a co-incidence?  No, I believe it was an answered prayer.

She went through 18 months of many visits back and forth to this doctor 900 miles away.  After several visits, she was 3 years old, when the Doctor came into the room after seeing results of that visit and gave us the news that she would need surgery within the next few weeks.  We had drained our savings, we arrived home that week in panic of how to make it back in 2 weeks.  Again, we kit our knees, we went to our church.  Prayers were lifted up, Pastor Randy laid hands upon our little girl and prayed for her healing and successful surgery.  Within a single day we received a call from a close Pastor friend at another local church with a word that our travel was completely paid for.  

That week, we received an invitation for coffee with the parents of a 17 year old friend of our oldest daughter, who had been to this exact same neurosurgeon with the same problem when she was a young child.  Again – could it just be a co-incidence that this girl lived in the same city as us, and was friends with our daughter, and had the same problem and the same surgery that our daughter was going to endure.  No; it was not a co-incidence, it was an answer to prayer.  We left that coffee table fully informed and much more prepared for what lie ahead and comfort that our little girl was going to be okay.

We arrived the day before the surgery, and our family came in from Michigan and met us there.  We were wrapped in love and strength in this trying time.  The morning of surgery the doctor prepared us for what to expect.  A metal brace and halo would be mounted to her head to extend the spine for surgery.  This would then remain attached for 4 to 6 months while she recovered.  As the doors closed and her gurney was wheeled down the hallway, we turned away as broken parents.  If you’ve been in a similar situation you know the emptiness that is felt inside, knowing you are helpless to solve your child’s problem.  The next 8 hours were spent in prayer, in fear and in quiet with our family around us.  The doctor came out and called the two of us into a room.  They were 80% through the surgery and the surgeon’s exact quote was, “..I’ve done thousands of these surgeries and never had one this successful.  She is doing absolutely wonderful, and we will be able remove the metal brace and halo.”  Four hours later he emerged with a huge smile on his face and the wonderful news that the surgery went perfect.  2 weeks later we took our sweet little girl home.

So tell me, does God answer prayer?  Do prayers for healing work?  In total there were seventeen miracles/answered prayers in this 2 ½ year journey.  God answered our prayers then and today our beautiful miracle baby is 14 years old, incredibly smart, playing sports and following the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Her medical records have been logged in Science and Medical Journals as an exceptional case of spinal stenosis surgery.  God is our provider, our healer and our salvation.

Be Blessed,

Rich

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37 Days – Healing Old History

Pastor Randy’s devotional:

 “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.” Isaiah 43:18-19

January 9^th Prayer:

All-knowing Father and God, You know the wrongs that I’ve suffered. You know the wounds of my soul and the pain of my heart. You know, O Lord, the memories I rehearse and the justification I seek by replaying the words spoken, the minimizing and dismissiveness of another person against me. I’m forgiving them. But I need Your help to release it and be fully free to see a new day—to see the “brand new” that You assert in Your word. Interrupt my thinking patterns and the “going over old history” as I determine to think on You. And thank You for healing me of past hurts . . . in Jesus’ name!

(Write clearly your wounds and the names of those who have inflicted those wounds upon you. Ask God to help you forgive and release this “history” so that you can grasp the “new” God has for you.)

My thoughts:

We all have a history of hurt feelings, being wronged by others and feeling like we have been stepped on or used.  Sometimes it is people that are very close to us, and sometimes it is very hard to cut that cord and move on.  There comes a time when carrying the burden becomes so daunting and so heavy though that your joy in life, and your ability to actually be happy is impacted.  In many cases the hard decision has to be made, and the cord has to be cut, hopefully this is rare, because it is very painful in and of itself.

The better solution is to forgive them, and release this burden from your backpack (so to speak).  If you are like me, this isn’t easy either.  It’s important to realize though that God is much bigger and much stronger than you and I.  Through His loving presence in your life, He can love you through the pain and the anger that will likely well up inside.  I find it best to sit down and imagine how He feels about the other person. 

We must realize that He loves them unconditionally and wants nothing more than for them to also join into His eternal kingdom.  You may not like them at the moment, and they may have done something so terrible to you that you wish nothing but evil upon them.  Take a step back, realize that we are all sinners in this life.  Some sin is much worse on the surface than other sin, but all sin is forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ.  The person that has wronged you is a son or daughter of God and can also be forgiven.  It is not our position to choose who can and cannot enter into God’s Kingdom.

Try to find a way to love them enough to forgive them, with an encouraging word that they find the Lord.  Then put it behind you, look to the Lord for strength to forget it and move on.  Let the Lord deal with the salvation of the other person.  Our job is simply to put our own life back together and live happily in the Lord’s blessing.  Make this a priority in 2018.  Cut the relationship off if necessary, but move on with your life following the path He has laid out for you.

Be Blessed,

Rich

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Look Around, It’s Changing

Make 2014 a year of Sharing

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.” – Revelation 1:17

What will you do?
I hope you are a believer in the one and only Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God.  If you are not, I am very curious what you would do when you come face to face with Him?  There are testimony after testimony from all over the globe of first hand encounters with the Son of God.  I’m not making it up and I don’t believe they are either.  In Jordan, in Egypt, in Pakistan, in Israel, in Korea, in Russia and elsewhere there are numerous verbal and video testimonies of individuals who have encountered Jesus Christ within just the last few years.  One woman has been banished from her family and her Muslim community after giving her life to Christ.  A handicapped woman was abandoned by her family and cried out to Allah to heal her to no avail.  In a dream she comes face to face with the Christ, Jesus, Son of God who calls her to stand and walk, she is healed and blessed by Christ to take His message to the people.  It is happening all over the world, your choice is to decide are millions of people simply lying and falsifying their testimony for personal gain?  Are they walking away from their families and facing persecution in their communities to maintain a lie? 

If we are not going to take the message to the world, our Messiah has chosen to bring it himself.  Read and observe the information on what is going on across Muslim, Jewish and Hindu communities all over the world.  Jesus Christ is not waiting, for the end time does indeed draw nearer and nearer each passing moment.  Just because it is hard to accept something that has not happened to you personally, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.  For your friends, family and neighbors that do not know of the Messiah, you have the opportunity to help them.  I personally do not believe we have long my friends.  Do your research on recent experiences happening all over the world.  Read your Bible, talk to God and follow His purpose.  Take your eyes off of your place in the world and ask Him one simple question: “God, What can I do for your kingdom today?”  Then choose to follow His call.

For your friends that do not believe.  Share these testimonies of people all over the world with them.  Help them realize that Jesus is not just a character in a book written thousands of years ago.  He is the Son of God, and He is ready to help them enter into His peace and mercy.  It’s up to you, what you do with this message, but do something.   

© Sondove Enterprises, 2014
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A Little Faith Goes a Long Way

Read It, Learn It, Live It, Share It

“And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.”  But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.” – Matthew 9:20-22

It was sweltering in the heat of the mid-afternoon sun.  There was excitement in the air and festivities in every direction that you could look.  The people crowded around and pressed in upon my arms and a few even stepped on my toes inadvertently as we traveled together.  Many were dressed in yellow and green, and it seemed even more were dressed in red and white.  These colors represented their loyalty, their allegiance to their teams.  The train left the station and it seemed as though it would take no more passengers, but at the next four stops more people boarded and pressed in on those who were already on board.  As the train lunged forward again the people in mass would sway backward with the acceleration.  I looked for one of those I was traveling with and tried to pry my way through the crowd to his side.  I realized soon that the attempt would be futile as trying to move amongst the people had become impossible.  Eventually we arrived at the Stadium Australia in Sydney and the crowds pushed off of the train with yelling and cheering for their respective teams.  Without intent we were moved along with the crowd until the area opened up enough to step to the side, where we watched the sea of people walking toward the entrance gates.

Can you imagine this environment?  Now place Jesus Christ in the middle of that sea of people, and imagine how difficult it would be for this woman to push through the crowd to reach His side.  Her determination is driven by the realization and faith that the reward is within reach.  Her requirement for healing is beyond medical knowledge or human capabilities, and has plagued her for 12 years.  Her faith is not derived from any inherent knowledge of who Jesus is, but by the Father placing it within her.  Nothing could stand in her way of reaching the edge of His garment and being restored by His authority.

Jesus calls her out of the crowd without having heard an audible voice.  He commends her for her faith and responds to her thoughts.  His grace flows over her in a visible manner that cannot be denied by any of those within that crowded street.  He delivers her from her situation with glory to the Father, not unto Himself.  He recognizes that her faith comes from God and it is that faith that in turn has made her whole, not the physical touch of His garment.  Her persistent faith, undistracted, undenied and determined is what caused her to press on and be healed by the Messiah, the Son of God.

What is ailing you?  If Jesus Christ were walking the streets of your home town, what is it you would seek Him for healing?  He did not say “by touching me you are made well.”, He said, “your faith has made you well.”  The healing presence of God is as real today as it was nearly 2000 years ago.  The choice is completely yours.  Do you believe that God wants for you to be healed or you do you believe it’s just a story?  There is testimony after testimony after testimony where people over the centuries have stated the reality of God’s miraculous healing.  It could be a coincident or it could be a strong faith and belief in something beyond our normal medical mindset.   I cannot promise healing in your situation, but I can promise that God does heal and still performs miracles amongst us this very day.
             

© Sondove Enterprises, 2013
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Heal you? Are you sure?

Read It, Learn It, Live It, Share It

“"When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?""

                                                                                   - John 5:6

The door handles in the old Chevy had long been broken and 2 of the windows no longer roll down. The seat belts are in knots and there are cigarette burns all over the upholstery. As the young couple look at the car they had just drove onto the lot and then look at the rows and rows of new cars. The salesman walks over and what are the first words from his mouth, "What can I do for you today?" ahhh, duh...it seems quite obvious doesn't it.

  Have you noticed that Jesus had a tendency to ask this or similar questions prior to many of his miracles? To the blind man, "What will you have me do?" ; to the boy with the fish and loves, "How many do you have?"; or to the woman caught in adultery, "Woman, where are your accusers?" Rhetorical questions from the Almighty, or something deeper?   I propose that it was something deeper. He could have easily cast out the demons, healed the sick and lame, and brought love to the accused without even saying a word.

  No, there was a purpose to everything that Jesus said and this was no different. First, these events in the public’s eye were teaching opportunities. Having the individual publicly acknowledge their faith in God for healing and salvation demonstrated to all those observing the need for faith. Furthermore, it demonstrated the relationship between Jesus Christ and man-kind, that we can ask anything and with belief and faith in the Son of God, it will come to pass.

  Secondly, I propose that Jesus was truly asking them if they truly wanted to leave their old ways. We all have the opportunity to bring our weakness', shortcomings and sinful nature to Jesus for healing. Yet, for some reason we choose not to, or we give it lip service and inside really want to hang on to it. I know someone who struggles with pornography, and is angry with God for not removing the temptation from his life. Yet he is the one moving the mouse and typing the URL to go to those places. He may have asked to be rid of his sinful nature, but I can picture Jesus Christ standing behind him, looking over his shoulder saying, "Do you want to be healed?" Deep inside it is unlikely that he truly wants to give it up.

  Prayers are said with the best intentions in mind, but unless our heart and our mind are in sync with the request, in James 4:3 we discover "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you might spend it on your pleasures." He's asking you, "Do you truly want to be healed?" Let your heart and mind come together with a solid "Yes". He's shown us numerous times in the scriptures where He will give to those with pure intentions. We can't have it both ways folks. Commit to the Lord and turn away from your sins and He will deliver upon His promises.

PRAYER:

Father,

  Your word is clear Lord that you are desiring our full commitment. As we learn from this scripture to search ourselves and our true intent before coming to You in prayer, help us to reach that place. Build within each of us the desire and courage to look at our sinful nature with the direct purpose to be rid of it and serve You wholeheartedly. Strengthen our resolve Lord to not hold onto those things that prevent us from being in full service to You. Break the bonds of satan on our lives that we might rejoice with You in fulfilling our desires. For it is through the power of Your Son- Jesus Christ that we are redeemed and made whole again. - Amen
             

© Sondove Enterprises, 2012
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