June 4
“According to your faith, be it done to you.” (Jesus – Matthew 9:29)
We have been talking about the importance of faith in our lives – and how it is so vital for 
us to treat faith as a full-time activity of our lives. The temptation for us all, is to always try to live life in our own strength, first and foremost – only turning to God, and applying faith, when we have exhausted all other options.
We need to see this as treating God as a part-time God. As has been stated before… a part-time faith cannot produce a full-time relationship.
When God calls us into relationship with Him, He calls us to abandon our own strength, ingenuity, and resources. He calls us to come to an end to ourselves – and to the trust in our own abilities to make things happen. He calls us to lay everything before Him, and never pick it up again.
This is difficult for us. But the only path to find the fulfillment we seek, in God, simply must begin with an end to trusting in ourselves. We cannot trust in ourselves, and in God, at the same time.
So God calls us to be a people of faith – every moment of every day of our lives.
To some, this may seem like a cop-out. It seems more like “pansy theology” than a strong faith. After all, “God helps those who help themselves.”
But, I have never found that verse in Scripture.
What I have found is example after example where people of need, reached an end to themselves, and looked to God for help – and He became the Source of the miraculous in their lives.
The woman with the bleeding issue is a prime example. The Bible informs us that she had struggled with her condition for twelve years. She had tried every doctor she could find. She spent everything she had on finding a solution. She did all she knew to do. She tried everything that was humanly possible.
Then Jesus came to town. And once again, she risked everything. What we forget sometimes is that her action (in touching Jesus) was a violation of Jewish Law. She knew that she was “disobeying” God, in the hope of finding a miracle from Him. This is why she attempted to approach Jesus without being noticed (as if she was just another person in the crowd). But Jesus was her only hope – and she abandoned everything just to seek healing from Him.
It was just a simple tug upon Jesus’ garment – but it was a touch that reached all the way into heaven. Jesus “felt the power go out of Him” – power that was activated by someone’s faith!
The Bible tells us that Jesus turned to find the reason behind the situation – and found the woman, and her twelve-year story. Everyone expected Him to be angry. To feel violated. Used. Disrespected. Instead, when their eyes met, He held nothing but love and compassion for her. “Take heart, daughter, YOUR faith has made you well.”
It is a constant formula… those in need + look to Jesus = receive their miracle.
In the end, we must understand that we receive whatever the source of faith can supply. If it is us (and our limited abilities/resources) OR Jesus (and ALL that He has). The choice is always up to us. But the miracles only come from Jesus!
Prayer focus: God, fix my heart on Jesus… the Source of all that I have — and all that I need!
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