God is Capable
As you may (or may not) know, I have recently embarked on a spiritual expedition which I'm hoping will develop deeper intimacy between me and God. This venture is simply called "21 things" and involves me divulging 21 things about myself to God that I have long since kept hushed up, and attempting to surrender those things which I have kept under lock and key (or at least 21 of them anyway). So as not to be one-sided, I have also asked that God reveal to me 21 things about His character that I have either taken for granted or never realized fully. I have been listening for the familiar phrase "God is" in my Bible reading, worship chapels, classes, and anywhere it might come up; and writing it down in a notebook along with the date I heard it and the medium I heard it from. Today is my first dive into discovering how those character traits are demonstrated in scripture, and to what effect to they apply to my life right now.
As you can tell from the title of this post, my first "revelation" is that God is capable. I know, you're thinking "what else you got?" and all that because you've probably heard this a thousand times. Don't get me wrong, I have too; but it has been the single most important thing I have learned about God this entire summer.
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
And after He had come into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."
-Matthew 9:27-28
It is easy to state "God is capable" to the nearest doorknob, but it has opened my eyes to the fact that miracles are often prodded by the faith of God's people. Though God is capable to do exceedingly more than I can ask or imagine, have I been faithful enough to expect His action? In other words, if I had been bleeding for 12 years straight (see vs. 20-22 of chapter 9) would my faith, if measured as it stands now, have healed me? Or would I have just stood in the back of the crowd, timidly wishing that I could be closer to Jesus? If answered honestly, I would have to say that I would be in the back of the crowd. Not because I doubted in Jesus' healing abilities, but because I wouldn't want to impose my problems onto His busy schedule.
The kind of faith that people demonstrate in the Bible is often the kind that—if I were God—would merit not a miracle, but a lightning bolt across the cheeks. But what I would take as gall, or obnoxiously outgoing is merely the living out of a passionate heart of faith. This kind of faith is the kind that I am striving to develop: That if I were confronted by Jesus’ presence, having the opportunity to go to Him, that I would forsake all doubt—and maybe even common sense— just to have the tip of His robe brush my fingertips.
As you can tell from the title of this post, my first "revelation" is that God is capable. I know, you're thinking "what else you got?" and all that because you've probably heard this a thousand times. Don't get me wrong, I have too; but it has been the single most important thing I have learned about God this entire summer.
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
And after He had come into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."
-Matthew 9:27-28
It is easy to state "God is capable" to the nearest doorknob, but it has opened my eyes to the fact that miracles are often prodded by the faith of God's people. Though God is capable to do exceedingly more than I can ask or imagine, have I been faithful enough to expect His action? In other words, if I had been bleeding for 12 years straight (see vs. 20-22 of chapter 9) would my faith, if measured as it stands now, have healed me? Or would I have just stood in the back of the crowd, timidly wishing that I could be closer to Jesus? If answered honestly, I would have to say that I would be in the back of the crowd. Not because I doubted in Jesus' healing abilities, but because I wouldn't want to impose my problems onto His busy schedule.
The kind of faith that people demonstrate in the Bible is often the kind that—if I were God—would merit not a miracle, but a lightning bolt across the cheeks. But what I would take as gall, or obnoxiously outgoing is merely the living out of a passionate heart of faith. This kind of faith is the kind that I am striving to develop: That if I were confronted by Jesus’ presence, having the opportunity to go to Him, that I would forsake all doubt—and maybe even common sense— just to have the tip of His robe brush my fingertips.
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