A Message (cont'd)

You thought I forgot. No, I didn't. I warned you in the beginning. My thoughts jump from one idea to the next without stopping. I must provide you with a conclusion to my original thought.
"You of little faith."
The reason I went on to talk about Peter was to show you that Peter was right there. Jesus was right there. Peter could touch Jesus. Peter could see the miracles. He was enveloped in the presence of God and still it was hard for Him to have faith. When I think, "You of little faith," I think it's how Jesus thought. He regarded His followers as little children. Sometimes it takes a child more than once to go through a lesson, the same lesson, before they understand the true meaning behind what is being taught. Well, that's the case for adults sometimes as well. Jesus was frustrated, but He never gave up teaching. The same goes for me. When I notice that someone is faltering, wavering in his/her beliefs for an answer to a prayer, I just pick up the s(lack) and have enough faith for the both of us! Miracles will happen. Healing will come! Restoration will come! Matter of fact, it is already promised. State it as fact based on the Word and declare it yours in the name of Jesus. Amen!
Here is scripture in accordance with what I've stated.
Isaiah 53:5
Acts 4:22
Acts 3:21
Romans 12:3
Romans 12:6
Actually, the whole Book of Romans is a great booster for our faith.

A Message

I was going to apologize for being MIA for a bit, but why apologize for life happening. I had some very interesting turns take place in my life over this past weekend, and no, I don't believe that I will be sharing them at this time. For this, I will apologize. There will be one story, but....I'll get to it later.
Anyway, I was on my way to work today and I did a really scary thing. I decided to think. I know, I know. I'll try to keep from thinking in the future. No promises though. Okay? Okay. Here is what I thought.

It all starts with one of my favorite quotes. Jesus would say this quite often to His disciples when He was aggravated by their confusion and misunderstanding. Know which one I'm talking about? No?
"You of little faith?"
It's one I like to quote in my head from time to time. It usually happens when someone comes to me for prayer. Now, you're probably trying to get the connection. Let me explain. I am often asked to pray for a specific situation in someone's life. I am glad to help and believe in an answer from God on their behalf. When the answer doesn't come right away, I begin to hear the following words from the individual: "If; What if; It's okay; Thanks anyway." My insides turn when I hear these words. WHAT?! I want to scream at the top of my lungs, "You of little faith!" Here I am praying, and my prayers are being cancelled out due to his/her lack of faith. I now understand how frustrated Jesus was back in the day. He would heal the sick, open blind eyes, feed thousands with what could only feed 3-4 people, calm storms, walk on water, and yet he still said to those who witnessed these miracles, "You of little faith." because they still didn't believe.

This brings me to a great topic. I was recently reading the New Testament, specifically the book of Mark. I began to make connections that I didn't quite put into one story line before. Peter. A disciple. One day Peter, James, and John were given a rare opportunity. While still on earth, they ascended a mountain with Jesus. There they saw Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. Then, God came and enveloped them in a cloud and spoke to them. Aside from the everyday miracles, Peter witnessed this amazingly glorious event. Yet when the time came for Jesus to be nailed on the cross, three times, Peter denied any connection to Him or even knowing Him. Huh?! What in the world? What kind of person drops his family, sells his business, and leaves all his possessions to devote his life to following Jesus and then pretend that He has no idea who this "Jesus" is.

Let me paint you a picture closer to home. You have a good friend of 3 years. You work together. You live together. You eat together. You travel together. You moved far from your parents. You don't really have many of your own possessions because both of you travel a lot for work. You went from being your own boss in a major corporation to working for a non-profit where you make just enough to eat and put a roof over your head. Now, your friend is appearing in court because he/she is being wrongly accused of a crime he/she didn't commit. You attend all the hearings and trials. You witness your friend being charged by the jury and judge as guilty. Your friend will be serving a death sentence. Now, you see your friend being taken away in handcuffs. You begin to leave the court room. The people around you begin to question you about your friend and so do the press outside. Each time, you deny ever being friends with this person or even knowing who he/she is. Your friend hears about all these.

Here is the question: "If you were the friend who is now waiting to be executed, would you forgive the friend who denied knowing you and didn't stand by your side during the trials and sentencing?" Take a minute to ponder this question based on the entirety of the story, even though I'm not really looking for an answer here. I just want you to know what happened next in the story. Jesus was hung on the cross. He was dead for 3 days and then rose to life. Hallelujah! Once alive, one of the very first things He did was look for Peter. When he found him, He called him from work and prepared him breakfast. Jesus forgave Peter. This melts my heart every time I hear the story. God is so good! I love how much He loves us. I love the grace and mercy He shows us everyday. I want to be more and more like Jesus and walk in forgiveness to others always.

You know that He forgives us for all our sins, if we just seek Him and ask Him to come into our hearts. If you want that forgiveness, and would like to pray the prayer of salvation or have other prayer needs or questions. You can always e-mail me: lisavikprik@gmail.com

Quotes taken from the Gospels.
More specific ones from the following.
Mark 9:2-10
John 21:1-19
Matthew 8:26