What's Your Issue?

Mark 5:25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
²⁹ Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. ³⁰And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
³¹ But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
³² And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. ³³ But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

Can you help but wonder what was going through this woman's mind when she saw Jesus walking down the street? She had spent all her money she had exhausted the ability of the doctors this was a woman at the end of her rope. Yet she did not give up. The Bible doesn't tell us she accepted her circumstance and say "Well this must be the will of God" or "this is just the way things are."

She pushed forward. her only thought had to be I will do whatever it takes to get close enough to Jesus to receive what I need the most. In her case a physical healing. But whatever it is you need are you pushing forward. Are you willing to force our way through the crowd of obstacles that seem to get between you and what you need from God? Or do you fall into to the devil's trap that it is what it is and nothing is going to change?

I don't know what it is you need today (right now). Maybe you can use this woman as an example of what you should do. Don't give up. Stop accepting bad situations as your cross to bear or the thorn in your side. Instead, pick up your Bible and see what God has promised you.

Seek your answer from Him and you will receive more than you could ever expect or imagine.

He Did It For Me

Luke 22:44 "And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."

I don't know what pain or loss or desire would make me pray this way. I don't think I ever have and knowing myself I wonder what it would take for me to unleash my emotions in a prayer that would shake the gates of Heaven the way this most famous prayer of Jesus did that night.

Jesus prayed this prayer alone, oh He asked for company, but His friends fell asleep. So in His aloneness Jesus prayed. Tears fell, veins bulged in His neck. His face went red and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Why did He do it?

In my aloneness I cry and wonder if God's sees my broken heart. In my aloneness I try my best and wonder if God appreciates my effort. In my aloneness I look for my friends and wonder if God knows I ache for their company. But in my aloneness I prayed for God to forgive me and when I did Jesus climbed onto a cross.

"But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 8:8

He Pardoned Me

Joseph Prince was telling the story from John chapter 8 about the women caught in the act of adultery. I must have heard this story a hundred different times and preached from as many view points, but Joseph Price brought out something I never saw before.

When the "teachers of the law" brought the women to Jesus to accuse her it was an attempt to trip him up on His interpretation of the law. Should she be stoned or released, how Jesus answered would effect His reputation with is followers. The Gospel writer tell us Jesus simply bent down and began writing in the ground. Not really thinking about the make up of the temple I always assumed He was writing in the dirt, but there was no dirt there. Jesus was writing in the stone walk.

The point Joseph Prince made was that this was something He had done once before. When God gave the law to Moses the Bible says God wrote the law with His finger in the stone. That day in the temple Jesus showed the "teachers of the law" that He was the writer of the law. Then by dying on the cross Jesus took our punishment on Himself for us not obeying the law.

Who is it that condemns you? No one.

Jeremiah 29:11

Man it's been a while since I've posted anything on here. Quit honestly I almost forgot I had a blog. So much has been going on, some of it good. I have been trying to connect more with people. I usually stand off by myself, but recently at a bon fire hosted by my church I stepped out of my "comfort zone" (which is just a lame excuse for not getting involved with people) and had real conversations with people.

I think the devil would like me to believe that I am of no effect or my being there is meaningless, but I've come to realize that these thoughts are just lies from the pit of hell. Let me tell you something that happened. I help out with the youth group. Most of the time I just clean up the room after the service. Well, the devil tried to tell me I was wasting my time and not a real influence there so why bother going. I was almost ready to tell the youth pastor I wouldn't be coming back.

That night I was clowning around with one of the guys and made a joke about not quiting and not coming back. Out of no where another young man said "if Bob stops coming to youth so will I". Later that night This same young man was asked to come up for prayer and I had the opportunity to lay hands on him and ask God to perform a miracle in his life even though I had no idea what his need was.

When we were done praying I shared some thoughts with the group. After the service I learned that this young boy was just diagnosed with a terrible disease. The other leaders told me how appropriate the prayer and words I shared were. Imagine had I listened to the lies instead of the truth that God put inside me? Don't let this happen to you. If you believe God has a plan for your life then get out there and let Him do a great work through you.

An Altar Call

Last night was great, in fact the whole day was. First a guest speaker at church who, at the end of his sermon, asked if anyone had a burden to give to God raise their hand. Next he said to raise your other hand and give it to God. Both my hands where high in the air. I felt like I had released that inner most part of me to God to let Him do His work in me.

But, I still felt like there was something more I needed to do. Unsatisfied I went through the rest of the Sunday in a spiritual zombie-like state, not moving upward the way I want my spirit life to be going. Finally I just felt the need to get out of the house, my prison, and see if a change of scenery would help. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says "Seek and you shall find" and in verse 8 Jesus concludes "he who seeks finds". So I guess I was seeking, I wasn't sure where I should look or what it would be I would find, but if Jesus promised the seeker he would become the one who finds who was I to doubt Him?

The first stop on my search was a Denny's. Not exactly Mount Sinai where Moses went to receive the Ten Commandments, but one should always start seeking on a full stomach (Proverb according to Bob). When I had finished eating my search too me to Target. If sin is missing the mark or the target why not get as close to the Target as I can. So I went in and shopped around the electronics department still debating on which flat screen TV I should get, but still never buying one. So rather than just standing there debating which one had the best picture quality I walked over to the music department and picked up a couple of Cd's.

Finally, I admitted to myself that instead of waisting time I needed to get to my destination. That place where "seek" becomes "find", that place I know I need to get to, but am still not convinced I will find whatever it is I am looking for. I pull my car into the parking lot and found an empty space facing the building. I sit in my car still listening to one of my new Cd's watching people going in the propped open door. I am at a small church in town that has a Praise and Worship night about once a month called Majesty Unlocked. I got out of my car, took a deep breath and sighed and walked into the building making my way to a seat in the very last row (a good safe place near the door).

From my vantage point I watched as the praise team began the music and started to sing. I saw many seated with hands raised high praising God, while others stood arms outstretched giving glory to the Lord. I listened to the testimonies of God moving in peoples lives and others read scriptures that have gotten them through hard times, but whatever was suppose to happen to me, whatever it was that I was suppose to find didn't seem to be there. So I began the countdown to leaving and continuing my search. I'll give it one more song, or I'll pray one more time or listen to one more testimony and if the Heavens don't open up wide and pour down blessings I'm out of there.

Finally times up. I am standing behind the last row of seats eye-balling the door. Someone I know walks by and I am tempted to ask them to walk me out so it would look like we had something to talk about rather than me trying to cut out early. As I formulated this plan I noticed the pastor of the church standing close by looking in my direction. In an effort not to look needy I began to sing the song and smile a little, too late. Next thing I know I am being hugged and I hear the pastor whisper a few words in tongues. This was followed by a translation that was so spot on it had to come from God since I had not shared anything about the quest I was on with anyone.

When he was done speaking the word God had given him for me he released the hug and simply walked away leaving me in awe of God and this mans genuine relationship with Him. My search hadn't ended, but what I was searching for was now coming into focus and was now within range of obtaining. I stood there through what may have been one more song I don't remember, when the lead singer said the pastor would like to do something different tonight.

On most Majesty Unlocked nights the purpose or focus is to simply worship God, it's not a time of laying on of hands or prayer request, but an open forum of a group of people spending some one on one time praising their king. Pastor Jerry felt lead to have an "Altar Call". They invited anyone with a need to come forward and someone would meet them there, lay hands on them and pray, joining their faith with yours to bring your need before God. I bolted for the front of the church the moment she finished the invitation and waited and waited and waited for what seemed to be forever for someone to come over or something to happen, but nothing. I stood there feeling more alone and now on display like the last kid picked to be on the softball team in school.

I closed my eyes and began to pray, after all God hears my prayers and He just spoke to me through the pastor. All I wanted to do was to seal the words he spoke in my heart and mind so that what would be found would not get lost again. With my eyes closed and my lips praying I felt hands on me. I looked up to see a man standing in front of me looking me in the eyes while pouring oil on his finger. He reached for my forehead making a oil cross on my face and went right into prayer. I stood there trying to hear and receive everything he was petitioning God for in my behalf. When suddenly I heard his words over the music and what I had been searching for was now mine and it was a word.

"Don't let this brother believe the lies of the devil". the moment I heard those words I grabbed the mans arm. I wanted him to know that in his prayer to God, God was now speaking to me through him and I got the message. When he finished praying the man hugged me for the longest time. By this point my inhibitions were gone and like David dancing in front of the Arc I didn't care anymore who was watching, I was too busy connecting with God. Mission accomplished I had sought and I had found just as Jesus promised me I would.

Sorry to take you down such a long path on a search that brought me no earthly treasure, but brought me closer to my God. I just needed to tell the story of how an "Altar Call" changed me once again. I know sometimes it seems pointless to step out of your seat and walk down an isle and stand or kneel by a wooden platform, but I now know it is those very actions that God notices and responds to that will turn your search into a discovery.

God Loves Me

In the past couple of weeks I've had the people closest to me point things about myself they feel need correcting. I don't believe they meant it with any malice in mind, but it started to make me think of why am I the way I am? That is after the anger wore off. I know there are things about me that some people don't like and I'm cool with that because I never sought to be a people pleaser. I would much rather work on being a God pleaser, after all He's the only one I know who gave up their Son for me.

And I'm sure I'm guilty, weather in jest or not, of letting people know areas of their life that need fixing. But I'm becoming aware of how destructive these words can be. If I were to follow my emotions I would dismiss my friends rather than dismissing their comments. As you can tell I was hurt by the comments. Satan loves this kind of stuff when it happens. He pushes in and tries to seclude me from others with the pretence that I won't get hurt if I'm by myself. But God reminds of His intention when He created man.

In the Message Bible it reads like this. God spoke: "Let us make human beings in Our image, make them reflecting Our nature..." And a little further down it says this. "God created human beings; He created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature."

Sometimes my eyes get off my Creator and I begin to look at His creations and I forget all the detail and time God put into making me who I am. In a recent sermon on the radio I heard a preacher speaking about all the songs and sermons that talk about our love for God, not that there is anything at all wrong with these songs, but in the process we forget how much God really loves us. I think from now on I will get my opinion of myself from the One who made me and then loved me so much He died for me... Wow, God Loves Me.

An Inmate Ministers To Me

The past few weeks I've been really dealing with a bad attitude. I know I keep hinting at it in my blog, but things were coming to a boiling point inside me and I needed God to step in in a big way. This past Tuesday while up at the prison I was sitting with some of the "mightier" worshipers, I mean these guys can really shout to the Lord. I felt unworthy to be standing with them and I wanted that feeling to end.

Finally I got up the courage to ask Chris, the inmate standing next to me, to pray for me. I thought he would lift my name up during his weekly Prayer Meeting with his cell mates. but a few seconds after I asked for prayer I felt his hand on my shoulder. The music was loud and trust me the only words I heard him say were "My brother Bob". Yet while he prayed I felt the overwhelming presence of God all around me. The Holy Spirit took back the controls of my emotions and I felt more alive than I have in weeks. After praise and worship I showed Chris the scripture in the Bible that was describing what I was feeling. Proverbs 18:1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.

He took the scripture from me and told me he would see what God had to tell him to say to me. Below is the letter he gave me this past Saturday, take a moment to read it. So many times when I tell people I am in prison ministry they think I am dealing with a rough crowd, fact is I have found some of the most faith filled people I've ever met. Here's his letter, I didn't change a word or the way he worded things.

Proverbs 18:1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desires;he rages against all wise judgement.

The devil has found many ways to deceive us, unfortunately he has found a way to get us even when we isolate ourselves. Depression is a tool that the evil uses to try and turn us away from God. It's a very tricky thing to deal with, depression, because of the fact it clouds the judgement and perception of situations and events that take place in your life.

You start to believe or think that people are out to get you when the reality is that those people care about you and are concerned. So they try to help you by stating what it is they see. This causes you to get defensive and you end up shutting yourself out even more.

God wants us to be in relationship, not only with Him, but with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and also those who are lost. Together with our siblings in Christ we seek out the lost and bring them the Good News of of the Lord our God.

Our mind runs wild when we isolate ourselves and that can be life threatening. Talk always to our Lord. Take your problems and lay them at His feet, He can handle them without breaking a sweat or the law. When trying to take care of our own problems the devil takes advantage of us and can find a way to get us to break either man or God's law in order for us to find a solution for our problems. Unfortunately for us that solution is only temporary and false.

Always remember that our own desires aren't our at all. Those are the devils. Listen to the Lord's command and obey it. You can never go wrong when listening to the Lord. He has only our best in His interest.