it is your decision - from my devotional

"And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw [Jesus],he fell at his feet, And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him." (Mark 5:22-24)

I wonder when God is going to do something about this problem! Have you ever asked that question? If so, you may be surprised to find out that the answer depends 100 percent on you. There's an incident in Mark 5 that will show you what I mean. Jesus had just gotten out of a boat and people were pressing all around Him, "thronging Him," it says. They had Him shoved up against the shoreline when suddenly there came a man moving through that crowd to get to Jesus. Throwing himself at Jesus' feet, Mark records, he prays and beseeches Him greatly, saying, "My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her... and she shall live." Think about this situation for a moment. Here's a man that's politically on the level of the mayor of the city. But he's so doggedly determined to get to Jesus that he fights his way through the crowd and clears out enough room to fall at Jesus' feet. He's made a decision--and when he gets to Jesus, he says exactly what it is: Lay your hands on her and she shall live. Let me ask you something: Who do you think is directing the ministry of Jesus here? This one man! A man who's made a decision. When he speaks that decision out, Jesus doesn't say anything. He just stops what He's doing, turns around and follows him. In a crowd of literally thousands, the faith decision of one man is directing the actions of Jesus. What does that mean to you? It means that if you're sitting around waiting for Jesus to decide to heal you... for Jesus to decide to help you...for Jesus to decide to prosper you and give you victory...you're in for a long wait. Because that's not Jesus' decision. It's yours.
Scripture Study: Mark 5:21-24,35-43

healing stories

Mk 5-6

6-8When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran and bowed in worship before him

i need to live worshipfully before him!

34Jesus said to her, "Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you're healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague


i need to take that risk of faith!

this ties in with: "Don't listen to them; just trust me."

Jesus wasn't able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that's all. He couldn't get over their stubbornness.

lord, remove everything that blocks the manifestation of thine healing power out of the way!

They preached with joyful urgency that life can be radically different; right and left they sent the demons packing; they brought wellness to the sick, anointing their bodies, healing their spirits.


None of this had yet penetrated their hearts.

lord, soften my heart!


And whoever touched him became well.

PREPARING FOR GOD'S ARRIVAL

MARK 1-2

Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!

again, i failed miserably at being an advertiesement for christ! i don't spend enough time with him and yelled at pascal! please forgive me!

Impressed by their bold belief
is my belief bold, do i believe to be healed completely?

embracing the holy spirit

ACTS 19

"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside you?"

i need to be filled with the holy spirit!

11-12God did powerful things through Paul, things quite out of the ordinary. The word got around and people started taking pieces of clothing—handkerchiefs and scarves and the like—that had touched Paul's skin and then touching the sick with them. The touch did it—they were healed and whole.

please make a statement of your power in my life!

The realization spread that God was in and behind this.

living worshipfully before god!

ACTS 10

He was a thoroughly good man. He had led everyone in his house to live worshipfully before God,


this is my ideal-leading everyone in my house to god!

Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.

you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' So I ask you: If God gave the same exact gift to them as to us when we believed in the Master Jesus Christ, how could I object to God?

I need to be baptized in the holy spirit!

He was a good man that way, enthusiastic and confident in the Holy Spirit's ways

lord, please let me be confident in your ways!

MAKE MY LIFE A MIRACLE

ACTS 8
When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God's action, they hung on his every word. Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day. The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way. And what joy in the city

lord, let my healing be manifested quickly and make my life a miracle

they sent Peter and John down to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Up to this point they had only been baptized in the name of the Master Jesus; the Holy Spirit hadn't yet fallen on them. Then the apostles laid their hands on them and they did receive the Holy Spirit.

i also need to receive the holy spirit

ACTS 9
the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully

lord, please fill me with the holy spirit!

He came across a man—his name was Aeneas—who had been in bed eight years paralyzed. Peter said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!" And he did it—jumped right out of bed. Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them.

36-37Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, "Gazelle" in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out. During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room.
38-40Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over. Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha's body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them. Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: "Tabitha, get up."
40-41She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive.
42-43When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master. Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.

lord, let me be like tabitha for those around me!

our God turned the curse into a blessing AND HONORING GOD

NEHEMIAH
our God turned the curse into a blessing

thank you for turning the curse of this sickness into the blessing of looking for and finding you!

MALACHI 1-2

6"Isn't it true that a son honors his father and a worker his master? So if I'm your Father, where's the honor? If I'm your Master, where's the respect?" God-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling you on the carpet: "You priests despise me!
"You say, 'Not so! How do we despise you?'
"By your shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship.
"You ask, 'What do you mean, "defiling"? What's defiling about it?'

9"Get on your knees and pray that I will be gracious to you. You priests have gotten everyone in trouble. With this kind of conduct, do you think I'll pay attention to you?" God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.

11"I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They're saying it everywhere: 'God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.'


7-8"When you say, 'The altar of God is not important anymore; worship of God is no longer a priority,' that's defiling.


Maybe then you'll realize that I'm indicting you in order to put new life into my covenant

ACTS 4

by means of his name this man stands before you healthy and whole. Jesus is 'the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.' Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one."

the way to salvation and healing: honoring god and having faith in his name, in jesus

as you stretch out your hand to us in healings and miracles and wonders done in the name of your holy servant Jesus.

Don't feel bad. The joy of God is your strength!

NEHEMIAH 8

Don't feel bad. The joy of God is your strength!

NEHEMIAH 9

"On your feet! Bless God, your God, for ever and ever!"

20-23 You gave them your good Spirit to teach them to live wisely.
Even when they had their own kingdom and were enjoying your generous goodness, Living in that spacious and fertile land that you spread out before them, They didn't serve you or turn their backs on the practice of evil

i want to serve you!

And whoever calls out for help to me, God, will be saved.

every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God.

i can do that!

DON'T PUT YOUR LIFE IN THE HANDS OF HUMANS

3-9 Don't put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don't have what it takes; when they die, their projects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing!

God's in charge—always.

luke 24

So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can't you simply believe

They spent all their time in the Temple praising God. Yes.

a tall order!

i am redeemed

NEHEMIAH 1

10-11 "Well, there they are—your servants, your people whom you so powerfully and impressively redeemed. O Master, listen to me, listen to your servant's prayer—and yes, to all your servants who delight in honoring you—and make me successful today so that I get what I want from the king."

20 I shot back, "The God-of-Heaven will make sure we succeed. We're his servants and we're going to work, rebuilding.

I LACK THIS ASSURANCE!


LUKE 22

20He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you.

i .qam under his blood covenant

RECOGNIZING GOD'S PERSONAL VISIT

luke 19

All this because you didn't recognize and welcome God's personal visit.

i am doing a little better but i don't give praise to god!

PERSISTENCE BREAKS RESISTANCE

LUKE 18

The Story of the Persistent Widow

1-3Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit

PERSISTENCE BREAKS RESISTANCE

6-8Then the Master said, "Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns

26"Then who has any chance at all?" the others asked.
27"No chance at all," Jesus said, "if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."

NEVER FORGET: THE BATTLE IS OF THE LORD

42-43Jesus said, "Go ahead—see again! Your faith has saved and healed you!" The healing was instant: He looked up, seeing—and then followed Jesus, glorifying God. Everyone in the street joined in, shouting praise to God.

HIS FAITH HAS HEALED HIM! glory to god!

praise god!

Psalm 150 1-6

Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, praise him under the open skies; Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his magnificent greatness;

today i felt the healing power of god in me this morning when i took my
first steps, it went better than usual!

Let every living, breathing creature praise God! Hallelujah!

LUKE 17

5The apostles came up and said to the Master, "Give us more faith." 6But the Master said, "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it would do it.

this is me saying "give me more faith"!

"The kingdom of God doesn't come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, 'Look here!' or, 'There it is!' And why? Because God's kingdom is already among you."

let me be a light to those around me!

! If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms.

ON THE AUTHORITY OF GOD

EZRA 5
in the authority of the God of Israel who ruled them

5 But God had his eye on


EZRA 6

God had plunged them into a sea of joy; he had changed the mind of the king of Assyria to back them in rebuilding The Temple of God, the God of Israel.
GOD, PLEASE PLUNGE ME INTO A SEA OF JOY

Psalm 138
A David Psalm 1-3 Thank you! Everything in me says "Thank you!" Angels listen as I sing my thanks.

I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: "Thank you!" Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word. The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.

And here's why: God, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.


Finish what you started in me, God. Your love is eternal—don't quit on me now.

LUKE 16
You can't serve both God and the Bank.

from today's bible study

Psalm 147 1 Hallelujah! It's a good thing to sing praise to our God; praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.

i do not do this often enough!

Those who fear God get God's attention; they can depend on his strength.

LUKE 15
Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.

'Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God."