So, What do You Believe?

Warriors Arise, June 28th

Luke 24:31-33a (NKJV) Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem...

In our relationship with God, there are times when what we believe in challenged. Several years ago there is saying and response believers said and it continues for some today. One person will say, "God is good!" and the other will respond with, "All the time." Some truly believe this and it is a way of giving glory to God at a point when they recognized God's involvement or blessing. Then there are others who say it to stir up faith, to get their viewpoint coming from the right perspective. Yet, there are still some who said it but had no real faith behind it; it was repetitive, a response but not a declaration of faith.

Mark 9:17-27 (NKJV) Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” 19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

I have faced in my life, and I am sure you have encountered the same, situations in greater than I can handle. It might even be greater that our faith in what we believe God can do; because we haven't seen terrible or experienced things that can't be fixed by human hands or knowledge. But then someone heard what Jesus has done and purposes in their hearts to take the matter to God.

Matthew 9:18-26 (NKJV) While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” 19 So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. 20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” 22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. 23 When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. 25 But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went out into all that land.

The ruler whose daughter was dead believed Jesus would bring her back to life. His faith motivated him to seek Jesus for a miracle. The woman with the issue of blood had been to many doctors, spending all of her money. Her last hope was Jesus. She couldn't make herself known to ask for the miracle but she obviously knew Scripture, that by touching the hem of His garment she would be healed. In desperate situations we do desperate things, meaning, we take chances we wouldn't normally take.

Mark 10:46-52 (NKJV) ...blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. 51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

Bartimaeus was in a desperate situation. He didn't want to be blind and he had heard people talking of Jesus. It is as if His prayers had been answered, here is Jesus coming into the city where he resides. He can tell Jesus is close by what people are saying, the crowd is getting louder. He must get Jesus' attention. He doesn't not want his current lot in life to remain. He knows Jesus is the one who can heal him, restore his sight. Jesus says, "...your faith has made you well."

• The father believed Jesus could deliver and heal his son, he had faith but it had been shaken when the disciples couldn't help and the people around were not positive. But still he persisted. When Jesus does arrive, he asks Him to help his son. Jesus did and his son was no longer tormented by the demons.

• The ruler whose daughter was dead believed Jesus could return life to her body if he laid hands on her. Jesus did and she returned to life.

• The woman with issue of blood reached out and touched the hem of Jesus' garment, virtue came out of Jesus and she was healed.

• Blind Bartimaeus, no longer blind, because he called out to Jesus when the people told him to, "shut up!" and "be quiet!" Jesus heard his cry, called Bartimaeus and he was healed.

These are only a few examples from the Bible and it doesn't even come close to telling all the miracles that Jesus did. I have faced situations in my life where I believed, but I needed a little boost from Jesus. I would call out Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief." I knew God could heal or change the situation but I wasn't sure if He would. I didn't want to miss out on the miracle, just because I wasn't sure if God would do the miracle.

I do not want to error on the side of unbelief, "Would God do this?" Reality says, "It isn't up to me." Therefore, it has less to do with whether I think God can or can't but with whether I think God will or won't. God wants to relate with a generation who understands God is able and willing. But even if He doesn't do the miraculous in a particular situation, He still is God and He knows best. It is not my decision to know whether He will or won't. My decision is whether I will pray in faith for God to do the miraculous.

A faithful generation will act according to what they believe, will pray for God's intervention, and will be prepared to be a part of miracle God is about to do.

Luke 24:33-34a (NKJV) So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed"

It is good to know what you believe before you act. These two had been with Jesus and they needed to testify and rally the disciples. I can imagine them talking all the way back to Jerusalem, "What if they don't believe us?" "What could we say to make them believe?" "We have to find a way to make them believe!"

Warriors, we need a miracle. We need God to intervene. The coronavirus is still active; we have no cure and no vaccine. Not just our country, but countries all over the earth are having race wars. Police are being dishonored and it won't stop there. Are you ready with the message of Jesus Christ? Do you have your testimony ready to share? In the past God used Martin Luther King Jr. as well as Billy Graham. Who will He use this time? These are troubled waters, we need God to guide us through.

Father, I ask for you to increase my faith. I know You can bring us through. My doubt is about when and how. Chaos, terror and destruction are all over the earth. I ask for You to come and bring Your power, peace, redemption, and restoration. I ask for You to fan the fame in all believers. I pray for each believer to be ready to respond by rallying other believers to step out and follow You. I pray for each believer to remember what You have done in the past, in their own lives, the miraculous, when you responded when they had no other way. I pray for each believer to prepare to share the Gospel, their personal testimonies of why they chose Jesus and how You have protected, provided, and done the miraculous in their lives. Prepare us to be ready for the greatest revival this world has ever seen. Prepare our voices to speak of Your good works. Prepare our hands to be ready to work with the people to restore the land. Just like Nehemiah, we will be called to go restore the wall. Some will be called like Ezra to rebuild the churches. We must be ready when You say it is time to go. As with Nehemiah You will make a way to pay for all of the supplies. Come and restore our minds, hearts, and land in Jesus' name amen.

A Warrior in the Lord’s Army,

Veridee Joy

My hope is for Believers in Jesus Christ to join together each day to pray, to push back the enemy as we release God’s power here on earth against the coronavirus. The prayers will be listed each day as Warriors Arise. I will put a date with it so we can keep them straight. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment or private message me. If you would like this to come to your email directly please go to verideehand.com and subscribe.