Jesus

Let not your heart be troubled

Cover of Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

And Jesus said to His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1).

Those are the words Jesus used to console His disciples, who were apparently troubled after He had broken the news to them that He had to go back to His Father.

It seems the disciples were doubtful that they could make it on their own—their hearts were troubled. After all, they had been with Jesus since the beginning of His ministry, and had gotten accustomed to having Jesus ministering to them, and providing for them—He was their source for everything.

Jesus knew His disciples were troubled. He could tell by the look on their faces. He knew that a troubled heart is a doubtful heart, so He immediately tried to dispel the doubt with the reassuring words of: “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me.” The disciples, I am sure, were delighted to hear those words. Still, they were not enough to convince them. Doubt and fear had overtaken their thought process, and they could not see themselves surviving without Jesus (See John 14:18-24).

One of the ways “troubled” tries to attack you is to plant the seed of doubt in your heart. The presence of a “troubled” heart is due to the absence of a believing heart. But faith is like a strong gate that keeps all unwanted visitors out of the fortress of our hearts, while keeping safely within, all the welcomed promises of God’s kingdom. Isn’t that beautiful?

Jesus never wants the visitor named “troubled” to gain any entrance into your life. “Troubled” wants to stir you up inside, like the river rapid. “Troubled” wants to attack your emotions and keep you disturbed and miserable. “Troubled” uses weapons of fear, doubt, and perplexity. “Troubled” will try to harass you, annoy you, and defeat you.

But faith has mightier weapons! Faith’s victory is in the stillness, the calm, the quiet, the rest, and the peace of Jesus Christ within you.

Tapping into the unlimited resources of Jesus Christ

It is amazing how believers like to boast about their heavenly Father—how He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and how He is their provider, their Rock and their hiding place. Yet many of us fail to tap into the unlimited resources of our heavenly Father. We are just like Jesus’ disciples who were willing to turn away the multitude, because they thought they did not have enough food to feed them.

Look yonder believers, and “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not better than they?”  (Matthew 6:26).

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Image via Wikipedia

Our heavenly father has an unlimited amount of resources and He wants us to tap in.

Jesus tapped into His Father’s resources and fed over five thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

“And when it was evening, His[Jesus]  disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

But Jesus said unto them, they need not leave; give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, we have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, bring them hither to me.

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children” (Matthew 14:15-21).

As you look around, the needs that you see are often great and overwhelming. Your own resources seem so small, and your own abilities seem so limited to meet such great needs.

if you tried to quench the thirst of others out of your own fountain, no one would be satisfied; if you tried to feed the hungry with your own bread no one would be made full; if you tried to reassure others with your own thoughts, no one would be comforted; if you tried to bring meaning to the lives of others with your own plans, no one would be fulfilled.

Jesus asks you to give all that you have to Him. And as you place your life in His hands, He will break you as bread, multiply you, and use you to meet the needs of others with His unlimited resources.

Related articles

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee!

Some five hundred years before the arrival of Emmanuel, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that Emmanuel would come: ” Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

Thus, when it was nearing the time for Emmanuel’s arrival, God sent the angel Gabriel to tell the chosen virgin of His plans:

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.

And behold thou shall conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS” (Luke 126-31).

But when Joseph heard the news, he was distraught.”How could this be? He thought. Mary and I have not come together yet! I must divorce her before everybody finds out.”

“As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).

“So it came to pass that there went Joseph up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2:4-7).

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O Come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny.
From depths of Hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Day‑spring come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here,
And drive away the shades of night,
And pierce the clouds and bring us light.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, thou Key of David,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!


Jesus is the gate-keeper for heaven

I took photo with Canon camera in Shamrock, TX.
Image via Wikipedia

Check your credentials with the gate-keeper

A few days ago I was at work meditating on the Lord, when (John 14:6) came into my spirit: “Jesus saith unto Thomas, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” I have read this scripture many times before, but I have never tried to analyse it until now. I suddenly realize that this scripture was clearly telling me that Jesus is the gate-keeper for heaven, and every believer will have to check their credentials at the gate.

To go beyond the gate, each believer’s credentials is check for status and validity. Lets use the example of a person coming to the USA for the first time. Landed at one of the points of entry, maybe New York. Goes into Custom where an immigration officer check their documents. This person would only be allowed to enter the country, if the immigration officer verify that the documents presented, were in good standing and the person had nothing illegal on their person or in their luggage. The person would then be free to move about in the USA as they see fit.

Jesus is the immigration officer at the gate to heaven. Once he has decided that your credentials are in good standing, you are free to move about in heaven as you please. He said in His Words: “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).

Not everyone will go beyond the gate. Some of us will not  make it pass the gate-keeper, because our credentials are not in good standing. And Jesus will not negotiate. The time to negotiate is now. The gate-keeper is under strict orders to turn away anyone whose credentials are not in good standing. He foretold His disciples that those who have been denied entry will try to negotiate with Him, but He will have none of it. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22,23)

Give your trials and temptations to Jesus

Trials And Temptations

Everyone goes through hard times (Trials and Temptations). It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes our prayers help us to avoid them. Sometimes not. It’s the attitude we have when we go through them that matters the most. if we are filled with anger and bitterness, or insist on complaining and blaming God, things tend to turn out badly. But if we go through them with thankfulness and praise to God, He promises to bring good things despite of them.

In the book of (James 1:2-6 NIV), He says: 2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

Believe it or not, when we serve God, His love attends every moment of our lives. He is always there in our midst, working things out for good–when we pray and look to Him to do so. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). His purpose for our trials is often to bring us humbly before Him, to cleanse us of our unrighteous, and to draw us closer to Him.