“Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” – John 4:50

Early in the earthly ministry of Jesus, there was an official who had some amount of interest and faith in Jesus. The critical question was, how much??? The man’s son was sick and he thought Jesus could help if He’d just come to his house in Capernaum. To evaluate this man’s faith, Jesus didn’t agree to come with him. Jesus simply told him to go back home, trusting that Jesus had already healed the child.

To do that, without arguing, requires far more faith than hunting down the latest miracle worker and asking him to come over and do something. It was a real test to make the multi-day walk back home with nothing to show for your efforts. No Jesus. Just a promise. Nonetheless, the man believed and he went home. His faith was genuine! The next day, while still walking home, he was met by his servants eager to tell him the good news that his son had recovered at the very moment Jesus spoke these words.

Jesus is compassionate, loving, faithful, and powerful. However, He won’t hesitate to test your faith to see if it’s genuine. It doesn’t take much faith to give something a shot when you’re desperate. It takes far more faith to walk away from that last shot with nothing to show for your efforts but a promise. It turns out that official had tremendous faith in Jesus though he had far less evidence to base it on than we have today.

So, what’s your faith like? Is it like the official’s? When you pray to Jesus, can you trust and be at peace when He tells you it’s going to be OK? Or do you continue trying to control His response, even after He’s quietly given you everything you needed? Jesus is trustworthy. Cultivate faith like this official’s. #FollowJesus

“My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.”
– Psalm 42:6b

The Apostle Paul commands believers to “take captive every thought”. However, we struggle to do so. It’s difficult and we often deny the very possibility of doing so. Thankfully, David illustrates how to do so throughout the Psalms. From his writings, it’s clear that David struggled with overwhelming dark thoughts we might label depression. It’s certainly understandable, given the many terrible things that happened to him throughout his life, especially early on. However, David wasn’t content to stay in the dark places where his mind went.

When David’s soul was “cast down” – he was deep in despair – he consciously chose to think about other, better things as Paul later commanded in Philippians 4:8. David said that when he was deep in the valley of sorrow, suffering, and self-pity, overwhelmed by darkness, “therefore” he chose to remember God. He intentionally began thinking about God’s greatness and His great works across the history and land of Israel. From the waters of the Jordan in the east (which God parted to bring the people into the Promised Land) to the snow-capped peak of Mount Hermon in the north to the many “little hills” throughout the land (the meaning of Mizar).

God is everywhere and always active. IF we choose to look and see. IF we choose to remember and celebrate. That’s what David shows us how to do when his thoughts turned dark and he looked deep within himself. He took his thoughts captive, turning them outward and upward. He remembered what is true of God. His many attributes. His many activities. His perfect faithfulness and love. His presence.

May we all learn to do what David did. To take our thoughts captive when they threaten to derail our life and service. To turn our thoughts outward and upward when we’re overly focused downward and inward. To praise God, even in the darkest valleys of life. #FollowJesus

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:14

This is what Jesus offers every parched soul far from its Creator and source of life. Living water. Eternal life. Union with Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. In our natural state, our souls are separated from God’s holy presence by sin. And yet, we were made to enjoy fellowship with Him. That’s why nothing the world offers can provide lasting satisfaction. Sure, there can be moments of relief and periods of happiness, but then…. We long, once again, for something real, and true, and lasting. That which we were made for but have never tasted – fellowship with God.

That is the gift of grace Jesus offers through Himself. When you embrace Jesus, the Son of God, as your Lord and Savior, He will meet the deepest longing of your soul. When you entrust yourself to Him, turning away from the sins of your natural self in repentance, you are raised to new, eternal spiritual life in Christ. You are united with Him. His Spirit seals and lives in you. As an adopted child of God the Father, your new identity in Christ is firmly in Him. The desperate, lifelong hunger and thirst of your soul ends at last.

Jesus Christ is the bread of heaven and gives the living water of the Holy Spirit. Of course, you’ll still have physical needs after you unite yourself with Him. but your restless soul can finally enjoy enduring peace and nourishment in Him. Eternal life, fellowship with God – the very things you were created for – are yours in Christ and will be forever more. #FollowJesus

“For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”
– Psalm 62:1-2

This world in which we live is constantly shaking and quaking. God cannot be shaken. If you build your life and identity on the things of this world, you will eventually find yourself shaken by the world. If you build your life and identity on God, you will not be greatly shaken, even as everything around you shakes violently.

Where do you seek your peace? Where do you seek your salvation? Is it in accomplishments? Degrees? Milestones? Victories? Markets? Plans? Preparations? People? Or is it in God alone?

Only God is unshaken and unshakeable. Center your life on Him. Make Him your rock and refuge. Make Him your fortress. Build on the rock-solid, unchanging foundation of the Lord. The world will still shake all around you. But your soul will be secure in Him. You will know peace, even amidst chaos. #FollowJesus

“But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.” – 2 Samuel 14:14b

God’s heart and desire for every person is reconciliation and restoration. He made us for fellowship with Him and with one another. He never wants the outcast to remain outcast or those separated from Him to remain separated. Though sin separates us from the our Holy Creator, our perfect Father in Heaven doesn’t want that to be anyone’s final situation. His love, mercy, and grace are so vast that He even sent His own Son, Jesus, into the world to reconcile us to Him. The eternal Son of God, Who is God come in the flesh, gave His life over to death on a cross so that no person made in God’s image (and that’s every person) would have to remain separated for eternity. And this glorious restoration and reconciliation is entirely a gift of grace, received through faith in Jesus Christ.

God is not, first and foremost, a God of wrath, judgment, or condemnation. He is certainly a just judge Who will condemn those who are in sin, that isn’t His heart. His heart is to see sinners reconciled and restored through grace. To see the outcast welcomed home. To adopt rebels as His children. For those who’ve received that grace and been welcomed into the family of God through Jesus Christ, this must be our heart as well. We must not find satisfaction in someone’s life as an outcast, either from God or from other people. We must pray and make every effort to bring about reconciliation and restoration for those willing to embrace it.

For Christians, this is our ministry because God has reconciled us to Himself. So, is your heart for the outcast? Do you make efforts to see those far from God, or far from people, brought close in love and grace? What’s holding you back from sharing in the heart of God? #FollowJesus