Will you hold on…???

I had an amazing couple of days this past weekend.

The month of April in my country

marks the end of the first school term so that means holiday

time and holiday camps! And since I serve in our kids ministry

I went for camp with the kids I teach.

This was one of the best camps I have been on. Yes, I was

involved in the planning and organizing of it but I still had fun!

The kids we went with had a blast! As a leader it was a privilege

serving the children.

But what stood out the most for me was how God came and

ministered to me and the other leaders. I have been trusting

God for a lot of things and I have to admit it gets hard. It’s

hard holding on in faith and this weekend my faith was tested.

But in the testing God used the three days I was on

camp to re-adjust my focus.

This is what He spoke to me about:

 

“Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed Him, for they

were all expecting Him.

Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell

at Jesus feet, pleading with Him to come to his house

because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

Luke 8:40-55″

 

We all know the story very well but there are a few things

that I saw that jumped out at me that I would like to point out:

 

– Jairus came to Jesus because he had faith in Him. He believed

Jesus would heal his daughter. Jairus was desperate! He may

of tried a few doctors but with no luck.

 

– Jesus stopped walking when the woman with the issue of

blood touched Him. I am sure Jesus knew how desperate and

serious Jairus’s situation was but He still stopped?? How do we

know the woman with the issue of blood had that problem for

twelve years and how do we

know she used all her money on physicians with no change?

We know all this because one of the disciples must of taken

the time to speak to her. He must of spent some time asking

questions or Jesus must of simply listened to a healed ecstatic

woman tell Him how she had spent

all her money on physicians with no results and tell Him how

long this went on for!

Whatever the case, Jairus was waiting! What was on his mind as

all this was happened? Did he push Peter to speak up…?

 

“When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the people are

crowding and pressing against you.” Luke 8:45

 

Where was his faith then?

Did he convince Peter of the absurdity of Jesus question? We

don’t know…..!

Then it happened….!

 

“While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the

house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is

dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Luke 8:49

 

What exactly was going through Jairus mind? It was faith

and desperation that led him to Jesus but was that faith

still there? Did Jesus take His time with the woman knowing

Jairus was desperate?? Did He want Jairus to endure

in his faith???

Having faith and enduring in your faith are two completely

different things. We do well when we trust God but is that enough?

We must also learn to endure in our faith. That’s the lesson

I learned on camp.

Jairus had faith in Jesus but his faith was tested. He had to

learn to endure in his faith he soon found out.

Don’t lose hope along the way! Jesus has not forgotten your

faith! Jairus may of felt like Jesus didn’t care or had forgotten

him but He didn’t!

 

“But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not be seized

with alarm or struck with fear;

Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she will be

made well.     Luke 8:50

 

When Jairus faith was failing, Jesus was right there

to encourage him. Jesus wants us to endure in our faith.

You may be trusting God for something and weeks,

months and years have passed without anything happening

but be assured,

something will happen as long as you endure in your faith!

Don’t give up in your faith. Don’t let fear cloud the truth

about your faith.

The truth is, God will come through!

God has heard you and will not let you down!

He wants to help you more than you will ever know!

Your faith is precious to God!

Your faith pleases Him.

As long as you have faith, the enemy will always lose!

 

At the end of the day, Jairus got his daughter back. Jesus

did a miracle in his life because he endured in his faith no

matter how bad things seemed!

Jesus knows where you are at. He has not forgotten about

you. He says,

 

“Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she shall be

made well.” Luke 8:50

 

Believe He is able to help you.

Believe He has heard you because He has.

 

As I sign off I want to encourage you to endure in your faith.

That is what I was challenged to do on camp!

God bless….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They threw down their crowns……!

And the four living creatures, individually having six wings, were full of eyes all over and within [underneath their wings]; and day and night they never stop saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty (Omnipotent), Who was and Who is and Who is to come.                                                                                                               

And whenever the living creatures offer glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him Who sits on the throne, Who lives forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities),                                                     

The twenty-four elders (the members of the heavenly Sanhedrin) fall prostrate before Him Who is sitting on the throne, and they worship Him Who lives forever and ever; and they throw down their crowns before the throne, crying out,          

Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for You created all things; by Your will they were [brought into being] and were created.        Revelation 4:8-11

 

This passage of scripture intrigues me. It intrigues me and fascinates me so much. I envy the four living creatures. They get to be in God’s presence all the time. They get to see Him face to face……I know God has a purpose for me on this earth but I can’t wait for the day when I will see Him face to face. To be in His presence for eternity!!!!                                                                                                 What an honor it must be for the four living creatures! What has the presence of God done to them? How do they see? How do they speak? What do they think of God?

As I was meditating on the passage of scripture a thought came to me. The word says,

“Day and night they never stop saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty (Omnipotent), Who was and Who is and Who is to come.”

If I had to say Holy, holy, holy for a whole month non-stop I think I would get bored. I am just trying to be honest. So how did they do it? Before the earth was created and for eternity they will be crying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord so how is that possible? Maybe I am being crazy for trying to reason it out with my mind but it’s a thought I had. Don’t shoot me down just yet.   J

Then the answer came to me:

“He then went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him Who sat on the throne. And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders [of the heavenly Sanhedrin] prostrated themselves before the Lamb.” Revelation 5:7, 8

Is it possible they have been able to cry Holy, holy, holy from the beginning of time because God revealed a new aspect of Himself to them???

Is it possible their praise has been a reaction to what God has shown them that they have never seen before??

In other words every time the four living creatures cry Holy, holy, holy it is because God showed them something new about Himself that they didn’t know and they will continue for eternity because God is so big that no one can ever say they know God fully!!! We can never get to a place where we can say we have seen ALL of God!

I want to be like the four living creatures where I see God working all the time. I don’t praise God enough not because He is not working but because I am distracted! I want to be able to see more of God at work in my life and in people’s lives and respond in praise to Him! Why wait till I get to heaven to start crying Holy, holy, holy! I can start now by being more sensitive to what God is doing, because He is working all the time!

The last thing I want to touch on is the twenty four elders. The word says,

The twenty-four elders (the members of the heavenly Sanhedrin) fall prostrate before Him Who is sitting on the throne, and they worship Him Who lives forever and ever, and they throw down their crowns before the throne, crying out, Revelation 4:10

They threw down their crowns. I think those crowns were significant. They meant something. They had meaning and they were precious. They were a gift from the Master but the twenty four elders were so overcome by God that nothing was more precious and important than God!! Yes, the crowns are important but for eternity they will throw them to the ground as a sign and declaration that God is the only One who is important!!  In worship, it’s not what we have that is important but the God we serve and the twenty four elders understood this. Nothing and I mean nothing came close to God no matter how precious it was. Can we be like them? The word says they “threw” down their crowns! They didn’t carefully place them down but threw the crowns!! May we get an understanding of how awesome our God is!

 

This post is different because I am rambling. I have been thinking about this passage for most of the day and this is what I have been coming with. I am going to leave it like this and hope you get the message behind the post. I am still trying to understand what it means for me. All I know right now is, I want to be more aware of what God is doing in my life and respond, like the four living creatures I want to cry out Holy, holy, holy day and night because I saw something about God I had never seen before; I want to be like the twenty four elders who threw their most precious gifts at God’s feet! Everything paled in comparison to God! Such passion, such devotion!!!!God is worthy of all our praise and may we see more of Him at work in our lives and respond!!!

Rolain