The Lively Blog of Thoughts

We often encounter various situations in our daily lives that challenge our faith. Here are some scriptures that help us deal with these challenges:

1. “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” Isaiah 43:2
2. “Commit your way to the Lord. Trust in Him, and He will act.” Psalm 37:5
3. “I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born, says the Lord.” Isaiah 66:9
4. “He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings, you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Psalm 91:4
5. “My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from Him, He alone is my rock and my salvation.” Psalm 62:1-2
6. “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is, indeed, such a powerful gift from our Father. (Ephesians 2:8–9) Christ said with just a tiny measure of faith, the size of a mustard seed, this faith could move mountains. So, what does it mean to have this type of faith, the mustard seed faith?

The Bible refers to the “mustard seed faith” two different times in the Bible. In Matthew 17:14–20, we see Christ’s disciples unable to exorcise a demon from a young boy, even though Jesus had previously given them the authority to do this very thing (Matthew 10:1). When they asked Jesus why they were not able to get rid of the demon, Jesus replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’ and it will move. He also said, Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:14–20). In Luke 17:6, Jesus tells His disciples, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” By referring to the small mustard seed, Jesus is speaking figuratively about the magnitude of the power of God when allowed free will in the lives of those with true faith.

The tiniest proportion of faith, when it is true faith from God, can grow to enormous proportions in the lives of believers and spreading out to have an impact to all they come know.

Regardless of your situation in life and what circumstances you face, your faith matters greatly for your life and your eternity. Great preachers, students of the Word, those with great wealth, or anyone famous can portray or speak about great faith and big things that happened to their life. However, a seemingly small act of kindness, a prayer based on the faith of our Lord and Savior for someone, or whatever faith-motivated act we take, no matter how small, can have an eternal and significant impact on another’s life.

Here is an example of “little things” that we should always think about—little things matter!

“And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41-44).

In one of the most widely known Scriptures, Matthew 17:20, Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The mustard seed is one of the tiniest, most insignificant seeds that can be found. It is a fast-growing annual, the mustard seed grows up to 10 feet tall in just a few weeks or months, the example of the potential of a small, insignificant seed.

The seed in this parable grew into a big and strong plant, like the way Christianity when the Church began, eventually growing into a huge kingdom that is now in all parts of the world.

Where there is a the lease bit of faith in our lives, it can grow immensely, spreading its impact where-ever and whenever benefiting all those who you pray.

Why is prayer, that was meant to be so simplistic, so complex many times in our lives. We want to pray to our God but we find it difficult to get words out or thoughts expressing our burdens or worries to our father. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus taught a very simple prayer. It states:

Our father in heaven, reveal who you are. Set the world right. Do what’s best, as above and so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re a blaze in beauty!

Why can’t we find the simple words to just ask God to take what burdens we have. He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Matthew 11:28, Jesus tells us that we can come to him when we are weary. That we take his yoke upon us. That means he will bear the weight of what weighs us down. God tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Regrets and fears, on the other hand, weigh us down till we can no longer look up.

Think simple, believe simply, rest assured that God WILL take care of you and let those worries down.

In Matthew chapter 8, Jesus teaches about faith and uses the time that he was healing those that were sick because they believed. There was a certain Roman captain that came up to Jesus in a panic and said, master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain. Jesus said I’ll come and heal him. Oh no, said the captain. I don’t want to put you in all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I told one soldier to go and he goes. To another, I tell him to come and he comes. And to my slave, do this, and he does it. Taken aback, Jesus said I have yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the Vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions – streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at gods kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up in the faith but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to Grace and wondering what happened.

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

We all have troubles and stress that burdens our daily lives. We all handle these differently, or just try and ignore them. We often end up in situations that leads to decisions that causes more stress. If we could rely upon, lean up on, pray to our God and Savior, things would often end up in a better place. These words from an old song have thoughts to think about:

“Days are filled with sorrow and care,
Hearts are lonely and drear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near.

Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary; Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near.

Cast your care on Jesus today, Leave your worry and fear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near.

Troubled soul, the Savior can feel
Every heartache and tear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near.” )Song lyrics by John M. Moore)

Can we be happy in this life today? Can we find the good things that’s going on as opposed to focusing on the things that are hard or difficult or same just not right?

May we find peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, goodness, peace, gentleness, and self-control.

May our lives each day we started with our heavenly father and may we end the day with in Jesus name, amen

May we throughout the day in between those short prayers find ways to explore and utilize and understand and ask God and thank God for each of the most wonderful fruits that we can harvest from God spirit which dwells within us.

“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.“

May we find these qualities, fruits and characteristics of our Lord and Savior in our daily walk, in our thoughts about today’s worries and concerns and that we pray for more in depth of a harvest of each of these in every way and walk of her life. My others see that our harvest of these fruit is bountiful and we exude these qualities in our speech, our expressions both verbal and nonverbal to our family, our friends, and all those that we encounter

See this quote by the famous John wooden:

Let us strive to the best of our ability, to utilize the Holy Spirit of our God which dwells within us to accomplish all things for the glory of God. Let us have the qualities of God through his Spirit to do all things to all people with his likeness as much as possible as we humanly can.

Look at this link that describes the spirit qualities.

https://www.eternitysports.com/fruit-of-the-spirit?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwunXxMyq7gIVsFPVCh1v3gyWEAAYASAAEgJaxvD_BwE