Cry Out... Mark 10:47

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!" Mark 10:47
In Mark 10:46-53, Jesus left the city with a large crowd following close behind. Most likely this crowd was creating a great deal of noise and excitement. A blind man begging for help would be sensitive to hear the activities as the people scuffled by.  It is amazing that a blind beggar would know about “Jesus of Nazareth” and somehow would know that Jesus could help him. The blind man cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” While Jesus walked on earth, He answered that kind of prayer frequently. It must have been music in our Savior’s ears, because that is why Jesus came, to grant mercy to blind beggars like you and me. Jesus stopped, called to him and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” This man could have asked for money or help with some other desperate need, but instead he asked specifically for his sight. Jesus said that his faith healed him as the beggar immediately received his sight.
There are many situations and circumstances in our lives where we are blind to the will of God. But how many of us cry out to God for mercy?  How many of us really bring our specific need to the Savior to ask for His touch? Too many times, we are faithless to ask for what we really want. Too many times, we hear that Jesus is near but are apprehensive to call out to Him. This blind beggar received what he asked for. This blind beggar knew that Jesus could touch him and change him. He did not hold back but yelled into a crowd full of people. Jesus says in Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”We need to take Jesus at His word. We need to understand that God desires to grant mercy and He wants us (the spiritually blind) to see. Are you in need of His mercy today? Tell Jesus what You want Him to do for you…tell Him that you need Him today. Just think, it is not necessary to yell or push through a crowd – He is just a prayer away.

Trust in God

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding

Why is trusting in God good for your health? So you don't worry

An Abundance

"To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away." (NLT) ( Matthew 25:29 ) 

Are you spending each day utilizing your God given talents? If not, think about doing things that take advantage of your special talents and then put a lot of muscle behind it. When we make wise choices and use our talents to the fullest extent, success follows.

Download this app to get your daily devotions: http://jctrois.com

http://www.jctrois.com/dailybibledevotion/devotion.html?devo=kMG9nx79tH

Marks of Maturity

Ephesians 4:14–15

To be mature is to be fully developed, complete, and "grown up." Becoming mature is a process of consistently moving toward emotional and spiritual adulthood. In that process we leave childish and adolescent habits and adopt a lifestyle where we are fully responsible for our own decisions, motives, actions, and consequences.

I heard someone say recently that maturity is developing and discerning competence as to how to live appropriately and to change rightly. In a word, it is stability.

We never "arrive." We are always in the process of moving toward that objective. I have also observed that when maturity is taking place, balance replaces extremes and a seasoned confidence replaces uneasy feelings of insecurity. Good choices replace wrong ones.

Do you have these marks of maturity:

Concern for others that outweighs personal concerns

Detection of the presence of evil before it's obvious

Self discipline

Compassion and involvement

Tempered emotions

Consistently growing in God's Word

How do your "marks" stand up? Will you work on improving them

before the next scoring period?

 With maturity, balance replaces extremes and confidence replaces insecurity.

A better way... Romans 12:10-13

Romans 12:10–13

Yourself. Yourself. Yourself. We're up to here with self! How very different from Jesus' model and message! Instead of a "philosophy" to turn our eyes inward, He offers a fresh and much-needed invitation to our "me first" generation. There is a better way, Jesus says. "Be a servant. Give to others!" Just listen: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others" (Phil. 2:3–4).

Know what all that means? Well, for starters, "nothing" means just that. Stop permitting two strong tendencies—selfishness and conceit—to control you! Let nothing either of them suggests win a hearing. Replace them with "humility of mind."

But how? By regarding others as more important than yourself.

Look for ways to support, encourage, build up, and stimulate the other person. And that requires an attitude that would rather give than receive.

"Humility of mind" is really an attitude, isn't it? It a preset mentality that determines ahead of time thoughts like this: I care about those around me. Why do I always have to be first? I'm going to help someone else win for a change. Today, it my sincere desire to curb my own fierce competitive tendencies and turn that energy into encouraging at least one other person. I willingly release my way this day. Lord, show me how You would respond to others, then help me do the same.

To get started in this unselfish lifestyle, let me suggest three basic ingredients: giving, forgiving, and forgetting.

Once we make up our minds to implement the truth of Philippians 2:3–4 (taking a special interest in others) or Galatians 5:13 (serving others in love), those three basics will begin to emerge. Instead of always thinking about receiving, we'll start looking for ways to give. Instead of holding grudges against those who have offended us, we'll be anxious to forgive. And instead of keeping a record of what we've done or who we've helped, we'll take delight in forgetting the deed(s) and being virtually unnoticed.

It is impossible to give yourself away at arm's length.

 Don’t allow what selfishness or conceit suggests win a hearing or control you.

First fruits... Matthew 22:37

In His Presence: Matthew 22:37

The Bible calls the priorities of stewardship our "firstfruits." In the agricultural environment of the biblical times, people lived on the food they grew. Giving God their firstfruits would mean giving Him the best and the first of what they had to give.

Giving your firstfruits is a tangible, visible way of telling God that He is first in your life. God has always demanded that He be first because He is God. In Revelation 2:4, Jesus told the church: "You have left your first love." Jesus had slipped into second or third place. When God stops being first, we have a problem.

Colossians 1:18 tells us we should live in such a way "that [Jesus] Himself might come to have first place in everything." Jesus wants to be the focus of every aspect of your life all the time, without exception. Why? Because everything we have and ever will have is rooted in God. He deserves to be the focus because He is the Creator, Sustainer, Source, Savior, and King.

A passage from Haggai demonstrates where our priority as stewards should be: "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; … he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes" (Haggai 1:6). When God is not first, we can't possibly enjoy the stuff of life. Whenever the provisions of God become your god, you have replaced the true God with your own god.

One Minute Please

How dare we live for everything else and forget the Source.

Simple faith... Matthew 7

Matthew 7

When it came to clear communication, Jesus was a master. Children and adults alike had no difficulty understanding His words or following His reasoning.

This was never truer than when He sat down on a hillside with a group of His followers and talked about what really mattered. His hillside chat was an informal, reasonable, thoughtful, and unpretentious presentation.

People were fed up with the manipulation, the pride, and especially the hypocrisy of their religious leaders. Man-made systems of complicated requirements and backbreaking demands shut the people behind invisible bars, shackled in chains of guilt. They could not measure up. Many were losing heart. But who dared say so?

Then out of the blue came Jesus with His message of liberating grace, encouragement to the weary, hope for the sinful. Best of all, everything He said was based on pristine truth—God's truth—instead of rigid religious regulations. He talked of faith in terms anyone could understand. No wonder the people found Him amazing! No wonder the scribes and Pharisees found Him unbearable! Hypocrisy despises authenticity. When truth unmasks wrong, those who are exposed get very nervous.

So what does Jesus want? What was He getting at?

He was simply saying that He wanted His followers to be people of simple faith, modeled in grace, based on truth. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else.

Jesus put it straight: "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them" (Matt. 6:1). In other words, stop acting one way before others when you are really not that way at all.

Following His passionate reproach against hypocrisy, Jesus also warned the people against judging each other. "How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?" (Matt. 7:4).

Jesus was encouraging tolerance. Be tolerant of those who live different lifestyles. Be tolerant of those who don't look like you, who don't care about the things you care about, whose fine points of theology differ from yours, whose worship style is different. Be tolerant of the young if you are older . . . and be tolerant of the aging if you are young.

Jesus' words that day on the hillside were powerful. When He finished speaking, nobody moved. Small wonder. His words were like spikes nailing them in place.

People of faith mean what they say and do what they hear.

They do not substitute words for actions or pious discussion for personal involvement.

 Everything Jesus said was based on God's truth instead of religious regulations.