Do You Still Believe? - cont. | Previous |
Just when I thought I had regained my footing I was side swiped by another wave. This time it was in the form of guilt. I was a believer, why wasn't I handling this better? I should be showing others that by faith you could get through anything.
This wave was reduced to nothing by two words, "Jesus wept."7 In the story of Lazarus, Jesus wept. He knew that Lazarus was going to die, he knew that he had died and he knew that he was going to raise him from the dead; yet he wept. He had such compassion for Mary and Martha and knew their pain at the loss of their brother. He has the same compassion for us. He holds all our tears in a bottle.8 Sometimes I think my bottle would need to be larger than the ocean to hold all the tears that have been shed.
The doubts that I felt in the beginning have been replaced with eternal hope and God's promises. He said He is the resurrection and the life and that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life.9 He said he is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.10 He said believe in me.11
I believe Him. I believe Brock's life had a purpose and he lived it to the fullest in the amount of time he was given. When he died, the evening news commented that he accomplished more in 5 years than some of us will in 50 years. I want to make sure that my life matters. I want to show others the hope I have not only in words but also in the way I live, so that they can find the same joy and security in their lives.
| References NIV |
| 1 | Matthew 7:24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." |
| 2 | Luke 11:24-26 "When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. " |
| 3 | Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. " |
| 4 | Psalm 145:13 "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does." |
| 5 | Psalm 139:1-4 "You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely." |
| Psalm 139:13-14 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." | |
| 6 | John 9:1-5 "As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." |
| 7 | John 11:35 "Jesus wept." |
| 8 | Psalm 56:8 "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." NLT |
| 9 | John 11:25-27 "Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she replied, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." |
| 10 | Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and save those who are crushed in spirit." |
| 11 | Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." |
| John 17:20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me but through their message." | |
| John 20:31 "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." |
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