Take Time To Listen

The power of thanksgiving can raise the dead. What? How is that possible?

“And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me. After Jesus said these words, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth! And the man who had been dead for four days came out of this tomb” John 11:41-43.

This is one of Jesus’ greatest miracles. Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus raised him to life. When you look at your problems in light of this miracle, ask yourself if your problem seems as immense as this one.  

“I have no money in the bank and no job.”

“The doctor’s diagnosis is worse than I expected.”

“My faith has been shattered and I do not know what to do.”

If Jesus can raise the dead, what can He do for you?  Every problem we face has an answer and those resolutions are in the Word of God. They are for every believer. God is not a respecter of persons.

Thank God First

There is a secret here that we often pass over when we read this Bible story. No matter how grim the situation appeared in this passage, Jesus thanked God. First. 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication, with THANKSGIVING, let your requests be made known to God” Philippians 4:6. 

If thanksgiving can raise the dead, it shows us that despite any negative circumstance, we need to come to God with a thankful heart. We must trust His Word and His promises. Believe them in our hearts, speak them with our mouths, and God will do what He has promised He would do.

Sadly, we often do the opposite. We worry. We complain. And what happens? The problem seems to magnify. 

BUT….thanksgiving is the language of faith that pleases God. This does not mean that we thank Him for the problem or the ‘lesson’ we think He may be teaching us. No. 

It means that despite the problem we can praise Him and thank Him for Who He is, for what He has done, and for what He is about to do because of His promises.

Instead of complaining about your lack, begin to thank God for what you already have and watch it multiply. 

Jesus thanked His Father for the five barley loaves and two small fish, and they were multiplied to feed more than 5,000.

When we turn our prayers into ones of thanksgiving, we are praying the answer and what is dead in our lives will be raised to life.

We are living in a time when there is a supernatural darkness covering the earth. We all sense it but we need to thank God that we are alive for such a time as this. We need to share the truth that God’s love overcomes everything that would try to harm us.

“Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:38 – 39.

Take Time To Listen To The Word

Remember the story of Joseph? He wanted his family to live in Goshen, which translated means ‘drawing near.’ He wanted them to be in a place close to him and told them that he would provide for them. (Genesis 45:11)

Then in Exodus 8:22, God declared, “I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there.”

DRUM ROLL: In Goshen, God’s people were protected from ALL ten plagues in Egypt. Even when there was a thick paralyzing darkness that covered Egypt for three days Exodus 10:23 says that during that time ALL the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Supernatural light.

As Christians, when we are in the middle of intense darkness we can experience and enjoy supernatural light in our lives. When we draw near to Him and understand who Jesus is in our lives and what He has promised, we can live fear-FREE no matter how dark the world becomes. 

“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you heed the voice of the Lord your God” Deuteronomy 28:2.

Take time to listen to what God is saying to you through His Word and that inner voice in your spirit that is in constant communication with the Holy Spirit who lives in you.

Jesus bore the cruel Roman lashes for YOU, so that by His stripes, you are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) Read in Acts 10:38 and Matthew 9:35 how Jesus healed all those who were oppressed by the devil, bodily, emotionally, and mentally. 

Trust Him In His Word

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change. When we trust Him in His Word, faith will infuse our spirit and His healing will flood every cell, organ, and system of our body.

Our Heavenly Father knows our needs and He promises to take care of us as we cast all our cares onto Him. As we become established in the knowledge of His grace, our anxieties will evaporate and we will see His supply of favor in our lives. 

To grow in grace and see its fruit manifest in our lives, we need to keep hearing the Son and His words of grace. Otherwise, we can easily slide back into being law (demand) conscious instead of being grace (supply) conscious.