Living Presently Sitting at His Feet

Mark 10:46-52 “Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 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!” Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.” When this man heard that Jesus was in town, he begged to talk to Him. And when the blind man was able to talk to Him, ...

Luke 8:22-25 “ One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” He asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” “He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.” That’s me. I’ve always felt like there was a storm inside of me. Raging winds and rain, lighting and thunder. Destructive. I’ve been like that my whole life, storms going on in my heart.  When I would cry out to God, nothing would change. I didn’t have the faith that Christ could ...

Matthew 8:9-10 “For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” What an amazing thing to be told by Jesus. “I have not found anyone with such great faith.” I want Jesus to look down on me and say “Wow, Anna has faith.” Obviously, I’m not there yet, but I want to strive to get there. To have the faith that astounds even Christ himself. But how do I do that? How do I get to where my faith is everything. To be a Christian, you have to have faith. Everyone has a little bit in them, but not everyone has astounding faith. I’ve always craved to have that type of faith. Abraham’s faith. It’s always been so important to me. There’s been times where I can see that I’m gaining it, and I almost catch it, but ...

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Earnestly seek Him. Seriously seek Him. You can’t just do that half-hearted. You’re faith can’t be Luke-warm. You’re either all in or all out.   My whole life I’ve always been Luke-warm. I thought I was all in. I went to a Christian School, I went to church and youth group. I prayed… every now and then. I read my Bible.. at school. I went on missions trips and invested in youth group…when my parents made me go. My family’s a Christian family, my dad’s a pastor. Jesus has always been a common topic to talk about everyday.  I got to a point where I became numb to it all. In “On Being a Servant of the God” I read, “ In Christian Service, a sensitive spirit and a tender heart are absolutely essential; but we can easily become calloused. Then our work becomes routine and perfunctory, and we say w...

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith is confidence in what we…do not see. Having faith in the unseen is in an incredible gift. It’s something you have to learn. It takes a while to get it down. Even the greatest Christians today will struggle with their faith. Thankfully, we have some good examples of what a faithful person looks like. “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (V.8). Why is it so hard to have faith like that? To say, “Ok, God, I’ll go. I’ll do whatever it is you have for me.” Why do I struggle and fight Him? It’s a constant battle.  I tell God too many times, “No, I don’t want to.” And then it turns into, “Fine, I’ll do what you want me to do, but only when I want to do it.” Then eventually that turns into, “I’m sorry, I’ll do as you say in your timing.” Then, even when I ...