If You Have Never Opened Or Read My Daily Inspirational Readings I Urge, Ask and Encourage You To Read Today's Reading. I Believe it Is A Powerful & Productive Message For Each Of Us.

2 Samuel 6:3, “And they set the ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abindab, drove the new cart.” (AMP)                     

For those of you desiring to be a True Soul Winner for God, then the First Key you must remember is to Carry God Correctly!  

God cannot be sprayed on like cologne, used as a scent to cover up our sinful stench! Nor can He be used like a credit card, hidden, and taken out only when needed to be used! No, God Must Live IN You and Through You! 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who LIVES WITHIN YOU, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him IN your body.” (AMP).

Truth is, it’s getting really hard for the people of God to be Effective in reaching out to the world because the world is starting to believe in their own Form of Righteousness and even though they have No Commitment to God, they believe that they are heaven bound! The Truth of the Matter Is: This is the Churches Fault! 2 Timothy 3:5, “For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].” (AMP).

Church, We have made So Many Excuses For Ourselves, And Them, going after Money Instead of Deliverance or Preaching Feel Good Messages Instead of Preaching the Total Truth, that Now, the World is Walking Alongside the Church As If They Are Okay! However, the Word of God Has Commanded Us: “So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor.” (2 Corinthians 6:17 AMP). 

When we Hide the Truth, We Give No Reason For Change To The World! We have to remember at all times, Believers Don’t Blend!

Again the Church Is Commanded: 2 Corinthians 6:14-16, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (AMP). 

Understand This: When We Are “Of” The World, Then We Promote It And Cause the World to Accept a Form of Godliness, Instead of a Godly Lifestyle! It’s All About How WE (THE CHURCH) Carry God In Our Daily Lives, PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY! The World Should See a Distinctive Difference Between Us and Them. Our Homes, Families, Character, Integrity, Work Ethics, Dress Attire, Habits, Lifestyle, Should All Send a Clear Message Between Light and Dark, Clean and Unclean, Holy and Unholy, Saved and Unsaved, Believer, and Unbeliever! Church, Let’s Come Out of Acting Like the World, So We Can Bring the World Into the Church! We Can’t Help Them When Our Behavior is No Different From Them.

Listen: In this passage of Scripture, we find a group of people that are Trying to Carry God’s Ark (Which Represents His Presence), BUT They Did Not Follow His Commandments!

Let me say it like this: These guys Decided to Put God on a Vehicle and Carry Him to a Certain Place. HOWEVER, God Commanded that They Carry Him By the Hands of the Sanctified Levites and that They Carry Him By the Handles that were Attached to it! BUT, They Came Up With the Bright Idea to Place Him On a Cart and Drive Him By Oxen! Well, when the cart hit a bump, the Ark Got Off Balance and Uzzah Reached Out to Stabilize it. When He Touched It, He Was Struck Dead On the Spot! But the Moral of This Story Is Not that Uzzah Touched the Ark of God, BUT the Whole PROCESS of Carrying the Ark was WRONG!

Church, in case you didn’t know, Disobedience Leads to Death and Dethroning! Just Ask Saul! “Then Samuel said, Do you think all GOD wants are sacrifices—empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production. Not doing what GOD tells you is far worse than following around in the occult. Getting self-important around GOD is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors. Because you said No to GOD’s command, he says No to your kingship.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23 MSG).

Amazing, You Can Either Have It All Or Lose It All And It All Simply Depends On Obedience!

God Did Not Want Them to Carry Him Like That! Uzzah reached out and tried to Help God, BUT He Shouldn’t Have Been Carrying God Like That In the First Place! Even Though Their Motives Were Good, the Process of Getting God to the People Was Wrong! And That’s What We Must Remember Today! If We Are Going to Reach the Lost, We Have to Carry God Correctly!

2 Corinthians 5:16-20, “Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s Representatives. God Uses Us to Persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re Speaking For Christ Himself Now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.” (MSG).

In A Neat Little Nutshell: You Can’t Convert Them Into a Right Relationship With God, Carrying God Wrong!

Listen: As Christ’s Representatives, We Can’t Afford to Mix God Up in Our Selfish Agendas, BUT We Must Stick to the Bible and Understand How He Wants Us to Walk in This World!

“See then that ye Walk Circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.” (Ephesians 5:15). The Word “Circumspectly” means to be “Cautious and Prudent” Its Latin Origin “Circumspectus”, from “Circumspicere” literally means to “Look Around”. In other words, whether it be in your thoughts, words, actions, motives, intentions, or attitude, Be Cautious and Prudent, Take the Time to Look Around You, there is a Whole World Watching How You Walk! And Many will either stay the same, change for the better, or change for the worse, Simply and Literally By Watching How You Walk!

Think of it this way: A small child learning how to put their shoes on needs assistance, teaching, direction and an example shown because of their lack of knowledge in how this is to be done. And looking to an adult, who they believe knows all about this stuff, obviously, they come to us to show them how to do it. Can you imagine if we told them the left shoe goes on the right foot, and the right shoe goes on the left foot? Sounds comical, but do you know that they’re going to do it! Why? Because they trust that what We Tell Them and Show Them Is Correct! After all, why would we, who supposedly love them, want to tell and show them something that is not only wrong, but painful, and which can eventually lead to a difficult walk and deformity?

However, the truth is, that’s exactly what we the church has been doing to the world! We’ve been telling them one thing and doing another! And in confusion, they’re doing both…what we say and what we do, and then we’re wondering why are they so screwed up and confused…BUT WE CAUSED IT!

And while we’re talking about teaching people to walk right, there’s another little thing to keep in mind. As parents, we often check our children’s feet and shoes as they grow older because we always want them to be in the Appropriate Size! Likewise, don’t just get the “glad glads” when someone comes to Christ and then just leave them at the altar! Babes in Christ are no different than Babies, to Children, To Teens, To Young Adults, To Adults. They need help throughout all their stages of life and growth! Teach them throughout each Transition! Listen, you can’t get mad when they’re 16 and still struggling trying to walk in the same size shoe as when they were 6, when you never helped them out of it! You see, the danger is that once a person does something consistently (be it right or wrong), it develops into a habit, and that habit (be it good or bad) will become their normal way of life. So, if we tell the world to put out their cigarettes, get rid of the bottle, flush the drugs, we better make sure those things have already been delivered from us first! Because when we compromise before the world, we compromise the eternity of the world. We can’t tell them to start a new way of life, when we haven’t stopped our old way of living. In addition, we can’t set low standards that say you can cuss (just not on Sundays); you can drink, get high, and smoke 2 packs a day (just not on Bible Study nights); you can fornicate, commit adultery, lie, steal, cheat, be unforgiving and spiteful (just not when you see other believers around). We have to stand out so distinctively it makes the world come to us asking questions! Which is why you don’t see an influx of unbelievers visiting churches. For what? When what’s going on within the 4 walls of the church is the same thing going on within the 4 walls of the club! Why would they come to church to learn how to live right, when we’re comfortable living wrong? Church, we have to do and be better. We have to set the bar as high as God’s character and integrity, especially since we’re going around using His Name (Christ) to describe ourselves (Christians)! My former pastor used to say, ‘bring no shame to the family name.’ Well, if you were charged for bringing shame to the Kingdom of God family name, would you be found innocent or guilty? And yes, that includes your public AND private life!

It’s our job to make sure that unbelievers come to Christ, and it’s our job to continue walking with them along their journey! However, that is difficult to do when we keep changing up the rules of Salvation depending on the Circumstance of Life we find ourselves in! We can’t call what they do sin on Saturday, when we do the same thing on Monday. We Can’t Compromise the Characteristics of Christ that Should Be Evident in Every Believers Life and Lifestyle. Remember This: Carrying Christ Requires Consistency!

We must learn to consistently walk in such a manner that our testimony is the same as Enoch’s: “And Enoch walked [in Habitual Fellowship] With God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].” (Genesis 5:24 AMP).  And this isn’t a Sunday Walk either! Enoch’s Walk With God Was “Habitual”, meaning it was “Done Constantly as a Habit; It was his usual or his regular, daily, consistently unbroken routine”! Now that’s a walk, in the words of the Apostle Paul, that is “worthy to be imitated”!

Church, To Carry God Correctly, We Must Walk Circumspectly! God Wants Us to Walk With Him and Carry Him Within Ourselves So that He May Be Shown Mighty In Our Own Lives! God Wants Us So Full of Him that We Can Just Walk Up to a Sinner and he will See God’s Glory Shining Through Us!

After All, If We’re Really Spending Quality Time Walking With God, Talking With God and Carrying God, There Should Be Manifested Evidence of the Fact, Shouldn’t It? It was for Moses: “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two Tablets of The Testimony, he didn’t know that the SKIN OF HIS FACE GLOWED BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN SPEAKING WITH GOD. Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, SAW HIS RADIANT FACE, and held back, afraid to get close to him. Moses called out to them. Aaron and the leaders in the community came back and Moses talked with them. Later all the Israelites came up to him and he passed on the commands, everything that GOD had told him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face, but when he went into the Presence of GOD to Speak with Him, he removed the veil until he came out. When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, THEY WOULD SEE MOSES’ FACE, ITS SKIN GLOWING, and then he would again put the veil on his face until he went back to Speak With GOD.” (Exodus 34:29-35 MSG). 

People of God, the World is looking to see the Glow of His Glory on Us, NOT the Form of Godliness Through Us! Therefore, Today Determine To Carry God And His Glory Correctly!

God Is Tired of Us Hiding In the Church or Using Our “Ministry” as a Cart to Carry Him Instead of Us Carrying Him Personally! The Day of Trying to Get Sinners to Church to get them Saved Is Over! We Must Be Full of God’s Spirit and Reach the Lost at Our Jobs, in our Homes, at the Supermarket, in the Laundromat, on line at the Bank, Walking through Park and our Neighborhoods, Just Because He Is Shown Mighty in Our Personal Lives! If We Walk Right Before Them, They Will Know the True and Living God! If Signs and Wonders Really Follow Us (Healing, Miracles, Deliverance, etc.) then They Will Know the Power of God and Desire It! Our Man-Made Schemes of Reaching the World are Not Important! God Will Reach the Lost If We Just Lend Him Our Members and Show Him In Our Daily Walk! Don’t Get Caught Up In a Man-Made Plan to Carry God in Any Method Other Than the Way the Word of God Tells Us To!

After all, what will it Profit the World to See Us Carrying God the Way They Do?

Saints, There Must Be a Difference Between Us and Them! A Clear Distinction! Exodus 8:20-23, “God said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes down to the water. Tell him, ‘God’s Message: Release my people so they can worship me. If you don’t release my people, I’ll release swarms of flies on you, your servants, your people, and your homes. The houses of the Egyptians and even the ground under their feet will be thick with flies. BUT WHEN IT HAPPENS, I’LL SET GOSHEN WHERE MY PEOPLE LIVE ASIDE AS A SANCTUARY – NO FLIES IN GOSHEN. THAT WILL SHOW YOU THAT I AM GOD IN THIS LAND. I’LL MAKE A SHARP DISTINCTION BETWEEN YOUR PEOPLE AND MINE. This sign will occur tomorrow.’” (MSG)

IT IS MY BELIEF THAT GOD STILL WANTS HIS PEOPLE DISTINCT FROM THE WORLD AROUND THEM! SO THE QUESTION YOU NEED TO ASK AND ANSWER IS: “IS MY CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE DISTINCT FROM THE WORLD OR HARD TO DIFFERENTIATE FROM IT?!”

2 Samuel 6:6-7, “When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out [with his hand] to the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen [stumbled and] nearly overturned it.  And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.” (AMP) Trying to help cost him his life. And all because he put his hands on the ark he wasn’t supposed to touch. An ark that was being carried incorrectly. Can you imagine if that was God’s response to us every time we carried Him incorrectly or represented Him in a manner inconsistent with His Character? How much of the Church would be left alive? Sadly, Uzzah would never have lost his life had the ark been carried correctly in the first place. Saints, we have to remember that there are always consequences to our choices. And if we choose to haphazardly carry God incorrectly, He will chastise the children in whom He loves. But who’s to say what that chastisement might be? And do you really want to compromise and chance it? Truthfully, we’ve all missed out on much due to our disobedience. Not to mention, this side of heaven, we’ll never know how many people we led astray by our contrary behavior.

We preach, teach and pray that these are the end times and the last days. Well, wouldn’t you say then that it’s vital that the church gets her act together? Lives and eternity are hanging in the balance. Our obedience can tip the scales in the Kingdom’s favor. People of God, We Must Stay Obedient to Him In Order to Win the Lost! For We Dare Not Carry God So Carelessly That the World Declares “…You ALMOST Persuaded Me…” (Acts 26:28) ‘Almost’ is defined as, ‘very nearly; borderline; partially; just about; within an inch of.’ And in these last days and end times, is that the report we intend to give to God? That our inconsistent lifestyles of straddling the fence, caused people to miss heaven by a borderline?! People who were very near to accepting You, they were partially there, just about, within an inch of making it in, until they saw how we act out! Listen, I can’t speak for you, but that is NOT the report I intend to give God!

Let’s not lose anymore Uzzahs!

Let’s Carry God the Way He’s Already Commanded Us to. Let’s be His clean, and honorable vessels that He can pour into and out of. Let’s make sure our habits, behavior, attitude, speech, attire, lifestyle choices all reflect a good representation of God. Let’s remember we’re created in His image and likeness, we’re His Ambassadors, we are Christians, called by His Name, we are Disciples of Christ, we are children of God, and representatives of heaven, we are the called out ones, we are the CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD! Now, let’s act like it!

Remember, the world is watching our walk, let’s make sure we don’t trip them up!

This Morning You Have The Advantage of Watching Our 2nd TV Broadcast Which Has Been Uploaded Today on YouTube. https://youtu.be/_J8dtL0thGY This Broadcast Is Being Aired From The Wisconsin Dells WI At The Crystal Grand Music Theater. The Weekly Broadcast Is Aired Each Tuesday on The Now Network at 11:30 AM EST and 12:30 CST. We can also be viewed on the ROKU Channel and 24/7 Online Streaming at theNOWnetwork.org; Click on The Perry Stone Image Once You Are On The Website and You Can View The Broadcast Each Tuesday.

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.com

First Of All, When You Make A Request To The Lord And You Want To Get A Miracle It Needs To Be PERSISTENT. I Wonder, When's The Last Time You Asked God For Something Huge; Trusting God For Something So Big Only He Could Do It?

Matthew 20:29-34, "As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd was following. Two blind men who were sitting by the road heard that Jesus was passing by, so they began to shout, “Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!” The crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!” Jesus stopped and called them. “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” He asked them. “Sir,” they answered, “WE WANT YOU TO GIVE US OUR SIGHT!” Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes; at once they were able to see and they followed Him." (GNT)

I am definitely one of those people who can aggravate your very last nerve when it comes to buying me gifts. I usually get the question, "What do you want for your birthday, or anniversary, or graduation, or Mother’s Day, or Christmas?" And the least appreciated answer goes something like this, "I don't know. Anything is fine. Whatever you want to get me." That's usually what I say. However, for my family that can be quite stressful. You see, what they’re hoping for is something a little more specific. Something that will give them guidance in getting that special gift just for me. I rather not give any specifics and just wait and see if my gifts will say ‘Me’?

Now, one of my best friends Delores is a different story altogether! She is always very helpful when it comes to receiving Christmas gifts (in particular). And to prove to you just how crazy she can make some of us when we do our ‘girlfriends gift exchange’, I want you to envision a full page list (typed out and double-spaced), with model numbers, colors, sizes, page numbers, brand names, stores (and even their specific one day only sale dates), and all of this is received at least 3 months in advance! Yeah, it was pretty specific, pretty direct, but at least we always knew exactly what she wanted! No guess work needed or required!

Which brings us to Matthew 20, and I'll begin reading verses 29-34, "And as they were going out of Jericho, a great throng accompanied Him. And behold, two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have pity and mercy on us, [You] Son of David! The crowds reproved them and told them to keep still; but they cried out all the more, Lord, have pity and mercy on us, [You] Son of David! And Jesus stopped and called them, and asked; What do you want Me to do for you? They answered Him, Lord; we want our eyes to be opened! And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes; and instantly they received their sight and followed Him." (AMPC)

I love this! The first face they would see would be Jesus and they followed Him from then on!

As we hear this story, we are actually looking at three secrets of prayer that get a miracle response! You might be able to use that, right?

First Of All, When You Make A Request To The Lord And You Want To Get A Miracle It Needs To Be PERSISTENT. Notice, they said, "Lord have pity and mercy on us," and when they were told to be quiet they just kept at it: “Lord, have pity and mercy on us,” for the second time. The word “Persistent” is defined as “continuing or recurring; prolonged; longer than usual time; beyond the normal period of time; continuing without change in function or structure; continuing beyond the usual, expected or normal time; not stopping or going away.” And my favorite definition reads: “continuing to do something or to try to do something even though it is difficult or other people want to stop you.” Its synonyms are “insistent; persevering; certain; dedicated; determined; resolute; resolved; unyielding; willful; unfaltering; unhesitating; unwavering; resistant; devoted; faithful; constant; steadfast; unconquerable; relentless; unbending.” And doesn’t that describe these blind men perfectly?

They're stubborn in their request. This reminds me of children (which I better understand why we need child-like faith). They are the epitome of Persistent! If they dare tell you (in full detail) what they want for Christmas, you better believe they will keep asking about it all the way up to Christmas morning! “Did you get it; did you find it; remember the color is; the size is; it’s at this store only.” They want to make sure you don’t mess this up and get it wrong! After all, your full credibility as a parent with direct connections to Santa is riding on this! Children do not play with Christmas gifts, and if only we as adults were this persistent when approaching God in prayer with our requests! Look at these men, even after being told to be quiet, they repeat their request! They could care less about what people say, think or feel about them. They could care less of the opinions of others. They could care less how desperate they sound. They need to receive something from Jesus, and they intend to get it, even if they have to face enemies as they entreat. I mean listen to these people in varying translations:

“Many people spoke SHARP WORDS to them. They told the blind men not to call out. But they called all the more…” (NLV);

“Be quiet! The crowd YELLED at them. But they only shouted louder…” (NLT)

The crowd scolded them; criticized them; rebuked them; hushed them; spoke sternly to them; warned them; used sharp words to them and yelled at them!

Let’s be honest, this is an intimidating scene! First of all there’s a crowd (some translations say a multitude or many people), however, these were only 2 men (and blind ones at that!) This may sound a little harsh, but these people could’ve beaten these men to death! They were a vulnerable part of society. Not to mention they were clearly not taken care of by family since they were sitting there by themselves, by the road, having to plead for their own mercy and miracles! But did that stop them…intimidate them…cause them to fear for their lives? Absolutely Not! And clearly it didn’t stop them from crying out either! And not just crying out, but doing it repetitively, and getting “louder more and more”! They had to get to Jesus to get their sight and if that required some naysayers, they would persevere through and get their request granted! And these people weren’t just “mean”, but remember, they “scolded; criticized; rebuked hushed; were stern; spoke sharply and even yelled” at these men. But did it hinder them? NOPE! They cried all the louder! People of God; don’t let anything or anyone silence your cry to God! No one really knows the depth of what you’re going through but you and God, so their opinions are irrelevant! The more they try to silence you, the louder you shout! You have a need that has absolutely nothing to do with them, so don’t let them stop you! Be Persistent! Persistent prayer brings miracles! You need this too bad, and for too long, to get to this point (of being this close to getting it) to allow critics to stifle your cry! When you go in prayer (public or private petition) you throw everything you have in you on the line! Snot, cry, yell, but don’t you dare sit quietly by and get passed by!

Verse 33 gives us a second secret because they were very BOLD. When the Lord said, "What do you want Me to do," they said, "WE WANT OUR SIGHT." This is something so big only God could do it! I Wonder, When's The Last Time You Asked God For Something Huge; Trusting God For Something So Big Only He Could Do It? You see, they weren’t asking for someone to help them along; someone to help them eat and get dressed, and go from one place to another. No, they weren’t looking for something that any mere man could do. They were requesting what only God could do! This brings to mind a question that came up in one of my bible school classes, “Is Jesus the only One to ever restore sight to the blind?” And one professor responded like this: “As far as I can tell, there is no record or any instance of anyone other than Jesus restoring sight to the blind (and this He apparently did quite a bit in fulfillment of the prophecies about Him as the Messiah: Luke 7:21, “At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and He restored sight to many who were blind.” (NLT); Isaiah 42:7, “You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.” (NLT); Matthew 11:5, “the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” (NLT); Matthew 12:22, “Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see.” (NLT). Matthew 10:1 does say regarding the twelve: "Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness" (AMP) - that may or may not have included restoration of sight. We do have instances of the dead being raised by men other than the Lord (Example: Elijah, Elisha, Peter, and Paul), so this is indeed an interesting point. It may be that such instances just were not recorded (as indeed most instances of healing were not put down in scripture for obvious reasons of space: John 21:25, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were recorded one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” AMP).

But there is also the fact that it is only in Jesus that our spiritual blindness is removed: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, “Since we have such a [glorious] hope and confident expectation, we speak with great courage, and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not gaze at the end of the glory which was fading away.  But [in fact] their minds were hardened [for they had lost the ability to understand]; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted; BECAUSE IT IS REMOVED [ONLY] IN CHRIST.  But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil [of blindness] lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns [in repentance and faith] to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom].  And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.” AMP).

Jesus made a definite point of contrasting the restoration of physical sight to those who believe with the spiritual blindness of those who possessed physical sight: (Read John 9:1-41). As the One who is the Light by which we see (Read: John 1:4-9), the restoration of human vision is a very powerful symbol of accepting the truth which, once accepted, not only removes our spiritual blindness but brings us to eternal life(Psalm 146:8, “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous [the upright in heart]” (AMP); Isaiah 29:18, “On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see [the words of the book]” (AMP);  Isaiah 35:5, “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.” (AMP).

If there were any others who restored sight, it seems likely to me that the Spirit has chosen for this reason to preserve in scripture only the instances performed by Him who is the Light of life, through whom, though we were blind, we now see.”

I’ll never forget that class or that professor! But it makes me wonder if in prayer we’re bold enough to be like these blind men and take what the world may see as “hard and impossible” to our God who asks: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27 AMPC); “But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.” (Matthew 19:26 AMPC); “For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.” (Luke 1:37 AMPC).

So, just how persistent, big and bold will you pray from now on? Especially knowing that you can take the hard and impossible to a God for whom nothing is hard or impossible! Therefore, starting today, pray Persistent, Big and Bold! Ask the hard thing! And be Specific! Don’t be afraid! Ask God to heal the adultery in your marriage; the substance abuse in your children; your fear of tithing because of your bills and debt. Take to Him specifically what the doctors diagnosed! Jesus is not afraid of Cancer; Heart Failure; Diabetes; Arthritis; Hypertension; Sickle Cell Anemia; HIV or Aids! He Can Heal Anything, So Take Everything to Him! He has no fear in regards to your mistakes and even your deliberate sin. He can handle the divorce; the unemployment; the church transition; the foreclosure; the bankruptcy; the child support (and even lack thereof). Why struggle with fear, fret, panic, anxiety worry, stress; anguish and the like, when you could simply enter your prayer closet (the one that you make anywhere, including a bathroom stall at work!) Block out people who try to discourage you with such statement as “nobody has ever survived that; or my dad died from that same exact thing; or boy you must be out of your mind to think God will do that; or girl you may as well throw in the towel because not even Jesus can clean this mess up!” Be like the blind men, when you can’t see Jesus, listen for Him, and when you hear Him, make sure He hears you! Open Your Mouth Therein Lies Your Miracle!

Jesus loves these kinds of prayers: Persistent, Big and Bold!

And lastly, let's focus on the one secret of prayer that we miss all too often. In verse 32Jesus says, "What do you want Me to do for you?" It seems like such an obvious answer though, don’t you think? I mean after all, here are two BLIND men! And Jesus heals BLIND people! However, the blind men say instead, "Lord, have mercy on us." And there’s nothing wrong with that, but Jesus says, "Well, tell Me exactly what you want Me to do?" This brings us to our third characteristic of prayer that gets miracles and that’s praying SPECIFICALLY! See, these guys had already made a GENERAL request, "Lord, have mercy," but Jesus insists that they narrow down their request and tell Him EXACTLY what they want, SPECIFICALLY. And when they do, Jesus responds with a miracle!

The word “Specific” is defined as: “clearly defined or identified; precise or clear; relating to a particular individual or situation; a definite reference; limited to one particular thing; exact; detailed; intended; distinctive; unique; designated; explicit.” This is what your prayers need to sound like!

See, too often our prayers are like those vague answers I give my family in regards to buying gifts for me, "Anything will be fine, and anything you pick out or pick up is alright by me." We talk to God about "give me a blessing," "I need an answer," "send help!" or some GENERAL spiritual request. And I wonder if Jesus is standing there asking, "Well, like what? What are you asking Me for?" In fact it's really expanded my praying to imagine Jesus standing there as I pray, saying, "Okay, J.P., what do you Specifically want Me to do for you?"

I learned not to just ask God to bless my marriage, but I’ve learned to take specifics about my marriage to Him. I no longer just say “Lord, keep my children safe.” But I’ve learned to pray “Lord, keep my children safe not just from others, but from their own imaginations; desires; wants; lusts; insecurities; immaturity”, and the like. I don’t just say “Lord bless my finances.” But “Lord, bless me to be a good steward over the finances that you have provided for me. Help me to be disciplined in my spending and saving…” I don’t want to be like the blind men sitting by the road yelling Lord have pity and mercy on me, when my specific request is, “I WANT YOU TO GIVE ME MY SIGHT!”

Now it isn't that He doesn't know what the need is. He just wants us to know what we believe Him for! Listen to Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [SPECIFIC] REQUESTS known to God." (AMP) God honors specific faith! Not demands, but requests that are always under the umbrella under which even Jesus Himself prayed, "Not My will but Yours, Lord." Coming to God persistently, daring to believe Him for big, bold, specific requests touches His heart! As a sidebar: That Scripture says, "...CONTINUE TO MAKE YOUR [SPECIFIC] REQUESTS KNOWN TO GOD" Not to the psychic; not to the horoscopes; not to your friends and family; not even to your little prayer circle. Make Your Specific Requests Know to GOD! This means, you may need to stop talking to people so much, and start talking to God more!

Listen to our text in the Message Bible: “As they were leaving Jericho, a huge crowd followed. Suddenly they came upon two blind men sitting alongside the road. When they heard it was Jesus passing, they cried out, “Master, have mercy on us! Mercy, Son of David!” The crowd tried to hush them up, but they got all the louder, crying, “Master, have mercy on us! Mercy, Son of David!” Jesus stopped and called over, “What do you want from Me?” They said, “Master, we want our eyes opened. We want to see!” Deeply moved, Jesus touched their eyes. They had their sight back that very instant, and joined the procession.” (MSG)

Jesus was “…Deeply Moved…” by their request, and He is just as “…Deeply Moved…” by yours…especially when it’s Specific!

You know what I also find interesting as well? Once they make a persistent, big, bold and specific request of Jesus; once their request is granted; they “…joined the procession.” This is the SAME CROWD of critics that tried to mess up their miracle! This is why you can’t be deterred by your critics. Let God’s work in your life be what silences those who tried to silence you! Think about it: Two blind men shouting to get their sight silenced those who tried to shut them up…isn’t God amusing!

Let today be the day your prayer life takes on a new dynamic. One that is specific in its nature. One that goes to God KNOWING He hears and He answers! SEE to it today that you Make Your Prayer Request Specific! You Have NOTHING to Lose And EVERYTHING to Gain!

Ephesians 6:18, “With all prayer and petition pray [WITH SPECIFIC REQUESTS] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.” (AMP);

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.com

We Serve A God Who Is Touchable, Available, And Accessible. God Does Not Delight In Watching His Children Stumble, Fail And Fall.

People Care About Your Details; God Only Cares About Your Deliverance! Your Real GOD Can Only Help & Heal The Real YOU!

People Of God, We Serve A God Who Is Touchable, Available, And Accessible, So Why Are We Being Distant And Disguised? He’s Waiting In The Throne Room For Us To Come And Visit, What Are We Waiting For? After All, He Only Desires That You Take Off Your Mask Before Entering, Is That Really That Hard?

Hebrews 4:12-13, “What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His Word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM GOD! HE SEES THROUGH EVERYTHING, AND WE WILL HAVE TO TELL HIM THE TRUTH.” (CEV)

God is not impressed by our religious words or our religious image. He is not interested in seeing the masks that we sometimes wear around various groups of people. He does not want to hear a recitation of the same tired old prayer script that we often repeat without thinking. He insists that we come as we really are - completely unmasked! You see, YOUR REAL GOD can only help and heal the REAL YOU!

In a nutshell, it's useless to come before God pretending we feel how we're "supposed" to feel instead of how we actually feel. It's a waste of time to come with our rationalizations, our excuses and our cover-ups. Remember: We are all laid bare before Him! He sees the “COMPLETENESS OF A PERSON”, not a piece, not selected parts, but He sees all of us, our entirety, our complete and whole selves (good, bad, beautiful and ugly), not a piece of us is hidden or concealed from God. Instead we are exposed and revealed to Him! After all, how can you hide any part of yourself from the God who made every part of you?

Who, in their right mind, would ever attempt to hide anything from a God who knows them this well?! It’s absolutely pointless! And yet, we still come to God in prayer wearing fig leaves! We’re still trying to play cover-up! We’re still trying to hide behind flawed masks.

But, there's no point in attempting to play dress up when you're spiritually and emotionally naked before Him anyway! So stop trying! Don’t cover it, dress it, lie about it or attempt to mask it! He knows all, so go ahead and tell it all! Let it go, for good and for real! Be real with Him. He won't love you any less.

You know, I’ve discovered that sometimes we treat God as if He’s like people, and He’s Not! He’s not waiting to drop on your head all the sins you’ve ever committed that He’s been holding over your head! He’s not waiting to use the information you share with Him against you. He’s not waiting on stand-by for just the right moment to trip you up. God Does Not Delight In Watching His Children Stumble, Fail And Fall. He’s waiting with arms open wide for us to run to Daddy and tell Him all about it…so what are you waiting for?

The Prodigal Son is Our Prime Example of How Much Our Father Loves Us, the Real Us, No Matter What We've Done, How Many Times We've Done It, Where We've Been, Who We Were With, How Long We Were There! The Prodigal Son Even Had His Role Restored and His Father Wasn't the Least Bit Interested in Hearing the Sorted Story of His Straying! People Care About Your Details, God Only Cares About Your Deliverance! You See, His Son Found His Way Back to His Father's Arms, and Your Father's Arms are Still Open Just as Wide Waiting for the Real You to Return So You Too Can Be Restored! I reiterate, what are you waiting for?

He already knows what's behind the mask you show everyone else. You can’t and you won't shock Him, no matter what you have to tell Him. You won't surprise Him! But you will insult Him by coming to Him as if you’ve got it altogether! Because, if it’s one thing God does not appreciate its Performance! Don’t believe me? Listen to His Word:

Isaiah 1:13-17, “Quit your worship CHARADES. I can’t stand your trivial RELIGIOUS GAMES: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings – meetings, meetings, meetings – I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn Me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next PRAYER-PERFORMANCE, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your ACT. Sweep your lives clean of your evil doings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.” (MSG)

Now, does anything about that sound like God is interested in attending another Prayer Performance? Absolutely Not! He already knows we’ve got blood on our hands so why do we attempt to come to Him sounding like we’ve been spic-and-span clean all day long? And what’s worse is that He even tells us "pray as long and as loud and as often as you like, I Will Not Be Listening!" So what’s the point, I ask yet again, aren’t you tired of pretending with God in prayer? Because He’s clearly fed up with our pretense, so much so, that He’s even turned a deaf ear to us! Is that really the relationship you want with Him?

Listen, God desires to talk with us about absolutely everything and anything, however, God operates on an invitation basis. He comes into your life when you open it up to Him. So He's asking you to check your mask at the door of His Throne Room and come, as the hymn says, "Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me." That’s the relationship God is looking for. One of sincerity, one that is authentic and real. One without hypocrisy and pretense and performance! And yet, the one He’s getting instead says this in the Bible:

Isaiah 65:1-7, “I’ve made myself available to those who haven’t bothered to ask. I’m here, ready to be found by those who haven’t bothered to look. I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’ to a nation that ignored Me. I reached out day after day to a people who turned their backs on Me, people who make wrong turns, who insist on doing things their own way. They get on My nerves, are rude to My face day after day, make up their own kitchen religion, a potluck religious stew. They spend the night in tombs to get messages from the dead, eat forbidden foods and drink a witch’s brew of potions and charms. They say, ‘keep Your distance. Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’ These people gag Me. I can’t stand their stench. Look at this! Their sins are all written out – I have the list before Me. I’m not putting up with this any longer. I’ll pay them the wages they have coming for their sins. And for the sins of their parents lumped in, a bonus.” God says so. “Because they’ve practiced their blasphemous worship, mocking Me at their hillside shrines, I’ll let loose the consequence and pay them in full for their actions.” (MSG)

You see this is where we find ourselves when God is finally fed up! This is a people that either ignored God, or gave Him a religious performance, or sought after help from everyone and everything else but Him. And as the old saying goes, “even nice people have their limit.” Well, so does God! We love to talk about God’s love, mercy, grace and favor, but you do know He’s also just?

Think about it: If you were in a relationship with someone who never talked to you, shared anything with you and spent no time with you, how much longer would you actually stay in that relationship? How long before you have to say something and do something about it? Well, stop treating God any different. He’s screaming “I’m Right Here”, says the Word of God, and still we either go to the horoscopes, popular preachers, or we go to Him in pretense or we ignore Him altogether. Exactly how much longer do you think God will tolerate this kind of relationship? Especially when if this was the treatment you received from a MAN/WOMAN in a relationship, you wouldn’t dare accept it! So what makes you think God should?

People of God, we serve a God who is touchable, available, and accessible, so why are we being distant and disguised? He’s waiting in the Throne Room for us to come and visit, what are we waiting for? After all, He only desires that you take off your mask before entering, is that really that hard?

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.com