Changing the Environment

Jesus can see deeper than any man can see. He speaks to the issues of the heart that try to hide within the flesh. Man sees with the natural eye, but God sees the spirit. When Jesus was called upon to go to an officials house (one who himself had authority and position); Jesus went because the official said that his daughter had died, and if Jesus would come to his house that she would live. This man had desperate faith! He had to leave his house and go get help from the One he knew could raise the dead.

The official knew the power of God, and forgot all about his position, his fame, his friends and anything else that would interfere with the miracle working power of Jesus. He stepped outside of his comfort zone. He did not care if he looked foolish. Even if people thought he was crazy for asking for help, he humbled himself, and pursued Jesus for the life of his daughter. He had no more pride, and he no more shame. He was desperate for a miracle, and nothing would stand in his way.

If we want Jesus to change our environment, we must consider:

• Are we desperate for an environmental shift?
• Who do we spend the majority of our time with?
• Who and what are we listening to?
• Who are our friends?
• Who is in our house?
• What are we saying?

Definition(s):

Environment: the circumstances, objects or conditions by which one is surrounded.

Faith: fidelity to one’s promises, belief and trust and loyalty to God, complete trust.

Friend: one attached to another by affection or esteem, one that is not hostile.

Desperate: involving or employing extreme measures in an attempt to escape defeat or frustration.

Humble: not proud or haughty, not arrogant or assertive, reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission.

Reflection:

When there is something that seems two difficult to handle, we can always call on the name of Jesus and He will respond to our faith in Him and His Word. If we continue to hold onto God’s Word and believe what He says, dreams that lay in wait within our heart will live again. What we thought was dead can live again if we exercise our faith in the One who will change our environment. Your dreams are not dead, they are alive! Your purpose is not dead, it is alive! What you thought was buried, and six feet under is still waiting for the word to be spoken out of your spirit, through faith in what God has said about you. Forget about what others may say about you, or if they laugh at you for believing God. Believe God anyway, and your unwavering faith will be rewarded.

Just like the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years. She was considered unclean, and could not come in the midst of the people. She was desperate for a miracle, and risked her life to touch Jesus. But she had a made up mind that if she could touch the hem of His garment, that she would be healed; and when she touched Him, He knew.

That’s how powerful her faith was. That’s how powerful her belief in the power of Jesus was. Jesus stopped in His tracks when He felt her touch, and He asked who touched me? She confessed that it was she who touched Him. That’s when he told her that she was not just healed, but she was made completely whole because of her faith. Believing in the power of God is the answer to your today, yesterday and tomorrow. Our faith can touch Jesus just like the official, and the woman with the issue of blood. Both of them were desperate for change in their environment.

Reference Scriptures:
Matthew 9:18-25

Reference Definitions:
Webster's Dictionary, 2004

Higgins, S. (2009). Changing the Environment. Devotions for Thought. Higgins Publishing from http://devotionsforthought.blogspot.com.