The list of things that God can do is almost endless, and the list of things He can\u2019t do is very short. One of the most important things on that list is; He can\u2019t make us believe.<\/i><\/p>\n
John 14:1-14
\n<\/b>New Living Translation (NLT)<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2<\/b> There is more than enough room in my Father\u2019s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3<\/b> When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4<\/b> And you know the way to where I am going.\u201d
\n\u00a05<\/b> \u201cNo, we don\u2019t know, Lord,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWe have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?\u201d
\n\u00a06<\/b> Jesus told him, \u201cI am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7<\/b> If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!\u201d
\n\u00a08<\/b> Philip said, \u201cLord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.\u201d
\n\u00a09<\/b> Jesus replied, \u201cHave I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don\u2019t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10<\/b> Don\u2019t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11<\/b> Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.
\n\u00a012<\/b> \u201cI tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13<\/b> You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14<\/b> Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!<\/p>\n
Two events led to my writing this entry, my dear friend & pastor, Tim Thompson, and his sermon this morning, and something that happened in an airport. A few months back I was flying through Atlanta going somewhere, don\u2019t remember where, it all runs together after a while. A lady wearing a Nun\u2019s collar, sitting next to me at a gate asked what the cross around my neck meant to me? I told here that I was a Christian and had given my life to Christ, and it was my outward sign of that commitment. We had a cordial conversation but latter I got to thinking about why I wear a cross visibly on my chest. The sermon this morning helped me to focus more clearly on the why.<\/p>\n
First let me tell you how I came to wear a cross. Several month back I was excitedly making preparation for the first His Light Ministries workshop up in Shaker Village. I had prayed a lot about how I could honor God and put Him up front in this exciting new workshop series Jim Begley and I have embarked on. I hope Chuck Summers will join jim and I in a future effort as well.
\nBack to the cross. I had bought some Christian themed t-shirts for the event and when I opened one from a company called Life is God, clever I thought, the little cross made of nails fell out of the package. I little personal note said, thought you might like to have this to go with the t-shirt. I don\u2019t know this person, but I believe, it was a God thing. For years I\u2019ve resisted wearing a cross
\nbecause of the countless \u201cfamous\u201d people that sport crosses of all sizes and shapes, but who live lives that don\u2019t indicate that the cross has any real meaning to them. I don\u2019t mean to be judgmental, it\u2019s just I always felt wearing a cross should really make a statement that you should back-up with behavior befitting our Lord. Heaven knows I have not always done that, but I was coming to a place in my life that I really did want to be the man God has called me to be. I truly wanted my behavior to match my faith.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to see the power of evil in this world, just watch the news or watch how people treat one another. Is it easy to see the power of God? I think it can be, and I think we can be a part of that demonstration of His Love.<\/p>\n
If you give your life to Christ, you can walk in these ways:<\/p>\n
Forgiveness
\nRepentance (change)
\nUnconditional Love
\nGrace & Mercy
\nHealings (Physical, Spiritual, & Emotional)
\nUnusual Power
\nGreat Faith
\nUnshakable Peace and Joy
\nAmazing Wisdom
\nExtraordinary Blessings and Protection<\/p>\n
It takes inward commitment to reveal outward proclamation. I cannot display faith and obedience apart from Him, it is only through His power that I can live above my circumstances and this world.<\/p>\n
Ephesians 1:3-4 17-23
\n<\/b>New Living Translation (NLT)<\/p>\n
\u00a03<\/b> All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4<\/b> Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.<\/p>\n
17<\/b> asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18<\/b> I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called\u2014his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
\n\u00a019<\/b> I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God\u2019s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20<\/b> that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God\u2019s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21<\/b> Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else\u2014not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22<\/b> God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23<\/b> And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
\nMy hearts desire is for verse 14 to become true in everyone\u2019s heart,
\n14 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called\u2014his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
\nSo why wear a cross? To point others to a life better than they could ever imagine, I life invested in Him.<\/p>\n
In Christ,<\/p>\n
the pilgrim<\/p>\n
*Photo Note: D7000, 85 Micro Nikkor DX, Nikon CLS (one SB-900 off camera,
\nwirelessly fired.)
\n<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The list of things that God can do is almost endless, and the list of things He can\u2019t do is very short. One of the most important things on that list is; He can\u2019t make us believe. John 14:1-14 New Living Translation (NLT) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2766,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/2766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}