Do You Feel Stuck? by Pastor Brent Lokker

There’s a man described in the Bible (in John 5) who had an illness for 38 years that made it impossible for him to walk. Day after day he would somehow drag his way to sit near a special pool called Bethesda. What made this particular pool so special is that an angel of God would occasionally come and stir up the water of the pool. Whoever was the first to get into the water after the stirring would be healed. Because of this, hundreds of sick, blind, lame and paralyzed people were milling about wanting to be the first one in.

The major dilemma this ill man finds himself in is this: he can’t walk and he has no one there with him to put him into the pool. He’s so very close to an apparent healing to his physical body, yet there might as well be a 10-foot high stone wall between him and the water because he can’t get there when he needs to.

How often do we feel stuck in life because we see only one solution to a problem and what looks like an insurmountable barrier in the way? We look at our own limited resources and can’t seem to reason out a way to fix it. It’s in these times we can feel very much like a victim to our circumstances--frustrated and, at times, afraid to the core of our being.

Jesus walks up to this man, obviously aware of his need for healing and the dilemma he finds himself in. He asks the man, “Would you like to get well?”

The man is only thinking of his one solution, so his response indicates he thinks Jesus might be the one to pick him up and put him in the water after it’s stirred. He clearly doesn’t know he’s talking to the miracle maker and Son of God. But Jesus didn’t come to be what this man viewed him as (a strong body to lift him to the water at the appropriate time). Instead, Jesus confidently told him, “Stand up, roll up your sleeping mat and walk on home!”

In effect, Jesus was saying, “I AM who I AM! And I AM your Solution! I’m not giving you what you think you need—I’m giving you what the Father has determined you should have. You were looking for the old way things used to be done. I am here to show you my Father’s Kingdom—a new reality you never knew existed.”

Instantly, the man was healed!! He rolled up the mat and began walking!

Jesus is a Savior in every aspect of our lives. He came to make wrong things right again. When you feel stuck, it’s good and right to tell him about it. Just understand that his response will often come in a very different form that what you thought you needed. God’s perfect timing is involved and what our powerful and loving Shepherd will do for us will be something above and beyond what we were even asking for.

This Saturday night at Blazing Fire Church we’ll be inviting Jesus, the miracle maker, to be Himself and to touch those who need healing. Come, not expecting that He will do exactly what you think He should, but that He will do immeasurably more than all you could ask or imagine. Look not to the solution you’ve determined you need, but look into the eyes of the One who IS your Solution and is making all things right and new again.

Jesus knows what you’re going through—He’s here with you and for you—and He IS your answer!

I Believe In You by Pastor Karena Lout

I recently went to a public high school with a non-profit organization to share my story and talk about abuse. To give some background, teachers and school officials in this particular school district were noticing that many of their students were being exploited and sold on the streets. Overwhelmed by the growing problem, they’ve asked this organization to implement a program that would focus on healthy relationships as well as exploitation. Educating boys would be just as crucial as educating girls because unfortunately, many of the young boys have been aspiring to be “pimps,” and they are vulnerable to abuse too. So with a good amount of courage in my back pocket, I’m stepping out into this new territory with excitement as I watch Jesus bring healing and justice like only He can.

After I shared my story at this particular school, I began telling the students how valuable they are. “You are worth so much more than you realize. Even if no one has ever told you that they believe in you, I’m telling you today. I BELIEVE IN YOU. You’re going to make it.” It was as if I was speaking a new language to them. As I was talking, several young boys who were slouched down in their chair, completely disinterested in the class, began to sit up and look me in the eye. I could see the slight hesitation and look that read, “Are you feeding me empty words or is there truth to what you’re saying?” I knew every fiber of their being wanted to believe that it was true. That their worth and value far exceeded what they’ve ever known to be true.

Jesus is continually speaking words of life to bring healing to our hearts and to cause us to realize our identity as His own. We can choose to hear it as just another piece of information that we reason with or we can choose to allow it to tenderize the places we’ve tried to protect. When you’ve been pained by disappointment and hurt, it takes being vulnerable to choose to trust that Jesus means what He says. Does opening your heart to Him mean you’re immune from ever getting hurt again? Unfortunately no. But you can be assured that Jesus will be ever present with you in every aspect of your life. “God is our refuge and strength, our ever present help in times of trouble”

Psalm 46:1. He went to the cross to ensure that you would never experience separation from Him and so you would have full access to His heart as He brings healing to your situation.

We all thrive from a very early age when a parent or loving authority figure is rooting us on, shouting on the sidelines, “You can do it!” Yes, I was the loud Mom when my kids were younger, yelling as they were on the soccer and baseball field. It wasn’t about how they were performing out there. I was yelling for them because they were mine. The first time Jesus spoke the words,

“I believe in you” to me, I asked Him what He meant by that. He explained that He believes what He accomplished on the cross for me was sufficient. He believes in His own power, His perfect love, His faithfulness deposited inside of us to be carried out in our lives. He believes we are worth it.

Our part: simply believing Him. Belief is the key that unlocks the prison doors that have held our hearts and minds captive. It takes the victim and makes them powerful, gives our dreams flight, causes us to dance on mountaintops and empowers us to love without limits.

“Then we will know even as we have always been known.”

1 Corin. 13:12

Karena

Being You is Enough by Pastor Susan Foch​ler

I have been pondering of late what it means to truly know who I am as a Daughter of the One Most High, just as Jesus knew He was a Son of His Father in heaven. Growing up I never felt I measured up to what was expected of me. I had a constant sense that if only I was a different person; more perfect, more able to do everything just right, I would have been able to somehow satisfy the swirl of expectations around me. But I never could. The authority figures in my life unknowingly were carrying around an invisible measuring stick that said, “do it better”, “get it right the first time”, “be more perfect”, “don’t be angry”, “don’t be sad”, and “never make a mistake”. Perhaps you, like me, unwittingly accepted a mantle of shame and unworthiness - and assumed that was your reality.

We are Human Beings, not Human Doings
All of these messages are incredibly confusing and shaming for us as children. We grow up thinking we aren’t enough..if only we were someone else; more capable, more smart, more talented, more attractive, more popular, etc., and then we will feel OK about ourselves. None of those external qualities, however, are ever sufficient to fill the aching void of insufficiency. We get a message that if only we can do enough things well enough, we will feel that we are enough. God did not design us to determine our worth based on what we do, but on who we are. It is in knowing Him as a Loving Father who believes in us that our identity is firmly established. We are children of the One Most High; reborn of seed that is incorruptible. The Tree of Life says: "I live, so I have worth." It is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that says: "To live, I must keep trying to prove my worth."

You are Chosen and Accepted, just as you are
When we accept entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, we are adopted into a Family like we’ve never known before. Jesus says to us: "I have chosen you and I give My heart to you. I compare you to no one. You, being you, is enough. I accept you being simply yourself; and not because of anything you could ever possibly do for Me. There are no requirements or expectations you have to meet. I took care of all of that for you. Everything you have ever felt you needed to measure up to, I take upon myself."

The Price has been Paid in Full!
Upon being welcomed into God’s Kingdom here on earth, we now belong as we have never belonged before. We belong in such a way that there is nothing we can do to ever be disqualified or rejected. Our worth is based on the price Christ paid for us with His death. His acceptance is forever and unconditional. Isaiah 55:1-2 says:

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters;
And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
and let your soul delight itself in abundance.”

A Place is Reserved for You
Jesus our Friend and Savior, has proven everything that will ever need to be proven. All that Christ paid for is free, available, and satisfying. You have a place reserved for you at the King's table, as part of your inheritance in Christ as a joint heir, and He wants to satisfy you there with the abundance that flows from His river of life. Come, recognize the thirst you have to know you belong and take your place at this table that will satisfy your every yearning. He considers you worth the highest price that could ever be paid!

Love,
Susan