Praize Blogs

THIS WEEKS MESSAGE:

"WHAT'S YOUR FAITH ATTITUDE?"

"And behold, there came a man up to Him (Jesus), saying, 'Teacher, what excellent and perfectly and essentially good deed must I do to possess eternal life?"
Matt. 19:16 AMP
"Now it happened that a blind beggar named Bartimaeus...was sitting beside the road as Jesus was going by. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus from Nazareth was near, he began to shout out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Mark 10:46 TLB


  Here, we see two very different attitudes toward Jesus from two very different people, with two very different outcomes.
  First, we have the rich young man- a ruler, probably -who says to Jesus, 'What must I do to be saved?' Well, the Lord told him in no uncertain terms, the exact answer to his question: he had to uphold the entire Mosaic Law and liquidate all of his vast wealth, giving every penny to the poor. Needless to say, he walked away more than a bit depressed at this proposition!
  Next, we have blind Bartimaeus, a poor beggar. When he heard that Jesus was coming, he cried out to Him his plea, ran toward the Lord, saying, 'have mercy on me!' Jesus then healed him, and Bartimaeus became one of the disciples, following Jesus as He traveled.
  What a difference in these two men's attitudes, huh? One's stand was that of selfishness- 'what must 'I' do?' The other, that of humility- 'have mercy on me!' One lacked real faith, and ended in sadness. Another, a faith that could move mountains, and opened a blind man's eyes in joyfulness!
  What's your attitude of faith, today? Is it locked-up by rules and regulations that you have to adhere to? And then- 'maybe,' after you've done all that you can do -'you'll' be good enough for God by what 'you've' done?
  On the other hand, is your faith anchored by Jesus' mercy and grace displayed toward you, not because of anything 'you've' done- none of us can atone for ourselves -but because of what He's already done on that bloody cross on Calvary?
  It makes a difference, whether you believe it or not, and is a truth we all need to ponder.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works (deeds) so that no one can boast." Eph. 2:8-9 NIV

God bless, and don't stop believing!
Pastor Mike