HEART OF THE MATTER

Tag: hope

  • The Power of Jesus’ Name: Authority in Heaven and Earth

    The Power of Jesus’ Name: Authority in Heaven and Earth

    The name of Jesus is unlike any other; it is the most powerful name both in heaven and on earth. This name carries immense weight and authority, recognized by both humans and demons. Demons tremble at the name of Jesus. It is the name that compels every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. God declares, “This is my beloved Son, whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Creation and heaven bow before Him, and they exalt the name of Jesus.

    Unfortunately, we have grown too familiar with this name, often treating it as common and forgetting the power it holds. Jesus said, “If you ask for anything in my name, it shall be given unto you.” This name, above all others, carries significance because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. He paid for the sins of the world, and it is only through Him that we can enter into eternity. Jesus proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.” In His name, we receive salvation and find rest.

    The name of Jesus is powerful. Lame men were healed, blind eyes were opened, hearts were transformed, and the dead were raised through the power that dwells in His name. Today, many misuse this name and take for granted the authority that Jesus has given to those who believe. There is no other name greater or more glorious. When we acknowledge Jesus, God acknowledges us. Jesus warned, “If you are ashamed of me, then I will also be ashamed of you before my Father.”

    Peter and John encountered a beggar at the Beautiful Gate as they were on their way to the Temple. The man, unable to walk, sat there begging for money. When he saw Peter and John, he asked them for help. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, “Silver and gold have I none; but what I do have, I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And the man did just that. (Acts 3: 1-10) Many others were also made whole in the name of Jesus. We are more than conquerors; we are victorious when we place our hope and trust in His name.

    The name of Jesus serves as a weapon in the midst of battle. Heaven recognizes and supports those who believe in the power of His name. When His name is called, even demons pay attention and respond. The disciples rejoiced when they returned, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” Jesus replied, “Do not rejoice that spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17).

    When we abide in Jesus and He in us, we can achieve all things. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. The name of Jesus should be on the lips of every believer, every day, in every circumstance. It empowers us to cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead. It is not by our name, but in the name of Jesus, that God receives glory, and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. We are participants in bringing about God’s kingdom. The name of Jesus offers hope to the hopeless, healing to the sick, and life to the lifeless. Let us not treat it as common, but instead revere the great name of Jesus.

  • BE TRANSFORMED BY KNOWING GOD

    BE TRANSFORMED BY KNOWING GOD

    I remember when I was busy in this world, trying to fit in. I was trying to find myself, but I was losing pieces of my being along the way. I spent time with people. I interacted in their daily activities to feel included. I hung out with people who I believed knew the direction I should go. Today, I don’t know where half of them are. It is needed that I say they were just as lost as I was. I effortlessly tried to find myself in a lost world where even the wisest worldly person had no clue. I grew weary of the same routines day after day. I stopped looking for positions in people and started looking for purpose. I began to look in a new direction, one that would lead me to God, the one true, living God. It was my choice. No one made me search for someone that the human eye had not seen. It’s safe to say I knew there was a God, but where was he? I had to believe enough to know if he does exist, then I want to know him for myself. I set out to find Jesus. I discovered him quickly because there was a hunger, a need to know him. He had already been knocking on the door of my heart. I had finally decided to answer. It was the perfect Lionel Richie moment, “Hello, is it me you’re looking for?” I finally answered his call. Many seem to think that God wants to hurt us, but in all honesty, he wants to help. He helped me. He helped me change the way I thought about things, people, and responsibility. He helped me with the small and great decisions of life that God has entrusted to me. He helped me discover who I was in Him and for him. He helped me to love and be loved. Right now, he is helping me with my emotions. Something happened to me, and I accused God of the pain I was experiencing. God said to me, “The Holy Spirit doesn’t come to hurt you. Instead, he comes to help you where the enemy tries to deceive you.” Yes, it hurt, but God chose to expose on that day. God will perfect everything that concerns you,(Psalm 138:8) even if it means exposing those around you. And although it will hurt, it works to know the dirt that they will try to bury you with. With God, you will not live a lie. (Luke 8:17) ‘We do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. ‘(Ephesians 6:12). I had many encounters with God. I couldn’t go back to unbelief if I wanted to. To deny would be a lie. God has helped me with so many aspects of my life. Today, I am thankful and grateful.

     Where you are looking will decide where you go. I found purpose for my life when I looked for Jesus. I found out that I am a writer, and I am a writer for God. I found out that I am loved, cherished, and valued. I found out that I am a child of God. I discovered that it is possible to have a relationship with the Creator of heaven and earth. I discovered that no one will love me more than He who created me. So my question to you is: Who are you? Maybe you don’t know, but you can. God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.(Jeremiah 29:13)

  • DISPLACED HOPE

    DISPLACED HOPE

                    One Sunday morning during worship, I asked the Lord what was wrong with the people as worship was dull and non-effective. The worship team worked hard to move the people’s hearts and to prepare a way for the Lord, but only to a little success and at times no avail. The room was dry, weary, and routine. Most of them waited for a song to move them instead of the praise for the Savior. Every person in the room could feel that the air in the room was cold and the hearts of the people were filled with desires to know the Lord but no hope to see him come. It was the atmosphere that drove me to ask the Lord what is wrong in this room?  The Lord answered and said, “displaced hope.” Displaced means to take over the place, position, or role of something or someone. To move from a proper position, taking the place of something else.

    Many of us have our hope in other things or other people except God. And because we have committed and submitted ourselves to these things and people, we find it hard to praise God. The pull for praise and worship to the Lord proves that our hope lies elsewhere. Many of us are disappointed by the displaced hope. We have placed our hope in our jobs, family, and friends, and when our expectations of them isn’t met we live with regret and often time blame God. Our hope in God is a sure thing. When we put our hope in God, we experience his goodness and his unfailing love.” “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5). Life can become complicated, and the garment of heaviness will weigh upon us when our hope is displaced. It is important to have our hope in the one that will not disappoint us and know exactly what we need and when we need it. Having hope in the Lord will cause you to walk in faith and we know that faith is what pleases God. It will cause those things that are unseen to be seen. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for but the evidence of things unseen. (Hebrews 11:1). We have allowed our hope to be placed in temporary things that are fading away instead of putting our hope in the King of kings and the Lord of lords that will never leave us nor forsaken us. And for us as people it is imperative that we put our hope in the one that is unchanging. (Hebrews 13:5-8) Times and circumstances are constantly changing mostly causing an imbalance in our lives because of our displaced hope. Hope outside of the very one that created us and sustains us will cause us breakdown, disappointment and discouragement every time. When we put our hope in Jesus Christ we have crossed over from death into life. A life that comes with promises and guarantees because he who called you is faithful, and he is not like man that he shall lie or the son of man that he shall repent. (Number 23:19).

    Today, let’s evaluate where we have placed our hope. Is your hope for something or someone that is not promising? Putting our hope in God will always leave us full and never empty. Everything else will dry up and fade away. And having false hope is like having no hope at all, wishful thinking is not hope. So let’s placed our hope in God and trust his Word. “The grass will wither and the flowers will fade but the word of the Lord shall stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8).

  • ENOUGH TO OUR EMPTY

    ENOUGH TO OUR EMPTY

    In life, we are searching for something, whether that something is a house, a car, a job, school, or love. We spend the majority of our lives searching for the best thing available or the next best thing popular. We spend countless hours searching for those things that will appeal and appease us the most. People spend their entire life searching for those temporary things that will bring them temporary pleasure to fulfill a thirst. People say it’s not a thirst. They say it’s a want. When the satisfaction doesn’t come, they are after the next best thing.

                There are events in the Bible that, to some extent, still resonate with us today. The woman with the issue of blood for twelve years was on a search for healing. The Bible recorded her spending all of her money for a cure that never came to conquer her illness. Until a man from Galilee named Jesus showed up on the scene and set her free. She used all of her funds, but there was no cure. She had the faith to push her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’s robe. He was enough to her emptiness.

    The ten men with leprosy surely lived an empty, isolated life. No one wanted a diseased person around them, so they were often banned from gathering with others. The Jewish law required diseased people to keep their distance from others. The leaders were afraid of a breakout among the community. But when they saw Jesus, they called out, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.” Jesus gave them instructions. Their faith ignited as they followed what was told to them. They received their healing. He was enough to their emptiness.

    The lady at the well had been looking for love in all the wrong faces. She had five husbands, and the one she was now involved with wasn’t her husband. When Jesus approached her, she was attending to her business of drawing water from a well. He asked her for a drink of water before giving her living water, where she would never thirst again. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14.)

    I can share a story of my own. It is very much relatable to the events in the Bible. It involves my own search for love. I moved from relationship to relationship, looking and hoping to partner with the right one. When times of trouble arose, I was ready to get away. The Lord helped me understand that what I needed was Him, not them. I was empty until Jesus Christ became enough, and I will never thirst again. He showed me that he was the way, the truth, and the life. Only in Christ and through him are we made whole.

    Many people are looking for who they are, where they are going, and various ways to get there. They have many plans to make their dreams come true. They are searching for the very thing that will give them value. They obtain what they have chased all of their life. Then they find out it’s not as satisfying as they thought it would be. They find themselves on the road to the next best thing. Jesus Christ is enough. He gave all of himself so that we wouldn’t lack anything. He is enough for our emptiness.