Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.' But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?'"Mark 2:5-7 NASB

Today's Inspirational Prayer

Further Reading: Mark 2:5-7 NASB

Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. —Mark 11:22-23

The greatest thing that will ever happen to your faith is when the Word of God takes that eighteen-inch drop from mental assent in your head to believing faith in your heart.

When God engraves His Word in your heart, there isn't enough doubt, discouragement, or disaster to ever remove it. The devil doesn't have an eraser big enough to remove God's Word from your spirit once He has placed it there.

In what will you place your trust today? Money, work, strength, education, status, or power? Only faith in God can move mountains and resist the devil. Only faith in God can do the impossible. Only faith in God can produce powerful prayers. In what or Whom do you trust today?

Jesus, I cannot leave this altar of prayer
without first confessing that I place
all my trust in You. Amen.

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. —Isaiah 44:6

We serve a sovereign, holy God. It is good gospel news that what God does for us is not contingent on what we are able to do. He is going to be God, regardless of what you and I do. You are not going to make God what you want Him to be. You may make a god, but it will not be the God.

He is more than able for every situation of our lives. The kingdom of darkness is subdued, and the blood-stained banner of His Cross is exalted. He is sitting high upon His throne, far above every principality, power, might, and name that is named (Ephesians 1:20).

It is time to destroy our idols and manmade temples and return to the pursuit of the God we are supposed to be serving—an omnipotent, all-powerful, holy God of mercy and grace.

When you truly let God be God in your life, you will be able to attain the unattainable and reach the unreachable.

Jesus, in You I am reaching for the highest
heights and seeking the deepest revelation
by Your Spirit. Take me to Your place which
is beyond my reach and my imagination.
Amen.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. —Philippians 1:21

The first lesson the Bible teaches is that death is the punishment for sin. Death came into being only as the result of sin. If people had not sinned, they would have lived in their natural state forever. We have little idea what life would have been like, but what we do know is that when God created the world it was perfect: He created Adam and Eve perfect beings in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1:27). But once they sinned, things were never the same again, and death came into the world. Paul put it this way: " ... sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all men sinned" (Rom. 5:12). Then, in Romans 6:23, he added, "The wages of sin is death."

The second important lesson is that death is not the end. Because God created us in His image, He gave us souls that are immortal.

The third lesson the Bible teaches about death is that God Himself became man to deliver you and me from its clutches. So not only did God become man, but also as man He died for us all!

Here we find what perhaps is one of the most stupendous claims about Jesus: He came to deliver us from the fear of death.

The fourth lesson we learn from Scripture is that Jesus, the God-man, rose from the dead so that we too may one day have a resurrection. Jesus offers eternal life to everybody. How, then, should you handle the prospect of your own death? My answer is, act now; do not wait until it is too late. It is so simple. Acknowledge before God that you are a sinner; thank Him for sending His Son into the world to taste death for you (Heb. 2:9), and receive Him as your Savior. You  may then face death without fear, for you will have eternal life.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. —Isaiah 40:4

The Promised Land was not a level plain. It was a land of rocks, hills, and valleys. Our Promised Land will also have its ups and downs. Paul tells us to set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2). That means not only to seek heaven but also to set your mind on the things of God and His kingdom.

This does not mean the absence of life in this world. It is rather the ability to see the things of this world in the light of eternity. Is your perspective limited by time or released by eternity? Do you see life from God's perspective or only from a human perspective?

Place your thought life, your emotions, and your will in God's hands. Let Jesus smooth out your mountains of adversity and fill in your valleys of despair. He is the One who makes our high places low and our rough places plain. Keep Him ever before you as you make His kingdom your home.

Jesus, lift my eyes and affections to the mountaintops
of faith and hope. Give me Your perspective in every
decision of my life. Amen.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. —2 Corinthians 3:18

Life is like a television with a remote control. If you do not like the channel, change it. If you do not like the way life is treating you, change the way you treat life. If you do not like the way people have been treating you, change the way you act.

I learned a long time ago that I can change myself a whole lot faster than I can ever change you. If your spouse, or child, or boss needs changing, let God change them. Pray for them, but stop trying to change them.

If I do not like the way you are treating me, I cannot do much about you, but I can change myself right away. I cannot remain depressed when I think about His goodness and what He's done for me. The devil hates a smile, and he'll train you to frown if you let him. He will pull a cloud of doom over your every thought, relationship, and situation if you do not resist him. Change the channel of your life today, and resist the devil in everything you say and do.

Jesus, give me the patience to trust You
to change others. Change me, Lord, so
that I can be more and more like You.
Amen.

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. —Luke 22:31-32

On the top of the devil's hit list are those who love the Lord and walk according to His plan for their lives.

The devil wants to sift you as wheat, but you do not have to be afraid, because he has to contend with the next verse: "But I have prayed for you." Who prayed? Not Abraham, David, Peter, nor Paul. The One who prays for you is the resurrected Son of the living God, the One who conquered death, hell, and the grave. He pulled the keys of your bondage out of the defeated hands of your adversary.

Take hold of this revelation: Jesus is interceding at the right hand of your Father, calling your name aloud and praying, specifically, that your faith won't fail. Then rejoice that you have made the devil's hit list. He cannot touch or harm you. At least, you are a problem to him. At least, he has noticed your work in the kingdom of God. Rejoice when he attacks. You are doing something right, and the enemy hates it.

God, empower me to withstand the
attacks and fiery darts of the evil one.
I know that Jesus is interceding for me,
and I walk in the power of His intercession.
Amen.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. —Hosea 4:6

When you give in to temptation, it is because you have not secured your victory for one of two reasons:

1. You are receiving His Word but choosing not to walk in it. When you know what the Bible says about your situation and walk in the light of that knowledge, you will not fall into temptation. You will see the snares of the devil and avoid them.

2. You are yielding to temptation because you are uninformed of God's instructions.

We are required to walk in the revelation of the Word, whether we have received it or not. Just because you don't know the law doesn't mean you won't get arrested for disobeying it. People get into all kinds of sin, die of cancer, and live in poverty. Why? Because they are ignorant of the power available to them.

Secure your victory by finding out what God has to say about your situation and then determine to do what He says to do about it.

Lord, teach me Your Word and Your
ways. I will read, study, meditate upon,
and apply Your Word this day in all
that I say and do. Amen.

Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. —Psalm 26:2-3

Imagine this great tragedy: A woman walks with God for forty years, fully saved, redeemed, and following Christ. She comes before the throne in the resurrection, and for the first time, she realizes what she's missed. She feels wave upon wave of pleasure flowing from the Son of God, and she says to herself, "I could have drunk from this well of spiritual delight every day on Earth. I just had to encounter Your heart and Your beauty. Life would have been so much better! Everything would have changed, and I would have accomplished so much more." Beloved, we don't have to wait to experience the deep pleasures! God has ordained for the human heart to experience them even in this life. It's not optional for us to go on as generations have, without a transforming revelation of God's heart. We desperately need hearts anchored and sustained by an outrageous love that comes from another world.

{ PRAYER STARTER }

Father, I don't want to come to the end of my life with regrets for holding back on giving You all there is of me. Anchor my heart in You, and then pull out all the stops and let me soar with You.

Beloved, you and I cannot produce a good enough
argument to change God's emotions toward us.

And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. —John 11:43

Fear hinders, but faith marches into enemy territory. Fear appears logical and authentic, but is only a product of our senses—what we see, hear, touch, taste, and feel. Operating in the realm of the natural only leaves us vulnerable to the devil's tactics (John 12:31).

When Jesus approached the grave of Lazarus, He saw the stone firmly in place. His sense of smell told him the man was dead. He heard with His own ears the weeping mourners. He could taste the bitterness of His own tears. But Jesus did not let His senses lead Him away from the tomb. He was not looking at the situation with the eyes of man, but with the eyes of faith. He cried out, "Lazarus, come forth!" Death fled when He looked past the natural and operated in the spiritual.

You senses may tell you to fear. Your thoughts may give you many reasons why defeat and death are your only options. But God is the God of the impossible. With God, defeating death is not impossible because He is the resurrection and the life. Trust Him to do the impossible in spite of your natural feelings and reason.

Never trust your feelings because we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Put your trust in God alone.