19 times in the book of Genesis that I can tell, the word sight is found...
Most of these findings are dealing with favor in the sight of the Lord.
Praying Favor,... desiring favor,... asking favor...
At the beginning of Exodus,...
sight is used as showing God's power displayed for the visibility of
men. A burning bush, not being consumed,... favor in the eyes
of men so to have provision, lack of favor in the sight of men,
God's power displayed in the river turning to blood from the
obedience of God's word in action,.. more favor in the sight of
the egyptians, God's power displayed by giving drinking water
(again through obedience in action based on God's command)
The Glory of the Lord showing Himself, back to the favor of God
being desired... Moses asking for the favor of God, to see God...
Common things I am seeing here...
Favor comes through Faith.
God told Moses to do some things. Strike a rock,...
Go in the cleft,... etc... obedience = faith.
Faith = Favor. Favor = Sight.
Abraham and Isaac. Climb the mountain,... worship there...
sacrifice....
Faith displayed through obedience,... even to the point of killing
his own son. God provided a way to save Isaac.
Obedience = Faith. Faith = Favor. Favor = Sight.
Lazuras. Dead. Gone. Jesus told them not to worry
at the beginning of the passage. He went so far to say out loud -
THIS WILL NOT END IN DEATH, then spoke of God's glory...
Sure enough,... circumstances started looking grim.
I think of Abraham having to climb the mountain, not knowing
if God was really going to ask him to go through with it... to really
sacrifice his son... circumstances looked bad. REAL bad.
Still... with each step, he climbed (worked) obedient.
Each step of was a step of faith. I am sure as he got closer
and closer, the journey began being harder and harder.
Can you imagine the conversation he must have been having with God
in his heart? Or even, the thoughts that raced through his head as
his heart pounded in uncertainty... climbing the cliff to the place
where he may be asked to sacrifice the one thing that meant the most
to him?
With each step of faith,... it had to take more obedience to
continue the journey. It had to be harder to trust the one who
called him to the journey. Faithful is He who calls us,... and He will bring it
to pass... Abraham HAD to know God HAD a plan.
Each faith step took more obedience... with more obedience displayed,
more favor was poured out...
Back to Lazarus. So, Jesus calls Lazarus forth.... wakes the dead.
People see the glory of God revealed,... this time, not so much
after obedience displayed, but more so as a teaching,... more so
because Jesus SAID that it would NOT end in death.
Then, Jesus says something that captured my attention.
He said, "Did I not say that if you believed, you would see the Glory
of God?" I have written about this a little in a previous blog,...
Here is what I am convinced of. Sometimes, life just doesn't seem to
work the way we think it should. Sometimes, it may SEEM to us that God
is this mean God calling us into the wilderness of bad circumstances,
seemingly. We tend, in our selfish american way, to get frustrated/angry at God,
before believing that He really does have the best, purest intentions for our
lives,... knowing the provision He has for us, and believing that if we wait
upon the Lord,... take faith steps,... believe,... obey...
we WILL have the favor of the Lord. We Will see the glory of God.
Does this mean that we will always see the results that WE want?
I hate the be the bearer of this news... but no. Sometimes, we won't
receive the answers that we want to see --- immediately.
God always answers. God always has a plan. God will always work things
together for the good. His nearness IS our good.
His nearness comes from our faith, our obedience, our desire -
our brokenness, our hurting, our victory, our defeat, our asking... our seeking.
God has not answered all questions/petitions the way we wanted
WHEN we wanted concerning Kyle.
But, God has answered our prayers... and God IS answering our
prayers. God IS answering your prayers.
Believe.
You have things you are dealing with in your lives, just as we
are dealing with things in ours. We are walking through some of the
darkest nights of our soul. However,... God is good.
No matter what you are asking God for,...even begging God for...
Believe. Walk... journey with God. Trust... have Faith... step,...
one foot in front of the other,... one faith step at a time...obey.
His favor will carry us all. His plan is good.
let me leave you with this.
Seeing God move is usually followed by the showing of our faith first.
Look at this:
Mar 10:52 And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."
And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
Luk 18:42 And Jesus said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well."
God's miracle came after the faith was shown... After Belief,... then the workings
of that belief displayed through faith -- then sight.
Today, we seek the face of God, not JUST the hand of God.
We walk by faith. We Believe.
2Cr 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
By the way,.. Kyle is having a pretty good day. They have stopped feeds for now
because of the infection. Sometimes, when we are sick, we don't feel like a big
meal either,.. so, they are letting his little stomach rest a bit,...
His respiration is still somewhat fluctuating, but holding pretty steady.
He desaturates every now and then a little, which could be his PDA acting up,
but, they aren't too concerned just yet.
They ARE taking out his main line today, which is infected,... so hopefully,
they will get this thing all cleared up in a few days and we can re insert a new
main line. We don't want to stick him over and over with needles if we can avoid it.
We are still praying hard for the blood in his brain. We are believing and asking God
to allow that blood to reabsorb without causing any spinal fluid or blood to be
obstructed in flowing during the process. We need that fluid and blood to be
able to flow freely the way it should so to minimize any damage.
We are praying and believing God to close Kyle's PDA and to help his lungs grow new
and good/unscarred tissue. Pray for his ventilation leak to get better and his O2 needs to
be low. Pray asking God to allow Kyle to blow off enough Carbon Dioxide and to
allow his levels (electrolytes) and his blood sugar/vitals to be good!
Believe with us. Pray,... walk in faith... and let's watch God reveal Himself as He
pours His favor on Kyle and the rest of us.... for His Glory!
Kyle's NICU Story in Pictures
7 comments:
Amen!
John, your messages leave me speechless - and wishing I'd said that. Your family is much in my mind, and I look forward to reading your blogs every day. I actually get a little panicky when I don't see something from either you or Kelly daily. A friend in my office delivered a preemie at 26 weeks, and reading of Kyle's sojourn in NICU is very much like Mary's. She is now two years old, and absolutely one of the smartest kids I've ever seen. She experienced the infections and the desats, and the IVH, etc, but she came through in good order. She comes from good stock - and so does Kyle.
Praying for you and keeping the faith,
Gail Alexander
John/Kelly -
Still praying. Good word for today... I'm praying that the Lord continues to show His face in this time of trial. We'll see you guys this weekend!
In His Grip,
josh and kristi rhodes
John, You said, "Believe with us. Pray,... walk in faith... and let's watch God reveal Himself as He pours His favor on Kyle and the rest of us.... for His Glory"
We are still believing, still praying and still expecting God's best healing to be poured out on Kyle!
Candy Humber
John and Kelly
Thank you so much for being open and transparent in your feelings. Sometimes people feel Christians has it easy. We all know better. Thank you also for Praising God and giving Him the Glory though all this. John, your messages send me to my knees and I cry out to God because of my lack of Faith at times. I take a copy of your clog to the PCC every Tuesday so they can get an update, we always pray of Kyle and your family.
Keep the Faith,
Margie
John, dear brother, the faith of Father Abraham is even greater than you're thinking...
"Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.'"
He knew Isaac was going to be alright, because he had faith in the promises of Yahweh.
And the promise is to you and your children, and we know the Judge of all the earth will do right.
Be strong and of good courage, my friend.
John,
Loved your commentary on Faith, Sight, and the Glory of God. I was awestruck at the words God has given you during this time, and was so personally challenged as we continue to believe God for complete healing and restoration for Kyle. We love to hear the triumphs (and the challenges) that you all and Kyle face because we know that God's glory and power is and will continue to be displayed. We also continue to pray for the Father's comfort and peace to envelope Jadon and Jack, and that they will learn and understand the power of prayer and the amazement of the God that we love and serve.
Praying Faithfully and with great Hope,
Katie (& Jason)
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