Keep On Believing

I received an email from a dear sister earlier this week that encouraged me more than she will ever know. The timing of this email and the message was a word in due season, as I have several "burdens" I am praying through this week, personal and for Elegant Doves which are related to people I care about. There are family members that are dealing with "destiny decisions" and challenges. There are families that are stressed to the max concerning recent disclosures of incest abuse and the far reaching impact this revelation has for their family. There are marriages of dear friends that are "on the edge" and health and financial challenges that others are facing. And the list goes on and on....

...BUT, I KNOW THAT THERE IS HOPE!! I know that there are answers to all of theses situations and I know that I know that I know that ALL things work together for good, based on Romans 8:28. I have seen it manifest before in my own life and in the lives of others. It is "getting through the going through stage that is often the challenge.

I ask that you read an excerpt of a devotion from Derek Prince Ministries and be encouraged and grab hold of the hope you need, personally and/or for your "ministry assignment".

( The following is an excerpt of a devotion from Derek Prince Ministries)

"Are you carrying a burden right now for someone close to you? Maybe that person is a spouse, or a child, or a parent or a close friend. If you are carrying such a concern, we hope this letter will be a source of great encouragement and strength to you in the midst of the situation.

Three More Words of Hope

Over the last few months, the Lord has been nudging me forward in the area of faith and hope. Some of those encouragements have been the focus of recent letters we have sent.

A few months ago, I wrote about “Three Words of Hope.” In fact, in the letter in which that appeared, there were actually three different groups of three words: “Yet even now,” “Who knows whether,” and “Don’t give up.” I hope those thoughts were encouraging to you.

This letter adds three more words of hope to those groups: “Keep on believing.”

These three new words of hope came to light from a recent encounter with the Lord when He spoke the following words to me in a time of prayer: “I will take you by the hand.” The Lord then used the passage about Jairus’ young daughter, whom Jesus raised from the dead, to provide insight into the new life Jesus brings to us. When Jesus took that little girl by the hand in Mark 5:41, He issued this command: “Talitha, cumi” [“Little girl, arise”]. The result? That precious daughter came back to life.

“Keep On Believing”

My early focus of study after the Lord spoke to me had been on the little girl. But just recently, the Lord turned my focus to Jesus’ interaction with Jairus, the little girl’s dad. That concerned father was the one carrying such a huge burden for his dearly beloved daughter. Imagine how Jairus must have felt when Jesus was interrupted in the journey to pray for his daughter by the woman with the issue of blood. Precious minutes were consumed in the Master’s encounter with that dear woman who reached out in great faith to simply touch the hem of Jesus’ garment.

As grateful as Jairus may have been for the woman’s healing, this distraught father had to be saying in his heart, “But Jesus, what about my dying daughter?” Then came the news he dreaded, recorded with special poignancy in the Amplified version: “While He [Jesus] was still speaking, there came some from the ruler’s house, who said [to Jairus], ‘Your daughter has died. Why bother and distress the Teacher any further?’” (Mark 5:35, Amplified).

It’s hard to imagine the wave of grief and despair that must have hit that father at that moment. The child for whom he was desperately concerned was gone. No more reason to look to Jesus with expectation. Time had run out for his daughter.

But I love how Jesus handles this situation. Immediately, as Mark 5:36 tells us, He was at Jairus’ side to set the story straight: “Overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue [Jairus], ‘Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear: only keep on believing.’”

Are Those Words for You? Could it be that the words Jesus spoke to that concerned father are also meant for us? In regard to the burden of concern you carry for your loved one, the words of Jesus ring true: “Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear: only keep on believing.”

It may well be that the enemy has been whispering lies in your ear. Those lies do not represent the last word on the situation. It is not hopeless. Could it be that the Lord of Life is even now on His way to take the hand of the one for whom you are so concerned? Like the little girl Jesus raised, when He takes hold of a situation, the inevitable result is new life—resurrection life. Can you receive His words by faith? “Do not fear, but keep on believing.” (end quote)

Receive this as your own source of encouragement and hope: Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear: only keep on believing.

Be IN courage!

United with you in strength and victory,
With love,
Linda Michelle