Have you ever played that game where you fall backwards and trust your friends to catch you? It’s hard for most of us to just let go and trust. But this is what we have to do with God. Jesus was constantly asking His disciples to trust Him. He would often say to them, “You of little faith”. He is still telling us today to trust in Him. 
 
Do you trust Him? I know most of us would say, “Sure, I trust Him”. It’s easy when all we have to do is say it. But, what about when we have to put our life in His hands? A friend of mine told me recently that she had been diagnosed with cancer. They had gone in with a scope and looked at it and biopsied it. I was very concerned about her. Many people were praying for her and we were praying for her. She made the statement. “I know I’m going to be alright because everyone has prayed for me”. The day came for surgery and the surgeon went in to remove the tumor but it was no longer there. It was gone. 
 
My friend is still recovering from the surgery but no treatment is required. It makes me think of what Jesus said, “Your faith has made you whole”. Wow! There is power in faith, the kind of trust that allows you to fall backwards into the Father’s arms. I think God brings us all to this kind of decision. Will we trust in God or will we continue to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5,6). Trusting in your own strength will literally wear you down. Maybe you and I should stop leaning on the things that will eventually give way and start trusting that our foundation on the Chief Cornerstone will never fail. Joseph had this kind of foundation and God chose him to be the earthly father and role model to the King of Kings!

Jesus said that we must become like little children to enter the kingdom. In the Christmas story, Mary was the first one to become like a child. When the Angel told her this amazing news that she would give birth to a baby boy, even though she had never been with a man, and this boy would become the Savior of the world, she didn’t rebel. She didn’t need to think it over or pray about it. Without hesitation, she said, “I am the Lord’s servant, let your word be fulfilled in me.” Later Joseph would have a dream and he would also become like a child. He believed and obeyed the Lord as well. Jesus became like a child in His most trying moment. He asked the Father, “Is there any way that this cup (my crucifixion) can pass from me”? Then followed with the reply of an obedient son to His Father, “Not my will but Your will be done.”

Our Christmas series is called “Heart Of A Child.” We will explore the kind of heart that God is looking for in this world. Each person is as unique as their fingerprint. We are so different but as followers of Jesus, we have one thing in common. We are all saying to our Father in heaven, “Not my will but Yours be done.” That’s really what defines us. We may differ in the way we look, the way we think and even some of the things we believe about Christianity. But the one thing that all followers have in common is that in love, we follow. We submit. We are constantly saying no to what we want and saying yes to what God wants.

Would you say that you are a merciful person? If the answer is yes, then you are truly blessed. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful.” He told the parable of the good Samaritan. A man had been robbed and beaten but the religious guys walked by him and ignored him. The Samaritan helped the poor guy who was beaten and left for dead. He tended his wounds and left money with the innkeeper and instructions that the man be taken care of. Jesus asked, “Which of these men was a neighbor to the man.” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him”. Jesus said, “Go and go likewise.”

When we follow Jesus, that’s what we do. We show mercy to our neighbors. We help those in need. We love without condition. We give without expecting anything in return. We look to Jesus to bless us and sustain us. We give to people and we receive from God. What a beautiful life God offers us! Mercy is the key that unlocks many doors. If you haven’t tried it lately. Give it a chance.

When it comes to Scripture, I like the phrase that Jack Webb used on the classic police detective show Dragnet, “The facts ma’am, just the facts”. When I’m digging around in the Bible for God’s perspective, I just want the facts, just the facts. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to become a blessed person. According to the Old and New Testaments, you find that it’s almost always associated with a certain type of behavior. Jesus, in His sermon on the mount, points out some behaviors that are blessed such as, being meek, merciful, pure in heart, hungering for righteousness and so on. Other scriptures that come to mind are “Forgive others and your Father in heaven will forgive you.” “Give and it shall be given”.

This week we are gearing up for our “Help Project” with a short series called “Help”. I will be showing you how to get help and how to help others. There is an old testament secret to being blessed that Jesus actually repeats in the New Testament but if you’re not watching for it, you’ll miss it. I can’t wait to share this with you. It’s very specific and very powerful! If you need God to show up in some part of your life, if you need a blessing, God makes some promises to you.

I’ll bet most of you have always thought of persecution as something that is beyond the Christian’s control. Like me, you’ve probably thought of it as some terrible thing that evil people have dreamed up to torture believers in Christ, without the believer playing any part. In some cases, that is true but if you look back at church history, you see a pattern. For instance, in the early days when Christians were persecuted by Rome, you see that it was the Christian who made a choice that carried with it horrible consequences. Caesar required that everyone in the Roman kingdom say once a year that “Caesar is lord.” Then they could worship any god they wanted. Christians chose not to say it, knowing that they would be killed for it.

They couldn’t put anything, anybody or any god before Jesus Christ. They stood alone against the culture. Others couldn’t understand why they refused to go along with the crowd. They had a knowledge of their God and an appreciation for His sacrifice that ignited an allegiance in their hearts that could not be compromised. They were fed to the lions, torn apart by dogs, covered in pitch and set on fire, and tortured and killed in many other monstrous ways. Yet, they did not renounce their faith. In fact, they counted it an honor to be persecuted for Jesus’ sake.

Most of the time, persecution is a choice. Will you stand by Jesus or will you cave to culture’s slightest inconvenience? Will you say yes to Jesus only when it adds something to your life or will you say yes when it costs you a relationship, a job or a sum of money? Jesus didn’t come to make life easy, He came to transform us into His image and give us eternal life that begins now. Are you willing to begin now? If we follow Jesus, we will face persecution. We will suffer losses. We will miss out on fun. We will be misunderstood, but we will be the friend of the Lord of the universe and have brothers and sisters who would lay their lives down for us. And, as Jesus said, we will be given the Kingdom of Heaven! What do you say?

There is a prayer that is always answered. Jesus says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”. Pray for righteousness and but pray with the urgency of hunger and thirst. When you are hungry and thirsty, there is only one thing on your mind, food and drink. It’s urgent. It’s overpowering. You have to do whatever it takes to get food and water. You never put hunger and thirst aside and say, “I’ll get to that later, maybe next week”. It’s a “Now” kind of urge.

What if we prayed that way about our own souls? “God, I need your righteousness now, before I leave this place, before I get up and move on to something else. If it means turning off my music, my phone, my television, I’m ready to receive it now! I can’t feel better. I won’t move on. I will not switch gears until you bless me with the ability to see the way You see people and situations, hear and speak with the grace of the Almighty, forgive with the mercy of the Savior and act in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

That is a prayer that God loves to answer!iterally embrace those whose perspective is 180 degrees from mine. We in the church, will never agree on everything but if we are serious about Jesus, we could agree on the main thing. “Love one another as I have loved you.”