Walking by Faith Blindfolded

“And in the 39th year of his reign, Asa became deceased in his feet, and his malady was severe; Yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.” - 2 Chronicles 16:12

There was this elderly lady that lived in our neighborhood, who inherited a nice car and everyone seemed to be jealous of her having this luxury car. Months later, she became ill and was unable to drive the car. Having no family nearby, the car just sat there.

When she first inherited the vehicle, the engine hummed with power and the Chrome caught the sunlight like a mirror. But time and neglect do a silent work on anything left sitting still. Nobody had to smash the windows or pour sugar in the gas tank to ruin it. Leaving the car parked in one spot was enough. The tires gradually rotted into the concrete floor, a thick layer of rust settled over the fenders, and the battery completely died. Without movement or maintenance, atrophy takes over.

This same quiet danger threaten the spiritual walk of every believer who grows comfortable and complacent. King Asa began his journey with a vibrant, dependent faith, but as decades of success rolled on, he stopped moving forward with God. When a physical disease settled into his feet late in life, he served as a sobering symbol of a spiritual war that had long since gone astray. He trusted human physicians and clever strategies instead of turning to the Lord, proving that compromise and self-sufficiency spread like gangrene through the soul if they are left unchecked.

Spiritual atrophy does not happen overnight. It creeps in when the daily disciplines of prayer and surrender are quietly neglected, leaving the heart vulnerable to ungodly influences.

The apostle James reminds believers that faith without active obedience is lifeless, pointing out in James 2:17 that faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Staying spiritually alive means refusing to live like an isolated island. God desires a community of believers who can lovingly refine, encourage, and keep one another accountable before apathy takes root. True faith must be lived out with open hands by serving others in the community, because stepping outside personal comfort zones is one of the fastest ways to shatter apathy and gain eternal perspective.

Avoiding spiritual atrophy does not require a complicated theological degree. It requires an honest daily posture of surrender when you wake up, before the noise of the world and the pull of self-reliance crowd your thoughts, you have a choice about what directs your steps.

Take 5 quiet minutes during your morning routine to pray the words of Psalms 139:23, asking God to search your heart, expose any hidden areas of self-sufficiency, and guide your feet back onto His path of life.

Where has your spiritual walk grown stiff or stagnantly lately, and what is one comfort you are willing to surrender to start moving forward with God again?

Let's pray: Lord, You see the hidden areas of my heart where complacency and self-reliance have slowly crept in. Forgive me for settling into comfort and trusting my own strength instead of keeping my steps anchored in You. Search my heart today and expose any wicked way within me. Keep my walk tender, active, and fully dependent on Your Grace from this moment forward. Amen.

Getting to the Heart of the Problem

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”   Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

I love to garden, and as any gardener knows, you’re always battling weeds. When I want to get rid of weeds, I don’t just go out and cut them off with pruning shears. I pull them out by the root. If I just cut off the weed itself—the symptom—it’s going to grow right back.

Just like pulling a weed by its roots instead of cutting the top off, society's problems require fixing the underlying source—the human heart.

It’s the same with the world’s problems. People have tried many approaches to solving them. But too often, only the symptoms get addressed and not the underlying cause—because if the root is still there, the problems will keep growing back.

No man-made approach addresses the root cause—the heart—of the problems in our world. Even when it’s a good or noble approach, they’re never enough. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV).

You could try an educational approach, but it doesn’t get to the heart of the problem. You can be educated, but it doesn’t change your character.

The economic approach doesn’t get to the heart. Money doesn’t solve all our problems. If it did, the wealthiest people in the world would be problem-free, and that’s just not true.

The psychological approach doesn’t get to the heart. Yes, it’s helpful and can make people feel better, but we were created for more than a life free from stress and anxiety. We were created for a purpose.

The sociological approach doesn’t get to the heart. Throughout history, well-meaning people have worked to change the social structures of society. But we can see how little people have really changed, even in the 21st century.

The biological approach thinks every problem can be solved by a pill or a procedure, and the technological approach says innovation is our salvation. Each one has an important role in advancing society. But none of them get to the root cause of all the problems on the planet.

If there’s going to be any real, long-term change, it has to start in the heart. Real change happens when God transforms a person's heart through the Holy Spirit, turning selfishness into love and kindness. That’s how God works—through transforming lives from the inside out.

God specializes in changing prejudiced people into loving people and hateful people into kind people and self-centered people into unselfish people. No law will ever teach people how to love. Only God can do that. Transformation starts in the heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (NIV).

The heart of the problem is a problem of the heart. We’re not going to see any lasting change in society until there is lasting change in our hearts.

How’s your heart doing? Before you can help anyone else with their problems, you’ve got to let God work in you first. When your heart is in the right place with Him, that’s when you’re able to point others to the only real solution that gets to the root of all of our problems—to Yeshua, the One who can actually

TURN BACK AND GIVE THANKS TO YESHUA

He fell to the ground at Yeshua’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Luke 17:16 NLT

There are times in everyone’s life when there is a need. It can be in various areas; the need to be heal, financial needs, broken relationships that need to be mended, a wayward child that need to be delivered and return home. Some needs require divine intervention. The mighty right hand of God is needed to bring healing, change and deliverance.

Here were ten lepers, they had a real need, they needed healing. Having leprosy meant you were an outcast. They were rejected by society and could not live among others. I am sure they felt lonely and hopeless. They desperately wanted to be healed, and their moment finally came. When they least expected, Yeshua showed up on the scene and they did not let the opportunity pass them by. The cried out in a loud voice, Yeshua, Master, have mercy on us! Their cries got the attention of Yeshua.

Many times, we too have cried out to Yeshua. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears – Psalm 18:6 KJV. Not only does Yeshua hear our cries, but as with the lepers, He answers to our cries. He said to the lepers ‘go show yourselves to the priest’. Yeshua gave an instruction. Sometimes, what He says to do is totally different than what we anticipated. The question is, will we obey his instructions?

As the lepers were going, they were healed. The healing, the breakthrough, the deliverance may not happen immediately, but as we obey and do what He said, know for sure that what He said will manifest. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Yeshua, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Yeshua’s feet, thanking Him for what He had done. This man was a Samaritan - vs. 15-16.

I know Yeshua has answered your cries many times. What was your response? Like that one leper, did you turn back and give thanks? It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High. Psalm 92:1 KJV. Giving God thanks, tells Him that we are grateful for what He has done and that we recognize His power and greatness at work in our lives.