I was just reflecting on some miracle stories found in Matthew 9.  In it we find Jesus responding to a ruler's request to come and heal his dead daughter.  While on the way, a lady touches his garment and is healed.  Arriving at the rulers home the dead daughter is raised up. Passing two bind men, he heals them and "their eyes were opened".  Proceeding onward, Jesus comes upon a demonized mute, whom he also heals.  Not bad for days work! Lets pick up the story there...

And when the demon had been cast out, the mute spoke.
And the crowds marveled, saying "Never had anything like this been seen in Israel."
But the Pharisee's said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."

So what does this mean?  It means good things happen and there will always be those that "dis" the actions and will distract you into their negative narrative.   The truth is 1) a lady with a 12 year health problem was healed. 2) a loved dead daghter is alive. 3) two formerly blind men have their sight back. 4) a seriously hurting person is delivered and can now speak.  

Now what does this mean to me.
The Proof is in the pudding.  Just look and see the good around you.  Do not listen to the Negative Nellies of this world who put their unhappy spin on the reality of the situation.  Determine for yourself is the pudding tastes good or not.  Opinions are distractions, either it tastes good or otherwise.  Taste and see for yourelf.

Do not presume anything.  Often I hear of peoples well meaning friends who say that "that request is too small or too big for God". (As if anything is somehow out of his reach!). It would seem that the best way of finding out is to "just ask".

There are so many scriptures that encourage asking.
My two favourites are;
"You have not because you ask not".  James 4:2
"Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you".  Matt 7:7,8

So don't presume the outcome.  Ask and you will find out soon enough.
My concern is that people talk themselves out of things and therefore never get to see if God is real.
He really cares about your "small things"! 

Traditional wisdom tells to do exactly the opposite.  

Whatever you do "Don't get your hopes up!"

Parents everywhere discourage dreaming...fear of disappointment and the failure that follows is much of the problem.  Unfortunately it stops us from dreaming and expecting good to happen each day.
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Try this.  Ask your social group or classmates, "Do you expect good things to happen each day or bad things to happen each day?"

Regularly, if they are honest, they will respond that they do not expect good to come their way.  

This is sad and and a bit of heartache for me.  Imagine expecting bad things to happen each day? What does that do to a persons psyche.  It does not allow you to dream, think that GOOD is right around the corner.  

Do battle to all this negativity by refusing to protect yourself and others from hurt. GET YOUR HOPES UP!

On a recent marriage seminar that I attended with my wife we learned something that I will share again and again.

Stop it!

I have to share a video here that explains this powerful truth.

Back when I was young a television sitcom called Bob Newhart was very popular.  
​Bob's simple wisdom was welcomed by my table colleagues and I want to share this with you.

​JUST STOP IT!

The Power of Belief.

Does our belief about something have the ability to change the results? 

Apparently it does.

In a study called "Mind Over Milkshakes, researchers gave subjects either an "indulgent," high-calorie milkshake or a "sensible healthy," low-calorie shake. Before the subjects were allowed to drink the shakes, they had to read a detailed description of each. The researchers then measured how each milkshake affected the subjects' ghrelin response. Ghrelin is a stomach hormone that controls satiety--how full you feel. It goes down after you eat a big meal.

As you would expect, the subjects' ghrelin levels dropped after the indulgent, high-calorie shake. After all, this thing contained more than 600 calories. It would fill up anyone. When the subjects drank the low-cal shake, their ghrelin levels stayed basically the same.
Now the Reality: The shakes were identical; they were all moderate-calorie. The descriptions were a complete lie. So it couldn't have been any combination of fat, protein, carbohydrates, or calories that caused a big drop in ghrelin levels. It was a bunch of words written on paper that slashed the stomach hormone.

Or, perhaps, the subjects' belief about what the shakes contained--a belief that they got from the printed descriptions. Hence the study title, "Mind Over Milkshakes." It was the brain the controlled the ghrelin levels, not the contents of the milkshake.

Now what? What does this mean to me today? 

It all comes down to belief.  If you believe something --- even if it is a lie, the reality is that your body will respond to the belief regardless if it is true or not.

Be careful what you believe.  That is another reason for us to live in community with meaningful relationships to tell us the truth...because it only the truth that will set you free.

NOTE: Thanks for the book Peak Performance  and Runners World for sharing the story

I see it all the time. Couples get a divorce one complaining that the other is not respecting their wishes.
Perhaps they have forgotten there vows from their wedding day.  On this special day they are IN agreement.  Everyone is on the same page and excited about the future.  Then it happens.

They disagree on a number of topics.  Holidays- simple or a cruise? Saving for retirement or get that new car?  How do we discipline our spending? You get the picture.

I have learned that if we are NOT in agreement on a topic.  We agree to do NOTHING until both of us are at peace with the direction we are to go.

What usually happens is someone bullies the other into submission.  Manipulation and game playing are the usual partners in the tool kit to get what you want.

I just want to encourage you to wait for agreement.  Peace will reign in your relationships if you respect your partner.   After all marriage is a team game!  

Bob Dylan in his song Covenant Woman...speaks about a very special wife and her covenant with God...that he enjoys as well.  He says, "Covenant Women/got a contract with the Lord". 
Covenant is a legal binding agreement that someone makes with another.

a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action

Marriage is a covenant relationship. The world says that it is just contract. God made a covenant with us...it cannot be retracted, changed, deleted or divorced from us. In the same way we cannot change or break or divorce ourselves in marriage.  It is a "till death do us part." relationship.

When you enter marriage...understand that it is a truly long-term relationship and should not ever be considered as anything else.   God is into "long-term relationships" and so we must reflect that same long-term commitment in all we do.

Margaret Heffernan writes in her classic book, Willful Blindness..."After the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, Tony Hayward, the then chief executive of BP, was quick to point out that the rig was built by Hyundai in Korea to a design by a Texas firm, R&B Falcon, which was then bought by the Swiss operators, Transocean, who leased it to BP. Most of the victims were not BP employees. "This wasn't," Hayward said, "our accident." 

​He was and is willfully blind.

I would say that so much of life is the same...in that we are willfully blind to the destructive and toxic relationships that we engage in.

What is willful blindness? Willful blindness is a term used in law to describe a situation in which a person seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally keeping oneself unaware of facts that would render liability. (Wikipedia)

I am most alive when I take risks.

I was a big brother to a young man and every year I would take him to Osooyoos for an overnight camping trip.  We usually camped right beside the lake and it was a great memory for young Mark and myself.  Being single, I had lots of cash to spend to make sure this annual trip was one to talk about.  Each day we would rent seadoos and eat all our meals out...

However there was one ride that I would NOT do.  A parasailing ride.  

You see, I always saw myself as a fat kid. My fear was that I would not go high up in that air...but rather, that I would be dragged behind the boat.  This was too great a risk for me to take in front of young Mark.  I was afraid.  

So this went on for over 5 years.  Each year I would tell Mark that it was too expensive for us to go on the parasailing ride...but truthfully it had nothing to do with money and more to do with being too afraid.
On the sixth year, I am at the same lake with a different group of people and I am "compelled" to go parasailing.  Sure enough I put the harness on and I give the thumbs up "ready" sign to the boat driver and it happens.  The boat digs in and I am pulled up high in the air.

It was glorious.  The sun, the colours of the water, the orchards in the distance...absolutely spectacular!

But something else happened.  

I heard  the voice.  

"This is what I wish for all my children, that they live without fear." 

Two weeks later I am praying again.  "God what do you want me to do that I normally would be too afraid to do.  I don't want to get to heaven and find you have something great for me to do and I was too afraid to do it"

Immediately, the voice said, "Run for School Board."
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I ran in the election one year later,  nobody thought I would win.  On election night when the last poll was in --- I won by 86 votes.  Taking that risk has made all the difference!