It's time for me to Move

Exodus 13:21

By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

Greetings Be Inspired Friends!

Today after almost 13 years with my current employer, I leave; making today my last day at my job.  I believe the Lord has moved me and I am excited to see how the new adventure will unfold.  As always, I hope that the character of Christ may shine through this vessel; at times filled with flaws, but surrendered for his use.

Pray for me!  Looking forward to continuing our "email relationship".  I move to a new place of employment; not a new position in the Kingdom!  Hallelujah! I seek to please you Lord, be my guide!

God bless you!~Liz www.lizrod.com

A Witness Left Behind

Mark 5:1-20 (NIV)

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Wow...Jesus comes to truly set this captive free. He commands the legion of demons to leave this man. Jesus is not intimidated because this thing speaks that they are many; a legion is nothing to the Lord. Whether is one evil spirit or many they all must bow. At the command, the Spoken Word of God they leave and this man is set free and restored to his right mind! Glory to the Most High God; every evil thing must bow its knee to Jesus Christ.

I find it interesting that the people are noted to be afraid after the man is set free. Ok....prior to Christ's arrival this man is tormented, living in a cemetery and this bothers no one? Now Christ shows up and all creation trembles; every soul and every demonic thing. Why? God has sent his son to set people free; free from sin that leads to death. 

He has come and in the end every demonic thing will be sent to their destination. (And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 20:10) So why were the people afraid? Why did they want Jesus to leave? I venture that the fear here is a reality check on their own state. 

I'm just thinking; here is Jesus (God in the flesh) he has authority over legions and that which man could not defeat. Sin has a way of wanting to keep its friendship and loyalty with us. Sin will try to keep us shackled; Sin does not want to give us up so quickly. When we face Christ their is a check; a check to see if we are right. His presence alone can cause every demon in hell to tremble and bow.

Remember the demon possessed man saw Jesus from a distance and ran and bowed....Hallelujah! Perhaps the people were afraid that they too would have to give an account for the way they were living. Maybe they were not sleeping in the graveyard, but they were dead apart from God's saving grace. Jesus does leave the region but he leave a witness, the freed man, and he tells him "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you".

We are God's witnesses to speak of the saving power of he Most High God; the One that has come to set men free; to take the dead man and give him life; eternal life! (He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Mark 16:15)

Lord of the Sabbath

John 5:1-15
The Healing at the Pool

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk? The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Location: Jerusalem, The Sheep Gate, The pool. Do you want to get well? That's the question that Jesus asks, but the answer the invalid gave was "I have no one to help me". What was this man thinking; Jesus, are you here to help me get in the pool? But that's not what Jesus asked.  Jesus said, "do you want to get well"; he did not say, do you need help getting in the water?

We sometimes miss what God is saying to us because we have our own agenda in mind. Often we filter what the Lord is saying to us based on what we think we need. This man did not need and escort, he needed the Deliverer. Gods ways and thoughts are higher than ours.  (Isaiah 55:9)

Here is a man crippled for over 38 years. He waits by the pool in hopes, that what, someone will carry him into the water? He has been sick for a long time, possibly coming to Bethesada often, maybe he even slept there, night after night (just thinking). Did he have family that just dropped him off there and left? Was he abandoned?

A man in desperate need of healing and not just physical healing. Healing is just what he is about to receive. The cripple man has not earned it, but he has encountered Grace. He cannot even convince someone to take him in the water. He has been overlooked, perhaps walked over, ignored; after all, those going in the water have a need too. If only one person is going to get healed when this angel, this created being, stirs the water, then its going to be me. I'm sick too you know! So there he is all alone. He too, like the Samaritan women is despised and rejected.

This sick fellow is about to become the recipient, obtain and accept the touch from the Master that will change his life forever. It's the Sabbath, should he be there? It's the Sabbath, is there anyone even else at the pool (just thinking). Jesus always does what the Father says. Jesus encountering the lost, the spiritually dead and bringing more than physical healing. To the Samaritan women the question is, "will you give me a drink"? and this quickly turns into an "evangelistic" encounter, and the only One that can save, offers "living water" to this lost soul.

Healing for the crippled, disabled, sick man. Salvation for the Samaritan women, after all the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep and the "other sheep that are not of this sheep pen" (John 10:16) Healing not because he earned it but because the Lord said so. "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk". Those words don't sound too spiritual? Jesus did not even physically grab his hand; he did not take his own hands and put them under

the invalids arm pits; you know...to help him and assist him to his feet. NO he does not. At the spoken Word of God, at the command to stand; this cripple man who could not even make it to the pool on his own, gets up and he is healed!! Hallelujah! The One with Authority over sickness and death gave the "charge", Get up! and he was restored.

Restored to physical health. Do you want to get well? That was the question that Jesus asked. That is the question for us. We read at the end of this story that Jesus met up with this man at the temple. I wonder if he went there to worship God; to offer up prayers of Thanksgiving for all that was done for him. Jesus speaks to him one more time and this time he says, "stop sinning or something worse may happen to you". Jesus is concerned about the physical and most importantly the soul of this man. Father we enter your courts with thanksgiving and praise, not because of what you are going to do, but because of who you are.

The Book of Revelations says that Jesus walks among the golden lamp stands (Revelation 2:1). Jesus is among us!

As we gather together in his house week after week, he is with us. He is ready to bring healing and restoration. The thief, the enemy of our soul comes to steal, kill and destroy but not The Good Shepherd he comes to give us abundant life (John 10:10). He says that his sheep know him and that we hear his voice.

Like the cripple man at the Sheep Gate we wait for you, Sick, discouraged, downcast and broken.  Come Lord, come Shepherd and tend to us your sheep!

Father speak to us and help us not to misunderstand when you speak, do not let us miss you! Come Lord to those who revere your Name, come with healing in your wings (Malachi 4:2). For the many that enter your house and don't know you Lord; as they draw near to you, draw near to them. We too like the cripple man, we will hear the words to stop sinning.  We wash our hands and we purify our hearts (James 4:8). Lord touch your people, heal us Lord, we are in need.

Father, we seek your face. We continue to pray for one another.  Draw us together into the water, in the Life Giving Water. We have no one to help us but You!  Walk among us and heal us!  Speak life to us, Lord of the Sabbath, come and heal us. Bring the sheep in Lord, bring us into the Fold.

God bless you!~Liz www.lizrod.com

Look Who Turned One

Ephesians 2:4-5 

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Good morning "Be Inspired" Family & Friends!

I usually don't repeat the message I send you every morning.  But today, I have chosen to repeat this one.

Yes, you guessed it, Mercy & Grace, my furry family members turned one year old on Saturday. These precious critters have brought me much laughter as they run through the house, constantly playing together and at times destroying everything in their path.  It's very rare to ever see them
apart. Mercy & Grace seem to enjoy being together all the time.  They often follow me though out the house...you would think I have two doggies :)  Hmmm...I just love it!  God is so good to me!

-----YEAR WAS 2011

On Thursday, July 14th, after the death of my beautiful kitty Bunny....my husband & I decided to adopt two kittens. So we arrive at the shelter....our hearts melted at the site of these two balls of yellow, orange

& white fur....two kittens...both sisters....we picked them up, squeezed them...of course I began to cry....it was very emotional for me.

I already had names picked out for them. The two kittens would be named Mercy & Grace. So..as I am looking at these balls of fur...I tell my husband, they look so much alike...I can't even tell them apart....how am I going to distinguish them....I mean...Mercy isn't Grace and Grace isn't Mercy.

As a disciple of the Lord, I often use the words mercy & grace...sometimes interchangeably. Even though they are similar, there is a difference....I've heard it described like this mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve, and grace is often described as unmerited favor, God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it.

Mercy & grace is what we find at the cross. The Word says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us --John 3:16....those that rejected him....those that spat on his face..those that crucified him....those that reject him even today...reject the beautiful, flawless plan of God to call mankind to himself....we find mercy & grace there. The Father sent the Son so that he would pay for my sin; my punishment --he took

it!  I was not punished for my sin, but instead Christ has taken the punishment for me. In his grace he has saved me....even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ—it is by grace you have been saved— Ephesians 2:5

The All Knowing God....He has entered time....clothe himself in flesh....took the beating....took my punishment...was crucified ...and then rose from the grave...He has extended mercy & grace to me.

It's something that I received and at times I still don't fully understand the magnitude of what Jesus has done for me....it's indescribable!

Thank you for allowing me to share the simplicity of my life & the awesomeness of my Lord with you!

To my "Be Inspired" friends.....meet Mercy & Grace....my two new "furry" family members. They look identical....but at a closer look they are different :)

Remembering my Friend Janet

John 11:25-26 (NIV)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Today I want to honor my sister-in-Christ and friend, Janet Martinez, who is now out of our sight and beholding the face of our Lord.  I met Janet years ago through mutual friends; friends or better said sisters-in-the Lord. I met her through my sister Diana & brother Ruben. I knew her through Vivian and I knew her via Adrianne.

Something beautiful happens when lives are touched by the Spirit of God.  Ordinary people; people who at one time did not know how much God loved them; regular every day folk living life one day at a time. People with dreams and hopes. Men and women from all walks of life interacting and then sometime happens. Jesus, known to those who hear his voice, as the Shepherd, the Redeemer, enters in and our lives are never the same again.

Yes, never again the same. Yesterday is somehow divided by who we were and who we will be. The Spirit draws us and begins to do a work that only God can do.

How is it that God takes so many different people and somehow creates a family; a family tied by a tangible tenderness and love that we just can't explain.  People not born in our own family line, but knitted together because of our bond in Christ.  It's the linage of Christ. It's a wonderful miracle that I have experienced over and over again.

Look around.  If you have been in the midst of the Body of Christ; his family is BIG! His love for us is immense and it filters down through every vessel, every believer who has been captivated by his Presence. It's a love capable of touching lives and leaving an imprint; a mark that speaks clearly of HIS great love.

Janet showed me that love. Whenever she would see me, she would call me "mamasita". It was her affectionate name for me. (If she called you by that name too, don't ruin it for me, ok :) ) . Her contagious laughter could make any heart begin to smile, and if the laughter continued, you too would shortly join in.  It really was good medicine.

I will miss my sister Janet. I hold on to God's promise; that he who believes in Christ; he who's sins are forgiven and washed by the Blood of the Lamb; he, even though he dies, will live! Janet, I'll meet you at the supper table!

God bless you!~Liz www.lizrod.com