"When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him,

and he asked them,

'Do you believe that I am able to do this?'

'Yes, Lord,' they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said,

'according to your faith let it be to you'

and their sight was restored".

i love this example of the blind men believing that Jesus is able to heal them. they had not seen any other miracles but chose to believe this man because of what they heard. it was simple for them to believe and trust. there was no hesitation but confidence in the one who was asking them. what a challenging statement..."do you believe that I am able?" i think we want to quickly say "yes, Lord". but do we really believe it can happen? do we really believe that God is able? the only obstacle in the way of us seeing God work miracles is our unbelief. we are hindering Him. He is able to do it. He just desires for His children to believe Him. may it be "according to our faith" when we see the hand of God working. knowing that by believing in what He is able to do will allow Him to prove Himself to us. He is yearing for us to believe Him. even when when we don't think it's possible.

"To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout...who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ. All honor to God, by His boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again." 1 Peter 1:1-3

i spent the last few days reading through 1 peter, luke, and psalms. each verse i read seemed more convicting, more comforting, and with more clarity. i am thankful for the time i was given to peel off another layer. to see the areas i am lacking in. and to find the one thing that is worthy.

i love realizing more promises from the word. i love that each promise was put there for us. sometimes it's hard to take what was written centuries ago and apply that same promise to our lives now. God's word is alive and active, right? if that is true, then what we read today that was written long ago, can certainly be seen in our lives. we have to let the word read us. we shouldn't try to make God's word fit into lives, but make our lives fit into His. His word is the standard. the base foundation of who we are.

in a way...well in a lot of ways, this verse is very applicable to me. peter was writting believers who were suffering. he could not be with them so all that he could do was encourage them through words. he identified them as "God's elect/chosen one's". what a privilege that our Lord chooses us to use. peter also makes it clear that all those that he is writing are "strangers in the world, scattered throughout". meaning this world is and was not their home. they were nomads. moving around from place to place. they were not in one location for an extended period of time. their home was not in this world. as God directed them, they would go. trusting. obeying. and willing for the sake of Christ.

sorry

i am not even sure if anyone reads my blog, but for the ones that do i'm sorry for being MIA. i am in another transition in my life so the past few weeks i have been all over the place. i have wanted to sit down and give an update, but i haven't gotten all my words together.

i'm being challenged a lot in the gospel and the truth of what God is saying. he has been so gracious to me in being patient with my lack of knowledge and understanding. i am so thankful for that. what a journey He is taking me on. i will give you a better update later.

but one thing I need to ask from you is prayer. pray over these next days, weeks, months, and year ahead.

wholly His,

joy

**by the way 2 months from today I will be headed to Kampala, Uganda! (more on that later, i promise!)

ps-if you do read my blog will you let me know. it may help me be more consistent in posting more frequently. :) also, blog link will be changing. i will let you know what the new link will be in an upcoming post.