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God knows how stubborn and dimwitted we are. He knows that telling us something isn’t usually going to work. He has to SHOW us! That’s why He lad down this crazy, over the top law on the Israelites. That’s why He burned up Nadab and Abihu. He was going after shock and awe. He wanted to make sure they understood WHO He was and WHO they were. He first wanted to make sure they understood that obedience was required. And then He slapped a law onto their heads that could never be completely obeyed. He wanted to SHOW them how desperately they needed a Savior.

The most important thing was that Moses obeyed, just as the LORD had commanded. He didn’t argue or say, but why, God? This doesn’t make any sense! He obeyed. God’s ways are higher than ours. There are so many things we don’t understand. But if we follow Him, we can have faith that He does indeed have a plan, a holy perfect plan, even when we have no clue…

Jesus asked Bartimaeus, the blind man, the exact same question He had asked James and John, “What do you want Me to do for you?” James and John had asked for positions of power. Bartimaeus asked only to see. Jesus had refused the disciples’ request. But he healed Bartimaeus and gave him sight.

In my case, I knew I was completely innocent. I did everything I could to resolve the problem but it was beyond my control. My situation was painful, but mostly petty understanding. Some people pay a much higher price. Jesus was executed because of false accusations. There are times when we must just fix our eyes on Jesus and know that justice WILL come eventually when our Savior returns.

Don’t worry about the glory! Instead seek Jesus. Be serious about your own walk with Him. When we focus on God and drawing nearer to Him, we have no time for bickering amongst ourselves or craving personal glory. All the glory goes to God!

The boy’s father cried, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” I LOVE this prayer! It is a good one for us to pray often. And that is all it took. Dad wasn’t there yet in the faith department but all of the sudden he understood that he needed Jesus’ help. Dad still had a long way to go. But just that tiny shift from ‘IF’ to ‘HELP’ was all that was needed. Jesus commanded the demon to leave the boy and he was healed.

The disciples were still mentally living in the physical world. Jesus has shown them that the physical world does not really matter. Five loaves of fish multiply to feed five thousand. Blind men see and lame people walk. Obviously, Jesus was never constrained by physical limitations. He continually tries to gently but firmly shift the disciples from their physical mindset into the spiritual.