Unconventional Healing in Unconventional Ways creates Uncomfortable Response ⏤Vol 1 Chap 308/28/2017 Re-post... John 5 Jesus went out to eat in Jerusalem. He was headed for a party, a joyous occasion, a feast! Coming into Jerusalem, He passed Bethesda. Now, Bethesda was a place of miracles. People came from all around to basically live by this pool of healing. This was a site of interest. Today, when someone experiences something miraculous we do the same thing. We gather at the site. People come in droves to see the spot where something miraculous has occurred. Some come to bring their hopes of healing, others to observe, and some even to criticize. But whatever the case, people come in droves. Bethesda was no different. Waiting for the angel to stir the water, some people lived in hope. There was a man – a man by the wayside – a man waiting – a man hoping. This man needed help to slide into the pool. He couldn’t even get to his feet to walk to the pool when the water was moved. He was left at the mercy of those around him; the people around him had none. Most people were there for themselves, their pain, and their hurts. But, there were those that were there to observe. There are two basic ways to observe the multitude hurting: Review the hurting from a distance, whether it is your own or someone else’s. Respond to the hurting up close and personal, whether it is your own or someone else’s. And Jesus forces us in this passage to realize that there are two ways we can respond, either by: receiving the hurting/hurt resenting the hurting/hurt Recently, I attended a worship service in Baltimore, Maryland. The location of this particular church was in the midst of a drug infested environment. While driving to the service, my friend pointed out a particular corner that is considered the worst in Baltimore. Grand boarded up ornate edifices daily blink away their tears, as drunken or drugged men slip off of the once preened marble steps. An almost audible sigh slips through the sagging sidewalks, as a young woman dressed to please receives the ogling and clutching of an old man dressed in money. This is hurting at its core. This hurt refuses to admit that it is even hurting. I am a passerby. I enter the church. The purple carpet soaks me into its plush reception. Beautiful faces filled with love and excitement, receive me. I enter the halls of the hurting, the halls of the hurting in Him. The response is different in this place. Faces shine, clothing sparkles, and kindness explodes. The crowded room soon allows the men to rise and relinquish their seats to hats and high heels. The water is stirred and some jump in. But the message is for the multitude. The message is ‘Rise take up your bed and walk.’ Now, let me make it clear. This was not the message being preached with such candor and fervor… but it is the message that I see before me. The angel’s touch only healed one at a time. Jesus heals ALL who take up their bed and walk. What is our response to the hurting? To our own hurting? Do we receive it, or resent it? Or, are we so oblivious that we coldly review the hurting? Coldly review our own hurting? And Jesus says, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk.” No matter what the day, the time, or the season. He offers. What does all this mean? – Just food for thought. I have oh, so many questions. – He alone has answers. Blessings upon your days. See you next week. Here on Mondays. Robyn Rochelle Cox Robyn & Biff Cox RR&BC,LLC https://www.readthebiblewithrobyncox.com/ RR&BC,LL© All writings protected by copyright laws. Contact author or link to this page or website if you use or reference.
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"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:38  Sometimes we get into positions of desperation or struggle and we wonder if we can ever be used by God again. But questioning whether we are or whether we are not is a bit self-absorbed. Wondering such a thing removes us from trusting Him and putting responsibility upon ourselves. Our world is decaying, but it has not decayed. We have no need to know if we are being used of God. No need to worry. When we love Him, desire to serve Him, humble ourselves to Him, we will in our innermost being flow rivers of living water. Such a comfort to know that our own power, or will, or strength can be removed and His river of living water will continue to flow from our lives. Are you? A young mother tired from the day with little ones grabbing all your attention and energy? A father confused by the frustrations you hear from your teenagers as you leave to provide the best you can for their needs and future? A grandmother working the hours long and hard to be able to get home and rest your feet? A teenager staying up late to get the project done? A paraplegic weak and weary from the never ending job of rebuilding and exercising parts of your body you should not have to depend on for what you are depending on them for? A heart attack survivor? A diabetic, cancer patient, family member, nurse, firefighter, pastor, mom, or dad? Struggling with the stage the world is in today? Every one of us comes to the end of our resources. And sometimes we cry out to God, "Can You even use me in the mess I find myself in? In this weariness I enter into? In the darkness, the endings, the sadness, the worry. And God says, "He who believes in Me, from your innermost being will flow rivers of living water." Take heart dear friend, you are being used. Settle into the refreshing river of living water that God has blessed you in. He refreshes us moment by moment. Delve into His words and know that He is holding you tightly, He holds you together. (Colossians 1:17) Know that His voice can be heard by His sheep, His children. (John 10:27) He is with you and will never leave you. (Deuteronomy 31:6) He will come in and strongly support those whose hearts are His. (2 Chronicles 16:9) And let us glorify the Father until we see Him face to face. His words pour over us in our weakness. He desires us to know He is there. Take the down time to delve into His words. He is waiting to meet you there. Because He is the I am, i am robyn cox May your days be blessed. Robyn Cox. Robyn & Biff Cox RR&BC,LLC©2016 RR&BC,LL© All writings protected by copyright laws. Contact author or link to this page or website if you use or reference.  So, teach us to number our days, That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom. NASV Psalms 90:12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. NLT Psalms 90:12 Number of days, numbering your days, numbering mine. I am 60 years old. My mom is 88, about to be 89 years old. I have a son that turns 40 in October. Have I numbered my days? Did my mom? Does my son? My life is filled with days that are blurry. There are even some that are a total fog. But, God says we should number our days. We have no idea what tomorrow holds. We could be here on this earth for another ten minutes or another ten years. So why number our days? So that we may grow in wisdom. Because our days are important. Next in this same chapter we read these words. O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. Let us, your servants see you work again; let our children see your glory. And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful! Psalms 90:12-17 NLT Our days are important. Our work is to be important. The work of our hands to be successful. But I am caught in the understanding of numbering our days. I have been known to go days without really thinking about the fact that I have seen an entire month go by and not taken notice. I have done my job, met with people, sometimes made plans in advance and seen those plans through, but the days still have passed by without much notice being taken. Journals are a wonderful way to number my days. As are calendars. As is planning in advance, or finding time to recap the day, week, or month. But when we live in a world that is centered around just us and our ins and outs, we will fly through our days and the important things will have been missed and the unimportant things will have been forgotten. I spent this past weekend with two of my children, their wives and their children. I was amazed how I went into grandma mode. The hubbub, the activity, the meals and their preparations, the life bursting out of the seems. There were chalky drawings on our driveway, flower vases filled with my garden flowers, and puppy love and good food. We laughed, we cried, we argued, we hugged. But did I count my days? Yes, from the moment they arrived I counted down until they would exit my door. And I treasured each moment. Could I be like that on a daily basis. Maybe it would be better to ask, "Should I be like that on a daily basis?" I think it would be a good thing to handle each day as if it were my last and most precious. Why would I want to do this? I want to grow in wisdom. So, the brevity of life needs to be in our presence of mind. We need to value each and every day. How do I do this? I wonder if it simply comes back to recognizing, as I did this weekend, that the time will end and each moment is precious to remember. If that is the case, how am I to remember it? I believe it is best if I remember it by logging it into a daily log, or a journal. For you i might be a picture diary. Or a calendar. Whatever way it is best for you to log in the day, I encourage you to do it. The more we do it the more we realize the details that would normally fly by unnoticed. Wisdom comes from observing these days in and out. And by numbering them, noticing them, finding value in them they are given the well-deserved praise to God for them. "Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and do confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands." NASV We can be satisfied in our mornings. We can sing for joy and be glad in our days. However, I think it isn't as easy to do this if we are not numbering our days. By taking time to ponder our days, write down what has happened we slow down to observe what has transpired throughout those days. And by doing that whole counting and numbering thing with our days, we just made them more valid to me than they were three hours ago. My mom has been a good journal writer. However, as age increases abilities decrease and she can no longer write her days events down. She will also admit, she has been better about this concept more since she turned 60 than before. But think about that. she is almost 90. That means that in the last 30 years she has been more aware of her days. And she has gained some wisdom in that. My sons keep journals and I know that each day brings joy and sadness of its own. I'm glad they know this. I am glad that they journal. I am glad that they are trying to learn how to number their days. So, today I want to reassert the importance of counting our days. May you begin today and may wisdom grow in your counting of them. For God to be glorified we ask that our days will be numbered and that wisdom will be grown. That we will work again, and that our efforts are successful. May your days be blessed. Robyn Cox. Robyn & Biff Cox RR&BC,LLC©2016 RR&BC,LL© All writings protected by copyright laws. Contact author or link to this page or website if you use or reference.  "For you, O LORD, are supreme over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. You who love the LORD, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right. May all who are godly rejoice in the LORD and praise his holy name!" Psalm 97:9-12 NLT There are so many rich blessings in this small passage. While doing a morning meditation over this verse, the sentence, "Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right." Letting that sink into my heart I had some questions. Welcome to my journaling : Okay, God. You are saying that Light shines on those who love you and have a deep desire to serve you. (That is the definition of godly.) But, I know that I do love you and I do desire to serve you. When I go back and reread the passage, I find that there is more. So, I know without a question in my mind (YOU have proven Yourself to me) You are supreme over all the earth. I also do hate evil. In fact, there are times when even a commercial that reeks of injustice, or sitting through the evening news can create a situation where I have to cry out to You to bring me into peace. I remember Grandmama E. saying, "Girl, there's meanness in this here world, people who's just downright mean." and then she would spit in her mint snuff jar that she kept by her rocking chair on her front porch in the deep East Texas woods and gaze out into the deep woods across the red clay road. It disturbed me as a child. As an adult it creates unrest in my heart. But we have it! We have evil and it says right here, God, the LORD is above all the earth. Why do we still have evil? And in the very next sentence it says that God protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of he wicked. But I don't see that all the time. Or do I? How often have I seen someone in the midst of trauma relying on God to get them through the hard time? Too many to count. I watch as they move through their days and nights. Not easily, but leaning more and more into God. Have you ever seen someone that is doing that? There is this calmness within them. This Light if you will. And in reality, I myself have felt it often. And Satan has no power over me. Satan has no power over them. Satan has been defeated and all that is being fought is the reality of the fall of man and the sadness of our fallen world. But these are not victors over our lives, nor our deaths. We live in honest faith and light and peace and even joy. And that is why the sentence, "Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right." And I will join with other Jesus Followers in the wonderful truth of this verse. And I will rejoice in the LORD and praise His holy name! I pray that you have found Him in your own chaos and if not are seeking to find Him. He is there to be found. thanks for meeting me here in my journal. Ask Him to reveal Himself and He will. Open His word with an open earnest heart. Stepping out in faith to find that wonderful Savior. We are experiencing wonderful growth in our Reading, Reflection, and Bible Community [RR&BC]. And God shows up when we come with open hearts to read and meditate upon His words. That is what it is all about. And we pray that you are finding a place to daily enter His word and meditate thoughtfully over what He has for you. If not, join us. We are growing and we are learning. But more than anything else, our desire is for you to be in the Word. Blessings as You discover Him walking with you daily. May you find a blessing today from the God Most High. And may you praise Him in joy, no matter what your circumstances. Enjoy the LIGHT that He shines upon you. If you can't see it, ask God to reveal it to you. He will as you listen for Him. You might see it in your daughter's eyes. Or, in your son taking hold of your hand. You might see it as you round a corner and the sky opens up into the blues, and reds, and oranges, azure, and yellows. All bursting forth singing praise to the Creator. However, He reveals Himself, do not fail to enter into His Words and pour over it to find His heart. He wants to know you. Remember, our prayers are us talking to Him. Reading His word is Him talking to us. If we want a relationship, we must communicate. And when we do that, I know that the miracle of Light and Joy come into our lives, no matter what kind of sickness, or pain there is. It is part of the steps to becoming godly. It doesn't mean perfect. It means loving God, and deeply desiring to serve Him. Join Us. We are seeking daily in His word. My God be glorified in our endeavors. Robyn & Biff Cox RR&BC, LLC ©2016 We have opened our enrollment for the month of August.
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