Acting in Faith

As you and your children read Matthew 9 this week, you'll notice that it's filled with stories of people acting in faith of what they knew Jesus could do.

*The paralytic man's friends carried him up to the roof and lowered him down to Jesus for mercy and healing! (v. 1-8 & also see Mark 2:1-12 - same man!).
*Matthew the tax collecter immediately rose and followed Jesus when called (v. 9)
*A man came and asked Him to resurrect his daughter (v. 18-26)
*The sick woman reaching out to touch His robe (v. 20-22)
*The blind men asking for sight (v.27-31)
*The demon-posessed man brought to Him (v. 32-33)

God wants us to act on our faith (see James 2:14-18). One of the main ways we can do this is just by doing what God wants us to do. Sometimes it's easy and fun (honoring your parents when they say you're going to Six Flags). Sometimes it can be hard (being nice to someone who is always mean to you). God loves us more than we can even understand, so we can take comfort in knowing that whatever He asks us to do is the best choice for us. We also know that when we follow Jesus and obey His commands we are pleasing God - and that produces joy & peace in us!

So how do we learn what God wants us to do? Here are four simple ways:

*Read the Bible - It's God's instructions for our lives!
*Pray - who better to talk to than Him? He'll always lead us in the right direction!
*Talk to people who follow Jesus - they can help us figure out what is right!
*Go to church - every week we learn about God and who He wants us to be!

Have fun reading this week & discovering more about God! See you Sunday!