healing

God is not Far Away

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And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke 17:17-19 KJV

To understand this story we need understand a little about leprosy in the Bible. Far from being just an affliction of the poor, those with leprosy ranged from generals and kings to even a man named Simon who was one of Jesus’ closest friends. Because of both the law and its contagious nature, those with leprosy were required to live separately from others.  Without divine intervention eventually lepers all ended up outside of town with no companions except for their fellow lepers. That is where Jesus met the ten men that day. When they first saw Jesus they shouted at the top of their lungs for help from a distance. They had heard how Jesus had healed others and hoped that He would do the same for them.

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Don’t we all pray like that some days? God seems far away; but we hope that if we ask loudly enough, maybe He will listen. What we need to know is that Jesus is actually a lot more willing to help us than we think. In fact just as healing the ten lepers was the main event for Jesus that day so your request and mine matters deeply to Him right now. He knows our hearts and He chooses to come close even when others stay away. But transformation from leprosy to health is only the beginning of what God has in mind. What He really wants is to be close and for us to fall at Jesus’ feet and be made whole as we give thanks!

Trees Walking

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

And he looked up, and said. I see men as trees walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up: and he was restored and saw every man clearly. Mark 8:24-25 KJV

This year I have been through two operations to remove pterygiums which had formed on my eyes during a lifetime of outdoor work.  Unlike cataract surgery this procedure requires about a month of somewhat painful recovery. While I knew that I needed those dog-goned pterygiums taken off, I just wished there was an instant and painless solution. Maybe the story of this blind man was written for people just like you and me.

“So why the slow crawl towards a miracle?” – You might ask. Maybe a better question is, “Why does God only let us see men like trees walking?” After all, most of the miracles that Jesus did were spiritual slam dunks. He commanded a storm and – Bam! It obeyed; Water into wine? No problem!! I love it when God’s answer to my prayers comes like Publishers Clearing House showing up at my door with a million dollar check. But when God works on changing my attitudes; now that takes a lot longer. If you are struggling through a painful rehab or are facing God’s “heart attitude surgery” just trust Him. He is working for our good and His loving care plan is to walk with us through every day of our pain until the day we will be able to look up and say, “Oh Lord Jesus – seeing trees walking is a miracle!” Then as we rest in His plan, the the day will also come when we can say, “Thank you Lord, today I can see all men clearly!”

KIMG2127

The God of Hope

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.  “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”  John 9:1-2

It is hard for us to even imagine the position of disabled people in Jesus’ day. Rather than compassion the general public often was indifferent. In place of encouragement, there was rejection. Religious people were no better, in fact even His disciples were asking Jesus if this blind man had sinned or if he was paying for his parents’ sin. But to this blind man for whom no one held any hope Jesus came with an entirely different message. Jesus’ words brought hope even before he brought healing.

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Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him  John 9:3

Do our words bring hope? Some people have lost all hope for themselves. Like this man they have had problems since the day they were born. They have no idea what life might be like without suffering. This blind man began to hope when Jesus stopped and did something for him. The fact that Jesus chose to heal in the strange way of making mud with spit, tells us that God’s hope shows up in the most unlikely ways! In Pakistan God’s hope looks like a sewing machine given to a widow. In Nepal God’s hope smells like chicken curry cooking for a hungry child. In Guatemala God’s hope feels like a free wheel-chair for a disabled child. In our neighborhood maybe hope is like an invitation to our dinner table. He is a God of all kinds of hope and He may choose you or me to be the mud he uses to help someone to see!