healing

Jesus is Right on Time!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”          John 11:21-22 ESV

Just like Martha we spend a lot of time worrying when Jesus is going to show up. I have an expectation that He must do something but no matter how much I fuss or complain about my problem, Jesus sticks to His own timetable. But if we will we still believe like Martha, then He just might surprise you with a miracle. Someone once said, “The hurrier I go the behinder I get.” Though it sounds funny it is no fun experiencing it. After all they had done for Jesus, Martha and Mary were probably shocked when He didn’t come to help their brother. Maybe they began to wonder if Jesus was as kind and loving as they thought. But they both knew in their hearts that Jesus hadn’t forgotten them. Even though Martha couldn’t understand she still believed that somehow He could still come to help. At the deepest point in her sorrow she still believed that it was not too late!

Part of our struggle is that God doesn’t have the same goal that we do. When Jesus waited an extra few days while Lazarus died it must have seemed cold hearted. After all hadn’t he already healed hundreds of other people? Why wouldn’t He come as fast as possible to heal one of His closest friends? But God had something better in mind. He didn’t just come for healing…He came for resurrection!

The Last Healing

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And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Mark 10:47 NKJV

As Jesus is begins His final journey towards Jerusalem, a blind man named Batimaeus hears the news and in desperation cries to Jesus for help. Breaking the decorum of his day he starts to shout as loudly as he can, trying to get Jesus’ attention, no matter what anyone else thinks. During His ministry Jesus had healed all kinds of people including the mother of the Apostle Peter’s wife, the servant of a government official and a woman who touched his robe in a crowd. As He neared the end of His time on earth He raised His friend Lazarus from the dead.

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But what was likely His last miraculous act of Jesus paused to heal a bind beggar named Bartimaeus.  The blind man had no special credentials or connections except Jesus was passing by. For all of us who also have no pedigree, political connections or friends in high places there is hope. The mercy of Jesus comes with only the requirement that, like Bartimaeus, we ask with all our heart. Jesus is as willing to stop for a jailer as for a prisoner. He hears the prayer of the surgeon as well as the patient. He bends his ear as closely to hear orphans he does to the father of a nation. Our hope in Jesus Christ is based on one thing alone. He died for our sins and rose again. He is walking down our street and He is still inviting beggars to come to His side in His heavenly home!

God Loves Me Enough

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

For she said, “If I touch even His garments, I will be made well.” Mark 5:28 ESV

In the culture of her day, she was a woman, who nobody wanted to be around. People considered that her disease made her unclean and that possibly God was punishing her for some hidden sin or failure. But on that day she broke the social norms which said that she should stay far away from Jesus because she believed that God loved her enough to heal her.

Do you ever wonder whether you are good enough for God? Does the way you are treated lead you to isolate yourself from others and sometimes even God? If you answered yes, then welcome to the club! All of us secretly wonder at times whether we are good enough to make the cut when it comes to God. But faith works, not when we simply believe that God is capable enough to do some miraculous act; but when we boldly risk our reputation on the fact that yes indeed: God loves me enough.

He loves enough to be born in a stable in Bethlehem. He loves me enough to teach me how to pray and to wash my feet just as He did for His disciples. He loves me enough to surrender His will as He prayed in the garden. He loves me enough to submit to a humiliating death on the cross for my sins. He loves me enough to meet me outside the tomb; just as He did for Mary. And last and best of all He loves me enough to forgive my sins, come to live in my heart and to give me a place in heaven where He loves me enough to let me sit close by His side forever!