Go Ahead: Reach Out To Him

Matthew 9:20 New King James Version (NKJV)

And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.

For at least twelve years she had trusted the Jewish physicians to heal her condition. It was a very serious condition which put her on the margin of society. Her Jewish docs had tried everything they knew to do; everything from giving her potions to drink to trying remedies such as having her sit at a cross roads drinking wine while someone came up behind her and commanded her disease be healed (Adam Clark Commentary, Dr. John Lightfoot). She had run out of money and hope of ever being made well. Then word came that Jesus of Nazareth was there.  He had been in Capernaum about a year earlier and she heard about the paralyzed man He healed. She contemplated what to do. If she approached Him in public and told Him what her problem was it is likely that she would be arrested for being in contact with others having such a condition. It seemed to her like she had been plagued with this condition all her life.  She had to hide her condition in order to get the things she needed. It was not only physically debilitating but it took its toll on her mentally as well. Now an opportunity had arrived for her. What to do?

She headed toward the seashore as she saw the multitudes gathering near a boat that had just beached. Throngs of people were there trying to get a glimpse of Him. She saw a man fall at His feet and could not hear what he said, but Jesus followed him. She kept her distance until the crowd came right past her and she could not wait any longer. Coming up behind Him and pressing through the crowd she reached out a shaking hand hoping His robe would brush against it. She believed that is all it would take; a touch from His clothes. His robe touched her hand and she felt her condition leave her! Twelve years of suffering was resolved in twelve seconds. Then He stopped. Fear came upon her as He turned to look behind Him. Putting His hand up to halt the procession He asked, “Who touched Me?” The people began to look at each other and His disciples who had been surrounding Him like body guards said, “You see all these people pushing and shoving to get to You and You ask which one it was that touched You?” He knew who it was even though they did not. He made eye contact with her and when His eyes met hers her body began to shake in fear. She crumbled at His feet as if to have Him show her mercy fearing He was going to broadcast her problem and what He would do according to the law. Instead He kept her secret and gave her a word; just for her. No one else knew what He meant when He said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”  In other words, “I am not condemning you for what you did because you acted according to your faith and the healing you have received will not be revoked.”

Go ahead. If you have been contemplating to go to Him but ashamed to; go ahead. He is waiting on you. He has come to your area for that very reason. Just as He knew the woman would be there waiting on Him He knows where you are. Reach out your spiritual hand to Him; He will take it from there. He knows your secret fear too so you can rest assured He will accept you and not embarrass you either. Let your faith in Him drive your actions.

Grace: The Glue of Unity

Ephesians 4:7 (New King James Version NKJV).

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

I am a bumper sticker reader. Decals on people’s cars convey all kinds of messages. People like to express their opinions. Some like to do it publicly. One that I always remember was on the back window of a van. It read, “Live your life in such a way that the preacher does not have to lie at your funeral.” Another one that got me to thinking read, “God please save me from Your followers!”

I believe that the Church confuses the world as much as evangelizing it. One cannot help but think that with all the divisions among the Christians how could we all possibly be on the same side? It is not a new issue as God used the Apostle to address it to the Christians in Ephesus. Paul wanted the people to understand how grace works in order that they may be unified. We are all saved by grace. That saving grace is made available to everyone by Christ.

The whole of this teaching deals with gifts that Christ gives to His Church. The problem arose when some of the Christians felt they were better or more spiritual or had more favor with God than some of the others. Glad we do not have that problem today. The Ephesian believers could not understand why some were in leadership and others were not. God told them by way of Paul that all of them had the gift of grace and that Christ had used some of them to convey that message and to teach others how to convey it. The world becomes confused when they see or hear Christians talking about or arguing with other Christians over doctrines and beliefs. When we begin to put one guy down and compare each other in relation to spirituality or ability we unknowingly divide the Church. No one of us is greater than the rest of us. Some are more known and some have different offices but we are all equal in Christ by grace.

Let me close by sharing a word of knowledge that our Bishop gave me when I questioned why God would use me to pastor as I felt I was not qualified. He said, “There will always be those who are smarter than you and can preach better than you, but there is no one who can love God or people more than you; and that is all God requires of us.”

A Valentine from God

John 3:16 (New King James Version).

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

In 1965 I was an aspiring third grader at Ivanhoe Elementary School. I was aspiring with the goal of making it to the fourth grade in order to get away from old Miss Rash. She made us do dumb things as boys. She would make us learn to do some kind of old dance with the girls and stuff like that. Then on Valentine’s Day, we had to give out Valentines. My parents would buy me a bag of them from Prices Store which had about fifty in it. I hated to go through them and pick which one I would give to whom. It just did not seem right to have to give another boy a valentine. I would pick one with a football on it or something to keep the masculine image intact. Now it was not an issue when it came to the girls. Girls liked to get valentines. No football cards for them, only the cute little hearts or puppy dogs. I finally got out of the third grade only to have old Miss Rash move up to the fourth.

Over a billion Valentine cards will be sent over the next few days making it the second most card sending holiday. Christmas of course is number one in this country. We have come to assimilate the day with love. Flowers, candy, and jewelry are commonly given to our sweethearts in our attempts to express our love for them, and oh yes, the valentine card. I could not find one with Southern lingo to express my feelings. You know, something like, “You have got the softest hide I ever felt.” I might be a redneck.

When it comes to expressing love it has never been done better than how God did it. For Him to take upon Himself the body of a human and sacrifice that body in order that He might show me how much He loves me just blows me away. It is not only to be interpreted that once He so loved the world that He did that, but rather He still so loves us. One sacrifice, one time, for one and all. What would God say in His Valentine to you? I love you. Not that you are sweet or pretty, handsome or smart. Not that you have soft hide or a cute smile. No, His Valentine simply says, “I love you.” Jesus said I love you this much as He stretched out His arms and died. This Valentine’s Day give your heart to Jesus.

Who Cleans Up Your Mess?

John 8: 4 (New International Version NIV).

“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.”

I was at a local garage the other day having my car serviced and there was a mom in the customer lounge with her three kids. She had a two year old girl, a four year old girl, and their eight year old brother. I eventually struck up a conversation with all of them and made friends with the four year old. I told her that because she was the big sister, even though she was in the middle, I bet she took good care of her little sister. “I sure do. I have to clean up all her messes” she said. I told her that was very nice of her to do that for her little sister and to help her mom out. I then asked her, “Do you make any messes that have to be cleaned up?” She said, “Oh yeah, and mom usually cleans my messes up.” Then she asked, “Who cleans up your messes?”

That is why Jesus said of little children; “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these!” At the age of four she has been around long enough to know that everyone makes messes sometimes. Take the woman that was caught living with a man that was not her husband. We think she may have been dragged right out of bed and brought before Christ. The motives of those who brought her to Him were to try and put Jesus in a fix. They wanted to see if He would tell them to stone her or not. The Law ordered it, but would Jesus carry it out? Read the chapter and see how He handled it.

The woman had made a mess of her life. In that culture people did not live together unless they were married. Women never held public jobs either so men usually kept them up. She was breaking the Law and stood to be condemned to death. Jesus cleaned up her mess that day. He said the same thing to the men there as the little girl said to me. “Which of you standing here are perfect?” He asked. None of them were so they left being convicted by their own messes. Then Jesus told her, “I am not condemning you to death for this but will forgive you if you will leave this life of sin.”

Are you in a mess today? Have you got one you need Jesus to clean up for you? He cleaned up my mess and He will clean up yours too if you will let Him.