Here’s a contrast for you. Both Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 6:6-11 talk about how Jesus went into a synagogue on the Sabbath and saw a man with a withered hand. At once the Pharisees perk up. Maybe here was their chance to get something on Jesus! Of course Jesus knew their mind and at once tells the man with the injured hand to stand up. Then Jesus asks “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?” When no one has the courage to answer, Jesus becomes angry because of “the hardness of their hearts,” and at once commands the man, who was probably trembling at this point, to stretch out his poor withered hand. And as soon as he does, his hand is healed.  And how did the Pharisees react? They left and took counsel on how to kill Jesus.

What? Kill Jesus for healing on the Sabbath when He had already told them He was Lord of the Sabbath?  Not exactly. Then kill Jesus out of jealousy and use this perceived violation of the Sabbath as an excuse? Yes, and that’s exactly what they try to do.

Where does such jealousy come from? The answer is simple: Satan. He used these men to try to prevent Jesus from blessing the man with the withered hand. Jesus had already told these types of Pharisees in John 8:44 that they were of their “father the devil.” And these Pharisees were just acting like their “father.” The truth is, Satan doesn’t want any of us blessed by God. He doesn't want us to have what he cannot. And he'll do all in his powered to keep us from our blessings. He doesn’t want us saved or healed or delivered or prospering in any way. He would prefer to see us lost, sick, tormented and poor in mind and spirit as well as in material matters.

On the other hand, God is jealous, too.  In Exodus 20:5 God says, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them (graven images), nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.”  It even carries a severe penalty because if you continue reading that same passage, it says “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” But it’s also followed by a promise in verse 6, “and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

God is serious about our relationship with Him. And He wants that relationship to be exclusive, intimate, and deep so He can freely pour out His blessings on us, which are many; the chief among them being His loving presence and fellowship.

Make no mistake. In this life we will be touched by the first type of jealousy or the second. For my part I prefer the second.

Until next time,

Sylvia

Last week we saw Jesus heal a leper by His touch. This week, in Matthew 8:5-13 He heals a centurion’s servant by His word and praises the centurion for his great faith. I find this just as inspiring as Jesus’ healing touch because it illustrates the power of Jesus’ word. Yes, words are powerful and none more powerful than Jesus’. And since Jesus is the Word, and scripture is the Word of God, we have His very word at our fingertips.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard testimonies from people who, after studying the healing scriptures in the Bible and having it increase their faith, received their healing. God’s Word is powerful. It is alive. It is capable of healing hearts and minds, and, yes, bodies, too.

Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. We need to raise our faith, and believe that God’s word is true. And the only way to do this is by actually reading the Word. Too many Christians don’t know what the Bible says, what it says about them, about God, or the marvelous promises He has made them. And that’s sad because they are depriving themselves of the full life God wants them to have, the “life more abundant.”

I’m not talking about “name it and claim it” theology. I’m talking about building one’s faith by studying God’s word, and understanding not only Who He is, but what He is capable of doing. Then we must bow our knee to God, Who is sovereign, and allow Him to work His perfect will in us.

Psalm 107 19-20 says, “Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” God the Father sent Jesus “by whose stripes ye were healed.” That means you and me, and it means it’s already done, already accomplished.

May God send His word today and heal each and every one of us, and restore us all to a new level of health and wholeness in spirit, mind and body.

Until next time,

Sylvia

In Biblical times leprosy was a dreaded disease. It affected both skin and nerves. A leper could have oozing sores and gross disfigurements. He could lose a part of his body: a nose, ear, finger. Lepers were shunned, driven from society, forced to live outside the community, and denied human contact with non-lepers. And you can well imagine how they smelled!  And when they encountered anyone while walking down a road, they had to cry out “unclean, unclean!” That’s why when a leper approached Jesus in Matthew 8:2 and said, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean,” Jesus’ reaction was so astonishing.  The first thing he did was touch him!  Then He said, “I will; be thou clean.”

Oh, how much this tells us about Jesus! About His heart. His kindness. His love. His mercy. He could just as easily have healed the leper with a word.  Only a few verses later in Matthew 8:5 He does just that for a centurion’s servant.  

We are all spiritual lepers, and Jesus wants to make us clean, too, and He’s not afraid to put His finger into our puss-filled sores. He’s not afraid to touch the dirty, the defiled places within us. He’s not afraid to look upon our poor spiritual deformity. In fact, He delights in it, delights in healing us, delights in making us what He always envisioned us to be. The wonderful thing is this: God sees us for what we really are, but loves us anyway. And He loves us not because we’re good, but because He is good.

We might as well settle this once and for all. We’ve all sinned and fallen short.  We all need a Savior. Could there be anyone more wonderful or tenderhearted than Jesus? We need not fear committing everything to Him.  And when we do, He will begin to make those ugly wretched places in us, beautiful.

The question is, do we have the courage to let Him?

Until next week,

Sylvia

Last week I started to look at some of the characteristics of God, the first one being love.  This week it’s healer.  Though there are many stories more compelling than mine, I do know God as healer. 

There was a time when I, as a young mother of two, had one strep throat after another.  I could always feel it coming: the terrible exhaustion, the fever, the sore throat, and finally, the white pustules that carpeted my mucus membranes like those little candy dots you peal off a strip. Next came the trek to the doctor’s office, the round of antibiotics, my digestive track going haywire from the antibiotics killing off all the normal flora—a vicious cycle that repeated itself again and again.

Around this time I was learning about how God healed, that those who had come into the saving knowledge of Jesus could also claim His promises; that by His stripes we actually were healed already (Isaiah 53:5); that the very word salvation meant more than just the gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sin, it also covered things like healing, prosperity, and protection.  And I was just desperate enough to believe it.  Sometimes it’s desperation that makes you step up to the mound, to that plate of faith. I mean, a mother with young children couldn’t afford to be sick.  Too much depended on her.  There was no sleeping in, no cook making hot soup in the kitchen while I lounged in front of the T.V. My husband had to go to work. There were bills to be paid. And two and four year olds don’t understand the concept of, “Just let Mommy rest a bit.”  

So when I woke up one morning, feeling, yet again, miserable and tired and feverish and sick; when I saw, yet again, those horrible white dots on my throat, I couldn’t face another trip to the doctor, another round of antibiotics so I asked God to heal me.  All day I felt terrible, but all day I prayed the healing scriptures over myself as I went about the business of caring for my family.  I didn’t hear any music or voices, or see flashes of lightening, but by the end of the day I was fine and the spots were gone.  I’ve never had another strep throat since.

Yes, God does use doctors and medicine, but He also heals miraculously, and I mean more than just our physical bodies, because He can and does heal broken hearts and minds and spirits. I also know about that, because He’s healed mine.  I like what the Bible says about God not being a respecter of persons.  What He does for one He can and will do for another.  He has no favorites.  He loves us all.  And that in itself is a miracle!

Until next time,

Sylvia

Last week I started to look at some of the characteristics of God, the first one being love.  This week it’s healer.  Though there are many stories more compelling than mine, I do know God as healer. 

There was a time when I, as a young mother of two, had one strep throat after another.  I could always feel it coming: the terrible exhaustion, the fever, the sore throat, and finally, the white pustules that carpeted my mucus membranes like those little candy dots you peal off a strip. Next came the trek to the doctor’s office, the round of antibiotics, my digestive track going haywire from the antibiotics killing off all the normal flora—a vicious cycle that repeated itself again and again.

Around this time I was learning about how God healed, that those who had come into the saving knowledge of Jesus could also claim His promises; that by His stripes we actually were healed already (Isaiah 53:5); that the very word salvation meant more than just the gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sin, it also covered things like healing, prosperity, and protection.  And I was just desperate enough to believe it.  Sometimes it’s desperation that makes you step up to the mound, to that plate of faith. I mean, a mother with young children couldn’t afford to be sick.  Too much depended on her.  There was no sleeping in, no cook making hot soup in the kitchen while I lounged in front of the T.V. My husband had to go to work. There were bills to be paid. And two and four year olds don’t understand the concept of, “Just let Mommy rest a bit.”  

So when I woke up one morning, feeling, yet again, miserable and tired and feverish and sick; when I saw, yet again, those horrible white dots on my throat, I couldn’t face another trip to the doctor, another round of antibiotics so I asked God to heal me.  All day I felt terrible, but all day I prayed the healing scriptures over myself as I went about the business of caring for my family.  I didn’t hear any music or voices, or see flashes of lightening, but by the end of the day I was fine and the spots were gone.  I’ve never had another strep throat since.

Yes, God does use doctors and medicine, but He also heals miraculously, and I mean more than just our physical bodies, because He can and does heal broken hearts and minds and spirits. I also know about that, because He’s healed mine.  I like what the Bible says about God not being a respecter of persons.  What He does for one He can and will do for another.  He has no favorites.  He loves us all.  And that in itself is a miracle!

Until next time,

Sylvia