The Hem of His Garment

The hem of His garment...the slightest touch of faith has the power to heal and restore all that is broken in us.  But how do we
approach Him?  We see Him working on behalf of others.  Their
needs seem greater than our own; should we even bother Him?
Do we come to Him with a hand stretched out in faith, trembling,
anticipating that His grace toward us will be all we need?  Or do
we hesitate and look for some guarantee that we will receive what
we want, never venturing or risking anything, carefully measuring, weighing, and counting to be sure it doesn't cost us to trust Him?

Let us be willing to receive what He knows we need with gratitude, thereby releasing the power and fragrance of Christ in our circumstance.  Healing, deliverance, or restoration can look very different in different situations.  Will we trust Christ to give to us, to be to us, exactly what we need the most?

From our perspective the physical healing seems to be the miracle, but in reading the Gospels we find that Jesus would very often forgive the sins of the sick person first and then heal to demonstrate that He had the authority to forgive.  In His view it would seem that the state of our soul takes priority over the state of our health.  We should ask for healing, but we must also be willing to repent of any sin the Lord would point out and receive His forgiveness and cleansing.

Even with my aches and pains (which are minor compared with many); I stand in far greater need of forgiveness and cleansing than I do of healing.  Father, are You using the physical maladies to point out the spiritual ones?  I tend to think the answer to my health lies in my physical state and would be remedied by physical healing.  I think I may have had it all wrong.

It now seems so clear that there is sin that I have excused to my own harm.  Self-indulgence and self-consciousness are simply parts of the self-life and are actually dead in Christ when I will reckon them so.  Focusing on me is a sin, a spiritual sickness that must be repented of, rooted out, and kicked to the curb.  I have no power whatsoever to do that, but the all-powerful blood of Jesus has overcome sin's legal hold on me.  He has purchased me back from the marketplace of sin, and His Spirit lives in me with the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead.  The transaction has been completed; I must learn to live according to this truth.  I am fully His and need never again bow my knee to the master(s) I used to serve.

Free me, Holy Spirit, from the attachments and habits that were born in slavery that I may serve You in true freedom.  Open my eyes to see that You have accomplished all things and will keep perfecting me as I learn more and more how to yield to You in every area.

Will physical healing follow?  That I leave in Your hands.  I will continue to ask, knowing You will answer with the very best for me and for Your glory.  My desire is to serve You fully and abide in You, demonstrating Your love, bearing fruit, and praying effectively in Your name and for Your will.

I believe that my needs are important to You as I reach now for the hem of Your garment, fully assured that what You have for me will meet the need of my moment and the needs of my life.  I reach...and You are there.

Luke 9:40-48; 2 Corinthians 2:14-16; Matthew 9:1-8; James 5:14-16; Romans 6

Ephesians 1:18-21; Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 2:4-10; Galatians 5:1; John 15

A Familiar State of Affairs

The Gospels quote Jesus as saying, "If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me."  Selfish is such a familiar word.  It has been around since Adam and Eve first tasted the fruit.  We've known about selfish for as long as we can remember.  From the time we and our peers discovered the concept of "mine", we have found ourselves often on both sides of that tug of war.

As we got older and our circle of acquaintances grew, we found out that some people had a particular tendency for selfishness.  They were the bullies on the playground, the kids who had to make everything about them, and the ones who needed and got all the attention.

Now that we've grown up, selfishness may be a bit more refined, but is often even more deeply ingrained in "those" people.  We can identify it in the lives of others, but we're pretty sure that we are better than that now.

What does it look like if we break down the word a little differently?  Instead of selfish, let's say self-ish.  It is something that reeks of me, anything that serves me, makes me look good, earns me respect, gets me attention, promotes my agenda, or benefits my interests.  The list would be very long.  It is impossible for us to completely purify every motive and disentangle ourselves from our self-stuff.

We can, however, turn our self-ness over to the Lord.  Matthew 11:28-30 says we should bring our burden to the Lord (turn from our selfish ways), take His yoke (take up your cross) which is custom made for Him and each of us to wear together.  We let Him lead and pull the weight (follow Him) finding rest for our souls.  He will be faithful to show us when we fall into serving  ourselves if we have surrendered our wills completely to His.  We give up our lives for His sake and we gain a life saved to something far higher and bigger than we could have ever imagined.  Let's help each other serve His ways over our own.

Mark 8:34-36; Luke 9:23-25; Matthew 11:28-30