12/27/2021
Do you want a close, loving, and meaningful, relationship with God? If so, then seek Him, and make Him the focus of your life. As we draw nearer to God, He will also draw nearer to us. Just as we can’t see unless our eyes are open, so too we can’t love, and be loved, unless our hearts have been softened. In this way… even as we abide in Him, He will abide in us. How are our hearts, eyes, and relationships with the Lord today?
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
James 4:8 ESV
At the close of church service Sunday, I was having a hallway conversation with a wonderful couple from my small group. As we talked they were asking me about something I had written, and asked if I believed that God spoke and interacted with us today… to which I responded that I certainly did believe that. Then, after clarifying the example they had asked me about, and revealing another from my life, I told them exactly the same thing that James wrote about in our opening verse today. God, like Jesus, touches us when we seek to touch Him.
“And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.”
Luke 8:43-44 ESV
Some deny that miracles happen, and that God still interacts with us today. They will give accounts of times when they have prayed, or needed the Lord’s help, and tell of how they didn’t receive it. They use this as evidence to justify their lack of seeing, or feeling the Lord’s presence. In response, I have heard others tell them that it was their lack of faith that was at fault. However, this is not always the case. Certainly we must believe, and have faith, but there are other parts to this mystery… like being in God’s will as we ask, having made demands of Him rather than humbly seeking Him in our prayers, or, just like so many failing marriages, we fail to love Him as He loves us.
“And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.””
Luke 8:45-48 ESV
Luke tells this story of the woman’s healing, and uses it to talk about faith, but Mark writes a more detailed account of this incident, listen…
“She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.”
Mark 5:27-29 ESV
In Mark’s account the woman not only has faith in who Jesus is when she touches His garment, but she is also expecting no other result except that she will be healed. God can touch or heal any of us just because it suits Him to do so, and it is His will. After all, He is God, and omnipotent. We see this when he comes to Moses, and again when Jesus comes to Saul (later Paul). These are examples of men being caught up in the deliberate movement of God’s will, but we can also insert ourselves into His will by seeking Him, drawing near to Him, and by entering into His presence, where we humbly, yet purposefully, step into the flow of His divine will, by asking to be touched, or used, by Him. Isaiah is a good example of someone inserting himself into God’s will, listen…
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’”
Isaiah 6:8-9 ESV
God spoke and acted physically in these examples, but does He speak to us today? Yes He does! He sometimes comes to us of His own accord, and at other times we go in search of Him. He speaks to us in dreams, visions, signs, and whispers. He also touches us, and allows us to touch Him, as He heals, or simply lays His hands on us. Jesus told Thomas to place his finger, and hand, into His wounds…
“Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.””
John 20:27 ESV
God is moving around us, and interacting with us all the time, but have we opened our eyes wide enough to see evidence of Him, or circumcise our hearts well enough to feel Him? Have we drawn ourselves into His will, or been acted on by Him as He draws us to Him as He sees fit?
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for being with us always, and for hearing our prayers. Thank you for acting sovereignly in our lives, and also in response to our pleas. Thank you for your Son Jesus, and allowing us to see his wounds, and feel Him as He abides within on us, and we in Him. Thank you also for you Holy Spirit that speaks through us in moans and groaning. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who heals us, changes us, and uses us in so many ways. Praised be your name for each and every time we find ourselves in your will, and being touched by your divine hand. Merciful are you who bends down to heal us when we are hurting, or walk with us through life’s valleys. Your grace abounds Father, and never ceases. You speak to use in so many ways, and send your messengers into our lives each day. Wash us clean with the blood of Jesus, and meet us as we enter into your presence to be judged. Deem us worthy in Christ, and seat us before you for all eternity… walk with us, hand in hand, from this world into Heaven… never letting go as we feel the warmth of your skin on ours.
“And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.”
Luke 6:19 ESV
Rich Forbes