Reading the Gospels for the second time this year has brought my faith to a different level. Everyday miracles are something I am beginning to look for. The more I read about life as Jesus walked on this earth, the more I realize that is how He wants us to live today......just as if He was walking right along beside us....every day.....looking for those miracles to believe for in the people we come into contact with.
God really spoke to me in several places in this chapter but I want to challenge you with the first 3 verses.
These are the type of verses you would normally just read and then keep going to the 'good part' of the chapter. BUT look at them in a different way. The end of verse one and then into verses 2 and 3.
"He took His twelve disciples with Him, ALONG WITH SOME WOMEN WHO HAD BEEN CURED OF EVIL SPIRITS AND DISEASES. AMONG THEM WERE MARY MAGDALENE, FROM WHOM HE HAD CAST OUT SEVEN DEMONS; JOANNA, THE WIFE OF CHUZA, HEROD'S BUSINESS MANAGER; SUSANNA; AND MANY OTHERS WHO WERE CONTRIBUTING THEIR OWN RESOURCES TO SUPPORT JESUS, AND HIS DISCIPLES"
Wow......I know I would have been among the 'several other women' going along with Jesus and His Disciples. They must have been women with 'means' in order to help support these ministers of the Gospel.
One was even the wife of one of the 'Big Shots' in Government!
We are all so needed for the Gospel to be spread in our own world. Each one of you have a place....somewhere to stand and 'be' and change your world!!! Bring Jesus into your world. Believe for those miracles for your family and neighbors. Facilitate Jesus all around you!!!!
Keep reading....I know God has spoken to you too as you read these verses. Comment and let me know!
2 comments:
Great post, Susan. Those verses also stood out to me, too. I want to be used by God in my "world," my area of influence.
One 4th of July, Ken and I were in Washington, DC, and decided to watch the fireworks on the Mall. We were standing not far from the Washington Monument, with 600,000+ other people on the Mall - way out of my comfort zone!!! (The fireworks were set off near the Washington Monument, and it was awesome . . . not only the fireworks themselves but also feeling the ground “tremble” from the power of the fireworks!) It was wall-to-wall people, and you were touched by someone as you walked or stood and it was noisy from the people talking etc. Helps me understand a little of the atmosphere of the crowds who encompassed Jesus.
As Jesus was walking with Jairus, he was surrounded by a crowd (a mass, a swarm, a mob). Can you see and feel that in your mind’s eye? All those people pressing against Jesus and yet he asked, “Who touched me?” The disciples said, “Come on, Jesus, this mass of people . . . any number of people have touched you.” But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”
The crowd was curious about Jesus; they were “familiar” with who Jesus was and wanted to see him in person. But there was a woman who was desperate to not just see Jesus but to touch him because she said to herself . . . if I but touch the hem of his robe, I shall be healed. Deliberately – on purpose, with intent, calculatingly, thoughtfully, ponderously – this woman touched Jesus. She had given much thought on how to get what she needed – healing – and also much thought to the consequences of being in public with an issue of blood.
Many people today are “familiar” with Jesus. But do our lives reflect the change that comes with “knowing” Jesus? The word “know” is a verb or adverb that indicates more than familiarity, it reflects intimacy that will cause us to act on our faith . . . to draw from the power of knowing Jesus, not just for ourselves but for others. I want to be deliberate in my walk with the Lord. I’m challenged!
That is really good. I believe God is calling people...and always has...but seems to be more that ever...to be close to Him. And it is a time when we are more distracted than ever before too. Lord, help me to answer that call!
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