Grains of Sand

Pixabay She lay in her bed shivering. "I can't get warm," she said. I turned up the heater as far as it would go and covered her with a third blanket. The room was stifling hot, but she was shaking with cold. I went to the desk to ask someone to get her yet another blanket. As concerned as I was about her physical coldness, I was more worried about her spiritual well-being. But at that moment, her mind was too engaged by her physical needs to allow room for anything else. This morning, as I prayed for her, I remembered again the promises of Scripture that are associated with the coming of Christ. He came to heal the frozen heart and the broken spirit. The last book of the Old Testament tells us: " But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall " (Malachi 4:2). Who could have imagined that a baby, born without rank or privilege, could hold t...

library.duke.edu (Google Images) It could not have been easy. The roofs of many homes in Israel were made of slabs of burnt or dried clay set on wooden beams that stretched from one side of the house to the other. Over the labs was spread a layer of wet clay. This was left to harden, allowing the family to come up on the roof in the cool of the evening to get some fresh air. To break up the clay and remove the slabs would not have been simple and certainly would have caused a disturbance for the people below in the house. But that is exactly what four men did in order to make sure that their sick friend got to see Jesus. It happened in Capernaum (Mark 2:1). Along with the crowds of people who wanted to hear Jesus, there were many Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from other parts to investigate this man whom they were hearing so much about (Luke 5:17). The house was full to overflowing. There was no room for a stretcher and the four men carrying it. So they mounted the...

socalpaintcenter.com (Google Images) Three of the four Gospels record the story of the man with leprosy who came to Jesus for healing (Matthew 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16). The Old Testament term for leprosy included other skin diseases (Leviticus 13:2) but this man probably had the real thing given the sensation that his healing caused. I know an elderly lady who mentioned to me several times that she had actually touched a leper in her younger days, and considered herself fortunate that she had never contracted the disease herself from that touch. A leper was isolated from the community because of the fear of contamination. No one touched a leper, and those with the disease were required to announce their presence whenever anyone from the general population approached by calling out “unclean, unclean.” Luke, the doctor, records that this particular man was “ full ” of leprosy. Matthew tells us that when he approached Jesus he worshiped Him. Mark says that the man begged Jes...

Google Images Born blind. That was the situation of the man who encountered Jesus in John 9. As keen as his other senses might have been, he had never seen a sunrise, or watched the wind blow gently blow through fields of ripened grain. He had never seen the faces of those who stepped out of his way on the streets, or the colour of his mother’s eyes. The disciples considered it a punishment, but Jesus told them: “ ...this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life ” (John 9:3). Twenty, thirty, forty years wondering “why?” If someone had said to this blind man that his sightlessness would bring glory to God, the logical question would have been “how?” How can such a thing be glorifying to God? The questions remain the same today. My prayer list is long with the names of people who are sick or who have been terribly hurt by others. I listen to the news and shake my head at the evil that men do. Closer to home, I am wounded by the evil that men do to me. The “why?...

Google Images A friend messaged me this morning to say that she wasn’t sure if she would make it to our lunch hour prayer meeting today. Her back has been killing her, making it difficult to sit or do much else for the last three weeks. I messaged her back to assure her of my prayers. In the back of my mind I remembered what I had read this morning from Matthew 17 and wished I had better faith. The story surrounds an encounter between Jesus and a father with a demon-possessed child. The disciples couldn’t heal the boy and finally the father appealed to the Lord. Of course, Jesus healed the child. When the disciples asked why they hadn’t had any success (something that they had been able to do on other occasions (Matthew 10), Jesus answered: “ Because you have so little faith ” (Matthew 17:20). Even faith the size of a mustard seed would have move a mountain, let alone dealt with a demon. I kept thinking about the size of my faith. I’ve never moved a mountain and I don’t “do” demons...

Google Images It’s the oddest encounter. Some men bring a paralyzed friend to Jesus (Matthew 9:1-8). We assume that they have brought him because they want Jesus to make him walk again. I say “assume” because, even though it turns out the Jesus does heal the paralytic, something else happens in between that might indicate that something other than physical healing was on their minds. “ Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven’ ” (vs. 2). From what we have recorded for us in Scripture, when the sick came to Jesus He simply healed them. But this case is different. It wasn’t until accused of blasphemy by the teachers of the law who were watching Him that Jesus physically healed the man on the mat. It seems that He did so to prove a point—that the One who could physically heal also had the authority to spiritually heal. The man on the mat is almost incidental! But what about the man...

" When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately he was cured of his leprosy " –Matthew 8:1-3. I wish I had been present when this incident took place. The leper shouldn't have been anywhere near the crowd. People suffering from this contagious and devastating disease were ostracized from society, forced to leave home and family and live in misery as far away from populated areas as possible. When approaching healthy people they were obligated to call out "Unclean! Unclean!" so that people could avoid them. How this man managed to get to Jesus was a miracle in itself. Jesus' fame had preceded him and the leper came in hope of healing. What most impresses me is his submission to the Lord. He knelt, but then anyo...

Today is MONDAY MANNA, hosted by our very own Joanne over at A Open Book . Go over and take a look. Joanne has chosen Psalm 34:18 as our verse for today. Let me give you the context: " The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken " —Psalm 34:17-20, NIV. As I read these verses a woman by the name of Betty comes immediately to mind. Betty had a terrible life, just about the worst kind of life anyone could have. When friends of mine who lived next door to her had occasion to meet her in the hallway or the elevator, they were afraid of her. Her face reflected the reality of her life. Until she met Christ. You knew that the Spirit of God had transformed her inside because her outside, her face, was totally cha...

Psalm 49-51 As a teacher I am forever being made aware that unless the lesson goes through me first it's guaranteed not to make much impact on other learners. Nowhere is that truer than when it comes to spiritual truth. David's words in Psalm 51 hit me again this morning with the need to examine myself, and to let God examine me, so that what I want to teach will not be highjacked by my own failure to let truth flow through me and touch my own life first. The psalmist writes (from his own painful personal experience): " Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you " (10-13 NIV). That little word " then " is huge. I'm working on a revision to a series of studies on what the Bible teaches abou...

There are certain themes that dominate prayer request lists. The material and the physical are usually at the top. Funny how we pray more for the temporal than the spiritual. The four men who defied all the odds to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus' feet appeared to be hoping for physical healing. I wonder what they thought: " When Jesus saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven. '" —Luke 5:20. Excuse us, Lord, but in case you haven't noticed, this guy can't walk! What did the Lord see in this "faith"? Did He say what He did simply to provoke the Pharisees, who had front row seats despite their unbelief? Perhaps both are true. In any case, He used His critics' shock at His presumption to teach at least two valuable lessons. 1. He had the authority to forgive sins because He was God—an authority He proved by healing the paralyzed man. 2. He also demonstrated that spiritual healing was His first priority. Jesus never "imp...

" 'If you can?' said Jesus. ''Everything is possible for him who believes' " —Mark 9:23. What a difference an " im " makes. The writer to the Hebrews said: " …without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him " (Hebrews 11:6) With absolute certainty, pleasing God won't happen without faith. So, if " impossible " is the absolute certainty of something, then it is logical to assume that " possible " should be the absolute certainly of something as well, right? Nope. A terrified, worried, father comes to the Lord with his demon-possessed son. Could this teacher and healer help him? He's not sure and will settle for anything at all. And at the point of the father's doubt, Jesus challenges the man. At first glance we might think that Jesus is saying that more faith and less doubt will guarantee the absolute...