Skip to main content

Monday, July 23: "Matthew 9-The Healer"

Again, here's another snapshot of my writings from last summer when I began the New Testament Challenge.


Today as I read Matthew 9, there was no specific verse or verses I wanted to focus on. Rather I noticed a theme in the middle section. From verses 1-8 and 18-34, there is a theme of healing. Jesus performed miracles that healed people around him (healing the paralytic, raising a girl to life, casting out demons, etc.). Now I'm not taking way from the amazing power of God in these verses, it's just not what I want to focus on today. I want to focus on the fact that Jesus heals and restores life. These stories in and of themselves are pretty cool! I mean come on! When's the last time you saw someone raised from the dead? But did you know that God still does that. It isn't a physical resurrection, but a spiritual one. Think about it: before we knew Christ, the Bible says we were dead in our sins and trespasses. But God raised us to life and opened our eyes so that we could know Him and have everlasting life! Why did He do this? Because He is merciful and loving and compassionate. There's no way we could reach Him on our own, nothing we could do to reach Him. He had to heal our hears and bring us to life.

This reminds me of a Kari Jobe song. The chorus says: "I believe You're my Healer, I believe You are all I need. I believe You're my portion, I believe You're more than enough for me, Jesus You're all I need!"  Jesus heals; He's the only One you need! Is this true in your life?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4-Matthew 5

The Sermon on the Mount... tough chapters! There are so many different ways to go with the teachings of Jesus in the next 3 chapters, where do I start?! I think I'll start with Matthew 5:1-2. These verses say, "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them". The first thing that jumps out to me is how Jesus seized the opportunity to teach those around him. He didn't waste any time deciding where to go or what he should do. He just sat down and began to teach. Do we do that? Do we seize the opportunities we have to encourage others, to tell them about God's Word? I sure don't. There have been many missed opportunities that I regret second-guessing or waiting to see if a better time might come. There's another thing I see in these first two verses: his disciples came to him (verse 1). Now remember Jesus had just called them at the end of chapter 4. They were still new...

When Things Get Scary, Where Do I Turn?

Well hi there! It's been over five months since I've posted, but I have something I would like to share with you guys today (today, tonight, this morning? I don't know any more! My mind's not completely functioning after midnight at this point!) My post today comes from the first chapter of Lisa Harper's book, "Stumbling Into Grace" (thank you Miss Jennifer M. for the book!) She starts her first chapter with a quote from D. A. Carson, which says, "Why is God doing this? Though it is blasphemous to think it, our whole being cries out that this is unfair of him, that our grief and pain are disproportionate to our sin, that we have been abandoned." Do you ever feel that way? I know I do, and I recently had that feeling (will share more on that story in a minute).  Lisa shares her own personal examples of being scared in this introduction. But after describing some scenarios in her life where she's felt anxious or scared, she includes a sma...

September 13-Being Still

Hey everyone! :) I want to talk to you guys about something that God has been laying on my heart recently: being still before Him. It's hard to do, isn't it? We live in such a busy world, so many things to do and see every day. But God tells us multiple times in His Word to be still and listen to His voice (Psalm 46:10 for example). Easier said than done! Now that I'm in college, I'm finding it much harder to find time to just seek God and spend time with Him. Whether there is homework to be done, movies to be watched, or friends to be socializing with, it's easy to be distracted from what my true focus should be. I don't have the answer to fix this, unfortunately. I wish I did, though! I just wanted to share with you guys my struggle to be still and listen. Do you have that struggle? I'd love to hear ways that you have found to avoid those distractions or ways you've found to just be still!