Stealing a Healing!

She stood on the edge of the crowd and tried vainly to catch a glimpse of Him. 

He was somewhere in that pulsating sweating mass of humanity that thronged and pressed against each other in the heat of the day. From the snatches of conversation she knew His destination - Jairus' home. 

When she realized He was about to pass by her lodging the wild thought invaded her and refused to leave. 'If only He would touch me I would be healed!' Immediately her timid soul had shrunk back from the impudent  thought! She did not dare confront Him - not in her present condition! It was an illegal thought in her present circumstance...12 years of bleeding illness! 

She still remembered the day 12 years ago.. how ironic that  on the same day Jairus' daughter was born , that same day she had become aware of her own sickness!

She had bled so much since then! Physically and financially for the doctors had been unable to find a cure even though they continued to take her money and make promises! Promises which never saw fruition! Desperation had kept her hoping...for nothing...! And she had ended up with nothing!

Now the little girl was sick and the Master was passing by on His way to Jairus' home! 'If only I dared to approach Him' she thought. 'But I am too weak anyhow and the crowd pressed too close. I am afraid! But I am dying...and He's passing by! Oh! What am I to do?!'

Thoughts blurred through her mind as she desperately cast about for a solution to her dilemma. She had heard a lot of Yeshua and the wonderfully miraculous things He had been doing! Recently news had filtered from the Gadarenes about the lonely man in the cemetery. What was he called?...Legion...delivered from a multitude of devils!

How can I get Yeshua's attention?...Wait...NO! I do NOT want Him to know! I can't come to Him in this condition...but ...I know just a touch would do...a simple contact with Him would be sufficient! YES! That's it! if I could just touch the hem of His robe from the back...He would not see me and none would be the wiser! I am certain if I just touch the hem only I would be healed!

She stared in dismay at the thronging mass and thought...'Alright! In there, somewhere, is my one chance at a new lease on life and it is gradually moving away. I have to get to Him!' She was agonizingly aware that she did not have the strength to push through that crowd! In her frantic casting around for a solution her eyes fell on two little boys who had suddenly appeared in front of her and dropped playfully to all fours. She watched in amazement as they gleefully weaved their way through the legs of the slowly moving crowd! 

That's it! 

Everyone was straining to look over the head of the neighbour and no one was looking down! With the words 'and a little child shall lead them' reverberating in her mind, she immediately suited action to thought, dropped on all fours and began following the boys crawling between legs.

The dust stirred up by shifting feet filled her nostrils and mouth. Her eyes watered profusely as she gagged on dust...but she kept on going! 

In her mind the thought echoed over and over 'I just want to touch the hem of His coat!' 

The hot air seared her dust filled lungs and she was in terror lest she pass out...!

But she kept thinking, 'Just to touch the hem of His coat! That's all! Just to touch the hem!'

The forest of limbs pressed her in closely. Several times she thought her frail body would be trampled to death in the dust!

Her mind kept repeating. 'Get to Him! Touch the hem! Don't stop now!...Keep going...touch the hem!'

And then she heard His voice! She just knew it was His voice. She did not know just how she knew, but she knew! Peering cautiously upwards she recognized some of the men from Capernaum who were His disciples...Simon, John, Levi...And RIGHT THERE!...In their midst...she would have known HIM anyhow! The Master! Yeshua! He moved slowly along with the crowd...being jostled on all sides as people tried to get near to Him. The disciples were trying continuously and ineffectively to shield Him but the crowd kept pressing in.

She felt the faintness overtaking her - a result of the supreme struggle made through the gauntlet of legs! She knew that she was totally at the end of her strength. As she felt life draining away from her she knew that this was it! Her final moments were near...do or die! She was so near...just one more effort..a last step to take! She crawled...dragging herself along the dust, reaching out her hand in a desperate gesture but He was moving on!!!

'OH GOD NOOO!...PLEASE JUST THIS ONCE!...JUST A TOUCH!' Her fingers extended  in vain as her whole being cried out noiselessly! '

So this is how I die? OH DEAR GOD NO! PLEASE JUST A TOUCH FROM YOUR COAT!' 

As her last dying cry ripped noiselessly from her heart a draft of surprisingly cool wind, wending its way suddenly through the crowd,  playfully caught the hem of Yeshua's robe and sent it fluttering towards her. The outstretched fingers made the slightest of contact with the hem as she fell forward.

OH WONDERFUL GOD!

She felt it then! Amazement, fear, and joy battled for supremacy as she felt it! Like a cool refreshing wind over a hot face...like a cold refreshing stream of crystal clear water rippling over parched dry land...like a bolt of lightning shattering the pitch blackness of a gloomy night! 

In ever increasing waves she felt the power surge through her. Her dead tired cells tingled with life and energy as she felt her whole body become suffused with the glow of health and healing. She became aware of new strength, vigor and life flowing...surging in her as she flowed to her feet in front of the surprised eyes of those who expressed astonishment at her seemingly sudden appearance!

She hastily began retreating into the crowd in her effort to get away from there when she was arrested by the Voice!

"WHO TOUCHED MY CLOTHES?"

The question hung in the sudden stillness of the of the crowd as everyone gaped in amused disbelief.
"Huh? Really!!"
A disciple put the general feeling into words, 'Master this crowd is so thick and everyone is pushing and tugging at You! There are SO many TOUCHING You! What do You mean by asking...WHO TOUCHED ME?' Does it really matter AT ALL??'

As she continued to back away she heard Him say, "I know! But someone DID touch differently for I felt power flow out of me just now!" As He said this He looked around the crowd and caught her eyes with His own.

She panicked! He knows! OH NO! He knows what I did and He knows who did it! Why did I think I could hide it?!

She caught her breath! He was smiling at her! The gentleness in His twinkling, amused eyes immediately dissolved her fears! IT WAS OKAY!!!

In reverence and gratitude she shuffled forward, and with thankful tears in her eyes she fell down before Him and worshiped Him as she told Him all that had happened.

Yeshua leaned over and lifted her up gently. With infinite kindness and love that sent a fresh surge of healing power through her body she heard Him say, "Daughter, go in peace! Your faith has made you whole!"

©2010  

What have we done?! God help us!

When will we ever begin to learn that God is not like man and that there is nothing we can ever think up or conceive that can conjure up what God is really like?

The fallacy of the statement that what the mind can conceive the hands can achieve is exposed when we realize that the highest achievement of man falls far short of the least in heaven. No man has seen the Father at any time. The only begotten Son alone can declare Him. We can only know God through the working of the Holy Ghost in us. He presents Christ to us - not just the Christ of history but most importantly the Christ of eternity - in all His fullness and glory, in His work of atonement and redemption, in His work as Intercessor on our behalf.

But it requires a constant attending to the things of God and a constant attendance on God. Man's imagination has a ceiling and that ceiling is not Heaven! If we will really know God, we need to pay the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. It's a tragic but all too true fact that instead of cherishing God's anointing and seeking to be constantly full of the Holy Ghost, we take Him for granted.

Remember when we were saved and we received the fullness of His Spirit in the precious Baptism. We delighted in the wonder of His presence and nearness to us. He thrilled our souls and His love reverberated through our entire being.

Oh Precious Lord! My King and Saviour! Fairest of all and All Glorious!...the constant singing of our heart could not seem to do justice to our Precious Lord! Oh for more…just more…as wave upon wave of sweet and precious goodness swept over our souls. The joy of singing the songs of Zion! The "Old Rugged Cross' brought tears to our eyes as we thought of our sweet precious Lord hanging in shame and humiliation because of our sin! But the love of God overwhelmed us and we were not ashamed to weep openly for joy! When we sang "Speak my Lord", our hearts bled for the millions who in sin and shame were dying without Him and we meant it when we said "I'll go where you want me to go"

As we prayed, the anointing took such a fervent hold on us that we literally trembled and cried and the prayer came from our hearts without a thought to grammar, fancy words or sentence construction. It was 'Be still earth I'm speaking to my Father, My God, Saviour, and my Lord!' Our prayers brought a sweet flow of the Holy Anointing upon the congregation of the saints. It was so beautiful!! And then we testified or sang a special song and it was no longer I but Christ. I had no confidence in the flesh but depended only on the Holy Ghost. And as the song floated out over the congregation, so did the Holy Ghost bear witness to the words. He made the difference because he reached the farthest part of the building and touched all with His presence.
How we waited on the Lord for the anointing to make our prayers and songs meaningful!!

And then the glory of preaching God's Word! Secular education did not matter! Eloquence did not count! It was the Anointing, the precious Anointing that was all important! We needed that Anointing or we could not preach! The hours we spent agonizing over the message! The sermon was supposed to be spiritual food for our brethren to grow and it would only be effective if the anointing saturated it! And when we finally walked up to the sacred desk to lay out the table with God's eternal word it was as though heaven had opened and God's angels were listening with rapt attention as the Holy Ghost placed the stamp of authority and power on the word…making it food baked in the ovens of heaven - a heavenly repast for mortals to feast on!

Lord it was so beautiful! And so the days went by in sweet fellowship and love! Utterance flowed and the authority of God was felt as we lived in the very presence of God!

Then one day it happened..I become distracted by some mundane moments and so I was by former standards unprepared…but was required to pray, sing preach or whatever in the congregation at short notice!
I could only whisper a desperate, short prayer and behold what a pleasant surprise…the anointing was rich in the place! Glory be to God! And then it happened again even though I promised that it would not! …and again...and again! But strange enough I discovered that those desperate prayers helped. That's how it started. Reasoning begin asserting that it was just as good as before! Or maybe this is God's way of making me mature! I reason that a short prayer works just as well as praying through the night! And thus it goes on…! It does not take too long to realize that people like how you sing or preach and the talent and skill begins to take the pre-eminence over the waiting on the Lord. More and more we began substituting the self confidence and abilities of man for God's presence and precious anointing, until one day we wake up to the fact that the anointing is not there. 

Now we can decide to run back to the altar of prayer and repentance before a just and merciful God who is ready to forgive and pardon!

Reasoning and logic however prevailed as we try to rationalize our actions and started looking for reasons to justify our new attitude. At the same time we begin to  frown upon, and criticize the precious people of God who still jump and cry with pleasure in the Lord. Oh! We say they will soon pass this stage and really grow up. After all we were once just as immature but see how we have grown!!! Children will be emotional but they will mature soon. And so we take every opportunity to make them like us!

God have mercy upon us for what we have done!!! Help us get back to the place of repentance, anointing  and power. Back to the place where it is okay to weep before the Lord…where it is still okay to speak and pray in tongues. Back to the place where the glory of the Lord is more important than all the fine speeches of man. For we have a legacy to pas on…a heritage! Please Lord let it be a Spirit saturated heritage and legacy for without you we are just absolute nothing!

We so desperately need you LORD!

"Whatsoever He tells you to do, JUST DO IT!!!"

"They have no wine!"

I was serving that day at the wedding feast when Mary approached her son Yeshua with that unexpected statement. Everyone including myself turned to look at Yeshua in surprise and puzzlement. The questions in my mind were... "Why Him?! What can He do about it!"...He was only an invited guest! But apparently Mary, being somewhat in charge expected something to be done.

I saw Jesus cease from His conversation with His friends and turn to look at His mother in patient amusement. Smiling affectionately He spoke.

"Why are you telling me this? What does this have to do with me now! It's not yet time"

I observed a perplexed, searching look on Mary's face at this response as she looked at her Son with an apologetic smile. Then she suddenly turned to us as I stood there with my fellow servants and ordered, "Whatever He tells you to do, just do it! No questions. Just do it!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

With that cryptic command Mary stalked away to attend to other business.

All eyes turned to Yeshua in puzzlement and expectation. I recognized the serious potential for embarrassment to the wedding party and sincerely hoped that Yeshua had something up His sleeve…a winery maybe?!

His next words took us by surprise. Pointing to the six waterpots of stone lined up against the wall, He turned to us and said'

"Fill those waterpots with water!"

"Huh?! Water…!?"

Well I can do that! I know…it was not a hard thing that He asked. It was not hard to do from a physical viewpoint! Well within our ability to do!...but…Water?!

Bursting with curiosity we hastened to do His bidding. It seemed as though all present were agog with excitement and curiosity so we had eager and willing assistance. The waterpots were filled in record time!

There was subdued excitement as everyone awaited Yeshua's next move…and He looked directly at me and said "Pour out some and take it to the ruler of the feast!

There was absolute silence in the area. It seemed as if everyone had stopped breathing! Then a subdued swell of voices mingled in disbelief, amusement and shock rose in volume as everyone reacted to the command.

My first thought was, "You've got to be kidding me right?!!"

Then... "Impossible!!!"

Could you imagine it? Me taking water to the ruler of the feast when they wanted wine? A big No! I agree it was again not a hard thing that He had commanded me to do, but it was a ridiculous impossibility!

Mental!

My mind raced in a flurry of incoherent thoughts. I can take the water to the ruler…but I can't give the ruler water!...I am not crazy…I know it is water in that pot. I filled it with water. I saw them all filled with water!

WATER!!!.

I also knew what would come out of that jar!

Water!

My thoughts and attention were suddenly arrested as my eyes caught Yeshua's.

He was looking at me expectantly, patiently, and…can you believe it? There was even a glimmer of amusement! He understood my dilemma! Of course He did…and of all that I had heard of Him so far did, there was no indication that He was given to playing cruel practical jokes!

Against all commonsense…and doubt, I decided. To heck with it! I could only be fired once.

But Mary expected Jesus to do something and she did say "Whatever He said to you, do it!"

I can always say I simply obeyed Him, like Mary commanded!

I approached the nearest jar and gingerly poured out water into a cup. Everyone saw water filling the cup - plain ordinary water!

The crowd snickered

Did I expect anything else?!

I guess so for I felt foolish!

With a final searching look at Yeshua's face I proceeded with the cup in the direction of the governor.

That was the longest walk of my life. My feet seemed leaden, and the water - very ordinary water - continued to mock me with its plain ordinariness…sloshing around with glee at my stupidity!

But Yeshua said to do it and what He said I was to do! Thus Mary had commanded!

The crowd followed!

I had nearly reached the governor's table. I looked down into the cup! It was still water!

Taking a deep breath I thought, "Here goes nothing…and everything!" Then I offered the cup of still plain water to the governor.

The crowed stared!

With downcast eyes I awaited the furious sputtering and angry words to follow.

The crowd waited…silently!

I heard a pleased sigh and an exclamation of amazement. I glanced at the governor. He was wiping his mouth with his hands and I saw the red liquid before he wiped it away! Then I caught the smell of rich sweet wine!

I was astounded!

The crowd gasped! …and gaped…stupidly!

I probably had the same expression of stupefied amazement on my face.

I had handed over water in a cup in obedience to Yeshua's command!

Up to the last moment of handing over it had been just water!

But now - very obvious in the cup that the governor placed on the table - it was sweet red wine whose aroma filled the whole room.

I stared..and stared… unbelievingly as I caught the last words of the governor's sentence.

"…you have saved the best wine for the last!"

I heard no more…for I was looking back at the gentle and pleased face of Yeshua as the words of His mother re-echoed in my mind.

"Whatsoever He tells you to do, JUST DO IT!!!"

 ©2009 

Judging Haiti?

 Millions are affected by the Haitian earthquake on January 14, 2010 and tens of thousands are dead. The world shows its compassionate side as help and relief are rushed to the unfortunate country. And in all this human pathos and drama, while many are asking why?...why God? others are offering reasons for the disaster.

At the focus of the present heat is of course the inimitable Pat Robertson and his recent take on the Haitian earthquake!

So...I ask...is every disaster, natural or man influenced, a direct punishment from God?

Maybe we should take a look at some thing the LORD said in response to some folks as recorded in Luke 13:1-9: "There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish"

It is pretty obvious  Jesus is stating that disaster did not overtake the Galileans and the other eighteen because they were sinners more than others.

It is not unusual for men to assume disaster overtakes people because of something evil they have done more than others. Recorded in the book of Job is the classic example of Job's baffling calamities being blamed on his supposed 'hypocritical, secret sins!'

We are being plainly cautioned by the LORD not to be judges nor to censure others because of  catastrophes occurring in their lives. Rather the LORD cautions us to repent else we will also perish. Jesus uses the catastrophe as an object lesson and no one can accuse the LORD of not being compassionate and merciful!!!
Pat Robertson may come over as though he had 'foot in mouth' troubles but I do believe he is also in the thick of things with assistance to the earthquake victims.