“A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. “ Mark 1:40-45
The healed leper was truly full of joy and could not keep quiet about ‘his’ miracle. How would you have responded to being healed? Had your illness been healed by Jesus and then you had been told not to tell anybody but it would be okay to show yourself without the scars of your illness to your Pastor; what would you have done? I can only imagine that it would have been very difficult to contain my joy. One dictionary provides the following definitions for the word ‘heal’. 1. To restore to health or soundness; cure. 2. To set right; repair: healed the rift between us. 3. To restore a person to spiritual wholeness. 4. To become whole and sound; return to health.
To me it seems that each of these definitions would cause one’s eyes to brighten and cause a wide smile to stretch across a face; healing brings joy to the one being healed and also to those who may have had a part in the healing. Consider the children in the attached photo, they attend the one of two Christian schools in Ouanaminthe that have a Trinity/HOPE feeding program; they are being healed. Their relationship with our Triune God is either being formed or restored and their physical hunger is being restored every day.
I heard a quote on BOTT radio recently when an Evangelist said “We cannot make people love us, but we can let others love us.” As a Trinity/HOPE supporter I have no intentions to ‘make’ these children love me, but rather I smile knowing their spiritual welfare is being strengthened each day as they draw closer to God and farther away from the vodou priest. When I visit them they can hug me all they want but all the glory belongs to God as He is the reason for their healing and also for my healing. I close today with the words from a song that I heard on the internet written by Lenny Smith called ‘Our God reigns.’
“How lovely on the mountains are the feet of Him who brings good news, good news; announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness: our God reigns, our God reigns! He had no stately form; He had no majesty that we should be drawn to Him. He was despised and we took no account of Him. Our God reigns, our God reigns! It was our sin and guilt that bruised and wounded Him. It was our sin that brought Him down. When we like sheep had gone astray our Shepherd came and on His shoulders bore our shame. Meek as a lamb that’s led out to the slaughterhouse, dumb as a sheep before its shearer, His life ran down upon the ground like pouring rain that we might be born again. Out from the tomb He came with grace and majesty; He is alive, He is alive. God loves us so, see here His hands, His feet, His side; yes we know, He is alive.”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay