Who Has Touched Him?

Mar 5:25-31 And a certain woman who had had an issue of blood twelve years, (26) and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and had not been bettered any, but rather came to worse, (27) having heard about Jesus, she came in the press behind and touched His garment. (28) For she said, If I may but touch only His clothes, I will be cured. (29) And instantly the fountain of her blood dried up. And she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. (30) And knowing instantly within Himself that power had gone out of Him, Jesus turned Himself around in the press and said, Who touched My clothes? (31) And His disciples said to Him, You see the crowd pressing on You, and do You say, Who touched Me?

Most of us know this story. We talk about the woman, having suffered so long and having the faith to take a risk. We talk about faith rewarded. But what about all those who had pressed Jesus? What about the many who had touched Him and had never realized.

How many times have we gone to church and left the same way we went in... distracted, annoyed, indifferent? Maybe it wasn't church. Church certainly isn't the only place to find God, although it should be a place we do find Him - without fail. Perhaps that breeze that blew through our hair was His Presence, and we simply thought the AC had kicked on, never knowing the difference.

But He knows the difference, doesn't He.

If we seek nothing, we often find it.

Trading It All In

John 3:34 LITV
(34) For the One whom God sent speaks the Words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

Our pastor tells us that if we have a measure of the Holy Spirit, it is us who set the measure, not God. He also says that we can have all the Holy Spirit we want. It's really true. The precept applies to many aspects of our lives.

We hear the fabled love stories of men and women who wait to kiss until they are married. That wedding night, for them, is magical. But we trade that in for premarital sex, unfaithfulness, or other types of quick gratification.

Many of us want very much to carry the anointing of a great bible teacher or evangelist but we trade study and preparation in on TV.

Prayer is traded for sleep. Dedication is traded for recreation. Love is traded for apathy. Hot is traded for luke-warm. We end up making peace with mediocrity in everything. That junky mindset grows like mold and pretty soon we have a stale existence that shuns change and classifies anything more as fanaticism.

I need more than that. I've tried much of the above - and it's lousy. It's empty. It's lifeless. I've traded the eternal for the temporal (birthright for beans, basically) more times than I care to recall and I reject that now in the name of Jesus. What I need is more of Him.

Flu

Have you seen the pictures of Mexico lately? Not only of the earthquake today, but of all the people wearing masks to protect from the swine flu. Scary stuff. Is it a sign?

You bet.

Things happen on earth often as a picture of what is happening spiritually. We have already talked about the bees disappearing.

People are wearing masks to keep from breathing in a virus - something in the air - that has the potential to make them extremely sick.

Poison air is not only a physical truth these days. There's so much garbage being taught - even in the church.

2Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Tim 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

People are breathing poison air - and the people that Timothy was speaking of will NOT be willing to change their minds. So for all my friends and family that - despite their occupation - have given themselves to the ministry of God, remember this:

2Ti 4:5
(5) But you be clear-minded in all, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fully carry out your ministry.

Peace.