January 17 - Ephphatha!

Today seemed long. I got a lot accomplished though. Got a few things checked off my list for the week....ready to add more things to the list now. Tonight, I had the opportunity to play some basketball at a local church just down the road. It was fun and rejuvenating, but something stands out in my mind more than anything dealing with basketball. The devotion halfway through the night was based from Matthew 22:37.

37 Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

Enough said. Exciting new things are coming this way...thanks be to God for each and every one.

Mark 7: 32-35
Mark 8: 23-25

32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looks up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). 35 At this time, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" 24 He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Two instances in which Jesus performed healing miracles (though, not the only two). He healed three forms of handicap, the inability to hear, see, and speak. The characteristic that stands out to me about Jesus in these two examples, is that he is willing to get his hands dirty and humble himself before the lame to bring their sight, hearing, and speaking abilities back to their bodies. Christ has a way with working with people, no matter the situation. These men experienced these miracles firsthand and people heard about it, even though Jesus had told them not to talk about it.

This same man that performed miracles was crucified and strung up on a cross. Something isn't right with that picture. It seems as though Christ should have been living in a palace in a high place for all the mighty acts he had performed and the life changing experiences he brought to people. That's not how the story goes though. Thankfully, we can't change that. Thankfully, Christ was man enough to carry out the will of God on the cross for us. By the way, Christ is in a high place right now, waiting on his children to come home. That's a comforting and excellent thought to ponder on.

I gather one more thing from these two examples. If Christ is willing and able to heal the lame in these two passages in Mark, what is to keep him from healing us? Not necessarily in the physical sense, but in physical and spiritual. Why do we doubt his power and his love for us? Why do we think we can do everything on our own? These are serious questions that we (myself included) need to get right. Christ performs miracles in our lives everyday. If you doubt that or question that statement, think about how you received our salvation. Everyday we are saved from our dirty sins that we continue to fall into.

Why not let Christ touch your life? Why not show that love to others?