A man with leprosy came and knelt before him
and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you
can make me clean (Mt. 8:2, NIV).”
The truth of Matthew 8 is – our God is a healer! Not only is our God the One gives life its power, He is the One who stands willing to heal.
A leaper is healed.
A paralyzed servant is made well.
Peter’s mother in law goes from sick in bed with a fever to actively serving and waiting on Jesus.
Many go from demon-possessed to fully sane and now well – no longer being tormented by the evil one.
By a word from Jesus, all these who were once sick were made well.
By a word from Jesus, there is spiritual, emotional, and physical healing taking place. How have we come to Jesus for His healing in our circumstances, relationships, emotion well-being, and many other areas that need healing? We don’t have to settle for “good enough” when we could have the absolute BEST!!
In the Scriptures…
There are a few particular verses that stand out to me. I love the truth found in the Words of God. God, though is holy, is speaking life into our dead – sin – induced situations. He is pouring His life into ours, so we don’t have to walk through a bottomless pit anymore! God is bringing life and healing to us. Though we are needing healing, we often don’t go right to the Source.
“He took up our infirmities and bore
our diseases (Is. 53:4).”
In these Scriptures, we learn that healing is found in Jesus alone! We are reminded of the prophesy given to us by God’s prophet Isaiah that – God’s Son (Jesus Christ) bore our sins, its death, and diseases. He took everything to the cross. We don’t have to wait around for God to heal us, because He is doing His healing work right now IF we will just come before Him!
‘But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead
bury their own dead (vv. 22).”’
Jesus came to give us life and healing, but we need to recognize where the freedom and healing lies. It is found in Jesus alone. What is keeping you from choosing to follow Jesus in your daily life? What is keeping you from surrendering that relationship or job to God alone and how He is teaching you how to handle it through His Word, prayer, and the Holy Spirit?
When we come to Jesus… for life and healing, we need to stay with Jesus. When we stay in His Presence, we are reminded of just how much more God can do on our behalf than what we can do. But, we gotta keep the faith. We need to keep seeking. We need to keep trusting Him. That’s one thing that He rebuked His disciples for. When the storm came, they got scared and misplaced their faith in whom they were with. Jesus is all-knowing, as well as all-powerful. He will take care of us, just like He took care of them!
‘The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man
is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him (vv. 27)!”’
His Care
Read Matthew 8:28-34.
As we remember that Jesus will take care of us, we need to keep this reminder close – He won’t always do things our way. There will be time in our lives, when things are done the very opposite of our way. But, it’s okay. This is about the good work God is doing in you. This is not about how close you can achieve this world’s version of perfection in your life. Perfection isn’t possible. We are human. We need to keep our focus on Jesus and the out-of-this-world things He is wanting to do.
Life is messy.
God sent His Son Jesus Christ on a bloody rugged cross to take yours and my sins off our shoulders, and to pay the brutal price. If Jesus is willing to go through all that on our behalf, He has AMAZING things in store.
But, we have to count the cost of following Him.
And, let Him lead in our lives.
Knowing – the blessings that will result.
Gracefully Overcoming 