What are Your Intentions God? -
First of all, I apologize for not posting the devo
yesterday. I wish I had a great excuse;
I don’t. It was just one of those days
when I kept trying to get it done and other things kept distracting me. My plan to make it up to you is to do a
Saturday edition this week. In any case,
I do apologize and I hope you will forgive me.
On with the devo. . .
Matthew 14:34-36, The Message - On return, they beached the boat at
Gennesaret. When the people got wind that he was back, they sent out word
through the neighborhood and rounded up all the sick, who asked for permission
to touch the edge of his coat. And whoever touched him was healed.
Back in
Matthew 9, we talked about the woman with the flow of blood being healed as she
touched His cloak while he was walking by her in a crowd. Today, we see that same thing happening in Gennesaret
with all the sick in that town. They all
ask Jesus’s permission to touch His cloak/coat as he passes by. Jesus obviously has no objections to it and so
as he is walking, the sick and lame are touching his garments. As they do, they
are healed. Back in chapter 9, I pointed
out that the story of the healing of the
woman with a flow of blood was told by Matthew as to highlight the role of her
own faith in her own healing. The same
is true here. The people believe that
just touching Jesus’s clothes has the power to heal them. But there is a profound truth added here in
chapter 14. When Jesus is asked if it is
okay for the people to touch His coat as He passes through, what He is really
being asked is about is His intention. Does
He intend to allow the healing of those who touch his garment? The details show that the answer is “yes.”
This is
important because way too often, people get the idea in their head that God
doesn’t intend their healing. Some of
these people even have faith that God does indeed have the power to heal them,
but not the intention. They reason that
they do not deserve such a gift from God or that God is “too busy” with “more
important things.” The witness of
Matthew refutes any such logic. Jesus
has a predisposition toward healing. The
woman in chapter 9 was healed just as He realized the healing had taken
place. Here in chapter 12, there were no
“qualified healings.” If you were there
needing healing and you touched His cloak, you were healed. It states that ALL, not just the deserving,
were healed.
Whatever
your brokenness is today, please know it is God’s intention to heal it. Your worthiness or unworthiness is irrelevant. What you have done or not done doesn’t
matter. The only pertinent questions are
these.
Questions: Do you
believe that God can and intends for you to be made well? Will you seek the healing God can and intends
for you to have?
Prayer: God of power
and love, help me to trust in Your intention for healing for me. Give me conviction in Your power to heal
me. Give me the faith to seek it,
expecting that my faith meeting Your power and intention will have miraculous
results. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for people on the brink of financial ruin today.
Song: God Wants To
Heal You - Earnest Pugh
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