Editors Note: The devotional has a background song by called which can be heard if you use Internet
Explorer.
SCRIPTURE:
"They
came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus
to touch him. 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?" He
looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
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. Jesus
sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village." (Mark 8:22-26, NIV)
OBSERVATION:
I asked myself what was Jesus' interaction with
the blind man?
Jesus took the blind man by the hand.
Jesus led him outside the village.
Jesus had spit on the man's eyes.
Jesus put his hands on him.
Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"
I decided to look at the
next two interactions of Jesus with the blind man!
INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself why did
Jesus spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him?
Jesus could have just said the words, 'Be healed', and the blind
man would have been healed. Jesus also could have just placed His hands
on the blind man's eyes and the blind man could have been healed.
Instead, Jesus does not heal the blind man those ways but
'spit on the man's eyes' and then 'put his
hands on him'. I believe Jesus used that process to show us that
healing can be done in different ways including using MEDICINE. I believe when Jesus 'spit on the man's eyes',
Jesus was using MEDICATION on the man's eyes and rubbing the MEDICATION
with His hands. It was Jesus' MEDICATION to heal the blind man.
OBSERVATION:
I asked myself what was the cause-effect
relationship?
Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"
He looked up and said, "I see people; they
look like trees walking around."
INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself the significance of Jesus'
question and the man's answer?
Jesus already knew whether the blind man could see or not but
Jesus wanted him to describe his experiences aloud so the blind man did.
His response is fascinating because he says, "I
see people; they look like trees walking around". Jesus used
MEDICINE of his spit to bring the healing process to the blind man and
it started working, for the blind man was able to see people even though
they looked like trees walking around. This is way better than where the
blind man was before. It is Jesus' MEDICINE and the touch of Jesus' that
was working in the blind man's eyes. But more importantly I believe,
Jesus is also letting the blind man experience the principle that
healing does not have to be instantaneous but a process and healing
could mean using MEDICATION. In this case, Jesus used the MEDICATION of
his spit and the touch of His hands.
I asked myself what happened next and its
significance?
"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" making me see that Jesus' healing can also be
a process. The first time Jesus spit on the man and laid His hands, the
healing process had begun and the next time Jesus laid His hands on the
man, his eyes were opened, his sight was restored,
and he saw everything clearly!
IMPLICATIONS:
I saw important implications for my own life. I learned
from reading this passage that healing can be a process and I should not
expect healing to be instantaneous in my life whether the healing has to
do with physical ailments, emotional scars, the issues of the heart
(don't mean physical heart), etc. Most
importantly, for me this passage spoke to the biblical basis of taking
MEDICATION for healing. Jesus' spit was the MEDICATION that started the
ball rolling in the man's life. Then Jesus used the MEDICATION of His
spit to touch the man's eyes with His hands twice. This showed me that I
should not expect to take MEDICATION and be healed instantaneously.
When the healing does come though, it will be a complete healing.
There are different types of MEDICATION for healing! Jesus used
liquid MEDICATION of His spit for healing. But the MEDICATION does not
have to be liquid alone, it could also be solid, and even counseling can
act as a form of MEDICATION.
It is exciting to know that Jesus can heal instantaneously if He
chooses but Jesus also reminds me that healing can be a process and that
should be ok too.
HOW GOSPEL GIVES ME TESTIMONY
REGARDING M.E.D.I.C.I.N.E:
The Lord Jesus has used His Word as my MEDICINE to heal the scars of
my life filling them with His promises. The advantage of this MEDICINE
is that I can never overdose on this MEDICINE. God's Word has been my
healing for years and years when I have focused on His Word and made His
promises my MEDICINE taking them in. It is so exciting to read God's
Word and claim His promises for my life. For me throughout the years, it
has been spiritual MEDICINE of the Lord that has sustained a
sin-infected body like mine. It is His Word that gives me the promise of
spiritual healing which also brings physical and emotional healing
through the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for me. His MEDICINE in my
life is His precious cleansing blood to wash away all the pus of sin
that has infected my life and made me blind to the things of God. I
praise the Lord for His MEDICINE.
I ask you now dear friend, why bother taking
M.E.D.I.C.I.N.E in life?
Dear friend, there are those out there that believe if you are a
follower of Christ then Christ can heal you if He wants to without
MEDICATION. So, they pray and pray for Christ's healing knowing Jesus
Christ has the power to heal.
It is great to have that kind of faith in Jesus Christ for He can
heal if He chooses to but we learn from this example in Scripture, the
biblical basis for MEDICATION. At least this makes sense to me because
Jesus' spit on the man's eyes acted as a MEDICATION when Jesus could
have just spoken the words of healing, just touched the man's eyes for
healing, or allow the man to touch his robe for his healing. All those
ways have worked before but Jesus does it differently this time.
I believe it is to make us feel comfortable with taking MEDICATION
for our ailments when necessary and trusting in the Lord's healing touch
through the MEDICATION without feeling guilty. Jesus also sets an
example for us that healing does not have to be instantaneous but when
it comes, it can come with complete restoration.
Friend, faith healing is ok but taken to the extreme it can only
hurt. Yes, Jesus can heal us of our physical ailments, psychological
ailments, etc but Jesus can also choose to use MEDICATION, doctors,
counselors, etc to bring healing into a person's life.
So, it is ok to take MEDICATION when it is absolutely necessary but
not use MEDICATION as a crutch. We need to still pray for healing and
ask God's wisdom when MEDICATION should be taken, when counselors should
be seen, etc.
I have been blessed to have been surrounded and be surrounded by
residents in the medical profession who love the Lord Jesus Christ so
much and believe in His healing power. At the same time, they also
believe that Jesus can heal through MEDICINE. I thank the Lord for
Ryan, Steve, Luke, Jeremy, Yohko, Antonia, Cathy, Milton, etc for their desire
to be physicians for God's honor and glory.
Sometimes there are issues of the heart that no MEDICATION can cure.
I can speak from experience because I worked at Western Psychiatric
Institute at the Mood Disorders Clinic where my friend Jen currently
works. They do not let patients hear the Gospel or allow us to talk
about Jesus Christ.
Those that were not asked to address the issues of
their heart, kept coming back no matter how much MEDICATION was given
because there was something deeper at work that no earthly MEDICINE
could cure.
The key is ISSUES OF THE HEART caused by a LIFE OF SIN.
There are conditions such as bi-polar
depression, manic-depression, etc that may need MEDICATION due to
imbalance in the brain, etc and the Lord works through that too. I was
specifically talking about issues of the heart that need to be dealt
with and without Christ those things do not usually get healed and
MEDICATION just becomes a temporary way out. So whether or not to take
MEDICATION should always be a choice made
in prayer too involving Jesus. Jesus is the one that made MEDICATION
possible there.
There are those that run to the doctor for any slight ailment or take
MEDICATION for any slight ailments. I don't think that is right too. I
try to avoid MEDICATION as much as possible if I can bear through
physical pain, etc but other times I do take MEDICATION. That does not take away from me believing Jesus Christ can heal. For
I know when God wants me to wait upon Him and when I need to take
MEDICATION. It starts with Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him.
There have been times a person did not have money for MEDICATION and
I have seen the Lord's healing in that person's life without MEDICATION.
It is not because they did not want to take MEDICATION but could not
afford to take it. It is amazing how differently the Lord works in each
life, meeting people where they are at. I praise the Lord for that and
my gratitude for the Lord grows more and more I think about what Jesus did for me and others.
I want my love to grow for who Jesus is though and not for what I can
get out of Him. Help me Lord.
What I am sharing seems contradictory at times because I am in favor
of MEDICATION at times and against MEDICATION at times. It all depends
on the situation and what Jesus Christ is telling us. Jesus could be
telling us to just wait on Him or go see a doctor that He will perform
His healing through.
Now, there is a MEDICATION everyone needs to take and cannot escape from.
If we think we can live our lives without taking this MEDICATION and
expect to be alive in Christ, we are seriously mistaken. All of us have
been infected with a deadly virus that started thousands of years ago
and continues to infect all humanity.
Jesus knows what this virus has been doing. Jesus could have easily
said, 'Be healed humanity of this virus' but Jesus did not. Instead,
Jesus was born into this world as God-incarnate, walking with
characteristics of divinity and the characteristics of humanity but
without being infected with this virus. Because Jesus was the only One
that was not infected with this virus, only He could provide the
antidote for all humanity.
So Jesus took it upon Himself to provide this antidote. Jesus went to
Golgotha and was placed on a CROSS gurney. His hands and feet were tied
to the gurney and He allowed Himself to be crucified. Only Jesus'
crucifixion could provide the antidote for humanity. When nails pounded
through His hands and feet and a crown of thorns was placed on his head,
the antidote was being sucked out and it flowed.
Friend, I am talking about the precious cleansing BLOOD of Jesus
Christ that can be our antidote and humanity's antidote for the deadly
virus known as sin. While we were yet sinners Jesus died for us. Jesus
died to use His blood to become our MEDICATION.
Yet, friend this type of MEDICATION will not be imposed upon us.
Jesus became the donor for us but we have to accept this MEDICATION and
antidote to let it wipe away and wash away the deadly virus in our
system. All it takes is to ask Jesus to give us this antidote acknowledging
that we cannot save ourselves to be right with God.
Friend, no one can
save themselves apart from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the
good works we do are like filthy rags to the Lord because 99% of good
works can still be polluted by 1% of bad works. It is like water being
polluted by cyanide. It is not pure anymore. God in His holiness cannot
allow sin to enter His presence even if it is a small black dot on a
completely white poster. The poster is not clean anymore but the Good
News is that Jesus replaces those dots of sin with His precious blood.
Now when God sees you and me, He sees the MEDICATION of Christ which
is His precious blood covering over us when we give our lives to Him.
Because of this God's judgment will pass over us just like God's
judgment did pass over the Israelites when the door post was smeared
with the blood of the lamb. Everyone inside did not die from the angel
of death but those on the outside of God's protection did die.
So friend, do take the MEDICATION Jesus wants to give you to save
your life from sin and destruction. Jesus is the Lamb of God who came to
take away the sins of the world. Allow Jesus Christ to save you
believing in your heart that Jesus died for you, was buried, and came
back to life on the third day to save. Confess with your mouth Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart who Jesus is and why He came so
that you can be saved. It is not complicated. Jesus paid the price to
set you and me free.
It is by grace we have been saved through faith
and not of works so that no one could boast.
So come to Jesus as you are friend and experience His love. Jesus
came for us who have been wicked. When you think to yourself that you
are not good enough to come to Jesus, then you are ready because none of
us are good enough to come to Jesus. Jesus does not want us to come to
Him when we think we are good for remember all our good works are like
filthy rags. Jesus wants us to come to Him because we realize He alone
can become our MEDICINE everyday as the perfect donor in our life.
May you experience the love of Christ each day in your life for
eternity! Amen!
"Man's Everyday Donor Is Christ Involving Now
Eternity!" (M.E.D.I.C.I.N.E)/"Why bother taking M.E.D.I.C.I.N.E in life?"
(To be
continued…..)
Prayer:
Jesus thank you for healing the blind man with the MEDICATION of your
spit. I love you Lord. Oh Lord thank you for teaching me that healing
can be a process and it is ok to take MEDICATION. Thank you Lord when
you heal, you heal completely. More than anything thank you for the
MEDICATION you provided as our antidote for the deadly virus that has
plagued humanity. It makes us die and be separated from you but your
'SHED BLOOD' became our antidote cleansing us, washing us, and wiping
away our sins when we turn to you and ask you for the transfusion of
change. I am so excited Jesus. Thank you for loving us so much and
making that possible. I pray right now for the one who does not know you
yet and has not given their life to you for different reasons. I pray Oh
Lord, you would work in their hearts and that they can come to know your
love and know you as their Lord and Personal Savior. We are all blind
men needing to be shown the Way. You have become our Way, the Truth, and
the Life. You have shown us the Way! Help us to follow Jesus! Thank you
so much Jesus and I pray those that read this note would be blessed and
impacted by you speaking through this note what they need to hear and
what I need to hear. Oh Lord, you speak to me through using what you
have helped me write. Thank you so much for hearing my prayer and
answering me! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
May you experience the POWER OF
CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him the LOCKED areas of your
life too so you can experience His PEACE as you become an ACTOR in the
film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR, JESUS CHRIST who comes
to give JOY and PEACE.
You
don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and
give you peace to live out your actions.
How do you look at GODISNOWHERE?
One
of my pastors, Pastor Hugo shared this example this past Sunday at the
RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh
Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:
If
you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin
and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no
peace.
But
as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to
tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.
Yes,
friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life
through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on
the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live
with us.
Yes,
friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE
& LIVING GRACE.
When
we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive
us and restore us to Him and we will find peace in Him.
"Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the
world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore
Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)
"For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)
Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our
sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge
so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the
finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)
Come to Jesus as you are and pray this prayer to accept Jesus as your
Lord and Personal Savior. He will transform your life around! Praise the
Lord! You don't have to have all the answers! You can come as you are!
Prayer:
Jesus, I thank you for being the BREAD of Life. You are the Living BREAD
of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for
the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you
Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life,
digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living
Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life.
I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit!
I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the BREAD
represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your
blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are
reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord
Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and
acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that
you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me
life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my
sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to
forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me
and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and
please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you.
I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your
home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve
you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in
me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will
be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and
willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus. I
thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you
Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I
am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal
Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
