Last night as I was reading in Matthew I was again drawn back to Peru, as the scriptures became alive and lived among us.
Matthew 8:5-11 NLT
When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and
pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed,
paralyzed and in terrible pain.”
Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”
But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you
come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and
my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the
authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over
my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or
‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’
they do it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who
were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t
seen faith like this in all Israel! And I tell you this, that
many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and
west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast
in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Here in Matthew the officer had enough faith that Jesus could heal. Not only that Jesus possesed this power, but enough power that His spoken word would go out to another man, not in Jesus' pressence, but in the lack of being in Jesus' pressence.
Jesus traveled often, and visited many homes for the purpose, or with the accomplished goal of healing. This story could have been no different, Jesus could have met the boy at his house where he lay, but instead Jesus spoke the words in response to the officer's faith. And he was healed.
At our drama ministry spots throughout the towns we visited, we had the privilege of praying for the needs of any pressence. I was amazed how many times we were asked how much! Like there is a charge for prayer!? At one drama stop my ground had been praying for a few people, and a man approached us asking us for praying for his son. I'm unsure as to what was specifically wrong, but I remember him informing us he would like to bring him for us to pray over him. We then told him this story from Matthew about faith, and prayer. And as we prayed with this man for his son, you could've his faith, in the joy he exhibited.
We never met that man again, he is one of many I pray to one day meet in Heaven. But I believe that man's faith brought healing to his son that day. That as he arrived home in expectation, God met him, with anticipation with his healed son.
It saddens me that so many of these stories of faith and healing take place in so many more countries than our own. I'm not saying God.doesn't choose to heal here, or He isn't healing here, but it's not something we see everyday. We rely on medication and our own ability to self diagnos our selves with information so readily available at our fingertips.
I want to see more of God's work here. In my country, in my town, my church and my life. I know it will continue to require faith. That infamous word, that God keeps redirecting my attention to.
I know the healing of my knee has required continuous faith. The enemy likes to sneak in and Eisler "did he really, is that pain you are feeling?" I rebuke Satan and thank Jesus for healing me, and as those words are spoken, my faith increases, and what I thought to be pain, was only the lie of the enemy.
Good thing faith is a continual process, and that Go's gives us so many examples in the Bible and in our lives around us.
Matthew 8:5-11 NLT
When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and
pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed,
paralyzed and in terrible pain.”
Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”
But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you
come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and
my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the
authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over
my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or
‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’
they do it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who
were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t
seen faith like this in all Israel! And I tell you this, that
many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and
west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast
in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Here in Matthew the officer had enough faith that Jesus could heal. Not only that Jesus possesed this power, but enough power that His spoken word would go out to another man, not in Jesus' pressence, but in the lack of being in Jesus' pressence.
Jesus traveled often, and visited many homes for the purpose, or with the accomplished goal of healing. This story could have been no different, Jesus could have met the boy at his house where he lay, but instead Jesus spoke the words in response to the officer's faith. And he was healed.
At our drama ministry spots throughout the towns we visited, we had the privilege of praying for the needs of any pressence. I was amazed how many times we were asked how much! Like there is a charge for prayer!? At one drama stop my ground had been praying for a few people, and a man approached us asking us for praying for his son. I'm unsure as to what was specifically wrong, but I remember him informing us he would like to bring him for us to pray over him. We then told him this story from Matthew about faith, and prayer. And as we prayed with this man for his son, you could've his faith, in the joy he exhibited.
We never met that man again, he is one of many I pray to one day meet in Heaven. But I believe that man's faith brought healing to his son that day. That as he arrived home in expectation, God met him, with anticipation with his healed son.
It saddens me that so many of these stories of faith and healing take place in so many more countries than our own. I'm not saying God.doesn't choose to heal here, or He isn't healing here, but it's not something we see everyday. We rely on medication and our own ability to self diagnos our selves with information so readily available at our fingertips.
I want to see more of God's work here. In my country, in my town, my church and my life. I know it will continue to require faith. That infamous word, that God keeps redirecting my attention to.
I know the healing of my knee has required continuous faith. The enemy likes to sneak in and Eisler "did he really, is that pain you are feeling?" I rebuke Satan and thank Jesus for healing me, and as those words are spoken, my faith increases, and what I thought to be pain, was only the lie of the enemy.
Good thing faith is a continual process, and that Go's gives us so many examples in the Bible and in our lives around us.
