Mark 1:40-42

"A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured."

Sometimes when you read the stories of how Jesus cured people, we just see it as another story of Jesus healing someone, but when you read this one...this one story of a leper being healed by Jesus, this is more than just a healing story.

Lepers were not touched...no one spoke to lepers. Leprosy is an extremely contagious skin disease that can easily kill someone. Lepers were kept on the outskirts of the cities, away from the people, basically wasting away on their own. So for any man, especially Jesus to come anywhere near a leper is something to be admired.

This leper is a man who I admire in the Bible. This man KNEW that Jesus could heal him of this deadly skin disease. He didn't say "if you're willing, can you please heal me?", he said "if you're willing, you CAN make me clean." He KNEW that Jesus had all the power to heal him of this leprosy that would kill him if he wasn't healed. Just as Jesus did with others that were healed by His power, I think he noticed this lepers faith. I think He noticed just how much he wanted freedom from this debilitating disease, and how he knew that Jesus could heal him.

Now that was for free, what I really wanted to talk about was how Jesus went the extra mile for this man, who no one else would have even thought of even standing near this man. Jesus TOUCHED a leper...leprosy is contagious by touch. He touched this leper. Jesus could have very easily just told him he was healed and be on with his day, but wouldn't that be just another miraculous healing story? No, what makes this story special was how Jesus didn't just speak healing over him, he touched this sick man. Jesus' holy finger actually touched the skin of a man with a skin disease that is extremely contagious. And its not like Jesus didn't want to touch this leper, he said he was WILLING! He was WILLING to go the extra mile for this man, this leper, this outcast, this lonely man.

How many times has it seemed like God has gone out of His way to do something for us? I was reading that passage last night, and to be honest, I just kinda overlooked it. But tonight while I was reading, God spoke to me and said that that passage was supposed to show how He will go the extra mile for us. He won't just save us from our sins, He'll completely transform our lives. God won't just keep you in health, but when you get sick, He can heal you! God just doesn't do what little he can do, in fact it is the total opposite. He does the most good for us! Yes He may allow bad things to come your way, but He does that so we can learn from it and ultimately have a stronger relationship with Him through these bad situations.

I know that Jesus will go the extra mile for us! Anything you need, he can do EXCEEDINGLY, ABUNDANTLY, ABOVE all we can ever ask or think! He ALWAYS goes the extra mile!

Not only does Jesus go the extra mile for His children, but He asks that we go the extra mile for those around us. You know, when you are making payments on something, you can make a minimum payment, or you can make a bigger payment. Most people just want to make the minimum payment, but when their next bill comes in, it has interest on it, and that minimum is bigger than it was the last time you paid it. What good is it to only do as much as you are asked? Jesus didn't need to heal anyone! All He really needed to do was die on the cross for us, but what good is that if He didn't do any good for us? If Jesus wasn't a healer, if He wasn't a deliverer, if He didn't do all those miracles for us and all he did was be beaten and wounded for our sins, then thats just Him doing his minimum payment. But He didn't! He went way above and beyond the call of duty! He healed the blind, cast demons out of people, raised the dead, fed thousands, he touched lepers and they were healed, he did MORE than what he really needed to do!

How many times do we overlook someone who maybe has something wrong with them? You know, its time we accept everyone as equals and don't think of ourselves as any higher than anyone. Jesus went to a LEPER!! Jesus, who was of a high standard, he was JESUS! But Jesus went to probably what was the bottom of the social totem pole, and He healed him!!! We are so low compared to Jesus! We are nothing compared to His goodness, but He didn't care what we did, he DIED for our sins!! He doesn't care how bad off you are, He is still a saving God who is willing to go exactly where you are to meet your need!

I hope this has touched you as much as it has touched me.

God Bless

Last Sunday night I was at church, and there was such an amazing move of God...I mean it was just incredible. We have an interpretive dance team of sorts doing a dance to the song "I Am", and the song really spoke to me that night.

The bridge to the song goes like this:

I am Hope, I am Peace, I am Joy, I am Rest
I am your Comfort and Relief from your stress
I am Strength, I am Faith, I am Love, I am Power
I am your Freedom this very hour

When I was singing that song Sunday night, I remembered the night I got saved. When I was 14 I was bound by a cutting addiction. I was suicidal, I had extremely low self-esteem, and my life was going on a downward spiral very fast. A friend of mine who had figured out that I was cutting myself invited me to her church (which is the church I currently go to), and out of common courtesy I went. The second night I was there, the youth pastor preached a really awesome message, and just about everyone went down to the altar, me being one of them. When I was down there, I asked God "if you are real, please take this addiction away from me." Immediately tears started flowing down my eyes, and I felt two arms wrapped around me...it wasn't someone in the natural, but it was God. Fir the first time in my life, I felt complete, I felt like I was worth something, like I was meant to live for something! That night, God became everything to me. Since that night, I have never cut myself, never had one suicidal thought, but I have been totally free since that day!

I told you all that to tell you that God can be your everything if you allow Him to. God loves you more than our minds could ever fully comprehend. He wants to be a part of all of your lives. When you feel like you can't rely on anyone, God said He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. When you feel like your life is totally unstabe, God said He is a rock that cannot be shaken. When you feel like everything is going against you, God said that His name is a strong tower that when the righteous run into it that they are safe. When you are unsure of what your future is going to be like, God said He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. When you need love, God said He is love! God is everything, and there is nothing that is too big for God! He can help you in any situation in your life if you just call on Him. You don't have to be at church to call on God, you can call on Him in your home, at school, at work, anywhere! And it doesn't matter what you have done, God can free you from all your sins!

God Bless! 

 

Hey....just wanted to say Happy Belated Easter!

Sorry I forgot to do this on Sunday....I've been as sick as can be :(

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter worshiping our risen Savior!
God Bless!