The power of a touch

Luke 8:42-48 & John 9:6-7

Two stories about two of the people that were touched and healed by Jesus.

First let’s look at the woman with the issue of blood. (Luke 8:42-48)

We all know the story of how this woman with a bleeding issue thought to herself that if she could just touch the hem of the garment worn by Jesus she would be healed. How she did so and received healing immediately, and how as soon as she did touch him power went out from him.

How Jesus stopped and turned to the crowd with everyone around and made a heart stopping question, “Who touched me?” Then have his disciples say to him, “Holy cow with all of these people around they are all crowding in.

But Jesus knew and he said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."

The key phrase here is not that someone touched him; it was that POWER had gone out from him.

The power of heaven was on Jesus and that is why he was able to perform great miracles. The power of God was moving in him and when the woman touched him because of her faith that she would be healed the power touched her and made her whole.

It wasn’t the touching of his garment that healed the woman; it was the power that was in Jesus that healed her. It was a mighty touch of God that flowed out from him.

She had the faith to know, not just believe, but to know that the power was there and that was what healed her.

Next let’s look at the blind man in John 9:6-7.

Here was a man who was born blind and had never seen. He hears that Jesus is coming and he begins to cry out for him to heal him.

First let’s examine how did he know that this man Jesus could heal him? Second, he could not see and had nothing to go on but what others had said.

Like the woman with the issue of blood, faith is what caused him to cry out. Faith, that Jesus was the Messiah, and that he was the great healer. He did not need to see to know that because he could hear it in his footsteps. He could sense the power that was within him (Jesus).

Notice what Jesus did to heal this man. He picked up some clay, and then he spit in it and mixed it all up and then put it on the man’s eyes. Seems like a strange thing to do for a healing?

In Jewish customs, spitting in the eye or spittal as they say it is medicinal and usually considered to have some healing benefits.

Contrary to what people take away from this process of healing, it was not the mud that healed the eyes, it was the power of God and when Jesus touched his eyes that is when he was healed. The rest of the process of the mud on the eyes and the washing in the pool of Siloam were so that others around could see and witness the healing.

It is the power of God that heals and not the laying on of hands or the touch of another person or the anointing with oil. It is totally the power of God working in you and in the person ministering to you.

You cannot be healed if the power of God does not touch you. You can go through all of the processes and procedures you want, but unless God touches you, you are not changed.

The woman with the issue of blood understood the awesome power of God as did the blind man. It was their faith that saw them through.

When you pray know that God hears you and if you know that he hears you then whatever you ask in his name will be yours.(1John 5:15) Healing, in the Name of Jesus.

I heard him say.

I haven’t written for a few days, not because I didn’t want to, but it was because of a thought I had about if I stopped writing would anybody notice. The answer to that was no. In the few days that I haven’t written, there has been no one who has asked why I wasn’t writing. I began to ask God if maybe I should stop doing my thoughts for today and in my prayer time the answer came. I heard him say, “You are not writing this for you, you are writing this for me.” I understood immediately that what I write comes from my prayers and from what I hear him speak every day.

You see I have my doubts from time to time and my only thought is I just want to reach people. That God I want to see people saved and moved to follow you. I am not sure if what I write is doing that, but I told him that I would write until he tells me to stop.

So with all of that said, let me tell you what I was hearing as I prepared for a message I am going to give on Sunday May 27th. I am speaking about a power touch from God. One of the examples I am using is the man who was born blind and he was sitting at the pool of Siloam. He heard that Jesus was coming, but how did he know that Jesus could or even would heal him. The thoughts that run through my head were those of 1-he could not see so he had never seen any of the miracles that Jesus did, and 2-the only thing he really knew about Jesus was what he had heard others say. So how could he be sure that this man they called Jesus was the Messiah and how could he be sure that he was the great healer?

I set and pondered those questions and began to ask God about them. What I heard him say was, “It was my power that was flowing out of Jesus as he walked.” I began to understand that the blind man had no idea if this was actually Jesus or others teasing him to get his hopes up, until he felt the power coming through the ground with each step that Jesus took. Being blind all of his other senses would be increased to make up the difference and I believe that he could actually feel the power coming from Jesus’ footsteps.

Now for part two of the story. The man asked Jesus to give him is sight. Jesus knelt down picked up some clay and spit into it. He then began to mix it with his finger and then he placed in on the man’s eyes. He then told him to go was in the pool of Siloam. As soon as the man washed his eyes he could see for the very first time.

As for many of us as was the case for me, I always thought that the mud and the pool were significant and that God used them to heal the man. But, again my eyes were opened as I heard him say, “They were done as I had said but it was neither the mud nor the water that healed this man’s eyes, it was my power.” Again I realize that the very instant Jesus touched the man God’s power was transferred into the man and at that very moment he was healed, and the rest was just show for those around the area.

People we have the wrong line of sight as to our healing. We are looking for miraculous things to happen and they will, but we need to be in the power of God. We need to stop looking to someone else to touch us or to pray for us. We need to get into the presence of God and we will be touched by his power. We will hear him say to us “It is not by might but by my power that you will be healed.” God has said that when we pray and ask him for our healing, and we know that he hears us that whatever we ask for in his name we shall have. (1John 5:15)

More than just looking for the healing, we should be listening for what he has to say. When we listen we can say with all confidence, I HEARD HIM SAY. You will hear his voice and he will answer you. He will hear your prayer for healing and he will answer you. God wants to heal you but he also wants you to believe in him for that healing. God says, “It is now time for you to stop putting your faith in others and start believing in me. I am the one who will heal you. I am the one who will give you strength and power. I am the one you need to be seeking out for your answer. Trust in me and I will show you the way declares the Lord. Trust me and I will touch you. Believe in me and I will show you and you will hear what I say.”

God is listening to you and the only thing you need to do is to say yes to him. He is speaking and he is speaking now to all of you. Listen and hear him say.

I have been thinking a lot about others and why they seem to turn away from God and have nothing to do with Him. Don’t they understand that the decisions that we make affect our eternal life? Don’t they understand that God wants to help them and not run their lives? I know the answer to these questions but I just can’t help but think.

As an evangelist, it is my appointment from God to tell everyone about Jesus Christ and help lead them into salvation with Him. There are many times I come up against opposition to which the only thing I can do is just turn and walk away thinking I must pray for these lost souls. The bible does say that not everyone is going to be open to the gospel and in fact there are those who will flat out reject it.

My question is always the same, and that is do they not understand? My answer is for sure no because if they did they would not reject him and turn to him. In this world today we have so many forces coming against us that for some they cannot differentiate what is good and what is evil. They let the forces of this world dictate to them how to act, how to speak, and what to believe. They become callous to the word of God because that voice inside of them is stronger than what they are hearing. They therefore reject God and in doing so become lost, maybe never to be found again.

I know the bible says that they will reject him but that does not stop me from trying. I will pray and I will speak the word of God at any cost. God has put a responsibility on me and he said go preach the gospel to every living being. That is what I will do.

I know even from this post there will be those who will write and tell me their opinion against what I have said and that is great because my work is done. I have given the word of God and they have read it and now it is up to God to complete it whether it is yea or nay.

On this blog I get so many junk comments from who knows where and they obviously don’t read the words because they never mention one thing that was said. They are out just to get their blog site out. Well guess what? I am not buying it. Unless they can man up and actually report on what I have written I look at it and know that the enemy is out to get me distracted and that is one thing I am not going to allow.

I do appreciate comments but the ones I have been getting have been completely off the course and designed to confuse and distract. God has something to say and I am going to say it so they should not waste their time or mine with their spam comments.

They are the ones who I pray for because they don’t understand. They don’t understand me but they especially don’t understand God at all. So for all of you who read this post, I am praying for you whether you know Jesus or not and that is something I will continue to do even if I don’t know you. I want you to know and understand God and why it is so important to me that you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The reason is, it is eternity. Forever and ever and ever and ever. You get to choose how you will live it and we will all live it. Why not make the choice to follow Jesus and leave the world to its own? Remember this, statistics say that one out of one of us are going to die. There is no way around it, one out of one of us is going to die. You are just one heartbeat away from eternity. Please make the right choice today so you will know.

God Bless You all in the Name of Jesus

Pastor Steve