Day 7: Jesus Heals

Luke 8:26-56; Genesis 13-14; Psalm 7

Even the demons recognized Jesus as the Son of God and knew their terrible fate. Jesus should not have helped that man if he was constrained by Jewish laws. They were considered unclean, and yet, he reached out and saved them. He knew that they needed to be freed and healed. Then, instead of embracing Jesus, the town ran him out of town because the saw he had a power they couldn’t understand or contain. As humans we sometimes want to be our own gods. We try to control all the areas of our lives, and if something is out of our control, we get stressed or angry. This is exactly how these people felt. And yet, if I allow Jesus full control of my life, it will only prove to be a worthwhile endeavor. I hope that through reading scriptures we learn that we do not need to feel we have to be in control, but that we can give our worries and cares to God for his plan. Like the two unclean, demon-possessed men, the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years was also unclean. I cannot imagine a condition that would separate me from society for that long. What amazing faith she had that just a simple brush of his cloak and she believed she would be better. Clearly she was absolutely desperate. And Jesus is capable and willing to heal. Jesus is so powerful that even a touch of his robe has the power to heal the broken. Just a whisper of his name can create miracles. And then, Abram has faith in what you have given him, risks much for love of his family, and because of God's blessing, he is successful.

Lord, I pray that we can learn to live as blameless a life as a human is capable. I pray this because I want us to make you proud, but I also want to know that we don’t bring suffering upon ourselves. As the Psalm says, I wish that those who do evil and violence and cause pain would be stopped. I pray that those whose hearts are driven by wickedness would be defeated and their hearts broken and remolded in love.