FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2011
“When Jesus saw her, He called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ Then He put His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.” Luke 13:12-13
READ
In this passage, we find Jesus in a synagogue. In the crowd is a woman who has suffered from some sort of degenerative illness which causes her to be bent over. The scriptures tell us that the woman had been like this ‘for eighteen years.’ Both the length of her condition and the cause given here, being a spirit, shows us that this is both a physical and spiritual problem. This had been long-term and without hope of recovery. The fact that this woman suffers from such a disorder would have led her community to disown her, assuming that she had somehow lost favour with God, that she was suffering because of some personal sin.
When Jesus heals this woman He doesn’t just heal her of her physical ailment, but He elevates her once again to an acceptable status in society. Jesus later calls her a ‘daughter of Abraham’ indicating her value and status before God. Jesus didn’t glance over her because she was a woman, or the downcast of society, but rather demonstrated love and compassion and healed her.
PREPARE
- Praise God for who He is
- Confess your sinfulness and need for cleansing
- Allow His Spirit to draw you near
- Listen as He speaks to you
PRAY
- Pray that God helps us to see the value in other people
- Pray that God helps us to elevate others to a status of value
TRUST
- Thank God for hearing you
- Trust that God is at work to accomplish His will
FOLLOW
What’s happening around us?
Did you know that nearly 1 billion people don’t have clean, safe water to drink? Today, The Water Project, Inc. is working in five countries helping hundreds of new people find access to safe water every week by funding water wells and other safe water projects.
They are looking for volunteers to help with their web-based fundraising and advocacy efforts. They are looking for people with the following skills: web coding; iPhone App development; facebook applications; graphic design; mobile apps; Drupal 6; writing/blogging.
http://thewaterproject.org