Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of images and lyrics from The Gaither Vocal Band singing the classic Gaither song … He Touched Me … poignantly singing of How we are changed and healed by the touch of our Savior.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Mark 1:41-42 [NKJV] … 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him [the lepter], and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
… Jesus could have healed the leper from a distance; but His compassion led Him to touch the man to heal him.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Mark 1:40-45 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus didn’t need to tough the leper to heal him [see Mark 2:1-12]; but He did, showing the compassion our Lord had for anyone with such desperate need and His power to meet that need.
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Reference Passage : … Leviticus 13:45-46 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Lepers where considered unclean and required by the law of the day to declare their uncleanness in public so that no one would touch them.
Reference Passage : … Mark 2:1-12 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus did not have to touch someone to heal them, as in this story; but as with the story in the highlight passage, He did to show His love and compassion for those who sought healing.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Kirsten Holmberg, used an athletic word picture to illustrate how Christians are bound together in Christ and become a community of encouragement, … or at least should be. The ODB author writes … Dr. Paul Brand, twentieth-century pioneer medical missionary to India, saw firsthand the stigma associated with leprosy. During an appointment, he touched a patient to reassure him treatment was possible. Tears began to stream down the man’s face. An attendant explained the tears to Dr. Brand, saying, “You touched him and no one has done that for years. They are tears of joy.”
When someone is ailing or in need of assistance, there’s something very powerful and healing about a compassionate one reaching out to touch the one in need. And this was certainly illustrated by Jesus when He reached out to touch a leper, as in the highlight passage. And this must’ve been frightening to those who witnessed this; because it is highly likely that the leper had called out to warn Jesus not to touch his leprous hand (see photo - and read the Lev. 13 passage).
Jesus could’ve healed the man from a distance; but His deep compassion for the man led Him to reach out and touch him to show all that He had divine power over disease with His love and equally divine compassion.
And tho I was not a leper, Jesus came after me years ago in my sinful condition; and He reached out to touch me through His word and heal me, … just as the Gaithers sing in the linked song. And now, as they sing, “I am no longer the same.” And I’m sure that others reading here can speak out with joy, as did the leper in the highlight story, of the healing power of our Savior. And I pray we do!
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for touching me with Your compassion and bringing healing to my leprous heart.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all of us who’ve experienced Your compassion and healing will sing out “Hallelujah” as I do today!! … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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