2023

Jul 30
Submitted by Mike on 07/30/2023 08:56 AM as 2023


Matthew 14 (34) And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. (35) And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; (36) and besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.


Mark 6: (53) And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. (54) And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him, (55) and ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. (56) And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.

 

  This miracle is recorded in two of the Gospels. Being the passages are short I went ahead and displayed both. Though there is not a lot of events in this passage, there is a profound message to be heard. Here we will see an extreme sense of faith that we have only seen a few times before. In this passage His fame has spread well before Him. People knew who he was. People were running all around gathering up those who were sick and placing them to where they would be close to Jesus when He would come through. Their faith was so pure, they knew if only the border of His garment were to be touched, they would be healed. The scripture does go on and say those who touched Him were made whole.


   In this passage the message is to just be near Jesus. You do not need to have an interaction with Him, you do not need Him to speak to you, you do not need Him to touch you, You do not need anything from Him but to only be near Him. Of course it is great to have the one on one experience with Jesus, but just His presence is enough, even for all or needs. We need to be in position to where we are always near to God.

 

Psalm 73:28  But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all thy works.

Hebrews 10:22  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

James 4:8   Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Psalm 16:11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore


We would find ourselves living a more joyful and peaceful life if we constantly yearned to be in His presence. Those of us that are married know that we can be in the same room with our spouse, even though we may not be interacting with each other, there is comfort, peace and security just being in their presence. Just to know that they are there.

 

 I firmly believe we would see more great things from God if we would just stay in His presence instead of searching for this one great thing to happen. In the passage, the people did not seek after Jesus to come to them directly to take care of their sick, they knew that to just be close enough in His presence would be sufficient enough. His grace would be enough.


2 Corinthians 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work


God’s grace is a constant fountain pouring out of Heaven. We need to purposely be in the path of God’s grace. We need to strive to be in God’s presence.


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[ posted by Cindy, 08/01/2023 08:52 AM ]

This small town Gennesaret is close to where Jesus cast the legion of demons from the man into the herd of pigs that ran themself off the cliff. Remember their reaction to Jesus?  Told Him to leave their area. Perhaps they were just mad about all their pigs. 
Here we see the first people to see Jesus immediately know who He is, no doubt by word of mouth. About His miracles He has been doing throughout the area.  Or maybe someone close to them had actually been present somewhere Jesus had been.
The belief they had was 100% genuine.  They knew whoever Jesus came to would be healed. Their faith was that great in Jesus they scurried to bring the sick into the streets.  Can you imagine what that village was like after Jesus left?  The talk and excitement?   Isn't it always about belief and faith? 
Mike is right the two mentions of Gennesaret do not say Jesus talked or preached anything to them, but I have to think He would say something.   What do you think He might have said as He strolled thru the street and saw all the sick people that had been brought to Him?  He knew they believed He could/would heal them!  Did He just stroll thru them and they could simply reach out, if they could, to touch His garment? 
It's very specific they say "all" were made whole.   We know Jesus knew peoples thoughts. Perhaps He already knew all their plight and suffering.  Everything Jesus did was for a purpose.  All these miracles, and if He truly just walked into town and near the sick and all were healed... It brings the
"just being in His presence"  to the front of the stage.  
Mike has some great thoughts on just where we are in God' presence.  I know I find peace when I draw close to God. I find peace and comfort when I pray.  God is our safety net. He will always be there to catch us. We have to realize that God aint there to fix all our problems. He will not perform dozens of miracles at our whim. He will not make things smooth and  happy 100% of the time.
We have to be invested in God.  We will never be without Him, He is always there with us through our trials in life.  Have you found comfort and peace when praying to God during the worst times? Have you been able to just leave something in God's hands? I have. And its a real good feeling. Prayer brings us to the presence of God. We are directly putting ourself in His line of communication.  We cannot control what has already been planned for our life.  We can only try to stay on track with God's calling for us.  We have to trust what Gods will is in our life, even tho we dont understand things. God doesn't stop His presence. It's always there. 
We aren't perfect, God knows we will sin. But, the amazing thing is that no matter how much
we sin/ have sinned He still has His arms open wide for us!!!    We are in a world so consumed with distractions we have allowed so much space between us and God and His line of communication.
People lose faith when they don't get the results they ask for. If you aren't opening up that line of communication into His presence... You lose the faith, hope,  joy and peace He puts on the table for you. You just might miss what He is saying or calling you to do. 
What results is God getting from us?   What genuine effort are we making to be in His presence daily?  Think about that.
Sorry Mike, mine turned into a sermon.

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[ posted by Mike, 08/01/2023 12:10 PM ]

I love a good sermon.

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