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Thoughts for a Woman's Heart |
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encouragement in things that matter |
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Up Close and Personal
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Large crowds gathered around Him, but Jairus, a synagogue official desperate with his own personal need, pressed through the crowd, fell at the feet of Jesus, and pleaded with Him to heal his little daughter. Jesus’ response was to turn away from the crowd, and go with this father who anguished in fear for his child’s life. As He walked, a woman who had endured hemorrhaging and the failed attempts of doctors for twelve years, reached out from among the crowd, and simply touched His clothing. She was not overlooked by Jesus, but instead she heard His personal, warm words of encouragement – and her condition was healed. Arriving at Jairus’ home, there were more people, and these laughed at Him. Jesus’ purpose though was not with them, and He ignored their ridicule, and with both parents, entered the room where the child was. Again, a miracle of healing. How many others did Jesus meet with compassion and understanding, not with a generic blessing on a sea of indistinguishable faces, but very personally? He welcomed little children to His arms and blessed them. He answered the questions of Nicodemus who came to Him at night, heard the cries of a common beggar, spoke with dignity to women whose lives had been trampled by sin, touched the outcast leper, and taught His disciples in the intimacy of a small group. Despised and rejected by those He wanted to love, His abused body hung naked on a cross, and yet His compassion drew Him to the thief who hung beside Him. B.J. Hoff beautifully captures God’s up-closeness and personal involvement in our lives when she says, "Though the multitude may press Him, we are blessed that God’s own Son cares for every child as tenderly as if there were but one." She wasn’t the first post-biblical writer though to capture the thought. St. Augustine, early Christian theologian and philosopher said, "God loves each of us as if there were only one of us."
Fifty years ago, Ralph Carmichael penned the lyrics, "In the stars His handiwork I see, on the wind He speaks with majesty; though He ruleth over land and sea, ... what is that to me?" Do you catch the significance of his question? God is the majestic creator of galaxies and winds, and sustaining ruler of His creation – but, so what?? Then the chorus resounds with the truth of a God who is so incredible and so vast, that He meets me with grace on a highly personal level, expresses His heart of concern, and takes my hand and walks with me on a day-by-day basis. The great big God of the universe is my God, my Father, my Friend!! I can’t relate to a god who distances himself – but my God doesn’t. He’s here. He’s personal. He’s in-my-face up close, or arms-around-me up close – but He’s here. He’s right beside me. And, daughter of God, He’s right beside you.
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— Bev |
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