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My husband and I have been playing a game. It’s called, “How many fingers can you see?” He holds up his fingers about 2 – 3 feet away from me and I guess how many fingers he is holding up. Sounds like child play, doesn’t it? But it really is helping me monitor the healing that is taking place since my recent eye surgery. I have to admit there are days I feel like the blind man that is talked about in the Scriptures. The following verses are from  Mark 8:22-26.

Some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.

He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.

When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him,

Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said,

“I see people; but they look like trees walking around.”

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes.

Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored,

and he saw everything clearly.

My husband being the jokester he is, often asks me when we are out. “Do you see people or do you see trees?” He always knows how to make me laugh in the midst of pain. But he knows that story in the Bible is one of my favorites, and now that I can relate to the guy, I like it even more. But let me ask you, “Can you relate to him”? No, I don’t mean are you seeing trees rather than people. If you are, please see a physician immediately. What I am talking about is, can you relate to the guy in asking for Jesus’ touch? Have you opened your life up to Him and allowed Him to begin a healing in you that only He can do? If so, than you definitely can relate to the guy. It was Jesus’ touch that took him from seeing nothing to seeing blurry people. That is a huge step. But notice the process was not complete. Jesus had to touch him again. That is a big lesson for us that we can receive from this story. Just because we can look back at a time that we bowed our hearts to Jesus and asked Him to be our Lord and Savior, we may think that is the only step that has to be taken. It is a very crucial step, but nonetheless it is just the first step in the healing process. Jesus gives us eternal life the moment our faith embraces Him. But He does not automatically heal us completely in that same moment. Why? I don’t think we could handle it. The Bible refers to living a life in Christ. Never have I read about living just a moment in Christ. I believe it takes a lifetime to become a mature believer. Who is the mature believer? It is the one that has not only been touched by Jesus once when they received eternal life, but has a life that exemplifies them going back to Jesus over and over again. Jesus will touch us as many times as He needs to in order to see that the addict receives freedom, that the liar receives truth, and that the unforgiver begins to forgive. Maybe there is something in your life that you have struggled with for so many years. Maybe this is something that only you know about, or maybe this is something that is so obvious the whole world knows about it. Nonetheless, you know it is something that you need to be healed of. It might even be something you’ve gone to Jesus with in the past, but it still rears its ugly head. Don’t get discouraged but embrace the truth of today’s scripture. Jesus can touch you again if you ask. You can begin living the fullness of your new life in Christ today, if you just ask. There are things in my life that I have gone back over and over again. I guess some would call them “demons in my closet”. And as I sit here tonight I can honestly say my closet is a lot cleaner than it was when I first called out to Jesus. But that’s because it has been 25 years since my initial touch from Jesus has taken place. But there are still some demons in my life that are so hard to get rid of. But I don’t want to beat myself up because of them. I’ve done that before and it just makes matters worse. Instead, I want to be like the blind man, and confess to Jesus, “You know things in my life are not perfect yet”. And like He did with the blind man, I expect Him to touch me again. And one day His touch will not just be a spiritual touch, but instead it will be a physical embrace. It will be the day I stand before Him and never again will I have to ask for His touch, for I will be made perfect just being in His presence. Until then, I will continue living this life in Christ the best I know how. And in the meantime, if I see you in the streets and don’t say, “hi”, please forgive me, I might be seeing trees instead.

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and forever! Amen

2 Peter 3:18

"Voice of Inspiration" from Andy Castro

Psalms 91:13