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SCRIPTURE:
“After he took him
aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears.
Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and
with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!" ).
At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he
began to speak plainly.” (Mark 7:33-35, NIV)
Observations:
I asked myself what Jesus does for the deaf and
mute man whom some people brought to Him?
-
Jesus took him aside away from the crowd.
-
Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears.
-
Jesus spit and touched the man’s tongue.
-
Jesus looked up to heaven and with a deep
sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”)
Interpretation:
I asked myself what is the significance of taking
him aside away from the crowd?
When some people brought him over to Jesus, I believe Jesus
wanted to work in His life privately away from everyone. Jesus wanted to
deal with him individually and address the man’s problems directly and
specifically. This is evident by Jesus’ next two actions.
I asked myself what is the significance of
Jesus putting His fingers into the man's ears, spitting, and touching
the man's tongue?
Jesus could have just said to the man, ‘be healed’ and whatever
infirmity he had would have been healed but Jesus decided to address the
problem directly and specifically by putting His fingers into the man’s
ears to specifically address his deafness. Putting His fingers in the
man’s ears shows Jesus working in the man’s life to address his
deafness. Later, Jesus spit and touched the man’s tongue to specifically
address his muteness. Jesus does not stop there which is evident by the
last action here.
I asked myself what is the significance of Jesus' action:
"Jesus looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!”
(which means, “Be opened!”)
Jesus looked to heaven to let the man know that His healing is coming
from above and that Jesus has the power to work in His life and heal
Him because of the power given to Him from above. Finally, Jesus says, “Be opened”. Jesus
could have said that right away but I believe it is to show us that
there are areas in our lives that the Lord does heal but through time.
He works in us and through us to give us the healing so we can be whole.
It is not always instantaneous.
Observations:
I asked myself what happens when Jesus gave the
command?
-
At this, the man’s ears were opened.
-
At this, the man’s tongue was loosened.
-
At this, the man began to speak clearly.
Implications:
I saw important implications for my own life. I learned that Jesus could
have healed the man right away by just saying the words to him but He
directly intervened to bring healing as a process and specifically.
Jesus opened the man's captivity in His timing and His way. Praise the
Lord.
There have been areas in my life too that Jesus has worked in that way.
I wished healing would have been immediate but it came through a process
but it has been a wonderful process as I look back in retrospect.
More
than anything, I was able to spend time in prayer and reading of His
Word completely from Genesis – Revelation in 33 days of the 40 day time
out I took to seek the Lord in prayer and His Word from my normal
evening routine. The pain slowly subsided but it was a process of Jesus
working in me and through me. The situation also helped me grow in my
faith and made me see how I should approach things in the future. I
thank the Lord for His wonderful healing.
No matter what others said to me to comfort me, the pain was still
there! Only until Jesus personally reached out to me taking me aside in
that situation, did the pain slowly subside and allow me to graduate
from that painful situation without permanent scars. It was the Lord's
intervention through a dream that began the process of taking me from different captivities and
set me on solid ground as I believed in what Christ, the Solid Rock can
do for me.
Now through this all, it was so refreshing and peaceful to be able to
graduate from that captivity with the Lord's help in my life. I remembered Jesus telling
me, "Don't be afraid, just believe"
Through this the Lord opened new doors for me and made me evaluate a
lot of other things. I also thank the Lord He used that pain to bring me
to Oakland International Fellowship which is part of Pittsburgh Chinese
Church-Oakland. This same Jesus who healed the deaf and mute man in
his captivity made sure that I myself will be delivered from the
captivities that I was faced with and will continue to do so. He can help you too, to graduate and
yet some of you won't graduate in life.
I ask you now dear friend, why cannot you graduate in life?
Dear friend, you cannot graduate in life, because you are stuck in an
area of your life that you are dealing with on your own without
intervention. You think you can handle it and get through on your own
but the pain and bondage does not go away. Now you start thinking
'that's the way it's going to be and there's really nothing I can do
about it' and stop trying to receive rescue from bondage. That will
continue to happen until someone takes the initiative to come rescue you
like some people did for the deaf and mute man.
Whatever he was going through and faced, he did not go to Jesus on
his own even though he may have been able to since he could see. Instead
some people brought to Jesus the deaf and mute man. It is very possible
they had to convince him to stop living in the past and what the past
made him like. Through the help of some people, the deaf and mute man
came to Jesus and eventually received his healing. An opening was made
in his life and he was not captive anymore to deaf and muteness.
Yours may not be 'deaf and muteness' captivity literally but
figuratively that is what you could be facing. You don't speak because
you may think things are useless in your life and there's no point. You
may stop hearing others because what happened to you just gives more
pain so you think you cannot graduate in life from the area of captivity
you are in.
But the Good News friend is that Jesus loves you so much and wants to
reach you in your captivity. Oh yes, He does friend. Whatever it is you
are never out of His love and never out of His reach.
Name your captivity or things that are holding you bondage and ask
the Lord Jesus to release you from that captivity remembering sometimes
it is a process in our lives but eventual graduation from that captivity
will come. The deaf and mute man was not healed right away but through a
process. That's how God heals in our lives too many times.
Friend, there are areas in your life you don't want anyone to touch
because the pain is deep from the scars of the past so you bottle it all
on the inside. But Jesus wants to release you from those captivities! Oh
yes, He does!
It does not matter what captivity you have fallen into whether by
your own actions or the actions of others in your life because
deliverance is a call away.
There are those that are demeaned and looked down upon so badly that
they start believing the lies of others to the point they cannot bring
themselves to graduate from that stage. You may have been called
'useless, worthless, fit for nothing' etc but that's now who you are. I
don't care what anyone tells you because those are the enemies lies from
the pit of Hell itself.
Is that you who feel that way?
If so, you don't have to because there is an Answer even if you cannot get yourself to think you will ever graduate!
But you will
my friend. Not because of anything you will do on your own but because
of what JESUS CHRIST has already done and will do in your life.
Let us look at some scenarios that you or someone you care about have
faced or scenarios that you know someone is going to face right now:
If you have had an abortion, let Jesus go into that pain and scar to
remove it. Give him the blackness of death you feel inside so He can
resurrect your heart and instill His perfect peace in you. He will take
the shame, the loss, and regrets and fill it with HIS LOVE. Yes, He
will. You can graduate from this captivity and you will graduate. You
will have children given to you one day by the Lord and experience the
POWER OF HIS LOVE. Let your shame go into the hands of the One who bled
for you so He can take it and cover your life in His righteousness. Once
Jesus takes it, it will never be remembered by the Lord anymore. It is
as if you have permanently graduated from that stage in your life never
to go back there again. Jesus can do that for you because of who He is
and what He did for you.
It is because of our captivity to sin that brings shame, loss, grief,
etc that Jesus went to the CROSS OF CALVARY and shed His precious
cleansing blood to ransom us. Jesus paid the ransom so you do not have
to live in the agony and pain of your actions anymore. JESUS LOVES YOU
SO MUCH that you can be SAVED BY HIS GRACE but also LIVE NOW IN HIS
GRACE. Yes, you can!
If you have been raped you feel worthless and yucky on the inside &
outside because of what happened and now try to wash yourself
completely to remove traces of this horrible act done to you. You just
want to feel right again but don't ever think you will get through this
BUT YOU WILL.
You may not think you can on your own strength BUT from the STRENGTH
Jesus will give you, you can. Allow Jesus to heal you where you are at. You
are not bound by what happened to you. Jesus will not see you as a
VICTIM but will see you as VICTORIOUS through this captivity because of
what He will do for you.
Jesus loves you so much and calls you by Name.
Yes, friend Jesus is calling you by Name right now. Jesus says to you,
[Your
Name], you are so PRECIOUS and SPECIAL in my sight. I have called you
[Your Name] by Name. You will not drown in your captivity but I have
come to rescue you. So let Jesus rescue you so you can graduate from
this captivity. You will be VICTORIOUS through this pain.
If you have had sex for different reasons and have this emptiness in
you that does not go away making you fill your life with more sex, I
want you to know that emptiness you feel is the emptiness of a soul
engaged in an act that was not meant to be for lust, for acceptance, or
even love apart from marriage. It is a result of a void caused by sin
that nothing can fill it except the LOVING GRACE of Jesus Christ. But,
you are held captive to your own ways, but you don't have to be. No matter how many people you have had
sex with, that's not where your identity is in. You don't have to find
your identity in sex. No friend, you are special just the way you are
and you can graduate from this captivity when you ask Jesus to rescue
you from this captivity and yield to Him realizing SEX IS BEAUTIFUL when
done His way and His timing which includes in a LOVING CONTEXT OF
MARRIAGE.
If you have been involved in pornography that holds you captive to
lust, then you will not graduate from that captivity without
intervention. But there is intervention available and JESUS IS HIS NAME.
Your struggles and addictions whatever they maybe even if it is not
pornography will HOLD YOU CAPTIVE without JESUS. Allow Jesus to go into
your mind and vacuum all the yucky thoughts and lustful feelings. Ask
Him to fill your mind with His thoughts and He will. Don't ever
think JESUS doesn't love you anymore and cannot love you because of what
you have done. The Good News is JESUS LOVES YOU and wants to deliver
you. Yes, He does. Jesus is so HOLY that He came to deliver humanity
from HORRIBLENESS OF SIN.
That includes you and me friend. It is so amazing to know that Jesus
did not come to seek and save those who think they have it all together
but JESUS CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST. Jesus came to save those lost
in their captivity whatever captivity that maybe.
Jesus said, it is the sick that need the
doctor, not the healthy. I have not come for the righteous but for the
sick.
Jesus came for you and me friend who are sick in different ways! Friend, give your captivity to Jesus. For some it is abortion, rape,
sex, pornography, addictions, painful memories, regrets of the past,
regrets of the present, whatever it is ANSWER AWAITS.
Give your memories to Jesus and what you could not do because of
fear. Let Jesus have it and tell Jesus what you wanted to tell someone
but don't have the opportunity anymore! Don't hold yourself captive in
regrets. JESUS does not want that for you. Jesus came to give ABUNDANT
LIFE to you as you are right now for you. Jesus has a purpose for you and He
wants to accomplish that purpose in your life as you yield to Him. You
are not useless but USEFUL. Your Name is written in Heaven and you can walk
in the Name of Jesus threading on the areas of your past, shattering
them because JESUS FIXES BROKEN HEARTS TOO.
Yes, friend. Jesus wants to reign in your life, in your darkest hour.
These captivities have there root in sin. But it does not have to be
that way. Turn to Him especially in your sin. He wants to hear from you
and deliver you. He wants you to graduate from your captivity. He wants
you to see yourself as special.
Don't let anyone including your own words and actions make you forget
that you are PRECIOUS and SPECIAL in His sight. He is here to deliver
you, Yes He is. Praise the Lord!
"But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may
declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people
of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received
mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10, NIV)
The root cause of captivity, pain, and grief is due to a 3
letter word called SIN. This sin will not let us ever graduate in
life because Satan wants to keep us there. But JESUS does not want
us to be in SIN but graduate to a daily SANCTIFIED LIFE so JESUS came to
give us
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.
That means while we were yet sinners and there was no good in us,
Jesus initiated the process by sending His SPIRIT to speak to us and
work in us so we
can come to Him. It is His SPIRIT that helps us see how much Jesus loves
us that we will go running to Him especially in our shame and captivity
so He can FREE US.
We now belong to Him and experience all His blessings He has for us!
Praise the Lord!
Yes, friend and the process to FREE US took JESUS to the CROSS OF
CALVARY so we can be RANSOMED FROM ALL CAPTIVITY being freed us by
His BLOOD.
His Body was broken for you and His BLOOD shed for you so you can
graduate. Yes, you can in life. Thanks be to God and Praise the
Lord.
His BLOOD is for you! His BLOOD is for you! His BLOOD is for you!
So come as you are to the fountain of blessing and receive healing
for your scars, wounds, and all types of captivity right now. Now is the
time of Salvation! Don't wait and do it now. Ask Jesus to heal you and
believe He will heal you even if it is a process in time for He will.
Yes, He will friend. Jesus loves you as you are. Come to the altar of
healing.
Whatever area you need the Lord’s healing and work in your life,
share it with the Lord. Jesus wants to work in your life and bring
healing to you. Yes, He does! Many times people love sharing and sharing
with others what they are going through but never take it to the Lord in
prayer individually. Corporate prayer for a situation is important
because that is intercession but it should not end with intercession.
When some people brought the man over to Jesus,
they interceded on behalf of the man but when he was with Jesus, what
did Jesus do?
Jesus took Him away from the crowd to deal with him individually.
Jesus wants to deal with you and your situation one-one too but do not
forsake intercession. Take whatever you are facing to the Lord in prayer
and do what He tells you to do.
Some situations may require extensive counseling, inner healing, etc
and the Lord will make it clear to you. Yes, He will friend! He can heal
you for He has the power but it is also important to remember that
healing can be a process and you should not give up in your captivity.
There is an area of our lives we all need the Lord Jesus to work in
us.
It is the area of sin that we need to overcome. Thanks be to God we can
by His SAVING & LIVING GRACE imparted to us. Now in our Christian growth
we are continually being transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit.
However, it starts with us acknowledging how weak we are and that we
cannot serve the Lord on our own apart from the Holy Spirit working in
our lives, believing that the blood Jesus shed was for us to deliver us
from the bondage of sin and death! That's why Jesus went to the cross
and came back to life to save.
Friend, maybe you are reading this right now and have never come to
know Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior! Lord is speaking to you
right now. Let the Lord work in your
life where your life has been deaf to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Allow
the Lord to open the deafness you have for His Word and let His Word
dwell in your richly in all wisdom. Allow the Lord to work in you that
you cannot help but proclaim Jesus Christ to the rooftops. He will take
away the muteness you have for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and you will
be so excited to see the work Jesus will do in your life in the
captivities you face so you can graduate in life.
Jesus wants to deal with you directly too whether you know Him or not.
Jesus wants to spend that individual time with you alone to work in your
life. That should be exciting!
I hope you come to Jesus as you are and become hungry for Jesus
falling on your knees before Him. Ask Jesus to work in you and through
you. He will!
Yes, the passage had to do with physical healing of the man but the
principles apply for those who need emotional and spiritual healing too.
Some people took it upon themselves to bring the man to Jesus for
healing but Jesus then took over. We need to bring people to Jesus but
allow Jesus to work in their lives.
You need to be willing to receive healing whether it is physical,
emotional, or spiritual too. The man had to agree for Jesus to put spit
in his mouth. The same way, you need to agree for Jesus to work in your
life and give Him permission to work in your life individually too.
Whatever you are going through no matter the struggles, do not give
up because healing takes time and is not always instantaneous but the
Lord will give you the strength to get through and you will graduate in
life from all captivities. You [Your Name] are not alone but are CALLED
BY NAME and PRECIOUS IN THE LORD'S SIGHT.
May you let the Lord work in your life knowing wonderfully our
Redeemer’s kind! Amen!
"Graduation Reality Accept Daily Under Almighty
Trusting Emancipator!"/"Why cannot you G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E in life?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for healing the man with deafness and
muteness. You dealt with the man specifically in his area of needs. We
thank you that you can do the same for us. You Oh Lord know what each of
us face and how we need your healing in our lives. So, we come to you
now and receive the healing you have for us. Please tell us what to do
and help us to be obedient. Thank you so much Jesus for dying for our
sin and coming back to life to save us. We are so sorry for our sins and
accept your cleansing blood to wash us whiter than snow and deliver us
from captivity. Thank you because of what you have done for us, we can
turn to you in prayer for the answers. I pray right now for the one who
is in need of healing, for you Oh Lord know where they are hurting
whether it is emotionally, physically, spiritually, etc. Please come
Lord and heal them with your power and love for all things are possible
with you. Thank you so much Jesus. Help us to wait on you Lord and not
give up! Lord, we fix our eyes on you. Thank you that you have heard our
prayers and answered us. You are God Eternal and our Lord and Personal Savior whom we
accept into our hearts and ask you to reign in our lives. Thank you in your timing we
can feel the healing for you are the Answer for us to graduate in life
and come face to face with you one day. Thank you even when healing is a
process, it can happen your way and timing as we turn to you, our CHIEF CORNERSTONE In Your
Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!!!
May
you experience the POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him
the LOCKED areas of your life too so you can experience His PEACE as you
become an ACTOR in the film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR,
JESUS CHRIST who comes to give JOY and PEACE.
You
don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and
give you peace to live out your actions.
How
do you look at GODISNOWHERE?
One
of my pastors, Pastor Hugo shared this example this past Sunday at the
RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh
Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:
If
you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin
and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no
peace.
But
as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to
tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.
Yes,
friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life
through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on
the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live
with us.
Yes,
friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE
& LIVING GRACE.
When
we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive
us and restore us to Him and we will find peace in Him.
"Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the
world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore
Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)
"For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)
Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our
sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge
so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the
finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)
May
you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior becoming
His offspring so you can spend Eternity with Him. He is waiting for you.
Come as you are. Please do not reject the gift of God.
If
you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a
daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be
alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them
come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to
wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as
you pray this prayer, meaning it in your heart and finding your new
identity in Christ Jesus.
Make this your prayer. Don’t let
the enemy deceive you into thinking you need all the answers before
coming to Christ. Let me just assure you though you may not have all the
answers right now before coming to Jesus, He will answer them slowly.
Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer will! Amen!
Make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking
you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you
though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to
Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer
will! Amen!
Prayer:
Jesus, I thank you for being the Bread of Life. You are the Living Bread
of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for
the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you
Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life,
digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living
Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life.
I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit!
I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the bread
represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your
blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are
reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord
Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and
acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that
you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me
life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my
sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to
forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me
and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and
please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you.
I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your
home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve
you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in
me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will
be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and
willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus. I
thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you
Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I
am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal
Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
