Joni and Friends Daily Devotional
God Is So...Personal
"When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus, all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them."
Luke 4:40
In Luke 4, everybody from the surrounding countryside brought sick people to see Jesus. Now it could have panned out this way:
Jesus surveys the crowd and says, "Okay, all you blind people, you sit over
here. And everybody who has a contagious disease, you guys sit way over there.
Now, where are the deaf? All you deaf people gather on that hill. Paralyzed
people? Calling all paralyzed people! Okay, get yourselves together in a group
right in the front here. Now, everybody in position? Are you ready? Here
goes!" Then, with a wave of His hand over the crowd, Jesus shouts, "Be healed!"
Aren't you glad it didn't happen that way? No grand-scale miracles of epic
proportions were undertaken by Jesus. Instead, He laid His hands on each one
who came to Him. His gentle touch healed the deaf, and He had nothing but kind words for blind people who reached out to Him. He ministered to each one...individually. In so doing, He performed divine feats in a loving and highly personal way.
That's what I find so amazing about Christ. Although the fullness of the
Godhead dwelt in Him, He didn't make high drama of it. He glorified the Father
but not in a showy way. Unlike the unapproachable "smoke and fire" of the Old
Testament Mt. Sinai, Jesus makes himself approachable through the love and
tears of the New Testament Mt. Calvary.
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That's the kind of miracle God wants to do in your life. Today He encounters
you with the same tenderness and humanity He showed two thousand years ago. You are not a face in a sea of nameless people whom He divides into groups like the deaf, the blind, or the paralyzed. He wants to give you His highly personal touch.
Lord, I'm grateful I'm not a What's-his-name in Your eyes. I'm not a face in the crowd. You thought of me, formed me, and designed every unique, wonderful bone in my body long before the foundation of the earth. Touch my life today in the personal way yet powerful way You have touched people through the ages.
Blessings,
Joni and Friends
www.joniandfriends.org
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