Today's Passage - Matthew 15:29-31

Matthew 15:29-31   Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.             Looking at the healing ministry of Jesus, one would realize that miracles happen wherever He went. When He prayed for the daughter of Canaanite woman, demons were casted out by His words. When He came to Galilee, many came to Him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, and the mute, and the Lord healed them one by one. Jesus is always willing to heal, and He doesn't have a fixed way of doing healing ministry. Sometimes He heal by speaking one sentence without having to meet them, sometimes He pray for the sick at their home, other times He lays hand on the sick, still other times He put His fingers into ears, and there are a few instances where He use his saliva to heal. In summary, Jesus did not have a certain model in doing healing, so it is very difficult for one to learn His healing methods.             But there are a few things that are very common in the healing ministry of Jesus. First, faith of the person. There are multiple instances where Jesus told the healed "your faith has saved you." And the fundamental reason that he didn't do many miracles in Nazareth is because of the unbelief of the people. From these we can see that faith is an important role in healing. Is faith manipulating God, then? No, because faith comes from the desire, which comes from God. We can have faith in His healing only when God grant us such faith.             Second thing that are common in Jesus' healing ministry is His compassion. This is why many times Jesus looked at the heaven and His compassion was stirred up when He does healing. Compassion is truly the key of prayer for healing. When we talked about healing, our focus should never be power but love and compassion. Only when one truly experience the compassion of the Lord and offer oneself to be a vessel of His love, the power of the Holy Spirit will be released and signs and wonders will happen. Are you in the midst of pain and suffering? I invite you to lay hand on the parts of body where you have sickness, and let us experience His compassion by faith.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Dear Lord, may Your compassion touch everyone that is in sickness.  May you grant us faith so that as we look upon You Your healing hand will touch them and heal them. May Your stream of healing flow to us and bring us restoration. I thank you and pray all these in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!          Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!