Change My Heart!

But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” [Luke 8.46]

If we are to do the same works Jesus did because we are sent by Jesus the same way the Father sent Him, then, is makes sense that our experiences of administering healing and preaching the Good News should assimilate those of Jesus.

Jesus felt healing power go out from Himself. This tells us that we should feel healing power go out from us if indeed we are to do the same works as Jesus because we have the same commission to do so. Whether the power was spiritual or physical matters not because Jesus felt it. 

Obviously, the woman felt the healing too - the bleeding stopped and she knew it.

The sad fact is, Christians are complacent today with living their entire lives having never experienced feeling the tangible power of God going from them or coming into them. Those of us inclined toward miraculous faith are very specific about modifying our confession to be one of faith, but we discount the need for feeling the miracle. 

Frankly and obviously, faith for physical healing is incomplete without the feeling. We can know this for sure because Hebrews 11 makes it quite clear:

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. [Hebrews 11.1]

"Reality" and "evidence" are compelling words compared to the wishful thinking most of us throw out calling it faith.

The conclusion I am making here is that what we call faith and what the Bible teaches about faith should agree. But they don't. And, it's not God's fault. 

Can we just stop already with our non-Jesus-glorifying, faith-knock-off, poor representations of faith? It's embarrassing to God and to us. If God can be glorified by us, then He can also be embarrassed by us and ashamed of us. Until we can admit the latter, we have absolutely no basis for changing.

In yesterday's One Year Chronological Bible reading the problem was clearly addressed by none other than Jesus Himself:

That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, ‘When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ [Matthew 13.13-15]

Jesus made it clear that hard hearts do not receive anything from God. If they weren't hard, they would be healed (and they would feel it). According to Jesus in Matthew 13, failing to heal or be healed is not a faith problem, but a heart problem.

Father, my heart is obviously hard and my eyes, ears, and understanding are all failing me because I have not let you heal me. What I feel in my body is not healing but destruction. Forgive me for being hard-hearted - for not seeing, hearing, or understanding Your Word, Your character, Your Son, ...Your will. Change my heart oh God!