Thou Canst Make Me Clean

Matthew 8:1-4 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. The people saw something different in the Lord Jesus Christ. They saw him as a man, which taught with great authority. They willingly followed this teacher that had come down from the father. Jesus had taught them a deeper understanding of the Scriptures. Jesus had healed in their midst and done many great and wonderful miracles. The people knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that this man was unique from anyone that they had ever encountered. A leper made his way to Jesus Christ and sought his help. This leper was no doubt a lonely man, an outcast, because of the disease of leprosy and what the Law demanded of one with leprosy. It took boldness on this man's part to come to Christ. He had heard of this man Jesus and the incredible miracles that he had performed. He came with belief in Christ, asking Christ to heal him from his terrible disease. "Jesus put forth his hand and touched him." No doubt, when he touched the leper the multitudes probably recoiled in horror. Everyone knew that the disease of leprosy was highly contagious and dangerous. Jesus had no fear of a disease. Jesus had previously spoke to the winds and the storm on the Sea of Galilee and the storm had obeyed him. Jesus response to the lepers request, "If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean," was to declare, "I will" and Jesus instantly and completely healed the man of his disease. Dear friend, you may not have this loathsome disease of leprosy, but you do have a deadly disease called sin. Sin will spread through your life and destroy you if left unchecked. Jesus Christ stands willing to help you today. He alone can give you victory over the sin in your life. You don't have the power to proclaim victory over your sin. God can help you today. Repent, turn from your sin and turn to Christ, allowing him to give you complete victory over sin in your life. You don't have to live in bondage any longer, Christ offers you freedom. John 8:32 "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jesus Christ is that truth. Jesus declared of himself in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." This is the plain and simply truth. Freedom and victory awaits you in your life, do as the leper in our Bible story, ask Jesus to make you clean and he will gladly do it.

Psalm 118:8-9 " It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." Over the space of five decades of life there have been disappointments. Many of those disappointments came by the way of friends. Have you ever noticed that one thing you can count on is that people will often let you down or disappoint you. There is one friend that will never let you down, Jesus Christ. When we put our confidence in Christ, it is a well placed confidence. Jesus is always the same, "Yesterday, today and forever," according to the Book of Hebrews. Jesus is altogether trustworthy. He will never break our confidence. We can talk to Jesus about the deepest desires and pains of our heart and He will never betray our confidence. There are many in our society that have put their trust in the leadership of government. We need to remember that the government is comprised of men. Men fail, in spite of their best efforts. The sole place of absolute confidence is to rest our confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God he has never failed us, betrayed us or misdirected us. Blessed be the Lord God!

The Joy of the Lord is your Strength

8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. 9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. What a wonderful day in the nation of Israel. The people stood in reverence at the reading of the law of God. The Scriptures were read and taught to the people. Nehemiah and Ezra declared the day to be holy unto the Lord. The people loved the reading of the law so much that their hearts filled to bursting and tears flowed from their eyes. Nehemiah told the people it wasn't a day for weeping, but a day for rejoicing in Israel. Nehemiah declared the day to be holy unto the Lord. Nehemiah declared that the joy of the Lord is your strength. When our hearts fill to over flowing at the reading of God's Word we find strength. The strength for our daily life comes from the Word of God. Jesus reminded his disciple that He had meat to eat that they knew not of. Job declared that he desired the words of God's mouth more than his necessary food. In the Word of God we find the strength to face life as victors and not as those that are vanquished. We receive strength through the precious Word of God. We, along with the nation of Israel can declare this day holy unto the Lord, if we spend time in God's Word.