TESTING POSITIVE
Matt. 15:29-31
Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
It had been a long day... early in the day I missed a call from my doctor's office telling me they had the results from my cancer scan, but they didn't say any more. Assuming the worst, I wondered why they wouldn't leave any news about the results. I figured if it was good news, they would have said, "Dean, we have good news"... but no news wasn't good news in my eyes.
In the verses above we read of people being lead in to Jesus that couldn't see. Others were carried in because they were crippled and others couldn't talk. It also says that there were still others that needed other healing. To get a full appreciation of this, think of the worst possible emergency room scene during a catastrophic disaster... It was all happening here.
We've gotten so used to hearing and reading of the miracles of Jesus that we often times don't even get impressed when we read, "He healed them". Just imagine what people witnessed that day. They saw people carried in that danced out. They saw others that had to be lead in by the hand that walked out, seeing their own way. Still others had never spoken a word, were praising God. Truly there was something so amazing happening that there could be no doubt that God was at work.
In the medical world we can be tested for many things. Today we are very aware of covid testing. We know what it means to test positive. A few falls ago, when my family had covid we never got tested. I called the hospital to ask about coming for the testing and they asked our symptoms. After explaining our symptoms they asked if we had been exposed to anyone with covid. When I said "yes", they responded with, "there is no need to come in, quarantine at home." They knew by the evidence that we would test positive if we came in for testing.
This should be our lives if we call ourselves a Christian. The evidence should be so bold and clear that there is no doubt that we would test positive and that God is at work. It reminds me of the old children's song, "THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE".
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel, no
I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
May your light shine as a Christian so brightly that there is no doubt that you are filled with the Holy Spirit. The world should see Jesus in your life. If you believe that you are a Christian, yet you wonder if your life makes it 100% positive or not, it's time you get tested.
If you don't know if others would know if you're a Christian or not, it's time to evaluate your life. Look to see where your heart truly is. Are you completely dependent on Jesus Christ day by day. If not, get things straightened out. Like the healing that Jesus did, there should be so much evidence that God is at work that it leaves no doubt at all.
2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
By the way... there were no signs of ongoing cancer... I didn't test positive there... but I had better for Christ in me.
TEST POSITIVE
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