Psalm 3:1-3
"Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.
Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.
But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head"
It was such an uplifting song! Then Pastor preached a message entitled "Straighten Up" and spoke about the woman with the spirit of infirmity eighteen years. He explained the "spirit of infirmity" in detail. It got me to thinking of what I was saying in my last post towards the end about that I don't have time to pity myself. Yes, it would be easy for anyone when they are sick or struck with a disease or cancer to walk around feeling sorry for themselves but that isn't how it should be! Someone had told me that they struggled with wanting to be sick and they asked me to pray for them. It was honorable that this friend had even confessed it and made it known that she knew she struggled with this. Some people struggle with it, though they never face themselves - they live in denial. I believe that God is going to deliver this friend from that feeling because she wants deliverance!
Here is the text from which he brought the message:
Luke 13:11-13
"And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God"
He went into detail about straight and tied in how the road to Heaven is narrow and straight. He also spoke on how we relate mean men with being crooked. God's way is very narrow.......it is very straight! When Jesus comes on the scene, he straightens us out if we let him!
Then going on with the woman being healed, she was made straight! She was no longer bent over, but Jesus had loosed her from her infirmity that satan had her bound in! Let's look at what the ruler of the synagogue said in response to Jesus healing this woman:
Luke 13:14
"And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day."
He got angry at Jesus because he healed on the sabbath day. How dare he heal someone on the Lord's day is basically what this man was saying to Jesus. So how did Jesus reply? Oh I'm sure it was with soft spoken, very gentle and kind words right? Oh wait......did Jesus respond and label the ruler of the synagogue for what he really was?
Luke 13:15-16
"The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day"
Jesus called the ruler of the synagogue a hypocrite! That really goes along with what I was saying in the last post about how some people have misconceptions about WWJD. There are times to be quiet and have mercy but then there are times when you must be bold and tell it like it is! Jesus wasn't one to back down to even the ruler of the synagogue.
God spoke to my heart about a lot of things in my life this morning that I need to work on and like Pastor said, he isn't perfect and there is a lot he has to work on too! There has never been a time in my life that I have had it all together and reached perfection, I'm still a work in progress and so thankful that God loves me enough to deal with my heart and show me just where I need to fix something!
I just wanted to share with you all about this morning's service, it was a blessing!
