Take heart, sons and daughters

40 Gifts of Lent | Gift 2

Reflections on Matthew 8 -12

You are not a second-class citizen. If you know Christ, He is even now cleansing you and thereby enabling you to approach Him with gladness. Expect your faith to be strengthened. Expect to be touched by Christ. Expect a miraculous healing of your heart.

Take heart, sons and daughters…Jesus is the gift. Come to him, you who are weighted down with grief and suffering and you will find rest for your souls. He is gentle and lowly and he understands everything about you.

Ask him to touch your life. He will stretch out his hand to you.

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him…Matthew 8:3

“I will come and heal him.” Matthew 8:7

He touched her hand…Matthew 8:15

“If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” Matthew 9: 21 – 22

…he went in and took her by the hand… Matthew 9: 25

Then he touched their eyes… Matthew 9:29

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11: 28 – 30 (The Message)

About 40 Gifts of Lent

I love the anticipation of celebrating birthdays with my children and grandchildren and can’t wait to gather again with my family and friends around a brightly lit tree at Christmas. My focus for any event or special occasion is mostly on the gift I will buy and then tape it up with all of the wrapping and trimmings to make it a beautiful presentation to give away. I do enjoy watching them rip into the paper and toss the pretty bow without a care to get to the inside of that package.

It’s so much fun to be on the receiving end of good gifts!

I am anticipating the arrival of Easter and celebrating the most amazingly good gift I’ve ever received. I want to focus my heart on the fulfilled expectation of Christ’s first coming and the glorious expectation of His second coming. I want to focus on the freedom I have in Christ to overcome strongholds, yet also to gain strength, hope, and peace as I lean into the trials…continue reading here.