Jesus Touched the Untouchables

FAITH:

When Jesus came down from the hill, great crowds followed him. Then a
man with a skin disease came to Jesus. The man bowed down before him
and said, "Lord, you can heal me if you will."
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and said, "I will. Be
healed!" And immediately the man was healed from his disease.
Matthew 8:1-3

I wonder... about the man who felt Jesus' compassionate touch. He
makes one appearance, has one request, and receives one touch. But
that one touch changed his life forever....

I wonder about this man because in New Testament times leprosy was the
most dreaded disease. The condition rendered the body a mass of ulcers
and decay. Fingers would curl and gnarl. Blotches of skin would
discolor and stink. Certain types of leprosy would numb nerve endings,
leading to a loss of fingers, toes, even a whole foot or hand. Leprosy
was death by inches.

The social consequences were as severe as the physical. Considered
contagious, the leper was quarantined, banished to a leper colony.

In Scripture the leper is symbolic of the ultimate outcast: infected
by a condition he did not seek, rejected by those he knew, avoided by
people he did not know, condemned to a future he could not bear...

The touch did not heal the disease, you know. Matthew is careful to
mention that it was the pronouncement and not the touch of Christ that
cured the condition. "Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man
and said, 'I will. Be healed!' And immediately the man was healed from
his disease" (Matt. 8:3).

The infection was banished by a word from Jesus.

The loneliness, however, was treated by a touch from Jesus.

Jesus touched the untouchables of the world. by Max Lucado


FRIENDS:
Father, how holy and great is you promise to us about our requests we send upwards to you. You've been so good to us in all ways, but somehow, we find things about which to complain even though you answer our prayers in ways we never imagined and have also been given life eternal. Help us to be grateful to you and help us to see your hand in all we do. Help us to be busy about the right business---the business of serving you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE CHALLENGE
MAY 4TH THRU MAY 8TH
Mark 10:35 - 12:12; 2 Cor 3 - 7; Psalms 98 - 102; 1 Samuel 9 -18

MAY 9
Mark 12:13-27; 2 Cor 8; Psalms 103; 1 Samuel 19-20
MAY 10
Mark 12:28-34; 2 Cor 9; Psalms 104; 1 Samuel 21-23
MAY 11
Mark 12:35-44; 2 Cor 10; Psalms 105; 1 Samuel 24-25

~2 Corinthians~
Once there was a school in a village. Atop the school was a bell which was rung every morning to call the children to class. The boys and girls arrived reluctantly and precisely at the hour. Never a minute early. The bell would ring again in the afternoon, liberating the children to their play. The children bolted out the door at the ringing of the bell. Never lingering a minute late. This is how it was with each child.
Except one.
There was a girl who came early. She helped the teacher prepare the room for the day. The same girl would stay late---cleaning the board and dusting the erasers. During class she was attentive. She sat close to the teacher, absorbing the lessons.
One day when the other children were unruly and inattentive, the teacher used the girl as an example. "Why can't you be like her? She listens. she works. She comes early. She stay late."
"It isn't fair to ask us to be like her," a boy blurted out from the rear of the room.
"Why?" asked the teacher.
The boy was uncomfortable, wishing he hadn't spoken. "She has an advantage," he shrugged.
"And what is that?"
"She is an orphan," he almost whispered as he sat down.
The boy was right. The girl had an advantage. An advantage of knowing that school, as tedious as it was, was better than the orphanage. Since she knew that, she appreciated what the others took for granted.
We, too, were orphans.
Alone.
No name. No future. No hope.
Were it not for our adoption as his children, we would have no place to belong. We sometime forget that.
The Corinthians forgot.
They had grown puffy in their achievements and divisive in their fellowship. They argued over the correct leader, the greater gifts.They rebelled against Paul's leadership.They were indifferent to sin and insensitive in worship.
Paul defends his ministry and admonishes the Christians to remember to whom they belong. " Look closely at yourselves," Paul says (13:5). Paul's words are clear. "If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new!" (5:17)
Good reminder.
Not just for them but for us as well. For if we forget, we too will be like the students who did just enough to pass the grade and never enough to show their thanks.

FOOD:

CABBAGE CASSEROLE

1 head cabbage, medium
1 1/2 lb. hamburger or turkey
Salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste
2 cans (medium) diced tomatoes with onions
1 (16 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 pkg. frozen hash browns
2 tbsp. dried onion flakes

Chop up cabbage and microwave for 10 minutes. Brown hamburger or
turkey and rinse with warm water. Mix all ingredients together and
put in large casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


FUN: