OT DAY 224 - Healing Comes from Looking at Jesus (Please click here for English podcast)

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Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

        
           Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
                              who alone does wondrous things.
19          Blessed be his glorious name forever;
                              may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
          Amen and Amen!

                             Psalm 72:18-19

Confession and Repentance

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (Numbers 21:1-9)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers 21&version=ESV

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

                             Numbers 21:4-9

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

My Listening
     Human beings are so absent minded. How many times as we read in the Israelites journey of Exodus that they experienced the abiding power of God and victory then right away they grumbled?

     Here we have another example. Right after they had a great victory with the destroyed of Arad, just like how we are being delivered from some kind of great trouble, we lose faith and grumble at God's servants or even God! How can that be?

     But, the main point of this passage is not how to deal with our weakness of losing faith or our keep on grumbling. The main point is the saving power of God when you are willing to look at Him only and not look at your sickness, pain, fear, or anything hurting you and killing you. Look at Jesus! 

Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

    

     Yesterday in church I was aware, as I sometimes am, that many people make the sign of the cross at certain points in the service. I was never taught to do that, I would fell self-conscious about trying to do it, but I also feel self-conscious about not doing it, and I wonder if people notice. I like it as an idea. Anything that involves the body and not merely the inner person thereby contributes to involving the whole person. Marking myself with the sign of the cross means I really am marked with the cross. It parallels how God uses the washing rite of baptism in making us part of the church, and uses the practice of giving us bread and wine in applying the benefits of Christ's dying for us and making Christ part of our life. James similarly mentions the elders anointing people with oil when praying for people to be healed. Because we are physical people, God uses physical means with us in achieving spiritual ends.
     The copper snake works like that. It means that God takes the risk of our turning physical, sacramental signs into superstitions if we assume they work like magic. Israel did this with the copper snake, burning incense to it as if it were a kind of idol, so King Hezekiah broke it up (2 Kings 18:4). God could heal people without using such means but chooses to use physical means because we are physical people. (In John 3:14, Jesus turns the lifting up of the snake into an illustration. Jesus will be lifted up, on a cross, and people will look to him and find healing.)  

John Goldingay. Numbers & Deuteronomy for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p.53-54.

      Thank you for your prayers the past three days for me that I am being healed. Being healed is because I listen and obey to God's command at last, before it is too late, to sleep before around 11p.m and not 2a.m. or even 3 a.m. God told me three weeks ago that I needed to have this new lifestyle if I want to be a healthy person serving Him but I did not listened and obeyed. Then I got my eye problem. My willing to sleep early means the same as those Israelites's willingness to look at the copper snake. They got healed, and I got healed! Is this a co-incidence? I don't think so!

     Could you pray now to ask Jesus what is the one thing that He has been asking you to change but you have not yet changed? Repent and change as soon as possible! Healing will come to you. Renewal will come to you. Because when we look at Jesus, we will be healed, physically or spiritually, or even better physically and spiritually! 

Dear Lord Jesus, 
Help us to look at you each day no matter we are well or in distress. You are our Healer, Saviour, Lord and King.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Reflect on these questions:

1. What is the one thing that Jesus has been asking you to change but you have not yet changed? Repent and change now.   

2. What have you got from today's message? 

Praise and Thanksgiving

Let's give thanks for God with us. Let us praise Him:

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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