The "Assured Welcome"

"Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them." (Matthew 15:30)

He did not say, "Well, brother, there are some things you need to learn first," or, "Sister, there is some bitterness in your life, and until you deal with that I will not help you."  Okay, granted there well may be issues which "nullify the grace of God."  But while I have heard so much of this reasoning in my life time, what dominates the accounts in the Gospels is Jesus' encounter of suffering, hurting humanity; and the response of our text------------------ "and He healed them."

Many of us battle the notion that the Lord is not answering this or that particular prayer because, well, you can fill in the blank.  For me, it is always something negative about me which keeps me from hearing those compassionate Words of Jesus to the leper, "I am willing."  But perhaps the reason people were healed in Jesus' presence while He was here in the flesh is that the desperateness of their condition was overshadowed by, "The Bread of the Presence," Jesus Christ, The Kind, The Compassionate One, "not counting men's sins against them." 

So, "Laboring together [as God's fellow workers] with Him then, we beg of you not to receive the grace of God in vain [....do not receive it to no purpose]. For He says, In the time of favor (of assured welcome) I have listened to and heeded your call, and I have helped you on the day of delilverance....Behold, now is truly the time for a gracious welcome and acceptance [of you from God]; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:1, 2-A. B.)

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You so much for Your "gracious welcome and acceptance."  Amen.
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Eighteen year old Norwegian, Peter Torjesen, "when he heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2