How Different Would Your Life Be?

February 16, 2016

How Different Would Your Life Be?

“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.

Matthew 15:28

I stand amazed at Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15. A good portion of my amazement comes from my passive-aggressive nature. In the first half of Chapter 15, Jesus had an angry confrontation with the religious leaders of Israel who decidedly did not receive him as God’s Messiah. My inclination would have been to leave Israel and go where I was both needed and received. The seemingly out of character conversation Jesus has with the Canaanite woman gives Jesus as opportunity to model the old adage I mentioned last week: The Main Thing, is to Keep the Main Thing, the Main thing! Jesus is God’s son, sent by God as His Messiah to Israel. Jesus’ mission to be the Savior of the world is only possible within his mission as God’s Messiah to Israel. Despite the woman’s plea, Jesus will not deviate from his mission.

In response to Jesus’ unwavering devotion to his mission, the Canaanite woman models for us the heart of worship: “I'm coming back to the heart of worship, And it's all about You, It's all about You, Jesus.” (Mark Redman) The unnamed woman affirms Jesus as God’s Messiah to Israel, and with an inspiring leap of faith, she models that God’s Messiah has come for we Gentiles also. God’s heart is made glad by the faith of those who know they have nothing, absolutely nothing to offer God except an unwavering belief in His mercy and His grace.

God Speaks: “I love you. I am head over heels, passionately in love with you! The desire of my heart is to infuse your life with my favor, my mercy, and my grace.”

Question: How different would your life be if you believed, and acted on God’s statement to you? Here’s a hint. How different do you suppose the Canaanite woman, and her daughter’s lives were?

“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.”

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.