Tag Archives: touch

THE TOUCH!

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the-touch

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshiped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live….And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole….But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. Matthew 9:18, 20-21, 25

 

Sometimes, what you know doesn’t always get you where you want to go! Perhaps that’s why there’s so much emphasis placed on social media networking today. You’d probably be amazed at how quickly certain doors that were once off-limits to you could now be opened to you, if you have the right connections, huh?

As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual, huh? According to today’s scripture text, one day a certain ruler came to Jesus, standing in proxy for his daughter who was on the brink of death. Yet, despite of this tremendously desperate situation and the looming circumstantial evidence starring him in his face, taunting him to ‘just accept it; it’s too late, you waited too long; you might as well just go home and bury your baby gurl’, our text says that this local official, mounting up some audacious-faith, came bowing down and crying out  “Jesus, if you would come to my house and simply touch my daughter, she will live!” Jesus recognized that this man’s astonishing-faith expectantly looked beyond the natural, piercing through the impossible, grabbed hold to The Supernatural to acquire that which his heart desired.  Subsequently, The Savior proceeded to follow the ruler home!

On their way, they passed a woman, who’d suffered everyday for the past twelve years from a blood disease that literally left her leaking the very life out of her body! Having heard that Jesus was close by, risking everything, including being stoned to death if she was exposed, she made her way through the crowd, determining within herself to get close enough to put her finger on Jesus’ Robe, knowing that her life would be restored! The Compassionate Jesus, feeling that certain faith-touch, and that corresponding pull on His Anointing, instantaneously released healing from His Being!
Glancing back over the huge gathering, Jesus fixing His eyes on this one woman, whose faith out-shined that of all the spectators, immediately began to comfort and encourage her to not be afraid! At that moment, The Great High Priest assured her that her courageous faith had made a Kingdom Connection. Hence, that which she had believed for, she’d become! Not only was she healed, she was made whole! (Ref. Hebrews 4:14)

Pushing past the nay-sayers, the doubters, the unbelievers and the mockers and continuing on to Jairus’ house, Jesus went to the young damsel’s bedside. Taking her hand, gently pulling her from the gripping clutches of death,  Jesus restores her to life! When the word of Jesus’ miraculous powers spread around town, it sent shock-waves of gossipers pouring through the streets and the surrounding regions proclaiming that The Kingdom of Heaven has come to dwell in the earth!

Be encouraged my precious ones! Regardless of what it looks like and despite how long you’ve had to endure this present situation, always remember NOW IS NOT ALWAYS! This test, trial, tragedy or temptation is only temporary! BUT JESUS IS NOT! (Ref. Romans 8:17-18)

Precious one, as a fellow-partaker of the Divine Faithfulness of our Holy Redeemer, I adjure you to not allow temporal facts to distract you from The Truth! Stay focused on Jesus, The Eternal King, The Great Apostle and High Priest of our confession! (Ref. Hebrew 3:1) NO WORD FROM GOD WILL EVER FAIL! (Ref. Luke 1:37)

Beloved, GOD IS STILL LOOKING FOR THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO STRETCH THEIR FAITH WELL BEYOND THAT WHICH CAN BE SEEN, HEARD AND EVEN IMAGINED! TODAY, IF YOU FEEL LIKE GIVING UP,  I ENCOURAGE YOU TO REACH OUT AND TOUCH THE HEART OF THE COMPASSIONATE SAVIOR!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

TRUSTING SILENCE

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trusting-silence

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matthew 27:46

 

I don’t pretend to speak for every believer, however one of the most difficult things for me is trusting God when Heaven goes mute! Not only does this create anxiety, stress and discouragement, but the doubt, confusion and sense of abandonment becomes a personal virtual hell. And no, I am not a babe-in-Christ, but I’d consider myself to be a reasonably seasoned-saint! #ijs

Our spirit man knows quite well that God answers all of our prayers in one of three ways. Yes, No or Not Now, right? Nevertheless the carnal mind could care less! Flesh  wants immediate gratification. ‘I did what You told me, I asked, seeked and knocked; but I guess the answer must’ve got lost in the mail or either perhaps You’re too busy managing the world to be concerned about what’s concerning me, huh?’ Now don’t look at me with that tone of voice, surely I’m not the only one to concede to the Tempter’s situational analysis!

In all of scripture, these feelings of abandonment is never more profound than at the words uttered from the mouth of our Savior hanging on The Cross… and God is silent! And while there is no record of God’s answer in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, or Luke, the Passion story does not end with our Lord’s despairing cry. In Psalm 22, God’s affirming Love and Grace encourages us to trust Him to resurrect Greater Greaterness out of our greatest messes! “In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.”

While some folk would have you believe that faith means unwavering trust in God’s power and ability to do anything, and that’s absolutely Truth. Nevertheless, there’s that other part of faith that commands trusting God’s silence as well as His actions, that has proven to be, at the least, extremely unsettling!

The Word of God tells us that the promises of God are Yeah and Amen, however we tend to forget that spiritual things are governed by spiritual laws. Case in point, seed-time-harvest! God is more concerned about developing christian core values and attributes than providing our fleshly creature comforts!

The Prophet Isaiah encourages believers to persevere through the trials expecting your deliverance is soon to come. ‘But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’ (Isaiah 40:31) And James 1:4 admonishes us to ‘let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Honestly, while both texts have been tremendously resourceful, strengthening and comforting, sometimes they ring hollow when the circumstantial eveidence against you is screaming hopelessness, rejection and it appears as if Heaven’s doors are closed and locked you out!

As you walk with Jesus, experience will teach you that these feelings are just a trick of the enemy to get you to doubt the validity and Faithfulness of God’s Word. If He ain’t saying nothing else, then keep doing the last thing He told you because evidently He ain’t changed His mind!

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

Beloved, when you can’t see God’s Hand, feel His touch or hear His Voice, trust His Heart! REMEMBER THE TEACHER NEVER TALKS DURING THE TEST! TRUSTING GOD’S SILENCE!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

 

DISTANT LOVER

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DISTANT LOVERS

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, …let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:19-20, 22

 

To mimic my granddaughter, ‘back in da olden days’, R&B artist, Marvin Gaye, recorded a song entitled, “Distant Lover”. OMG, did we EEVVVRRR parta on that one!

Sadly, this title typifies the relationship between many Christians and Jesus. Too often those who proclaim Jesus as their personal Savior, The Hope of Eternity yet remains a  DISTANT Lover!

When The Holy Book clearly tells us that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ–once for all! ( Hebrews 10:10)  Hence, when we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, every obstacle that stood between us and His Presence is rolled away. It seems kinda foolish to settle for religion when we could have a relationship! I mean, right?

We must understand the essence of the ETERNAL TRUTH ! 

God promised and accepted Jesus’ Sacrificial death as atonement for our unrighteousness! #Didjaheardat?  In  other words, the debt we owed and could not pay, Jesus paid in full, therefore, releasing us from the curse of the law! (Galations 3:13)  Now unless you think your good deeds have somehow merited God’s forgiveness and earned you a seat at Heaven’s Banquet Table, knowing this should just bless your sin-worn soul!  #ijs WOW!  That’s Grace! 

That means, we’re now free to enter into a Divine Intimacy with the Lover of our soul—the Creator and Sustainer of Heaven and Earth without fear of rejection or retribution! Sounds pretty good to me, huh?

My Precious saints, this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

You know those times when you become overwhelmed by the cares of this world and it appears as if God is so beyond your reach, well guess what? It’s just feels like that! But the truth is, even when we can’t trace Him, God is never far from anyone who seeks Him with a sincere heart.  Our Compassionate Father knows when we can’t quite make it up to touch Him, so His Love so graciously lifts us up to Him. (Hebrews 4:15)

This is the essence and the joy of our salvation!

Today, Beloved, God is inviting you to call upon Him with confident assurance that when you cry out to Him with a humbled, repentant heart, He will hear you and He will come close to you. Remember, The Word is nigh thee, even in your mouth!  (Romans 10:8) Didjaheardat? He’s always just one prayer away.  If you need Him now; call Him now!

He doesn’t have to be a Distant Lover!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

INVITATION ONLY

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INVITATION ONLY

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

For the commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into the heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it?’ But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. Deuteronomy 30:11-14

 

Who in this world would wanna make God’s Grace soooo complicated and difficult to acceptt? Dat lying devil, of course!  The last thing Satan wants a lost sinner to recognize is that God is the ONE who initiated Salvation IN THE 1ST PLACE and makes it available to all who will repent and return to The Maker of Heaven and Earth!  Appealing to the SIN that so easily besets us, ‘PRIDE’, Satan  manipulates our thoughts, enticing the lusts of our flesh to do those things which are unseemly, then slams the door condeming us to fear, doubt and utimate, logical, justifiable terminal  self-rejecting eternal damnation!

Uuuuummmm? So what exactly was Moses saying?  

Moses, God’s appointed Covenant Mediator, was telling God’s Chosen nation that God, knowing the inadeqacy of human’s frame, has always planned to restore His  wayward children back into right-relationship to Godself, independent of our  puny efforts to warrant such Wonderous Gift of Love!  

“And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendents, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”…For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book. “(Detuteronomy 30:6, 9b-10)

This is the core of  every true Gospel preaching! It’s encouraging diligent seeker to say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”! Hence, embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what He did in raising Jesus from the dead.  That’s it!  #didjaheardat?   

You’re not “doing” anything!  By simply calling out to God from a grateful and sincere heart, you’re trusting Him to do it for you. With your whole being you embrace God’s Mercy, setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between Him and me!” That’s  the essence of SALVATION, yall!  

The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us and IN US!

Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what  your religious affiliation may be! When any soul is depending solely upon The Cross of Jesus,  we receive all the benefits of the same God for all of us! God is no respecter of person! He demonstrates the same incredible generosity to everyone who crys out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”Romans 10:13 THE MESSAGE  

AWEMAZING, huh?

GOD doesn’t bumrush HIS WAY in and crash your party, but Graciously awaits HIS Personal Invitation from YOUR heart to HIS heart!

Is GOD welcome in your house?  Is GOD welcome in your LIFE? Have you invited THE SAVIOR into your heart?

Your  SALVATION is as close to YOU as your TRUSTING heart’s cry! 

Shhhhh!  didjaheardat knocking?  REALLY? #whatRUwaiting4?
 
REMEMBER, SALVATION COMES BY  INVITATION ONLY!  #HALLELUJAHHHH!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

THE UNTOUCHABLES!

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The_Untouchables

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” Matthew 9:21

A while back, there was a TV drama entitled, “Touch by An Angel” starring Roma Downey and Della Reese. The program was about “a female angel sent to Earth to help solve people’s problems with a touch of spiritual guidance”. Not surprising, it became quite popular and the series lasted from 1994-2003. Can you image how much better we’d be if all of our life’s crisis were eradicated by Divine intervention?Well guess what, it’s absolutely possible!

According to Free On-Line Dictionary, ‘touch’ means “To cause or permit a part of the body, especially the hand or fingers, to come in contact with so as to feel”. Just wondering, if you conducted a census of church attendees, what percentage of those on the rolls have actually personally touched or been touched by Christ?  I’ve discovered that talking about God or studying Theology (The Story of God) and actually experiencing GOD is as different as life and death!
 
According to studies, never in the history of the western world have we had so many people on church rolls as there are today. I’m talking about folk who ‘profess’ to know Christ! Unfortunately, these same studies conclude that the number of ‘committed’ Christians is at an all time low!

Evidently, it is possible to be in Church yet not in Christ! Don’t  u dare touch that delete key!

I’m simply submitting, for your consideration, the reason we have so many border-line-hypocritical-uncommitted folk in our churches today, is because you can’t really be faithful and committed to a god that you can’t touch or who can’t touch you! #FLATOUT!

There is an exclusively reserved GOD-size hole in each of us! And while some church folk are content with a theoretical relationship (living on the edge, in the vicinity of) with Christ, others of us have such an insatiable thirst, hunger, a longing for HIM that keeps us in constant pursuit for more and more of His Presence, His Grace, Peace and His Joy!

Just like the woman with the issues in today’s scripture text, we have come into contact with the ONLY TRUE, LIVING, HOLY, LOVING, DELIVERING SAVING GOD who can be touched even with our weaknesses!

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15)

DO YOU KNOW HIM OR R U yet THE UNTOUCHABLES? #jusaskining
 
SELAH!
 
“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”
 
Ann Caffee 

STAY IN TOUCH!

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STAY IN TOUCH

SELAH Daily Devotions!

“While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live….And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole….But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.” Matthew 9:18, 20-21, 25

Sometimes, what you know doesn’t always get you where you want to go! Perhaps that’s why there’s so much emphasis placed on social networking today. You’d probably be amazed at how quickly certain doors that were once off-limits to you could now be opened to you, if you have the right connections, huh?

As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual, huh? According to today’s scripture text, one day a certain ruler came to Jesus standing in proxy for his daughter who had just died. Yet, despite of this tremendously desperate situation and the looming circumstantial evidence starring him in his face, taunting him to ‘just accept it’; it’s too late’, ‘you waited too long’; you might as well just accept the fact and go home and bury your baby gurl, the text says that this local official mounting up some audacious-faith, came bowing crying out to Jesus saying, “Jesus, if you would come to my house and simply touch my daughter, she will live!” Jesus recognizing that this man’s astonishing-faith expectantly looked beyond the natural, piercing through the impossible, grabbed hold to The Supernatural to acquire that which his heart desired. Jesus proceeded to follow the ruler home!

On their way, they passed a woman, suffering from a blood disease that literally left her leaking the very life out of her body, everyday for the past twelve years! Having heard that Jesus was close by, risking everything, including being stoned to death if she was exposed, she made her way through the crowd, determining in herself to get close enough to put her finger on Jesus’ Robe, knowing that her life would be restored. Jesus recognizing that certain faith-touch, and that corresponding pull on His Anointing, instantaneously released healing from His Being.

Jesus, glancing back over the huge gathering, fixed His eyes on this one woman, whose faith out-shined that of all the spectators, immediately began to comfort and encourage her to not be afraid! At that moment, The Great High Priest assured her that her courageous faith had made a Kingdom Connection. Hence, that which she had believed for, she’d become! Not only was she healed, she was made whole! (Ref. Hebrews 4:14)

Continuing on to Jairus’ house, pushing past the nay-sayers, the doubters, the unbelievers and the mockers, Jesus went to the young damsel’s bedside. Taking her hand gently, pulling her from the gripping clutches of death, He restores her to life! When the word of Jesus’ miraculous powers spread around town, it sent shock-waves of gossipers pouring through the streets and the surrounding regions proclaiming that The Kingdom of Heaven has come to dwell in the earth!

Be encouraged my precious ones! Regardless of what it looks like, despite how long you’ve had to endure this present situation, it’s just temporary! ( Ref. Romans 8:17-18) BUT JESUS IS NOT!

As fellow-partakers of the faith, “keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession”. (Ref. Hebrew 3:1)

GOD IS STILL LOOKING FOR THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO STRETCH THEIR FAITH WELL BEYOND THAT WHICH CAN BE SEEN, HEARD AND EVEN IMAGINED! TOUCH THE HEART THE COMPASSIONATE SAVIOR! …STAY IN TOUCH!

SELAH!

“Have a WONDER-FILLED day!”

 Ann Caffee