Brigitte Straub

“When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him”. Mathew 8:1&2

In the ancient world, leprosy was a terrible, destructive disease – and still is in some parts of the world.

According to Jewish customs, one had to keep 6 feet from a leper. If the wind was blowing toward a person from a leper, they had to keep 150 feet away. The only thing more defiling than contact with a leper was contact with a dead body.

Jesus had just come off the mountaintop with his disciples having spent much time teaching them. Multitudes (meaning tens of thousands) began to follow Jesus, and in the midst of all this, a leper came out from the crowd and worshipped Him.

This leper was unique. In desperate need to come in contact with Jesus he somehow was able to overcome his many discouragements and reach out for the only One that could give Him any hope to a hopeless condition.

I’ve wondered what it took for him to worship Jesus while in that condition. He hadn’t yet been healed, nor did he have a promise of healing. He worshipped in spite of his circumstances and made himself vulnerable in a crowd of people that deemed him dirty, diseased and dead.

He was hungry for a touch from God, however, I am convinced he worshipped Jesus not because of what he could get from him, but because he recognized Jesus for Who He was.

The leper said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (v. 2&3)

God desires to touch us and takes delight in bringing us healing. Our desperation for Him, like the leper who left the crowd, usually manifests itself through bold and extravagant action.

God always honors faith and is moved by our worship. Sometimes it takes leaving the place we have lived in for so long, and moving out beyond that, no matter what it makes us look like and what others say so we can attain the promises of God in our lives.

I was raised going to church, continued to attend every Sunday as I got older and sometimes during the week-day depending on what church I was going to at that time and if they offered more services. I’ve been to a lot of different types of churches because of all the moving we have done, but at one point took a couple of years off of going to church…yes…you read that right.

During my life-time and what I’ve come to realize thus far, through all my ups and downs about church (not christianity; just church), is that I really do LOVE IT!

I know there is recently a lot of conversation about the the difference between Christianity and Religion and that some would view going to Church as a mere “religious act”; and at one point in my life, I had come to that conclusion as well and wanted nothing to do with it…religion. However, I realized it’s because it had become just that for me. Hence, it all depends on how one views church, and I have now come to see it this way:

Church is FAMILY…and I LOVE family.

Church is for the broken and for those that want to get real with themselves and real with God (at least, I hope). It is not for those that believe they have it all together and want to come and criticize others but for the ones that come because they know they need something more.

So, we will find that churches are filled with people who deal with the same fears, doubts, anxieties, concerns that the rest of the world does, but acknowledges in coming together with others that they are in need of relationship and is reminded that there is ONE that truly fulfills.

Once I got honest with myself and my own struggles, I found the critical nature within me dissipate and love for the church and for others grow.

I want to know I have a place to go to where people love me where I’m at (grace) and where I can do the same. That is…what church is supposed to be like, right? And I know many are reading this that have been hurt in the church and by the church, however if we can just acknowledge that “all have sinned” (ain’t that the truth), I think we could just learn to love one another a little more.

After having broken up with her husband, Ashton Kutcher of 6 years, Demi Moore has been spiraling downward. In this months issue of Harpers Bazaar Demi talks candidly about her life and fears.

“I would say that what scares me is that I’m going to ultimately find out at the end of my life that I’m really not lovable…that I’m not worthy of being loved, that there’s something fundamentally wrong with me.”

This made my heart break! However, this struck me not necessarily because Demi thinks this way, but because I have heard so many who I love and who have faith in God say this very thing…and I have to admit, I have too.

I think it is one of the scariest thoughts…to wonder if you are truly lovable. I also think it’s the biggest lie we tend to entertain.

I want to get real here for a moment about this, because I believe that in the church community we struggle with this as much as anyone else out there even though we shouldn’t be. We all know the scripture in John 3:16 that says God loves the world that He gave His only Son, yet question His personal love for us.

Why?

I think like for most questions, there’s a number of answers that factor into this. One of which I believe we don’t necessarily preach that God’s grace IS really enough for us and that we do still need to “do” for God’s approval some how. Another one, which I would like to expand on is that we don’t know God as “Father”.

Hear me on this. We talk a lot about Jesus in our churches, and in charismatic circles, we love our conversations to revolve around the Holy Spirit and what He does, but what role does our Heavenly Father play in our lives? Who is He to us and Who should He be?

I read a book by Henri Nouwen years ago called, “The Return of the Prodigal Son”, when I struggled with my perception of who my Heavenly Father is. It completely broke the box I put God in and put me on a journey to developing a relationship with God in this way; my Father.

Besides hearing an emphasis placed on “The Lord’s Prayer” in church circles, I had never heard sermons preached on the relationship Jesus had with His Father and never, that I can recall, had a conversation with someone where they shared about their own relationship with their Heavenly Father.

Needless to say, over the past 6 years I have spent spent hours reading through the gospels and devouring every scripture that shows Jesus relationship with His Father and have now come to develop my own, very personal relationship with Him.

I believe it’s vital “The Church” understands God as Father and stresses the importance of having our own relationship with Him otherwise we will be no different than the rest of the world who has no answer to a heart-wrenching and valid cry!

Even though she is as liberal as it gets, Lisa Bloom made some good points in her book called “THINK”.

The basic premise of this book is that people need to start thinking for themselves. I have to agree.

On the airplane on the way to Ohio, I started reading the 600 page, hardcover bound book called “Original Intent” by David Barton. I’m not sure about you, but I am tired of all the chaos taking place within our government. With that said, what bothered me more was that I couldn’t exactly identify with facts what were lies and what was truth. Though my husband is a political guru, I couldn’t depend on him either to understand all that is taking place because of all the political jargon he used that made absolutely NO sense to me at all.

SO, I started reading, and for the first time (give me a break please, I AM originally a Canadian I read through the Declaration of Independence AND The Constitution.

WHOA! This book reeled me in, and I didn’t put the book down until after we had landed in Columbus (I read for almost 7 hours straight).

Politics doesn’t necessarily suit my fancy, HOWEVER, I realize as a U.S. Citizen now, I have an obligation to know the facts, and this book definitely opened my understanding to the foundation our government was laid upon.

Al right, with that said, I want to say that the SAME goes for being a Christian, and not reading the bible for ourselves, but listening to only what our pastors have to say and others while not studying the scriptures ourselves or having a personal relationship with God.

Shame on us! Seriously, I think it’s time to grow up. I look around me and can’t help but notice so many Christians; tame, with no backbone or confidence in God and in who they are. Now I know why. People aren’t reading and thinking for themselves, therefore cannot and will not experience God to the great measure that He desires for them.

We must begin to take initiative to learn the facts (truth) and stop allowing others to dictate our beliefs in every area of our life.

As for myself, I’m going to continue to work through this book and read original documents our founding fathers have penned themselves so I can begin to divide lies from the truth when it boils down to our Country.

I encourage you to do the same in whatever area you see fit. I believe that it’s our duty to THINK.

The Greeks have a mythological deity named Momus, the god of mockery and faultfinding. This faultfinder lives within each of us and comes against us, becoming the Critic that nags and bothers us trying to convince us through backbiting and sarcasm that we’re “stupid” and “dumb” for going after the things that we passionately desire.

It doesn’t matter as much where it comes from (the devil, people or maybe the beliefs we’ve formed about ourselves ). It matters more how to combat it; and I would encourage you to talk back. YES! Talk back to it.

We (meaning YOU and ME) are usually our own greatest obstacle to the very place we want to go. We let so much hinder us from pursuing our passions and desires; fear and doubt are the two greatest hindrances we embrace and entertain that keep us from moving forward.

However, if we truly want to, we can get over some of these things and get moving into the life we desire.

Replacing lies with truth is the most effective way and extremely powerful to overcoming that “critic”. Talking back to it every time it shoots darts that tell you, “it’s impossible”, “stop dreaming”, “who are YOU?”, with “everything is possible with God”, “I’m going to dream bigger”, “I am a child of God”.

THAT’S how you do it! Do it every time! Keep doing it until the lies disappear and don’t stop until you begin living out the truth of Who You are and Who God says you are.