His Heart, My Home

Have you ever thought, or had the feeling, that something or someone was following you?

David did.

He had something much greater than a hunch, something stronger than a suspicion, that he was being shadowed.

As a matter of fact, he was absolutely sure that he was being followed everywhere he went. And it wasn’t paranoia. It was real.

The Bible tells us that Saul, the king of Israel, viewed David as a potential rival for his throne. He envied the anointing and favor of the Lord that was on David. So Saul and his men repeatedly and relentlessly pursued David, as they attempted to capture and kill him.

But David’s deep-seated awareness of being followed had nothing to do with Saul. Long before his problems with Saul, David had not only realized, but also fully embraced the truth that he was being constantly and closely pursued.

David said, “Surely only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life.” (Psalm 23:6, AMPC)

And, of course, as Christians, we know this promise applies to us as well. Surely, only God’s goodness, His everlasting mercy, and His unfailing love shall follow us all the days of our lives.

Jesus had a very visible following. All the gospel writers recorded that He was constantly being followed by multitudes of people.

The scene described in Matthew 15:30 was typically repeated over and over again in the 3½ year period of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

“Then huge crowds of people streamed up the hill, bringing with them the lame, blind, deformed, mute, and many others in need of healing. They laid them at Jesus’ feet and He healed them all.”
(Matthew 15:30, Passion Translation)

The multitudes followed Jesus because they had heard of the healing miracles that took place in His presence.

As they followed Jesus, they brought a multitude of desperate needs with them. They brought their sickness, their disease, their crippling deformities, their emotional pains, and their brokenness to Jesus.

And Jesus, in partnership with Holy Spirit, healed them ALL!

“How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38, AMPC)

So as Jesus ministered throughout the countryside, the multitudes followed Him, laden with all their burdens and their brokenness.

And God’s goodness, mercy, and unfailing love also followed Him, with every step He took, always meeting the needs of the people.

There is a beautiful picture of Jesus’ healing ministry in Luke 8:43-48.

⁴³ Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her money on physicians and could not be healed by any, ⁴⁴ came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. ⁴⁵ And Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Somebody touched me, for I perceived power going out from me.”  ⁴⁷ Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. ⁴⁸ And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer;  your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:43-48)

It was her bold faith that laid claim to the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus. His power was available to every person in that crowd that day. Many were touching Him, but the Bible only records the healing of this one weakened, desperate woman who made the faith-connection necessary to receive a miracle.

Just as multitudes followed Jesus, there are multitudes of needy people all around you, on every side of you, reaching out desperate hands to touch you, even if they don’t know exactly why.

Many sense there is “something different” about you. They know you have your own tests and troubles, but you genuinely seem to care about them. You take the time to really listen. You smile. You encourage. You lighten the burden that is crushing them, willingly throwing it on your shoulders, even though you are already fully loaded.

Yes, there are multitudes following you…
the co-worker being treated with chemo,
the older lady counting her pennies at the supermarket checkout line, the young waitress taking your order with needle tracks that she’s trying to hide, the recently divorced parent of the kid on your son’s baseball team.

The multitudes are confused, depressed, afraid, sick, hurting, and broken. They are aching for healing, searching for peace, looking for answers, starving for love, desperate for what only Jesus can give.

If only Jesus was here to meet their needs, to quench their thirst, to satisfy their hunger, to fill the emptiness in their lives…

HE IS!

HE PROCLAIMS, “I AM”… AND HE IS!

You are “Jesus” to your world! You are a living, breathing member of His Body.

His words? Spoken through your lips!

His power? Flowing through your hands!

His love? Expressed through the kindness of your heart!

Realize that in the middle of that throng of desperate people who are following you, surrounding you, and pressing against you from every side, there is something wonderful, something powerful, something supernatural,  something “Jesus-ful” ready to happen!

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” ¹⁹ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them  and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs. Amen. (Mark 16:15-20)

The first “believe” (verse 16) is the person
who believes the gospel and is saved.

The second “believe” (verse 17) is the person who is working in partnership with the Lord, sowing the Word of God, and seeing the Word confirmed by the power of God with miracles, signs, and wonders.

Most of us project our own interpretation onto this passage of scripture. Notice what it doesn’t say. It definitely does NOT say, “These signs will (only) follow those who are in the full time ministry… or pastors… or evangelists… or missionaries… “

The commission and its confirmation are crystal clear… “These signs will follow (any and all of) THOSE WHO BELIEVE! These signs should be following you, me and every believer this side of heaven!

Are you a believer? If so, what’s following you? Healing! Deliverance! Signs! Wonders! Miracles!

Now, here comes the mic-drop moment:

● A multitude of people, with a multitude of hurts, addictions, fears, sin and shame, follow, surround you.

● But with the multitudes of people and needs, God has given you the means to meet those needs!

● God’s presence, glory, and power are following you in the person of Holy Spirit.

● God’s goodness, mercy, and unfailing love are following you, not only to minister to you but to also flow through you to others.

● God’s glorious power, goodness, mercy, and unfailing love, are all present, ready to be manifested, and supernaturally demonstrated, wherever and whenever there is a bold faith based on the Word of God!

⁶ “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)

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You don’t want to miss next week’s post. I’ll be sharing some things about our ministry in the Philippines and how you can learn to release Holy Spirit’s miraculous power to others around you.

As always, please let us know if you were blessed by this teaching, by “liking”, or posting a comment  below.

Blessings! From our hearts to yours!