Manna Ministries (NI)
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Chapter Thirteen - "Lord, Help Me" And behold, a woman of Canaan came and cried out to him saying, “have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David! my daughter is severely demon-possessed.” but He answered her not a word. and his disciples came and urged him, saying, send her away, for she cries out after us, but He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. Then she came and worshipped him saying. “Lord, help me!” (matt c15:v22-v25). The shortest pray within scripture, “Lord, help me!” how many times throughout the centuries has this prayer been cried to the Lord God, a prayer which is cried from the heart, in a desperate situation when all has failed, as that old hymn goes, 'when all helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless abide with me!' The Canaanite womans prayer was answered immediately. It was not just because she asked the Lord to heal her daughter, that her daughter was healed, for there where other factors that occurred here that made it possible for the daughter of the Canaanite woman to be healed. The first was her acknowledgment that Jesus was the Messiah, for she acknowledged him as “Lord”! but not only did she acknowledge him as Lord, but also as the “Son of David”, heir to the throne of Israel, remember the words of Jesus to her, I have come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel not for the dogs, yet the sheep would not accept him as their Messiah. Christ had come to bring in the kingdom of God, but the Jews had been blinded by the god of this world, their hearts had become hardened towards the truth and all that was holy. The church need not feel smug about this, for they have already gone the same way as the Jews, with their rituals and their rites, human nature can not be changed by man, that which changes the human soul comes from within, not from the outside, remember the apostle Peter when he cried out to Jesus! "you are the Christ the son of the living God" , it was not flesh or blood that revealed this to him, but divine intervention from the Most High God. Man may have good intentions, but sadly the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and good intentions are not used in the foundations that the Lord God has already laid. I had a vision once, and in that vision saw a pyramid of people climbing to the top, climbing over one another disregarding where they put their feet, and as I was watching this going on, I turned to see the Lord Jesus standing beside me, and I said to Him, 'Lord! what are they doing', and He said, 'they are trying to get to the top', then I said to Him, 'but why Lord, for you are not up there, you are standing down here', then the vision ended. This is the problem with human nature, man is always trying to be better than the other man, they always want to be first. The mother of John and James the disciples of Jesus proves this point when she asked the Lord Jesus if they could be seated to his left and his right when He came into glory. Sadly this vision I had was not just pointing to people in the world, it was revealing those within the church, who have missed the whole purpose of what Holiness is about. They have confused christian fellowship with mere socializing, treating the church as a social club where you climb to the top regardless of who gets in the way, the Holy spirit calls it walking in the flesh, and that worshipping God is the mere singing of songs. Holiness is love, not the love of self but the displaying of God's love within your life, by putting the interest of others before self interest. It is the acknowledgment that if Christ is seated within the center of your life, his attitude towards others shall be paramount within your life. But such is church life today that they have forgotten what Holiness is all about, and sadly no longer will you hear the mention of the word Holiness, unless it is in a hymn, and you will find it is seldom taught, so what has changed from the time that Christ walked the streets of Jerusalem to this present day, the answer! Nothing. Human nature can not change by its self, am I right in what I say or am I running off at the mouth, remember talk is cheap, let us look again at the scriptures, what was the attitude of the disciples concerning this Canaanite woman. “Then his disciples came to him and kept asking him, saying, send her away, for she is shouting out after us”. Let me ask you something, what mother would not in all truth, do everything in her power to have her child cured of a sickness. Love is a very strong force, it casts out fear, covers a multitude of sins but greatest of all, it gave forgiveness of sin to those who are willing to humble themselves. he only thing that this Canaanite woman was guilty of, was her love for her child, does this warrant the rebuke of the disciples, the answer is no, who among us would not cry out in desperation for the love of a child, would you not at least shout out for help. This woman was in desperation for the deliverance of her demon-possessed daughter, clearly she was at her wits end. She had heard of the man who healed the sick and could cast out demons, she must have known that Jesus was a Jew an enemy of the Canaanites, but alas, everything that she had tried among her own people had failed her, and this was her last desperate bid to have her daughter healed. I believe within my heart, that Jesus knew this was the case, and that was why He said I have come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but I also believe, that when this woman came into the presence of the Lord Jesus, something touched her soul and kindled the spirit within her, I believe that she, like Peter the apostle at his calling, realized the Holiness of Christ Jesus! and cried out to Jesus saying, Lord come no closer for I am a sinful person, likewise the Canaanite woman cried, for she immediately acknowledged the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus by crying out “have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed. But what is astonishing is the fact that she worshipped him, this means she fell down before his feet, saying, “Lord, help me”. Did this move the Lord Jesus to have compassion upon this pagan woman and her child, the answer is yes. It moved him because he never seen faith like this displayed among those of his own people, not even among the disciples did Jesus see such great faith, and this can only prove that without faith nothing can and nothing shall occur. This poor woman displayed the faith that should have been displayed by the nation of Israel. Seven hundred years had gone by without a single miracle occurring, and now One comes performing miracle after miracle, and He is not only looked upon with suspicion, but treated with vile contempt, one can only wonder why faith was lacking among the Jews, remember the very council that the Jews set up after the resurrection of Lazarus, it was divided against itself. Their faith in the Lord God concerning their promised Messiah was like a bucket full of holes, the heart of the nation had drifted far away from trusting the Lord God, it seemed to echo the days of Samuel the prophet, when the nation rejected the Lord God as their king, and cried for a mere man from among themselves to rule over them. They rejected God as their king, and now they rejected His only begotten Son. They spared no thought for the heart of the Lord God in Samuels day, nor did they spare any thought for Christ Jesus his beautiful wonderful begotten Son. What people are so slow to realize, is the fact that the Lord God has a heart and can be grieved, He has feelings just as real as you and I. He is not a God of stone, he is a living God, with compassion and loving kindness just like any other Father, after all he made us in his likeness, but unlike us He is not deceitful nor is he corrupt. There is a story that Jesus told the people amongst whom were scribes and pharisees, it was about a man who planted a vineyard, and rented it out and went on a long journey, but at harvest time he sent one of his servants to the vine-growers, so that they could give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty handed. So the man proceeded to send another servant, but they beat him also, and treated him shamefully, sending him away also with nothing. So the man who planted the vineyard sent a third servant, but he also was treated badly and thrown out of the vineyard, so the owner of the vineyard said to himself, I know what to do, I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him, but alas when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, this son is the heirof the vineyard; let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours, so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him, (luke c20). This is a simple parable told by Jesus, it was not directed at the common people but the ruling authorities among the Jewish people, for the word vineyard is “Israel”, the vine-growers refer to the religious leaders and those who ruled over the people, the servants in this story are the prophets and those who the Lord God sent as his witnesses, the son of course refers to the Lord Jesus, and the one who planted the vineyard is the Lord God, this parable was a reminder to the religious leaders of Israel, of the Lord Gods dealing with the nation in the past. How do we know this, well the answer lies within this parable, first you will notice that when the Lord Jesus asked those who had gathered around the question,”what, therefore will the owner of the vineyard do to them? their reply, “he will come and destroy these vine-growers and give the vineyard to others”, but when they heard this, they said, “may it never be!”(verse 16). They understood clearly what this meant, they were under no illusion as to what was being said or what it meant, for when they said the words, “may it never be” it was the complete opposite of the amen!, which means “so be it”, but here you have them saying, “God forbid it”, they knew full well the meaning of this parable, for the parable revealed the most inner thoughts of their soul, and if there is one thing that people hate most,it is the revealing of their wrong doings, actions and thoughts. You may well say that this proves nothing, well every person has the right to his or her opinions, but then answer this, Jesus said to them as he looked them straight in the eye, what then is this that is written, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone? everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whom ever it falls, it will scatter him like dust, (verse17-v18), and from that statement the scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands upon him. What was his crime, he spoke the truth, does the truth offend, yes! Did Jesus comdemn them, no! for by their own mouths they comdemned themselves, (verses20-21), hence forth they watched him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch him in some statement, so as to deliver him up to the ruling authorities of the government, and they questioned him, saying, “teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and you are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth.” What was his crime! to love all, even the unlovable, to heal the sick with out cost, to spread the truth to all, to weep for the people and to weep with the people, to set them free from the bondage of the evil one. The religious leaders spoke the truth with their mouths, but sadly their hearts were far from God and his teachings, they displayed not an ounce of humility, unlike the Canaanite woman who came into the presence of her Creator and felt the purity of his Holiness, these religious leaders where charged with the responsibility of the spiritual welfare of these people, but they had turned the grace of God into a set of rules and regulations, and no longer represented the very Creator who they claimed to worship. Hence the veil what separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, showing that the Lord God no longer dwelt among them, he has chosen not to live any longer in a building that has been erected by human hands, but has decided to dwell within the hearts of what He himself has Created. No longer does the Lord God call one nation his nation, but out of all the nations of this world the Lord God calls individuals into one nation which he calls “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, (pet c2), this is what the Lord God is seeking, a people who love him, a people who know how to worship him in spirit and truth, individuals built into a spiritual house, those who can be identified even by the world as God’s own people. The Canaanite woman is only one of the many who cried unto the Lord Jesus when there was no other hope, like the thief upon the cross who was mocking Jesus, then suddenly there was a revelation to him, a kindling within his spirit, the truth was now open before him, no longer was he mocking Jesus, but acknowlegding his Lordship, and the Roman soldiers who watched the crucifixion of Jesus, said truly this was the son of God!, I pray tonight that if there is someone who feels their spirit within being kindled by the Holy spirit do not hesitate in asking the Lord Jesus into your heart. Just picture Him nailed to that cross with his arms outstretched before you, revealing just how much He loves you. Hear His words in the day of judgment when He shall say what did you do with my love, did you receive it into your heart or did you trample it under your feet, I loved you enough to go to the cross, to shed my blood so that you would have everlasting life and have it in abundance. So many today believe that they are going to heaven when they depart this life upon the earth without the need of Christ Jesus as their Saviour, but I just want to put a few questions to you, if you do not worship the Lord God here on earth,why do you want to go to Heaven when,in Heaven the redeemed shall worship the Lord God continuously. So if you do not have any relationship with the Lord God here upon the earth, why would He permit you a stranger, into his home, and why do people “believe” that when they depart from this life on earth they automatically go to Heaven. What is so strange is the fact that they have self-deceived themselves into believing that they are going to heaven, when in their hearts they do not believe that the Lord Jesus was the saviour, nor do they confess it with their mouths, is this not contradictory, does this not condemn you already. It is never too late for Christ Jesus to save, just like the thief upon the cross, when Jesus said; 'before this day ends you shall be with me in paradise,' it's never too late to put your trust in Christ Jesus, He will take you as you are, with all your failings and faults, warts and all, if you feel the Holy spirit move within your soul, grasp hold of its promises don’t let it go, for you are under conviction of sin. Accept his grace, reach out and take his hand,trust him as he leads you towards the way of Holiness, to a better life, to a life with meaning and fulfillment. I do not want to mislead you by saying that the christian life is a life free from suffering or tribulation for it is not, as I have said before,the moment you become a born-again christian the world becomes your enemy, even those within your family who are not saved, but the life of a born-again christian outweighs, the mockery and hurt that the world and the wicked one shall throw at you. And as for friendship, you shall have no better friend than the Lord Christ, for He shall never leave you nor shall He forsake you. Now it only remains for me to say don’t let go of your calling, and may the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy spirit be with you now and forever more. AMEN! |
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