“Just then Jesus turned around and looked at her and said, “My daughter, be encouraged. Your faith has healed you.” And instantly she was healed!” Matthew 9:22 TPT

Jesus knew that this ill woman
Needed encouragement
To confirm that she was well
And no longer unclean
Though normally a Jewish rabbi
Would not speak to a strange woman
Jesus turned and look straight at her
Confirmed her faith had given healing

Instantly she received
Jesus healing power
Her body was made well
At that moment in the crowd
Perhaps no one else there knew
How she had been unclean
But Jesus loving words
Made her healed and whole again

The power of Jesus
To overcome all evils
Was seeing through her faith’s actions
Despite this woman’s ills
In reaching out to touch Him
As His words confirmed
She had been cleansed, made whole
Healed to live again

There is no chronic illness
That faith in Jesus cannot change
For His healing power
Is still here today
In His Presence and prayer
We can touch our loving Savior
Find healing and wholeness
A new life of restoration

“Suddenly, a woman came from behind Jesus and touched the tassel of his prayer shawl for healing. She had been suffering from continual bleeding for twelve years, but had faith that Jesus could heal her. For she kept saying to herself, “If I could only touch his prayer shawl I would be healed.”” Matthew 9:20-21 TPT

For 12 years this woman suffered
And continue to bleed
And her illness must have given her
Much suffering indeed
For not only was she sick
But she could not attend God‘s temple
No one was meant to touch her
For God‘s law declared her unclean

So for her to simply be
In this crowd of people
Seeking for Jesus
So she could touch his prayer shawl
Was to go against the law
To go against her culture
And to take a great risk
That someone would recognize her

Yet on that day
Faith was seen in her courage
Seen in her desperation
To simply touch Jesus
She did not call out
Or demand his attention
But reached for what helped him
In prayer and supplication

She could see that Jesus power
Truly came from God
So believed his prayer shawl
Was in that power soaked
Just to touch one tassel
Was what she reached out to do
Her faith in Jesus was certain
In his power to heal

Lord no matter how long
A person has been ill
Your power to heal them
Is never at issue
Give me faith to persevere
Despite crowds and our traditions
Enable me to be Your prayerful touch
For healing and deliverance

“Immediately the man sprang to his feet and left for home.” Matthew 9:7 TPT

As the power of Jesus words
Of forgiveness and healing
Fell on the lame man
He sprang to his feet, standing
He then left for home, walking
No doubt to share the good news
That Jesus had healed him
And all was forgiven

Surely there would have been
Much joy that day
As his family saw him walk
Saw that Jesus had healed him
And I wonder if his neighbours
Joined in the celebration
For surely his faithful friends
Deserved a great thanking

The religious scholars
Who thought they knew God better
Had their judgment of Jesus
Brought into serious question
How could a man lame
Clearly bound in sin and shame
Be suddenly walking
Unless truly forgiven?

This is the power of the words
That Jesus speaks
They show his authority
Over sin and all creation
They demonstrate the power
That brought this world into being
That created life for us
Created human beings

Though Jesus had left Heaven
To be born as one of us
Yet he was born of God’s Spirit
As God’s true Son
His identity confirmed
By God voice at his baptism
He’s authority and power
Confirmed in the Holy Spirit‘s Presence

It was daily acts of power
Forgiveness, healing and deliverance
That demonstrated God’s kingdom
Was here in Jesus’ Presence
He demonstrated that God’s Spirit
Could give birth to a human
With God‘s authority and power
This world to redeem

Now we are God’s Sons
Born of flesh and Spirit
When we take Jesus as our Lord
And His eternal life inherit
Our words are His words
And we give witness to His glory
When we forgive, heal and deliver
In His authority

“But now, to convince you that the Son of Man has been given authority to forgive sins, I say to this man, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk home.’ ”” Matthew 9:6 TPT

There are many that challenge
Whether Jesus was God
And it was just the same
When Jesus was alive
The religious scholars present
Resented Jesus power
And questioned his authority
To forgive on God’s behalf

But Jesus had a demonstration
Right there in front of them
A man so bound in sin and guilt
It had made him lame
If Jesus’ words of forgiveness
Really had God‘s power
Then that man would now be free to walk
Released and empowered

So these intellectuals
Could see they had been blind
Jesus told the man to walk
A simple command
But it would not have worked
If the man was unforgiven
Because they knew the laws of God
Could not be broken

Jesus wanted all to see
That they could come to Him
To be forgiven
Released from all their sin
The burden that God‘s law
Had placed on them
He could release them from
Into God‘s kingdom

The result of that freedom
Is not simply forgiveness
But health and life and wholeness
That only God can give us
For Jesus death did not pay
To simply wipe our record clean
But to give us his eternal life
All parts of us healing

“Just then some people brought a paraplegic man to him, lying on a sleeping mat. When Jesus perceived the strong faith within their hearts, he said to the paralyzed man, “My son, be encouraged, for your sins have been forgiven.”” Matthew 9:2 TPT

It is a great thing
To have faithful friends
A believing community
That stands with you in your need
To help you find solutions
Rather than condemn
Just as this man’s friends
Brought him in faith to Jesus

Jesus saw their hearts
And he was moved by their love
Their concern for their brother
Their faith in Jesus so strong
They knew he was the solution
To what beset their friend
So they carried their brother
To Jesus side

Sometimes it is our sin
That leaves us paralyzed
Depressed and hopeless
Sickness takes hold
And Jesus could see
What bound this man to his bed
And he knew that forgiveness
Was the crucial thing he needed

So Jesus spoke the words
Of great encouragement
Told the man he was forgiven
Of all the sins he done
For Jesus knew that guilt
Was a powerful bondage
That could keep this man from walking
From receiving his healing

To hear Jesus voice
Assuring us we are forgiven
Said with the authority
That God‘s son was given
There is nothing more powerful
Nothing more freeing
Then to be released
From the burden of our sin

That very same Jesus
Says to you and I today
All is forgiven
On the cross taken away
I paid all the cost
On that fateful day
So you could be freed
From sin and guilt’s sway

As I go about my day
When I come across
Someone bound by sin and guilt
For which You, Jesus, paid the cost
You empower me to say
As a son of God
Be encouraged you’re forgiven
Jesus has paid the cost

To be freed from guilt and sin
Is the core that needs healing
In every person’s life
In every human being
Without it we are bound
And certainly dying
Only Jesus forgiveness
Can give us life everlasting

From everything we’ve done Jesus
You cleanse and make us whole
For You know there is no separation
Of body, mind and soul
For we were made as one unit
To show Your glory in to world
A true reflection of You
A Kingdom of God child

“Jesus commanded, “Then go!” And at once the demons came out of the men and went into the pigs. Then the entire herd of crazed pigs stampeded down the steep slope and fell into the water and drowned.” Matthew 8:32 TPT

Just one simple command
And ALL the demons moved on
They left the men completely
And to the pigs latched on
They could not disobey You Jesus
Could not stand in Your way
Against Your power and authority
They had no say

You chose that time and place
To demonstrate Your kingdom’s power
Show that evil must submit
To You word’s authority
There were no crowds to see it
Just Your disciples standing by
Though the whole village was impacted
When the pigs went mad and died.

You could have used Your power
To confront kings and rulers
To take on the Roman army
Free Israel from occupation
But instead You chose
To aid two powerless men
To bring freedom to two nobodies
That lived in a graveyard

It is the hallmark of Your Kingdom
That Your power was for all
To free us all from sin’s oppression
No matter where we’re from
With Your love and power
You served the homeless and oppressed
The blind and disabled
The abandoned and rejected

When I am confronted
By fear and the demonic
Attempting to take over
To take control of me
I will rest in Your Presence Lord
Rest in the power
Of Your Kingdom in me
For You are my strong tower

When I am confronted
By the works of the enemy
See people bound in evil
Living lives of torment
Empower me to love them
Like You loved these two men
And use Your Kingdom power
To bring them release and peace