July 1 - I Am Willing

Today's Reading:
Lamentations 4:1-5:22
Matthew 8:1-17
Proverbs 10:31-11:8 
Click on Text Link to Read Online

Focus Verses:
Matthew 8:1-3
1 When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

Insight:
The leper asked Jesus "if he was willing" to heal. He was! The overwhelming testimony of scripture is that God is both ready and willing to heal and save those who call out to him. The eighth chapter of Matthew demonstrates Jesus' authority over disease, sin, nature, mental illness, and evil spirits. He willingly spoke the word, and his word was powerful to save.

Response and Action:
I am thankful that God is both ready and willing to restore and save. By faith, I acknowledge that God's word is powerful to save me and truthful to guide me. I will look to God for his saving word. I delight in the words of scripture. I will turn to Jesus, the good shepherd, trusting him to seek and save me. I will seek him with all my heart and he will not let me stray from his commands (Ps. 119:10).

O God, thank you for your powerful, healing, and sustaining word. Thank you for your readiness and willingness to save all who cry out to you. Give me a heart that delights in your word and make me ready and willing to follow you. Help me to grow in faith and confidence as I walk in your ways. Amen.

Spiritual Formation Verses: 1 Timothy 2:3-5
3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus...
 
Resources:
The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
by Brennan Manning