712 I Think I'm Sick

I was once told you’ll never know Jesus as a healer if you’re not first sick. How will you ever personally know of Jesus’ healing powers if you never need healing? I will shout it from the roof tops because I know without a shadow of doubt how he heals because this girl right here once couldn’t walk or talk after a stroke, but Jesus changed that. But beyond that … this girl was once too wrapped up in her own world to walk right, and Jesus healed me and set my feet on the right path. I once was too afraid to talk about God, I mean what would I possibly say and what if I got it wrong, then Jesus healed me of that too. Maybe you’re listening today and you know you’re sick. You know you’re suffering. Or maybe you’re listening today and you have no idea just how sick you are until Jesus comes in and heals you of everything you’ve ever struggled with! That’s right, we’re not just talking about physical sickness, we’re talking about anything and everything that has ever threatened your potential. Let’s read about the healing power of Jesus: Mark 1: 40-42 “A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.” Leprosy was a disease that not only disfigured you, but alienated you. A leper was isolated, left to suffer alone. What they had was contagious and would spread to anyone they came in contact with. When a leper walked through a crowd, they were required to yell “unclean, unclean, unclean.” A warning of their condition. Imagine living this life. A life where something is so wrong with you that others must be warned of your presence. Imagine having to tell people “I am infected and what I have could rub off on you. I could ruin your life.” Wouldn’t you too beg to be healed of this disease? Wouldn’t you pursue Jesus with every ounce of your energy, effort and means if he was your only hope of living a meaningful life again? That’s what this man infected with leprosy was doing. He was desperate. He came out of his hiding, into public where his disease was on full display, and he begged Jesus to heal him. He begged. What was Jesus’ response? He was MOVED WITH COMPASSION. I want you to understand Jesus looks at you with that same compassion today. Why? Because you may be dealing with a crippling disease that is holding you back from fully living the life he came to give you. A disease of low self-esteem. A disease of regret. A disease of playing little. And just as the lepar’s disease caused him to yell “unclean, unclean” as he entered a crowd, your disease has you yelling “unworthy, unwanted, unimportant.” Something within you is ill and you now see yourself as broken. For years I battled the disease of performance. At the time I didn’t know it was a disease. I thought it was a high standard, but I was sick. I wanted to be just right for everyone. I wanted everyone to like me and if someone didn’t, then it was a personal attack on my very being. I would worry and fret over how to make every last person happy, and ultimately it not only made me unhappy, it made the people I loved most miserable. I wore labels of “too much” or “too little”. I second guessed everything I said and regretted most of what came flying out of my mouth. I would dress up the areas where I felt I was not enough, and I would shrink back where I felt I was too much. And in the process I was literally losing who God created me to be. My sickness crippled my potential. What is your disease? What is causing you to lose the person you were created t...