Insights to Finding Spiritual Peace

We see in Jesus that God reached out and touched all who came to Him, and who released faith in Him and His spoken words. The blind men who received their sight relied upon His touch and His word as sufficient to heal them (Matt. 9:27-30). The bleeding woman reached out to touch the Word, knowing by faith she would find healing in Him (Matt. 9:20). The centurion asked only that Jesus speak the word, and he believed that his servant would be healed - and he was (Matt. 8). We are shown in these accounts of Jesus' life that, with confidence, men and women reached out to Him, placed trust in what He said, and received the loving touch of God upon their requests.

And now to us - to us who have no physical manifestation to look upon. To us, who are left with the printed Word, and the Holy Spirit. We who look upon an empty manger in which, long ago, a Holy Child lay. Where do we go in our hour of need? Which street of the city is Jesus walking down now when we need to find Him...to be touched by Him... to hear Him command healing and peace over our lives? Where is He residing this evening, that we might knock upon the door and say, "We would desire to see Jesus?" At which table is He seated for His evening meal, that we might take up a chair next to Him and lay our weary head upon His chest and feel the warmth of comfort, the great power of knowing that in His presence all is taken care of and we can hear Him say, "Be at rest, I will take your burden"? Where is He just now? For we need to find the sweet release that comes from speaking our needs and burdens in His ears and looking into His all-knowing eyes as His presence frees us from the bondage of fear and anxiety of oh, so many things.

He is here! He is in our hearts by His Spirit. He is manifest to us in His Word. For the printed Word is the very living Word that was manifest so long ago. It is His Spirit that quickens it to our hearts by faith in a way that brings us into His presence, just as if we were following Him down the streets of old. We can touch His garment today! We can hear Him say "according to your faith be it done unto you." We can feel His touch, and look into His eyes, as the Spirit makes real to us … the Word. We can rely upon the written Word as confidently as others relied upon His physical touch and audible voice. We are no less the object of His care and affection than those who saw Him in the flesh. His Word is of no less power to us than it was to them. We, with them, share in the same privilege of belonging to Him. And we are invited to partake of the fullness of His blessings as we, by faith, proclaim that we will stand upon His Word - which is indeed God, the Word who was in the beginning with God (John 1:1).

If there is a continuing blessing in the remembrance of His birth the first Christmas, it is in knowing that His presence is continuing, eternal, and accessible to us today. All that God manifests in the life of Jesus - His love, comfort, forgiveness, healing, deliverance, hope, encouragement, compassion, mercy - are yet there for us today through our faith in His Word.

Do we go there with expectancy and faith? Do we walk the pages and read the verses as those who sought Him in the streets of the towns and villages of years ago - knowing that when we find Him, we will receive from Him that which we need? Do we allow the Holy Spirit to quicken to our hearts the reality of His presence through the written Word? Do we believe that the Word, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is today waiting to minister to us the touch of God, just as Jesus touched so many when he walked this earth in the flesh?

It stands true today that those who seek Him in such a way will indeed find Him to be the same as the centurion found Him, as the blind men found Him, and as the bleeding woman found Him. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever! The Word we read is the Word manifest in the flesh - the living God, waiting for us to receive Him as such. Reach out by faith and touch Him in your moment of need. Reach for Him in His Word. Expect Him to be found of your heart as you seek Him down the pages and verses of life, the pages and verses of the Word. Place your trust unshakably in His Word and He will uphold you. He will never fail you. See Him there - on the path just in front of you! He has stopped and is standing still, commanding that you come to Him. He has heard your cry just as he heard Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46). He is in that verse of promise with His hand outstretched. Take it! His touch is for you, today.