One-a-Day...for the Heart: "Touchy Feely"

The sense of touch is powerful. A valid way to connect with a person whose communication skills and cognitive abilities are compromised by Alzheimer Disease involves the sense of touch. A simple exercise to stimulate the brain of such patients is to place Items of different textures, shapes, and sizes into a paper bag. With his eyes closed, the person reaches into the bag, selects an item, and describes what he feels—soft, scratchy, smooth, round, pointy, flat, etc. Often, the person cannot remember the name of the item, but the feel of it is readily recognizable. As Jesus began healing people, it became apparent that His touch was all that was needed to reverse diseases. Matthew records in chapter 9:18-26 two incidents involving the power of Jesus’ touch… the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before Him. "My daughter has just died," he said, "but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her. So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, "If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, "Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well." And the woman was healed at that moment. When Jesus arrived at the official's home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. "Get out!" he told them. "The girl isn't dead; she's only asleep." But the crowd laughed at him. After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside. As believers, we are the hands of Jesus. He freely gives His supernatural power to us so we can help people as He did. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:17-18 KJV). We don’t even need to say long, wordy prayers when we lay hands on the sick! A gentle touch can extend enough faith to activate the healing power of Jesus through us. If you are in need of healing, do not hesitate to ask even a child to lay hands on you. There is something remarkably powerful and pure about the innocence of a child’s faith. Whether young or old, the Lord wants us to reach out and touch someone!

© 2020, Chris Werre