1142-Through Jesus, You Are Close to God#
1142-Through Jesus, You Are Close to God
（JP 文字组 - 整理如鹰的生命）
Let us pray together:
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You. Thank You for gathering us once again before You, and through Jesus Christ, we have drawn near to the Father. Through Your Word, we come to know You more. We are willing to establish our correct faith on the truth. We desire to know You more deeply. May the Holy Spirit lead us, renew us, and help us to receive more of Your revelation. Thank You, Lord. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen!
Today's scripture is from Luke 5:12-17,
12 One time, Jesus was in a city, and there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed!” Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He charged him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.”
15 However, the report about Him went around concerning Him all the more, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. 17 Now it happened on one of those days, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
Today, our topic is Through Jesus, You Are Close to God.
The first point we share is that through Jesus, you can come directly before God and receive His grace.
In today's passage, many people came to hear Jesus preach. Some came to be healed, while others just wanted to see if He was teaching anything wrong. At this time, Jesus had already become quite famous; He had performed many miracles and healed many people, including those with leprosy.
In fact, all the Israelites knew that this disease was incurable and almost impossible to be cleansed from, and it was highly contagious. I have previously shared about leprosy; the most terrifying aspect of it is that in the later stages, a person's flesh would fall off in chunks, exposing the bones, yet the person would not feel any pain, like a walking corpse.
The Bible records that only a few people with leprosy were healed, two of whom are in the Old Testament: one is Miriam, Moses' sister, who was struck with leprosy for slandering Moses, but after seven days, God cleansed her. The Israelites understood this, as she was one of their own.
The other was Naaman, a non-Israelite. After he heard that the God of Israel could heal him, he sought out the prophet Elisha, who sent a messenger to tell him to wash seven times in the Jordan River to be healed. In the end, Naaman followed the prophet's words, washed in the Jordan seven times, and was cleansed of his leprosy.
Aside from these two, there was the man we just read about, who was quite special because, although many had been cleansed of leprosy in the past, no one had ever dared to touch a leper due to the disease's high contagion. Just touching something they had used could result in transmission, let alone touching the person themselves!
Later in the New Testament, ten lepers were also cleansed. Today, we share that this leper encountered Jesus and was cleansed. After this man was cleansed, Jesus told him not to tell anyone but to show himself to the priest and offer the gift commanded by Moses as a testimony to the people.
At that time, they were still under the Old Testament, so they had to follow what Moses commanded. After being cleansed, they were to offer a gift to God and testify to the priests. So, after realizing he was completely cleansed, he went to find the priest to testify.
However, under the law, almost no one went to the priest to declare their cleansing; usually, it was the priest who found people to declare them unclean. But because of Jesus' appearance, perhaps people were coming to the priests every day, saying, "Look at me; I used to have a skin disease, but I am now clean. A man named Jesus has cleansed me; He healed me." There might have been others, like the blind, who came to the priest saying, "I was blind, but now I can see. A man named Jesus healed me." There might have been some who were disabled saying, "I was disabled, but now I am healed; I am completely healthy," and they came to the priest saying, "I can now worship God."
These people almost simultaneously mentioned one name—Jesus. So today, we see in the passage that one day, while Jesus was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come from all the towns of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. They had come because recently, many had mentioned being healed by Jesus. So these teachers of the law came to see what kind of person Jesus was and whether His teachings conformed to the law.
Verse 17 mentions that while Jesus was teaching and had not yet finished, during this process, the Bible tells us, "The power of the Lord was present with Him to heal the sick."
In our Chinese Bible, it is not apparent what makes Him special, but we know in the original Greek, it is in the present continuous tense, meaning that while Jesus was teaching, the power of the Lord was continually with Him, flowing out as He taught.
In other words, while Jesus was teaching, this power was continuously flowing from Him, constantly reaching those who were listening. This power was not meant to strike the people down, making them aware of their sins or how unclean they were, nor to show them their helplessness. Jesus spoke of grace and truth. When the people heard such teachings, healing power continually came upon them, enabling them to be healed.
Of course, some might say, "But the Pharisees and teachers of the law were also present." Here, Jesus did not say, "Pharisees and teachers of the law, I know your motives are not pure, so you are not qualified to receive this power." No, it is not that; all who listened to the Word had this blessing. God's power and grace were available to everyone; it was just that the Pharisees and teachers of the law were unwilling to believe, so they could not receive the grace of healing.
A few days ago, someone in our church asked me: "When Jesus was on the cross, He died not only for our sins but for the sins of the whole world. If that is the case, can people be saved even if they do not believe in Jesus?" Many people still have misunderstandings about this. In fact, it is like the situation we are sharing today; God has prepared salvation for everyone, and this salvation is freely given by God.
As long as a person is willing to believe in Jesus, they can receive this gift called eternal life. God has placed His promises in the Bible, and anyone willing can receive them. However, not everyone is willing to believe, but that does not mean God has not prepared for them.
Jesus was preaching, and many were listening to Him. Of course, some might be healed, while others, even if they were sick, might not experience the effect. This does not mean God is partial; it has a direct relationship with those who listen to the Word, and we will continue to share this issue.
Acts 10:43-44
All the prophets witness to Him, saying: "Whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name." While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the message.
This passage is similar to what we are sharing today, where the power is released while Jesus is preaching. You notice that when Peter, the disciple of Jesus, was proclaiming the grace and truth of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the message. In fact, these two events happened simultaneously.
So today, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, God's grace is also upon you at this moment, through God's servants, the pastors and teachers He has appointed, during the preaching process, God's grace is coming upon you. God does not care who you are; as long as you are willing to receive this Word, God is willing to pour out His grace and His power upon you. You can reach out and believe, and you will receive.
The Lord's power is continuously supplied, continuously flowing... The Lord's healing is also continuously flowing out... God's supply never ceases, but whether people can receive it is another matter. So we see that John mentions in Revelation that he saw the Son of God in the midst of the golden lampstands. Our focus should be on the center, Jesus Christ. Let Jesus Christ be the center of our lives. God especially desires to establish an intimate relationship with you. When He is the center of your life, your environment will be transformed, and everything will prosper.
Similarly, even if your situation is terrible, when you are willing to believe and accept Jesus as your Savior in your life, His power will flow upon you, and your situation will be turned around. If your husband, wife, or children are willing to listen to such teachings and believe in such a Jesus, do not feel angry or jealous. Even if they are very obsessed with Jesus, it will not ruin your relationship with them because Jesus in the middle will bless your relationship. Because of Jesus, and because you have received such a Jesus, your family relationships will become more harmonious, and your relationships will become stronger. So let Jesus enter your life!
If your loved ones want to believe in Jesus, let them go and believe. This is the way of life. When Jesus is in your family, the people in your family will become closer to each other. Hallelujah! Because through Jesus, your relationship with God becomes very close. The cross has two aspects: first, your relationship with God is close, and secondly, the relationship between people becomes close. Thank the Lord. When Jesus is in the middle, all these relationships will be restored.
Now let’s take a look at the Pharisees. The Pharisees were also sitting below listening to the teachings. When Jesus spoke these words, they might have thought, "How can you say such things?" It sounded quite comfortable. While Jesus continued to speak of grace and truth, a special patient appeared. In Luke 5:18, there was a man being carried on a bed by some friends, wanting to bring him to Jesus, but there were too many people, and they could not get in. So his friends lowered him through the roof to Jesus. The Pharisees then looked on, eager to see how Jesus would solve this man's problem. What would He do in front of this patient?
Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "Your sins are forgiven." At that moment, the Pharisees and teachers of the law could no longer contain themselves and began to reason in their hearts, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" So they were very dissatisfied.
Why did they strongly oppose Him? Because in the Old Testament, God was the God who forgives and heals, so healing and forgiveness were not only present in the New Testament but also in the Old Testament. Of course, there were many miracles in the Old Testament, but the difference between the Old and New Testaments is that in the Old Testament, there was still a distance between God and man, especially under the law. People saw God as high and lifted up, which made them feel no intimacy. If we still place God high up in the heavens today, we feel we can never reach Him.
Sometimes I hear some pastors and brothers and sisters pray like this: "O glorious God, holy God, who sits high in heaven, please listen to my prayer as a sinner..." You can tell from just these few words that it gives the impression that God is far away, sitting at the other end of heaven! You can hardly reach Him, and then they continue to say, "O glorious God, holy Father..." You realize you feel filthy all over, and He is so far away.
So some people say, "I always feel God is very far from me." This is a problem caused by our illusion. Because in the Old Testament, God indeed was like that. Although they saw smoke, darkness, and lightning on Mount Sinai, they did not dare to approach God because He was too terrifying.
This was the Old Testament, where there was no sense of intimacy between God and man. Later, the Israelites built the tabernacle, and God finally came down from heaven to dwell in the tabernacle, but God still could not communicate directly with man; there was still a distance. He dwelled in the Most Holy Place. You know, even though God came down from heaven to earth, there was still a distance. Before a person could see God, they had to bring a sacrifice, and they could only enter the courtyard.
Brothers and sisters, if you have read about the tabernacle in the Old Testament, you know that ordinary people could only enter the courtyard, bringing their sacrificial animals. That was the closest they could get to God. Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place once a year to have an intimate meeting with God. This was the Old Testament. Even if you were very close to God, the mercy seat was right in front of you, but at that time, the high priest was still fearful and trembling. Although physically closer, the distance in their hearts remained.
We know that the high priest entered to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people; this was the Old Testament. Even in such a situation, there was still a distance in the relationship between man and God. But in the New Testament, Jesus came; He is the God who became flesh. We can see Him among the people; we can see the grace on Him, see His forgiveness towards people, and see His healing power flowing from Him. You can be very close to Jesus and no longer feel He is terrifying. The people stood very close to Jesus.
The people were particularly willing to draw near to Jesus; many wanted to touch Him, which we read in the Bible. Why were people willing to do this? Because Jesus brought not the law; He is not the Lord who feels unapproachable; He is the God who is willing to draw near to you. Hallelujah!
Even those who have sinned, Jesus is willing to accept and use grace to lead them to repentance. The Bible says that a woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus. Even when such a person appeared before Jesus, He still offered her forgiveness, acceptance, and the grace of forgiveness flowed continuously from Him.
However, the religious leaders were not happy about this at all. They clearly knew that the Israelites needed a Savior and needed forgiveness, but when Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven," they could no longer contain themselves and said, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Here is the question: Do you know who can forgive sins besides God? Of course, it is the priest.
When a person had a skin disease, the priest would say, "Hmm, you are a sinner; you are unclean; you cannot live among us normal people. You must go outside and keep your distance." After seven days, if the disease was gone, then you could return, and I would say you are clean; I would say your sin is removed, and then it is removed.
As a result, the person would leave the crowd and go far away. After seven days, when he found his skin disease was gone, he would go to the priest and say, "Priest, look at me; is my disease gone?" The priest would look and say, "Hmm, your affliction is gone, so now you are clean; you can return and reunite with your family." Besides God, the priest was also doing this work.
But now suddenly, a person appeared, saying what the priest said and doing what the priest did. Could these priests not be angry? They felt Jesus had offended their authority because they did not want God to come directly to the world; they preferred God to be high in heaven. At this moment, these religious leaders were their own gods.
Today, we know that no one can replace Jesus' position. The priests did not understand that they were merely God's channels; they were only doing things on behalf of God before the people. They were not high and mighty, ruling over God's people; they were servants.
Whether pastors, teachers, or preachers, we are all doing the same thing—leading people to Jesus Christ. We are just a channel. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law at that time did not understand.
We are under grace; we are all under the grace of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus offered His body as a sacrifice on the cross, your relationship with God is very close. How close is the Lord to you? The Bible tells us that "the Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart."
Jesus Christ is in your mouth and in your heart. As long as you are willing to accept Jesus and acknowledge Him as your Lord, you will be saved. You can have a very close relationship with God, close to the point that wherever you go, He is with you. Through Jesus Christ, today you can come directly before God to receive His grace, no longer needing anyone else as your mediator.
Today, many people have a misunderstanding that if I pray myself, perhaps God will not listen, so I need to go to church to find our pastor because our pastor's prayers will surely be heard by God. I tell our pastor my matters, and then the pastor prays to God, and God will surely accomplish it for me. Some even get very angry if the pastor does not bless their child. Later, when I heard about this, I said, "You can bless your child yourself; why do you focus all your attention on the pastor?"
You can directly receive God's blessings from God; isn't that better? The pastor may be too busy with ministry and overlook things, but you can pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for your child! Today, through Jesus Christ, our relationship with God is so close.
We no longer need someone in between as a mediator. Some teachings say you cannot pray directly to God; you need to pray through someone else. You have to go through someone to tell God your matters. Isn't that the Old Testament? Now we are under the New Testament. Thank and praise the Lord.
The second point is that through Jesus, God is always with you.
John 14:16: "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."
Brothers and sisters, these are the words Jesus personally told us. This Helper, the Holy Spirit, is with us forever. Because of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will never leave you. Many people do not understand and pray, "Lord, please do not let Your Holy Spirit leave me." David prayed like this back then, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me!"
Have you forgotten that was the Old Testament? But under the New Testament, because of Jesus Christ, God has given us a promise that He will be with us forever. Thank the Lord.
So this tells us from another perspective that today, no one can replace your intimate relationship with God. God is no longer a God high in heaven, far from you. He has become flesh and dwells among us, full of grace and truth. We have seen His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, Jesus Christ. Some may say, "I have never seen Jesus with my own eyes."
Brothers and sisters, Jesus is in the Bible today. When you read the Bible, you are reading Jesus Christ Himself. As long as you read the Bible, you are encountering Jesus Christ and can see His glory and understand His truth. Just like we are sharing today, you find that Jesus is always forgiving, always merciful, always just.
Brothers and sisters, you see Jesus as the God full of grace and truth. Many people, after believing in Jesus, still only see their shortcomings, their flaws, and their diseases, but do not see the glory of Jesus Christ. Today, when you bring your shortcomings and diseases into the glory of Jesus, entering into His abundance, you can receive His abundance and healing. Hallelujah!
First, you must see the grace of Jesus Christ and bring your problems to Jesus. He came to earth as a sign of God drawing near to you. You can find Him anytime. When you think of Jesus in your mind, He is in your heart, He is in your mouth, He is very, very close to you. Thank and praise the Lord! So bring your shortcomings and draw from the grace of Jesus; Jesus calls this faith.
The Bible tells of a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, spending all her money on many doctors, but her condition grew worse. When she heard the message of Jesus Christ, she pressed through the crowd with her disease to draw healing from Jesus. Afterward, Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." Thank the Lord, Hallelujah!
So brothers and sisters, you need to see the abundance of the Lord Jesus in your daily life, work, and relationships, and draw wisdom from Him to face everyday life. Because the Lord Jesus is not high in heaven; He is in your heart, always with you. So receive His supply; you no longer need to bring a sacrificial animal to Him. You do not need to wait for the priest to finish washing his hands and feet to offer sacrifices for you. You can come directly to the Lord Jesus, entrust everything to Him, and draw near to Him to receive His supply. Just like we saw with the paralyzed man, come directly and enter into His grace. Thank and praise the Lord!
Mark 10:47 tells us that there was a blind man named Bartimaeus. When he heard about Jesus and that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." In our Chinese Bible, it translates as "have pity on me," but I prefer to use "have mercy on me" because the original text uses "have mercy on me."
At that time, many rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, do not speak." In the face of such a pitiful blind man, many acted as Pharisees. In fact, today, many of us unknowingly play the roles of Pharisees and teachers of the law, blocking people from coming directly to Jesus, making them think that God does not delight in us and that He is not easily approachable.
The incarnate Lord Jesus is not like that; He is love, grace, and truth. He walks among us and is very, very close to you today. When you read the Bible, you can pray like this: "Lord, open my eyes to see Your abundance, to see Your grace and truth, and to see the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible."
Through reading the Bible, we can all see the supply of God's grace and truth. Thank the Lord! So when many tried to stop Bartimaeus from seeing Jesus, Jesus stopped and said, "Let him come to Me!"
This is our Lord Jesus. When you are willing to draw near to Him, He will never reject you.
Some brought their little children to Jesus for Him to bless them, but His disciples rebuked them. This happened in Mark 10:14. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to His disciples, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God." Then Jesus took the children in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. Hallelujah!
Brothers and sisters, do you see? Jesus truly does not reject those who seek Him. They thought, "I just want to have a blessing prayer for my child." They did not expect that Jesus would first embrace their child and then bless them. This is our Lord Jesus. As long as you are willing to draw near to Jesus, what you receive from God far exceeds what you ask or think. Amen.
Many people say, "Lord, how long must I wait?" In fact, God is always waiting for us. He waits for us to quiet down, to rest, because we are too busy today, almost without time to talk to Jesus.
Jesus is waiting for you to converse with Him. He is not a God who is hard to find; you can find Him anytime. Today, you no longer need to offer sacrifices through a priest to see the Lord; you can find Him anytime. Thank the Lord! You can come directly before the Lord Jesus, sharing your problems, your joys, and everything with Him. He is the God of grace, the Lord of mercy, and the God who supplies you. Hallelujah! He does not ask you for anything; He is here to supply you.
What do you need? A breakthrough in finances, improvement in family relationships, restoration of interpersonal relationships, or healing from a certain disease? What you need to do is draw near to Jesus and draw from the grace of Jesus Christ. Do not let anyone block you from coming before the Lord Jesus.
Many under the law tell people, "Do not bother Jesus with small matters; He is too busy! When you encounter big issues, then come to Jesus." They say, "For such trivial matters, why trouble Him? He is busy dealing with the affairs of heaven and earth!" If you hear such words, do not believe them. Our God is never busy. He may have many ministries, but He is never in chaos. When Jesus was on earth, He had many works to do, but He never said, "You all wait a moment; let me take a break; I can hardly breathe with so many of you asking me questions. I have to answer them one by one."
You have never seen Jesus troubled by such things. No matter how many people came to seek Him, Jesus always had time to receive them. No matter how big your problem is, Jesus never said, "This matter you brought up, I have never thought of it before; please wait a moment while I pray to my Father about how to handle this." No, Jesus has never faced such a problem; He always has the answer to all your questions. Thank the Lord!
So let us not allow those Pharisees and teachers of the law to block you from seeking Jesus in life. Today, through Jesus Christ, the Father is willing to listen to prayers. No matter how small the matter is, Jesus is willing to take the time to hear your prayer; He never finds it bothersome. We should also not become those who block others from coming before Jesus.
Sometimes we may feel that some people are too despicable to come before Jesus to receive salvation. Such people deserve to die. We should not have such a heart because they are also a soul, and God sees every soul as precious and hopes they can turn back.
We should not believe in false teachings; we must correctly believe the words Jesus has told us. Today, we are under the grace of Jesus Christ, so you can pray to God about everything and draw near to Jesus. You do not have to come before Jesus just to ask for something.
In China, many people misunderstand this God, always thinking, "When I have something I need, I will trouble Jesus." In fact, even if you do not come to ask for something, you can say, "Lord, in this prayer, I am not asking for anything; I just want to share my feelings with You." Jesus is also willing to listen to such prayers. Even if you have some complaints that your husband may not want to hear, your child may not want to hear, or your wife may not want to hear, you can tell Jesus, and He will always have time to listen and will provide comfort to you. Hallelujah! Thank and praise the Lord!
So do not let anyone block your steps from coming before Jesus. Someone may ask, "How can I draw near to Jesus today?" Through the words of God in the Bible, through gatherings, during the process of listening to the Word, you are drawing near to Jesus because the grace and truth of Jesus Christ conveyed from the pulpit enter your heart, and at that moment, you can feel how close God is to you. Hallelujah! Another way is through prayer. When you are in the process of prayer, you can feel that God is right beside you, very, very close to you. So there are many ways to draw near to Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, the more you are willing to draw near to God, the more grace you will receive from Him. So today, Jesus is especially willing for you to draw near to Him. Our Heavenly Father is especially willing for you to draw near to Him and communicate with Him. He is willing to supply you with His abundant grace. Hallelujah!
Acts 17:26-27 tells us,
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.
God made every nation of men from one blood to dwell on the earth, meaning on this planet, and God has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. Why did God set these? It is so that we may seek Him. Hallelujah! You see, today we do not have to run to the moon to see Jesus; you do not have to go to space to find Jesus. You can see God's work right here on this earth, within our lifespan, and in the boundaries where we dwell.
When you open your eyes and see the wonders of nature, you know, "Lord, all of this is Your mighty work." And He tells you that you can seek and find Him. Seek and find means to meditate. When you see all these marvelous creatures, you can meditate on the power of God!
Romans 10:6-8 also tells us,
6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart." That is, the word of faith which we preach.
What is this word? It is the word of salvation through Jesus Christ, the way of grace through Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
So when you see Jesus described in the Bible, you should know that this is the Word we preach. From Jesus comes grace and truth, and the four Gospels clearly record that Jesus was with sinners, with prostitutes, with tax collectors, and with marginalized people in society. As long as those people are willing to seek Jesus, God allows them to find Him, and God has also given us this promise: those who seek will find. Hallelujah!
So Jesus is always waiting for us to seek Him. I hope that each brother and sister will entrust everything into the hands of the Father every day. When a day begins, you can pray like this to God: "Lord, I entrust my time today into Your hands. May You lead my steps. I know You are in my heart. I know You can hear the words I am speaking to You right now. You take control of my time today and bless the work of my hands. I know You can lead me with Your methods and guide me with Your grace, and I will achieve more with less effort because Your wisdom surpasses all human wisdom." Hallelujah!
When you entrust everything into the hands of the Lord Jesus, allowing Him to guide you and the Holy Spirit to lead your work for the day, you will find that everything becomes very easy. Thank and praise the Lord!
Today, many people are often anxious about the poor economic situation this year, fearing unemployment, fearing problems in their families, fearing this and that... Why do they have such worries? Because they have not entrusted everything into the hands of our Heavenly Father. When we believe that God will take care of everything for us, our hearts will rejoice, and we will find rest. Hallelujah! Thank and praise the Lord!
Now, let us pray together:
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank and praise Your grace. Through Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sins on the cross, our relationship with the Father has been reconciled. We are very close to the Father. He no longer angers against us and no longer remembers our sins. Wherever I go, You will be with me, helping me and supplying all my needs.
Lord, thank and praise You! You love us so much. When we receive Your Word, it is You speaking to me personally. So I want to bring this grace into my heart, letting Your Word become my strength and help! Thank You, Heavenly Father, for such abundant supply today. I believe I am blessed by God. Hallelujah! In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!