2008 Memory, FOREVER TRUTH!

No matter what Joshua faces, there is one person he goes to, one thing he asks to bring peace...he will ask us to pray to Jesus. I was reminded of a section that was published last year regarding Joshua and what I have learned from him. I wanted to share it with you. As we walk through this chapter and as you walk through yours.

JESUS MAKES ME FEEL SAFE...
A section from:
Life Inside the Box of a Jigsaw Puzzle: Finding God’s Grace, Strength, Hope and Understanding inside the Spectrum of Autism.
By: Angel S. Thompson
Copyright Year: © 2009
Published by Unleashing Potential Ministries/AST
All Rights Reserved.

My son never ceases to amaze me…or rather, how he views God and how God points me to HIM through this precious little boy standing before me, who says the most profound things.

I am always in a study of prayer and recently it has led to a small study of the tassels of the prayer shawl. In the book of Numbers, God told Moses…rather commanded that they make tzitzit (seet-see), tassels on their cloaks. Tassels on all four corners with a blue cord on each. This was to remind them of God’s commands so they would not stray. Jewish men still wear them today, and I have come to know some Jewish women who do the same. What I found fascinating was that this very thing, and then the prophecy of Malachi brought a puzzle piece together for me in the New Testament. Rather, it added more to the event that took place.

The woman heard that Jesus was coming to town. She had heard of Him and the stories of those delivered by his touch. She knew she had to make her way to see Him. She had been suffering for years with a medical condition that left her bleeding. In some translations they say she had an “issue of blood”. I had a friend who had a very similar disorder and it left her weak and in pain most of her days.

So, here was this lady, making her way to Jesus…in pain, weak. The crowd was thick, so many people. I can imagine a lot of dust everywhere, heat. She sat down, and waited. After a while she looks up and sees Jesus coming, but now she lacks the strength. Do you know what her thought was? Of course you do. She thought that if she could but touch the hem of his garment, his cloak, his tzitzit she would be healed. Do you see the power in her thought and then in her action? She remembered Malachi’s prophecy.

Malachi 4:2
“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in it’s wings…”

She then acted on it. The wings represented his cloak. She was healed immediately. She found healing and peace in Jesus. Why do I say peace? Well, another thing I have begun to discover as I study, the word “Shalom”, which is what He said, “Go in peace”, means more than what we “think” it does. What do you think of when you hear the word, peace? No strife. No conflict. Harmony. Yet the Hebraic meaning goes deeper. To quote Rob Bell, “Shalom is the presence of the goodness of God. It’s the presence of wholeness; completeness…Jesus blessed her with God’s presence on her entire being.”

Now, how does my son figure into all of this? How have I been challenged by his “profound” statement and actions? The cross is his tzitzit. Every time he sees one, and it could be how the branches are on a tree, he is reminded of Jesus and immediately says, “Jesus is off the cross, thanks.” Tonight he saw a cross and he started talking about Jesus. Then he said something that I honestly will never forget…. “Jesus makes me feel safe.” Completeness.

You may not have a “prayer cloak”, yet my question is what is your “tzitzit”? What reminds you to keep your eyes fix on Christ? If you are His child, His desire is to bring you complete wholeness…even in the midst of what we walk through we can have completeness. Joshua has Autism & now PANDAS D/O, I still have Thyroid disease and Fibromyalgia…despite that, we have wholeness in Him because of Christ.