HE CALLS YOU BY YOUR NAME

This is Tuesday of Hurricane Harvey, August 29, 2017. I'm washing dishes at the sink listening to the radio people  (88.7). They told about the band COLDPLAY, who had to cancel Houston show cuz of hurricane flood. COLDPLAY was in another town yesterday and sang a song they wrote for Houston, to let us Houston people know they are thinking of us. It is a really sweet song, expressing that sentiment. I shed a tear thinking about when they will play in Houston next and will sing that song here; and their audience will roar in joy that the COLDPLAY people thought of them in their night of flood nightmare.
So now I want to tell you about Our Lord and Creator.
He knows us by name. He knows us intimately, our secret us; and He loves us.
I remember a few years ago walking down the hall at church and overhearing the youth leader teaching his Sunday school students and asking them when they feel closest to God, feel most loved by God. I wanted to pop into the class and give MY answer: I feel closest to God when He calls me by name; when I know He is talking to ME specifically, individually, and knows the innermost me me.
Recently, I've been thinking about that very idea. I have the privilege of attending a Bible study taught by Poksoon Kim and she is teaching on stories in Bible book of LUKE, LUKE 8:42-48.(Poksoon Kim's recorded teaching is available online. Maybe Google her name.) she was telling about the woman who had bleeding that would not stop and secretly touched Jesus' clothes to be healed because she believed that she could be healed that way.
Well, she WAS healed; but Jesus did not want it to be a secret. Sister Kim was explaining and wanting us to enter in to all that was involved that Jesus wanted to heal by insisting that her healing be public instead of private.
Sister Kim explained that the woman, because of her illness had come to feel very isolated and pushed away from her community. Also, since she had 'taken' the healing instead of actually asking Jesus to heal her, she may have felt that she didn't deserve that healing and that another might have lost out because she 'took' it. So Jesus wanted to clear all that up so she could feel really happy and at peace (Shalom) about her healing. Wow!!!
Thank you, Jesus!