Work with the hands of Jesus

I would like to share with you at this moment a meditation that has been very inspiring to me since I came across it. It's something a little different from what I talked about this morning, but I think it's going to be very good for each of our lives. This was something that God gave me in Puerto Rico a while ago and I shared it here at church, but it was in a morning service. I did not have the opportunity to share it in an afternoon service, so due to those coincidences in life you were there that morning in which I shared this reflection, well, double portion for you then, double portion for you but if not then what be a blessing

I would like you to go to the book of Luke, Chapter 13, in verse 10. The passage says:

“... Jesus taught in a synagogue on the day of rest and there was a woman who for 18 years had had a spirit of illness and walked bent over and in no way could she straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said to her, 'woman, you are free from your sickness,' and he laid his hands on her and she straightened up and glorified God....”

I am going to leave there What do you think? Wherever Jesus puts his hands, things change. Say to the person next to you, 'wherever Jesus puts his hands, things change'. If I wanted to say it in a very Puerto Rican way, because that is the context in which I preached this, I would say, "where Jesus puts his hand, everything changes." I change the put by the word to put the hands.

But look at this, brothers, this is something interesting, because here we see the context where Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. Obviously at that time in the synagogue, almost always all the men were the ones who took the place in front, mainly the Pharisees were the closest to the one who was teaching, so the rest of the people were, as it were, in the periphery, in the back where they didn't have much access and it was a very tight spot. There were people who had to stand in a corner.

And so was the context of that synagogue in which Jesus was teaching. And behold, at this moment a woman appears, I suddenly imagine that in the middle of the people, like one begins to see that people start to move to the side because this bundle is coming, like that, passing through the people Trying to find where to go.

And I want you to visualize this. We are talking about a woman for 18 years stooped. I don't know how many of you have seen a person who has a hunchback, but I have met, there was a time when I met a lady in the grocery store, this was when I was doing my shopping, and the lady, her hunchback it was to such a degree that his jaw was attached to his chest. She walked like this, with her jaw on her chest and that's how she was pushing her cart doing her shopping.

When I saw that, that passage that I'm reading now was something that flashed in my head and made me think, 'wow, how agonizing would it be to have a condition like that for so long? '.

There are times when I'm sitting in front of a computer and I kind of feel my shoulders roll forward, like many of us do now. I do this gesture and I see people as they are straightening up, like, I'm going to straighten my back. And there are times when you sit like that, half bent, you kind of feel uncomfortable. Imagine yourself for 18 years, all bent over, rather hunched over.

And here stands this woman, and Jesus sees this woman come in, and when others might have missed her, Jesus didn't. He wanted to use that opportunity as an additional teaching to what he was talking about. And he himself, he calls this woman, she goes to the front where everyone could see her. And obviously Jesus already had this reputation that whenever he was teaching on the Sabbath and he was doing some kind of miracles he would get into trouble with the Pharisees, there would always be an argument, every time he did something on the Sabbath of rest.

And Jesus was sure that as he brought this woman and worked a miracle in her life, he knew that there was going to be a good…..revolu…..a good discussion again. it was going to assemble again. This woman came, called her, and Jesus then assumes this action of intervening in a supernatural way in the life of this woman. With that action of her hands, of putting her hands on the back of this woman, I imagine that she put it on her back or perhaps one hand was on her back and the other on her shoulders to see if she could straighten her up in some way. shape.

The thing was, he decided to get his hands on this woman's life. And that action caused a lot of commotion there, because they quickly began to question themselves, 'but what does this guy think on the Sabbath? do it from Monday to Friday, like who says, but on Saturday, no, no. And that bothered Jesus in such a way that Jesus began to challenge the authorities. And look how he did it.

He tells his authorities, well not his authorities, he says to the Pharisees, 'ah guys, if you have a cow or an ox that needs to go to the field to eat your grass or to do your needs, you don't just happen to take it out and do your thing and then come back and bring it back, do you? What more then this woman, and look how Jesus identifies her, this woman who is the daughter of Abraham. It connected her directly with them, because it is from their own tradition. It is from her own heritage, it is from her own background and Jesus immediately connects her with that same background and tells her, 'this woman who for 18 years has been tied up by the enemy, why are we not going to untie her from that disease?'

I got to thinking, brothers, this is such an interesting thing. When I try to bring this to our world today, I start to think, 'Lord Jesus, how do you intervene in our lives by putting your hands in our different situations? Whatever the situation in which we find ourselves.....in fact, let me say it this way, whatever the stoop that you have, how interested the Lord Jesus is in laying hands on you and bringing healing in your life, the freedom, the strength that you need.

I think this is something very interesting and the first thing I want to point out here is that Jesus is even willing to challenge the systems and the authorities, and the rules established by man to bless you, for bless your life. That's the first thing I see here. Jesus knew from the beginning that the first time he calls this woman, first, look what he's doing, he's bringing a woman into the middle of the action, when women are supposed to be outside. Look at what Jesus does, he brings you into the same environment, and I am sure that when you see him, perhaps other people see you and you feel that you are on the periphery of your life, but when Jesus sets his eyes upon you, Jesus is going to bring you into the very center of his action, not of the action of other people, of his action. And as he draws you, I believe that here are two things that can happen: you have the freedom to respond to that invitation of Jesus in an affirmative way, you can say, 'ah yes, Jesus, if you call me, I'll go. ', or you can answer in a negative way, 'no, no, there are a lot of people around, I don't want to. Thank you. I stay here with my stoop.

That woman could easily have stayed in a corner back there when Jesus called her. That woman could easily have said, 'hey, no, no, I'm not going to risk being embarrassed again. I have been embarrassed many times by this hump back that I have here on my back so, no, I am not going to pass, I am not going to listen to your call.

But that was not the situation. This woman knew who it was who was calling her. She knew that he was not an ordinary man. She knew that he was not a Pharisee of those who were there warming a bench and wanting to be what perhaps they were not. She knew that it was Jesus who was calling her and therefore she responded.

And I think that, my brothers, when Jesus calls us, we have the option of either staying seated or responding to that call. Now, if you answer that call, get ready, because there's something he's going to do, there's something he's going to do. I believe that the hands of Jesus are in continuous action and perhaps we do not see it.

This morning I was saying that there are times when God works behind the scenes, behind the scenes and perhaps one can think or feel that nothing is happening, that nothing is moving, but yes, the Sir is in action. His hand is in action in favor of you, in favor of your life. And when the opportune moment arrives, that moment will bring the change that your life needs, the transformation that your life needs, will occur at the opportune moment. But we have to respond to that call and understand the action that the hands of Jesus are working at that moment in which we are, whatever the situation of our lives.

As I thought about this, my brothers, I couldn't help but try to identify the hands I find myself with today. If I understand that the hands of Jesus are in a continuous desire and need to be able to serve, to be able to help each one of us in whatever our need is, I too today can say that I have found myself with hands that are totally crusades. That is one of the hands that I have encountered today, hands that are crossed, hands that say, no, don't count on me, I'm not going, I'm not going to do this, I'm not going to do that. And they are hands that are closed all the time. There is no such provision.

And connected to those hands are also the hands that are very quick to be able to point, to be able to criticize, to be able to judge, as the hands of the Pharisees were doing pointing at Jesus, 'hey, but what? what do you think, boy? That's something you can't do.' And they're there pointing and you did that, or that one look what he was doing that night, and that one who thinks it's a big deal but it's not. And they are there pointing. They are hands that look like a little pistol and as we always say, although there is one finger pointing there, there are 3 fingers pointing towards me, judging me, measuring me.

And along with that, there's a third kind of hand that I've come across, and it's hands that are totally down and discouraged, hands that haven't even found the strength to do anything. , who have tried so many times that already... forget it, I'm not interested anymore. They have completely given up.

And when we find ourselves with that type of hands, what is the response that we have, brothers. Now, I believe the hands that are weary, so to speak, one answer that I found in the Scripture was an account of Jonathan and David. In First Samuel, Chapter 23 there is an account of when David reached a point of discouragement in his life due to the persecution that King Saul had on him, and the account says:

“...Then Jonathan stood up, -I'm reading in verse 16 of First Samuel, 23, if you want to read it, it says- ..... Then Jonathan, son of Saul, stood up and came to David in a Hores and strengthened his hand in God....”

Look how interesting: to counteract the hands that are tired and drooping, there are the hands of others that come along and are willing to lift them up so they can keep going. It's like when Moses was praying on the mountain for the people and Joshua, who was fighting there in the battle and had to come, Aaron and Ur to raise up Moses' hands so that that battle could be won at any time. Every time Moses lowered his hands because he was tired, the people of Israel began to lose the battle, but when someone came and raised their hands, they armed themselves with strength and power again, they stuck out their chests and...... chchchch... and there they would go and cut off the heads of two or three. Wow, how abrupt that sounded! The idea of a battle, right?

And that is the point, where there are hands that are down, there can be hands that are willing to raise and strengthen. And brothers, I believe that today the Lord is more than ever in search of that type of hands, more than ever the Lord today is in need of finding those hands that are willing to lift those hands that are down. The Lord more than ever is looking for hands that may not contradict, but rather trade with those hands that are crossed and pointing, he is looking for those hands that are willing to put their hand to the plow and move on without looking back.

That image of the hands is very important, of the hands on the plow, they are very important, brothers. If I think of that image, imagine a piece of land, a very strong, very solid land, full of stones, tree roots and this plow that goes there with that shovel, a lever that goes there in the middle cutting. The plow is obviously being pulled by oxen in front, but you have to use the force to swing and push at the same time.

Anyone else who doesn't understand that dynamic, finds the first stone and pffff.... this is too difficult, I'm not going to do that. And the hands are released from the plow and come back and cross or hide in the pocket and there is no one else to get their hands out of there. But the hands that understand well what their mission is, what their purpose is, when they put that hand there in the plow, they know that there is a job that must be done, and they know that there is the strength of God to help them, to strengthen them and cross all that terrain whatever it is.

Think about it, my brother, I see faces here and I see hands that have their hand on a plow working on a type of land that only you know what it is. Think about what your terrain is. It can be in your family, it can be in your job, in your profession, it can be in your school, it can be with a friend, it can be in your marriage, it can be in your courtship, it can be in your bachelorhood, it can be whatever be; you have a field in which you are working and in that land you find different things that can make it impossible for you to plow that land. And there are many times that you can feel totally discouraged, that you let go and go in another direction. That's the point of escaping things, it's very easy to do. But those who are directed by the hand of God, by that action of the hands of Jesus that if they have truly caused an impact in our lives, we find our ground and we say, 'No matter what', here I will continue .

If I do it in an idea a little more everyday to our time today. I don't know how many of you have your car buried under snow right now, or how many of you have your driveway right now, maybe, with a layer of snow and on top of that a layer of ice. When you get home you have the option of putting your hands on the TV remote and forgetting about the work you have to do, or you can take your hands and reach for the shovel and clean that whole driveway clean even if it hurts. , even if he gets calluses on his hand.

Only you know the need there is and there are times when you can start and it's like, I'm tired, I'm going to take a break, and the break is so much that when it comes back the snow has frozen and impossible to remove. Now, but if you started and you're like who says, in the flow way, in the momentum, and it's like you have your correct biomechanical position, your back in the right place, your hands, your shoulders and you start to get your hands on it to the situation, look, there is no one who stands in the middle, not even a block of ice. You are going to complete your task.

In the same way, think about this, Jesus has his hands at work in your life. He is interacting with you, he is identifying you in the midst of a crowd, and at least every moment, at a time when you least expect it, the Lord is there to identify you and get his hands on you, work with you, work with your heart, work with those things that trouble you and with those things that give you joy. The Lord is there willing to intervene and those encounters with the Lord cause something in you, not only that you can experience a transformation in your life, but that it will be demonstrated, my brothers, I believe that by obligation these The actions of the Lord in your life will be reflected in others around you.

I believe that God's action always works in this way, that it is not only to intervene in you but so that through you others can receive that same touch. Think about this, my brother, if you have the love of the Lord Jesus in the midst of your life, I believe that wherever you put your hands things can change. If you do it in the name of Jesus wherever you put your hands, things are going to change.

Now, if you believe it's going to happen, if you doubt, keep doubting and wait for something to happen. But if you doubt, believe me that it is going to be like the waves of the sea, that you are going to be trying and what you are going to do is skate on ice. But if you are truly convinced that the Lord Jesus is in you, that he has done in the midst of your life, and he has done and is doing and will continue to do a work of transformation in you, believe me, put your hands where you want , things are going to change.

Think, brother, think about those scenarios. Think about the possibilities, maybe you come across someone, look at this example. This was something that happened to me last week, I shared this with the young adults on Friday in the service that we had and I said to the boys, 'look, there was at the beginning of that week I was asking the Lord, I I said 'Lord, give me an opportunity so that I can bless someone in some way or another, give me an opportunity and open my eyes so that I can identify it too', because there are times when the Lord gives us opportunities and we are so focused on what we we want to do that..... when opportunities come up we let them pass because we are not pending.

I was at Borders, at the book store, I was at Borders, and you were reading the leadership and business books section. And suddenly, next to me, this boy approaches me, well dressed, you could tell he was a professional, he approaches me and I was reading, looking for books, and suddenly, he approaches me out of nowhere and asks me 'hey Do you happen to have any reference to this book in particular?' And in that second, my brothers, it was like I started to think and I said to myself, like, ok, I can lie to you and tell you yes, the book is very good although I did not know about the book. I ruled out that option, no, I'm not going to say that. At the same time, I was surprised that the person would ask me something, particularly in a book store. Usually when you go to a book store, people are focused on what they want to find, it's as if they were in a bubble, that is, they are reading the book like this. I don't know if this has happened to you, but it has happened to me, they're like reading a book and you're there and suddenly they do..... they pass by and continue. In other words, they recognize that you are there but it is like total ignorance, they pass you by or in front of you, some don't even say with your permission, others at least that's how they say 'excuse me'...,. I say ok, it can happen.

But the thing is, this guy comes up to me and asks me that question and I said,....... no, I don't know anything about that book. And he, oh, ok, and he stood there looking. And quickly that prayer that I made to the Lord at the beginning of the week came to my mind. I said to myself, wow, Omar, you have an opportunity here to be able to bless this boy, to at least be able to establish a conversation with a total stranger.

And I said to myself, wow, what can I say, what can I say?' And I started looking for books that I had seen and that I did know and I started looking and you know what book I found : Good to pray, one of your recommendations. I say, 'hey, wait, this book is really good, I've heard great things, I've read some chapters...' and he 'ah, yes, look how good...' and suddenly this conversation got out of hand like that. nothing, and he says to me, 'do you read a lot of business books like that and you have a personal business? He asks me, are you some kind of manager or something? And I got to thinking, uh, I'm an ..... assistant manager,...... that's me thinking in my head. How do I explain it, how do I tell him, I tell him that I'm an associate pastor, or I say it in more business terms, but then I said to myself, no, I told him 'look, yes, I'm an associate pastor and many times we use this material as to prepare and equip our people in their work that do things.

And the boy, all of a sudden my eyes widened like an owl and he comes out and says, 'wow, and your church is so open that they take material like that to prepare their leaders?' And I said, 'yes, why? And the boy comes out and tells me, I'm a Roman Catholic and if we ever use material like this to prepare our people, they'll kick us out of the church. And I was like wow, there the sky opened up for me, my brothers, and it was as if all the lights around us went out and only one spotlight was shining on Rick, the name of this boy and me.

I said, this is a divine moment, and we had a tremendous conversation based on a leadership book and how he, in his experience in church life, has perhaps experienced frustrations and me sharing my experiences, which They are not necessarily frustrations but they have been blessings from God, in one way or another, this boy felt stimulated in some way. And I can know that my brothers, because although we ended that conversation there, later I went to the books section but they are on audio and that boy was there again, and he came and took out one of the ones he had read and put it in my hand, and I, oh, thank you very much, and we kept talking for a while. I almost even offered to buy him a coffee or something there.

But the thing was that when he was going to leave I began to think, and I said to myself, Omar, you have an opportunity to bless this boy now, and what I did was... in Seriously, brothers, before I said goodbye to him, I said in my heart, Lord, that even if it is with my handshake this boy can feel a touch from you. And look, I shook my hand with that boy, I squeezed it as if I had known him for years and I said, 'Rick, I wish you blessings, I wish you the best in your job, in your career, success' . I mean, in other words I blessed him, I extended that blessing to him.

And I believe, brothers, that that interaction, that second, that handshake there did something in that person's heart. I don't know if I'll see him again. I invited him here to church, I don't know if he will have that invitation or not, but I believe, brothers, that the intention with which I shook my hand on that occasion, something, something, I believed it by faith, and I still believe that something caused in the heart of that man.

And in the same way, my brothers, any interaction that you have with the people around you, from your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter, your mother, your father, your grandfather, If your aunt, your friend, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, whoever it is, after you have the intention to bless that person and your hands convey that intention, believe that changes are going to happen. What makes the difference is the power of intentionality that you have in that gesture.

The intention that Jesus had when he performed that miracle with that woman was not only to free and bless that woman, but also to teach the people around her something. In the same way, anything that you do in the name of Jesus with that intent to bless, and your hands that don't stay crossed like that, or don't stay in your pockets, or aren't necessarily pointing to criticize, but may your hands be extended to bless and serve, get ready because you are going to see changes happening around you, you are going to see changes happening in your family, you are going to see changes happening in your workplace, you are going to see things happening with foreigners around you, you will see the hand of God working through you.

That's what the Lord Jesus is looking for today, hands that are willing to get on the plow and push that ground without looking back, whatever their plow may be. I invite you to stand up, brothers, and we are going to ask the Lord to seal this word in us, my brothers. Think carefully, whatever your situation, whether you work as an accountant in a place and you perhaps say, oh, Pastor Omar, all my hand does is enter numbers on a calculator. Look, even if your finger is tired of marking numbers on a calculator, the action of those fingers can bring blessing to that company, to that place where you are.

If you work in direct contact with people, I don't know, that you are like a social worker, or if you are a personal trainer and you work directly with people, see that every touch of your hands be to bless that life. Bless that life, if you cut hair, if you are a stylist and cut hair, see that when you are running your hand through that hair, bless the thoughts of that person, 'Lord, touch this person, bless his thoughts, remove any negativity'.

God has the power to work through those things. If you work with a hammer breaking ground, breaking walls, see that that same action in the name of Jesus you say that ties are broken in the lives of people, put a loud song in the name of Jesus and that this results in actions for the people around you.

Those are the hands that the Lord Jesus is looking for today, hands that are willing to put themselves to the plow without looking back, hands that are willing to take action and bring about change. What's more, who knows if there are hands here that apply the saying that everything they touch turns to gold. And that God is waiting for your hands to surrender completely to him so that you can bless the work of the Kingdom even more.

If you want, brother, I invite you to raise your hands to the Lord now in a sign of surrender. Physical hands are physical hands, but the intention we put into those hands is what can make a big difference. If you see us on the internet and want to join in this prayer as well, feel free to do so, present your hands there to the Lord. Whatever you do, even if it's knitting a shirt, knitting a quilt, whatever it is, present your hands to the Lord and say, 'Lord Jesus, here are my hands. In this time in which we live I give you my hands. Use my hands to bring your blessing, through what I do, through what I can touch, through the actions in which I can serve.

Use those actions to bless people around you. And, Father, I declare, Jesus, right now that your hands rest on each one of your sons and daughters in a very special way, my God, that you can put your hands in our lives and straighten those bends that we may have by then we can serve you even better.

Father, give us the power we need, give us that motivation that our life needs, we know and declare as your word says, that you put in us both to want and to do, Jesus. Father, perhaps many of us have the desire in our lives but we need to do it and I beg you to complete this work right now, Lord, that you put the complete package there in the midst of our lives so that we can serve. that we take our hands out of our pockets, from that attitude of indifference and that our hands are ready to serve, that our hands are ready to give, that not only are our hands open to receive something, but our hands are ready to to give, to offer that gift of life that you give to us.

Lord Jesus the intentions of our hearts that are connected with the actions of our hands. You are the one who discerns the intentions of our hearts, Jesus, and I beg you that this heart of ours can be touched and transformed by you at every moment, Jesus, so that our intentions can be a blessing at every moment, Jesus, that we do not narrow our hands, that we do not shorten ourselves to bless, but that we are always with those radars on looking for the way in which we can bless someone around us, even if it is a foreigner, Lord, even if it is a person that we have never seen, and that maybe that action although we will never see it again, but it is action, Lord, that works and operates its result in you Jesus, because we do it in your name, Lord, whatever the action my God, I ask you to operate devise great and mighty things in those lives and in us, Lord, that we may continue to see your hand in action in all that we do, that our eyes may not blind, Jesus, but may we always keep our eyes on open to see you working in a special way, in a direct way, Lord Jesus, in an intentional way in us and in those around us.

Bless my brothers, Lord. I declare your blessing on each one of them, from the youngest to the oldest, Lord, on those who have certain faith in you and those who still have their doubts, I declare your blessing, that you bring clarity to each one of their lives and may your hand move with power in their midst.

Glory and honor be all to you, Jesus, always and always. Thank you Lord, in your Jesus name.