Dear Friends,
As I am writing this letter, I have just arrived home on Wednesday night from sharing about Jesus with a group of Jewish SDSU students. A Jewish student organization was hosting an event considering the relationship between mental health and faith, and I was asked to sit on a panel with a rabbi and an SDSU professor and to share about faith and mental health from a Christian perspective. I had little knowledge of what to expect going in, having been contacted by the organizer only two days before the event. But, I'm always happy to talk about Jesus given any invitation to do so. And so I simply shared the gospel with them.
At events like this, I am reminded again and again that most of the world does not know that God is alive and active and that he interacts with human beings. Even most religious people don't expect God to speak or to heal or to have emotions or relationships. And they certainly don't expect God to show up by his Spirit and sovereignly intervene in someone's inner experience, directly healing their heart and mind. And yet this is exactly what our God does. I didn't have the chance to pray for any of the Jewish students in attendance that night. But, as I am sitting down to write to you today, I am thinking about how desperately the world needs to know that God is alive and active in this world.
In Luke chapter 9, Jesus gave his disciples power to cast out demons and heal diseases and sent them out to announce the coming of the kingdom of God. In verse 6, we read that they then "went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere." As you pray this week, please pray that we would do as these disciples did. Pray for Coast to be filled anew with the Holy Spirit. Pray that we would be emboldened and empowered to heal all kinds of illnesses, illnesses of body, mind, and spirit, and to share the good news of the kingdom of God with those who need to know there is God who sees, loves, heals, and delivers. You might also pray for those who heard the gospel last night, that the Spirit will continue to stir in their hearts and that they will reach out to Jesus.
Pray with me right now if you'd like:
Holy Spirit, come on us, your church. Fill us with faith. Fill us with compassion for the lost and broken. Fill us with your healing power. Fill us with power for evangelism. Fill us such that we cannot help but speak the good news to anyone who is willing to hear it. Bring home your lost children. Amen.
Love in Christ,
Michelle
