We invite you to encounter more of Christ by reflecting on his marvelous names in Scripture. This page features daily selections from the book, I Want to Know More of Christ, by Steve Hall. As you listen to the audio or read the text versions (which are updated every day) may you become increasingly captivated by the fullness of Christ! You can also receive a free daily email reminder to visit this page by signing up below.
Jesus is…
The Balm in Gilead
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SCRIPTURE READING:
Jeremiah 8:18-22
You who are my Comforter in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.
Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?”
“Why have they aroused my anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?”
“The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”
Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?
SIGNIFICANCE:
The LORD JESUS CHRIST brings full restoration and healing for the body, soul, and spirit to us from the Father.
Dear Father, I join the prophet Jeremiah in being crushed that so many people have chosen to be “far away” from You spiritually. “I mourn, and horror grips me.” But, I rejoice that Jesus is the Balm in Gilead, Whom You sent to save lost and dying people from their sin. I think of how Gilead was, for many years, a region that was known to produce balms and other fragrant and healing products. I praise Jesus that He is the fragrant oil that all people who are desperate for healing from their sin and sorrow can receive. I bless Jesus that through His life, death and resurrection He is the all-sufficient remedy that can be poured out on the spiritually needy to give them life, and that life abundantly. I pray that I and all believers will be so immersed in the Balm in Gilead that we will be able: “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18b-19). Please urge us to tell all the lost people in our lives about our loving, saving and healing Jesus. May many of them believe that He is the only medicine that heals the soul and the body, and eagerly receive Him as their Balm in Gilead. In Jesus’ healing name I pray these things. Amen.
