A Bruised Reed

A Bruised Reed 

A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. Isaiah 42:3

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30

Men can and will be cruel and heartless including religious ones but not Jesus Christ who is gentle and lowly in heart and a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench. We have many good illustrations in the gospels of the love, understanding and compassion of Jesus towards the sick, afflicted and bereaved. The bible records for our profit and instruction:

Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  Matthew 20:29-34

Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."  Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."  So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us"; and, "God has visited His people." Luke 7:11-16

Yes, the Jesus who had compassion and touched the eyes of the blind men so that they immediately received their sight and had compassion on the widow whose only son had died and raised him from dead, is alive and well and ready to do miracles for those who come to Him. It’s not God who wants to see His people sick, afflicted, poor and needy, it’s the devil. It God who wants to visit His people and to give them their needed miracles!  His Love, character, compensation and Miracle working power has not changed. Hence we can stand in agreement with God word Psalms 138:8, 103:3, 107:20, Isaiah 53:5 and Matthew 18:18, that He is perfecting the things that concern us, by the stripes of Jesus, we are healed, whole and complete, and the enemy is bound and cast out of our and our loved ones lives in the name of Jesus! God’s word is unchanging:

If you extend your soul to the hungry  And satisfy the afflicted soul,  Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,  And your darkness shall be as the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually,  And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones;  You shall be like a watered garden,  And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you  Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;  And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,  The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.  "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,  From doing your pleasure on My holy day,  And call the Sabbath a delight,  The holy day of the LORD honorable,  And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,  Nor finding your own pleasure,  Nor speaking your own words,  Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,  And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.  The mouth of the LORD has spoken." Isaiah 58:10-14

And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations,  And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.  Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our God.  You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,  And in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,  And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double;  Everlasting joy shall be theirs.  "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering;  I will direct their work in truth,  And will make with them an everlasting covenant.  Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,  And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them,  That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed." Isaiah 61:4-9

Yes, God has promised double honor and great blessings including financial for those who trust Him, obey His voice and walk in His ways!  Mind you there are those who are evil and wicked and throw people out of the church because they don’t real know or have seen God! God’s word is unchanging:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.  Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true. 3 John 1:9-12

While wisdom and knowledge and understanding are very important things in our lives and are to be acquired, they cannot substitute the importance of having love. Hence our prayer should always be, “Lord let me walk continually  in the Spirit of the Lord so love, compassion and power will be demonstrated and not in the flesh where nothing will be accomplished!”  Mind you those who are of the flesh accept the arguments of Cessationsim concerning the gifts of the spirit and believe that the supposed ‘second blessing’ theology is exegetically wrong and pastorally divisive as it  allows suffering people to writhe in self-inflicted guilt because they ‘do not have the faith to be healed’  which is also un-Scriptural. Even though Jesus Christ in His miracle ministry healed all (Matthew 4:24, 8:16, 12:14, 14:14, 15:30, 19:2 & 21:14), many so called Christians believe that not everyone will be healed. And maybe as a result of their lack of faith, not everyone is healed?

But since the kingdom has dawned and is operating, we should expect signs and wonders as surely as we expect conversions. Signs and wonders include exorcism, healing the sick, and words of knowledge. They not only serve to confirm the Christian’s faith, but they are necessary manifestations of the kingdom’s presence and advance.  In the sphere of all evangelism, signs and wonders must find a place or the gospel we present is defective and robbed of its power. God’s word is unchanging:

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."   In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; "for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it." Luke 10:17-24

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;  but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:30-31

WALTER KAMBULOW
VICTORY MINISTRIES