August 23 - Jesus Touches an Untouchable

#LifeOfChrist

“A woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, ‘If I only touch His garment, I will get well.’ But Jesus turning and seeing her said, ‘Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.’ At once the woman was made well” (Matthew 9:20–22).

When the godly Sir James Simpson was on his deathbed, a friend said to him, “Well, James, soon you will be able to rest on the bosom of Jesus.” But Simpson replied, “I don’t know that I can quite do that, but I do think I can take hold of His garment.”

In her shame at being ostracized from her family and being ceremonially unclean, the woman here wanted to be unnoticed. She merely desired to touch Jesus’ garment, confident that such contact was enough to receive healing. In keeping with such confidence, she received immediate healing from her defilement.

Our Lord became aware of what had happened only as He realized that divine power had gone out from Him (Luke 8:46)—a realization that happened before He humanly knew of the woman specifically. His statement, “your faith has made you well,” simply assured her and the crowd that miraculous healing had occurred. Jesus did not care that her touching Him would make Him ceremonially unclean to the Jews. The Lord was touchable even by an untouchable.

Even though the woman’s expectations were likely not fully informed by Scripture—she might have superstitiously thought Christ’s clothes had inherent healing powers—He spoke to her caringly and compassionately: “Daughter, take courage.” In spite of other factors, the woman’s faith was genuine and acceptable to the Lord. It was enough to make her well.

Ask Yourself

Part of the balance of Christian faith is realizing that we are unworthy to touch the hem of His garment, yet are welcomed into His full embrace as an adopted member of His family. How do these two seeming incongruities come together and balance out in your worship?

Creation points us to the greatness of our Creator.

Share this with someone who needs a reminder of God's greatness today.

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THE PILGRIMS GUIDE

SUNDAY AUGUST 23, 2026

STEADFAST UNTIL VICTORY

A WORD FROM THE WORD:

"So now, beloved ones, stand firm, stable, and enduring. Live your lives with an unshakable confidence. We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures." 1 Corinthians 15:58 TPT.

Faith is not only believing God for miracles, it's required steadfastly also when results are slow and answers seem to be delayed. Many believers start in faith but end up in the flesh, and unstable when pressure increases. Yet Scripture makes the call of God upon us to stand firm, that is to remain unmoved by situations, circumstances, opinions, and momentary setbacks.

Steadfast faith is quiet but powerful. It is not given to panic, neither is it spasmodic or subject to mood swings. It does not quit or fluctuate with emotions. It is faith that remains rooted in God’s Word even when feelings disagree and situations resist. Those blessed with steadfast faith do not waste energy fighting fear, rather they stay and are focused on obedience. One undeniable product of steadfast faith is undeniable results.

God is strengthening your spiritual footing, to give you undeniable and unshakable victory. May you not be distracted, and remain firmly focused until your victory manifests.

PRAYER BULLETS:

LORD Jesus, thank You for the privilege of faith. Help me to stand firm and remain faithful regardless of the situations and circumstances I am faced with.

FURTHER READING:

Hebrews 10:35-36; 12:1-3; James 1:2-4; Galatians 6:9.
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Amaobi Nwachukwu 2026.

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7 - CANONS OF PUBLIC PRAYER
C. H. Spurgeon

First, public prayer should be a matter of the heart.
A man must be really earnest in prayer. You can pardon a man’s familiarities and vulgarities too, when you clearly see that his inmost heart is speaking to his Master, and that it is only the man’s defects of education or experience which create his faults, and not any moral or spiritual vices of his heart. Cast your whole soul into the exercise of public prayer. So pray, that by a divine attraction, you draw the whole congregation up with you to the throne of God. So pray, that by the power of the Spirit, you express the desires and thoughts of every one present, and stand as the one voice for hundreds of beating hearts which are glowing with fervor before God’s throne.

Second, public prayer should be appropriate. There is no need to make the public prayer a gazette of the week’s events, or a register of the births, deaths, and marriage of your people, but the general movements that have taken place in the congregation should be noted by the minister’s careful heart. He should bring the joys and sorrows alike before the throne of grace.

Third, public prayer should not be long.
John Macdonald said, “If you are in the spirit of prayer, do not be long, because other people will not be able to keep pace with you in such unusual spirituality; and if you are not in the spirit of prayer, do not be long, because you will then be sure to weary the listeners.” Ten minutes is the limit to which our public prayer ought to be prolonged.

Fourth, do not use cant phrases.
Be done with these vile things altogether. There should be no grotesque mingling of Scripture texts, alterations of Scripture texts, or abuses of Scriptural truth in prayer. It ought always to be a point of honor among ministers always to quote Scripture directly. Make us of an expression fresh from your own mind, and it will be quite as acceptable to God as a scriptural phrase defaced or clipped. Vehemently strive against garblings and perversions of Scripture, and renounce forever all cant phrases, for the are the disfigurement of free prayer.

Five, vary the order, length, and current of your public prayers.
Vary the order of your prayers, then, for the sake of maintaining attention, and preventing people going through the whole thing as a clock runs on till the weights are down. Also vary the length of your prayers. Do you not think it would be much better if sometimes instead of giving three minutes to the first prayer and fifteen minutes to the second, you have nine minutes to each? Would it not be better sometimes to be longer in the first, and not so long in the second prayer? Finally, vary the current of your prayers. There are many topics which require your attention; the church in its weakness, its backslidings, its sorrows, and its comforts; the outside world, the neighborhood, unconverted hearers, the young people, the nation. Do not pray for all these every time, or otherwise your prayers will be long and probably uninteresting.

Six, keep from all attempts to work up spurious fervor in public devotion.
Do not labor to seem earnest. Pray as your heart dictates, under the leading of the Spirit of God, and if you are dull and heavy tell the Lord so. It will be no ill thing to confess your deadness, and bewail it, and cry for quickening; it will be real and acceptable prayer; but simulated ardor is a shameful form of lying.

Seventh, prepare your prayer.
Proper preparation means solemn consideration beforehand of the importance of prayer, meditation upon the needs of men’s souls, and a remembrance of the promises which we are to plead; and thus coming before the Lord with a petition written upon the fleshly tables of the heart. This is surely better than coming to God at random, rushing before the throne at haphazard, without a definite error or desire.

If we wanted to summarize the canons with adverbs we could say, “Spurgeon exhorts pastors to pray soulfully, appropriately, quickly, authentically, variously, and prepared-ly.”

Spugeon’s conclusion of the lecture is a most fitting place for this post to end:

Let your prayers be earnest, full of fire, vehemence, prevalence. I pray the Holy Ghost to instruct every student of this College so to offer public prayer, that God shall always be served of his best. Let your petitions be plain and heart-felt; and while your people may sometimes feel that the sermon was below the mark, may they also feel that the prayer compensated for all.

“Christ did not die just to save us from sins, but to bring us together into community. After coming to Christ, our next step is to be involved in community. A church that does not experience community is a parody, a sham.” - Gilbert Bilezikian

We have all been gifted by God to do something in this life. How do we live in a way that displays the Gospel at the forefront of our lives? How do we remain persistent in prayer while waiting to hear from God? And what about when it comes to dealing with someone who's theology is flawed?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p26a50Z_2WQ

PRAY

Pray is the key thar unlocks all doors.

Prayer should always our first response to every situation.

I've been on this platform only a few days, but I have observed something rather disappointing. Now I know it takes time to form and develop relationships, but what I see is akin to walking into a new church, staying for the entire service, and not have one person greet you, or even acknowledge your presence. In our travels, Patsy and I upon finding ourselves in a new city have experienced this too many times. Our take? Were we to be living in that city, there's one church we would not consider making our church home.

I've done a bit of browsing around a few places on this platform, including looking at the public feed. I have seen zero conversations between members. A few comments on posts which for the most part are one or two word comments. That's not conversation. I've made a few posts which could be material for conversations. Not one comment on any of them,

So is this platform going to be a fellowship of fellow Christians, or is it just going to be a board for sharing memes and other non-personal content?

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GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL

When everything around you begins to shake, don't let fear have the final word. God is your refuge, your strength, and your help in times of trouble.

Father, make a way where there seems to be no way. Protect our families, guide our steps, strengthen our hearts, and turn every storm into a testimony.

If you believe God will carry you through every storm, declare:

“GOD IS MY REFUGE!”

May this prayer strengthen your faith and remind you that no matter what you're facing, God is still in control.

Share this prayer with someone who needs God's protection today.

In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.

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