Contact or Connection....

A few thousand years ago as Jesus was on his way to heal a sick child, there was a multitude of people surrounding him to such a degree that the people were pressing in upon him and jostling against him.
No doubt Jesus was possibly even being pushed along by such a large crowd as people thronged about him and were making physical contact with him. But one person in the midst of this crowd, a desperate woman, touched him and something miraculous took place. When Jesus asked “who touched me.?”, the disciples just didn’t get it. What a crazy question to ask, after all everybody is touching him, he’s in the midst of a crowd for goodness sake.!!
But Jesus was not asking who it was that had made contact with him, he was asking who it was had made connection with him.
Contact and Connection. Two totally different things. Every week most of us diligently attend our local churches and may even attend a homegroup or similar meeting during the week. Every day we read our Bibles, spend time alone with God, and meditate upon the things of God throughout the day as time allows.
But are we just making contact, or are we making connection.?
We need Gods grace every day of our lives, but what we often fail to realize is that God’s grace is more than just a fact, it is a force. God’s grace is more than just forgiveness from sin, it is the power to overcome sin. God’s grace is more than just a gift, it is a powerful enabling. God’s grace carries supernatural power that changes our life. When we receive Gods grace, virtue flows. Power is transferred from Him to us. Miracles take place when grace flows freely. But to receive his grace there must be connection. I’ve discovered that merely keeping contact with God just makes me religious. Keeping in contact with God eases my conscious, but doesn’t cleanse it. Keeping in contact with God makes me feel spiritual but inwardly I remain thirsty and dry. Keeping in contact with God robs me of power and authority because I live in a knowledge of Grace but not in the reality and experience of it. But when I make connection with God, virtue flows, power is released and I am anointed. When I make connection with God his grace is sufficient for every task. When I make connection with God, duty turns to beauty and service turns to passion.