He Touched Me

Shackled by a heavy burden, ‘Neath a load of guilt and shame. Then the hand of Jesus touched me, And now I am no longer the same.

Shackled by a heavy burden,neath a load of guilt and shame. What are we burdened with? We are burdened with the weight of our sin. Who is burdened with this load? Well, or course, we all are. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  “Oh, I don’t feel such a burden” a person says; however we all do, because we all know. We know we have fallen short of the glory of God. We know how glorious He is and that we cannot stand beside Him with our heads up. We know because of the presence of God’s work around us, and we are all without excuse.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

“I am not bothered by these things you Christians call sin,” a person says. That is simply not true, as we are all given the same conscience concerning what is right and wrong by the same God. We all have it, whether one of God’s chosen and redeemed or not.

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another

Let’s take a look how David, a man after God’s own heart, felt about his own transgressions. Now, some would say that what David did was not REALLY so bad, after all, many are guilty of it. But, one of the greatest believers in history felt differently.

(A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.) O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

Then the hand of Jesus touched me,And now I am no longer the same. By His stripes we are healed. How did Jesus touch us? He touches us by His atoning work. Because our sin not only loads us down with a burden everyday, but it faces us with a penalty. For the wages of sin is death. Spiritual death, and eternal separation from God, because He is perfect and holy and we are not, nor can we be through our own efforts. So, we each owe payment for the crimes we have committed against God’s moral law, and somebody has to pay. It can be us, sure. Each and every one of us could pay for our own sin. We don’t have to, however, and that is how Jesus touches us. For not only is the wages of sin death, but the passage keeps on going. It also states  the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are touched by Jesus, and we are changed, and we are no longer the same. What is different? We are justified, or made righteous from Jesus’ payment for us and we see that, Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:. We have peace with God, we are no longer separated from Him, nor will we ever be!

Since I met this blessed Savior, Since He cleansed and made me whole, I will never cease to praise Him, I’ll shout it while eternity rolls.

Since I met this blessed Savior,Since He cleansed and made me whole,. Jesus does make us whole. At the pool of Bethesda, when Jesus met the man who had been disabled for the thirty eight years of his life, he asked him, wilt thou be made whole? We see that the man was made whole as Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked:……. But Jesus didn’t come to Earth to heal us physically, that just proved that He could heal us, in all ways. We see Jesus getting closer to the truth of our healing as He ministered to the woman who had the issue of blood for 12 years, so much faith that she though if she could only touch Him she would be healed, and Jesus’ response to her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. We see the Roman Centurion whose faith was so great that Jesus said, When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. At that very instant, the Centurion’s sick servant was healed. It is our faith, and God’s grace which makes us whole. We are whole because we are righteous and cleansed from our sin. The entire debt for our transgressions past, present, and future is paid and we are whiter than snow. I will never cease to praise Him,I’ll shout it while eternity rolls. I will praise Him in the here and now. After all, isn’t that why we are here in the first place? He is certainly due that from us, because For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:. In fact, no things would exist, including us if not for Him: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. Not only should we praise HIm, but we should tell about Him! Being touched by Jesus is not some secret we should keep to ourselves. If we are headed to an eternity with HIm, don’t we want as much company as possible? The Psalmist taught us this:

I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

If that wasn’t enough, our Lord Himself told us, ………Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  That’s pretty clear I think! Eternal life; that is quite a concept, yet that is exactly what we are promised after our salvation through Jesus Christ. And we don’t even have to wait for it, because our eternity begins at that very moment. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:  Hath, has; he who believes on the Son, HAS eternal life. Sadly, those not saved by the atoning work of Jesus Christ face the opposite situation, as He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life as well as, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

He has touched me. Has He touched you? Do you want the joy of everlasting life to touch YOUR soul? Something can happen, if it has not. Forgiveness and salvation is available to all who are offered it, whosoever will. Whosoever means me, it means you.

Do want to be made whole? Repent toward God. Understand that sin has driven a wedge between you and God that nothing you can do will ever remove it. Accept the payment Jesus made on that cross to pay the penalty we could never pay. Believe in His atoning work and resurrection from the dead in three days. Accept Him as Savior and Lord of your life. Do that, and you can sing this song:

Shackled by a heavy burden ‘Neath a load of guilt and shame Then the hand of Jesus touched me And now I am no longer the same

He touched me, Oh, He touched me And Oh the joy that floods my soul Something happened and now I know He touched me and made me whole

Since I met this blessed Savior And since he cleaned and made me whole I never cease to praise Him I’ll shout it while eternity rolls

Oh He touched me, oh He touched me And oh the joy that floods my soul Something happened and now I know He touched me and made me whole.

Bill and Gloria Gaither