I love a Bible teaching that gives me even more insight than before. I heard a teaching about the Gentile woman who sought Jesus and His healing for her daughter, who was demon possessed. She followed the Light, the Light was in her sight: Jesus. She had faith in Him, sought Him over the jeers of even the disciples. And His banter back and forth with her showed to others (He already knew) her faith. They talked eye to eye. Importantly, it also showed us as well that complete dependence upon God is where our faith should be. This woman essentially said she (like the young dogs/puppies under the table, in the outskirts of what was perceived as His audience, would take the crumbs of the leftovers from Jesus, Master, and be satisfied. Jesus of course knows He is for all, and it becomes one of those retro teaching lessons for the disciples. No one is excluded from His Love.

I put myself in the spot of this woman when I first came to faith, I loved this story for many reasons especially for the reasoning, the banter, the direct questioning and the individual attention and actions from Jesus. I need all those things. I need crumbs of closeness and yet even with a crumb, I find contact is complete. Even the crumb of Jesus has nooks and crannies as deep as the whole loaf.

Jesus always said it’s our FAITH that prevails when He is healing our purposeful concerns. Just Jesus can heal, just Jesus is enough. Jesus to be not just one man but a Whole Loaf broken so that His crumbs DO FALL. We acknowledge His brokenness to repair us. We are learning our brokenness to see where He can glue us back together and hold it together, like stuffing. 

Why demons? We see stories of demon removal including that the demons know better. Even the demons see Jesus as powerful God. We see stories of how our Holy Healer handles these cases, and we, with our faith and only our faith, can handle them to. 

Why dogs? They are the small ones that are still surrounding their masters. They and we are the ones who live from just crumbs. Why this lady? Because she is us, standing to shine light on the light. To be the persistent pursuer. To trust before the conversation. To be satisfied with the minimal amount of blessings but owning up that she needs His Wholeness. She is the outsider who knows her place INSIDE.

Healing crumbs of faith and crumbs of compassion. Jesus brought the crumbs to the floor on purpose. So all can find Him. So that the crumbs of closeness are the crumbs we live on. We are on His INSIDE track. He hears our calls because He was and is called to hear.

Amen 

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(Here is a blog from first time I heard this story: https://debbieupper.blog/2019/03/09/crumbs-of-faith-08feb-637 )

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Matthew 15:21-28 (NIV but I changed dogs to puppies which I understand is the tender meaning Jesus used) The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the puppies.”
“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.