Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Healed: And Shown Worth

Take a change to read this scripture slowly. Take note of how Jesus interacted with this sick woman. Anyone that has experienced illness has experienced a sense of defeat in the hands of doctors. Thankfully the Lord has provided doctors that follow His calling, and tend gently to the needs of His flock.
Mark 5:21-34
21When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

31"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "

32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."



She suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors; she spent all she had...yet, she grew worse. How many doctors did she see? 3,5,10,30? What did they tell her? She was terminal? She was unclean? She would get better with time? She needed to take this medicine or that medicine? What hope did this woman hold onto? HER FAITH. She touched Jesus's cloak, and she was healed. But it didn't end there. He felt the power go forth from himself. He desired to know the one he healed. He connected with her. The disciples said, "See all the people crowding against you." But that wasn't enough for Jesus. He kept looking around for his beloved. What healed her? HER FAITH. I imagine Jesus looking into her eyes, possibly even caressing her face as he said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you."

This scripture rests well in my heart today.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Back in Action..We'll see how long this lasts..

By request..I'm back to blogging. I read back through my old blogs and realized how much writing and sharing with others is a way for me to connect. It's been over a year since I blogged last, and I've thought about coming back many times. So here I am.

While I surely can't go back in time over the past year and a half and share the journey God has taken me on, I can start today and share the place He has brought me to.

I've have learned the importance of committing scripture to memory and would encourage all of you to try. I just finished Psalm 23, and I have never found so much comfort in times of uncertainty. Throughout Psalms the word "meditate" is used more than ten times. Meditating day and night (Ps. 1:2), meditating on His unfailing love (Ps. 48:9), meditating on his works and considering his deeds (Ps. 77:12), meditating on his decrees, his statutes, his wonders, his precepts, his promises (Ps. 119:23,27,78,148), and meditating on his works and considering what his hands have done (Ps. 143:5).
So find a scripture, memorize it, and meditate on it.

Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.