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Hello. My name is Dottie Freeman and I have no fancy titles or degrees, I am simply a blood bought saint like you. God has recently called me to preach and I am willing to accept that call. He has also provided this opportunity on this site to share the Good News about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Reach for Him
During Jesus' ministry on earth he encountered many that needed a touch from him. There were the ones that were lost, ones that needed healing, others needed deliverance from demonic possession and let's not forget the people that were risen from the dead!
He walked from town to town and never refused to be merciful to those that needed his touch. Some people like to think that Jesus "back then" did all that miracle stuff and that these are pretty good stories. I am here to tell you that Jesus ministry was not a fairy tale and my Jesus
is still in the miracle business today.
Out of the many miracles documented, the one that I would like to focus on today is the woman with the issue of blood. Three of the Gospels tell of this event. I have chosen the one from Mark:
And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touch his garment; For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him turned him about in the press and said, "Who touched my clothes?" And His disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging there, and sayeth thou, who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. Mark 5:25-34 (KJV)
At first glance this seems to be a simple little story of something that happened while Jesus was walking by on his way to somewhere else. If you look in the verses just prior to these, Jesus was on his way to the home of Jaris who was one of the rulers in the synagogue. Jaris approached Him and asked Him to come and lay hands on his daughter whom was 12 years old and so sick that she was at the point of death. Jesus went with him and the crowds followed. Jesus and the mass crowd passed by where this woman lived. As He came by, she took her chance with Him! You need to get a picture of this - crowds of people surrounded Jesus on all sides everywhere he traveled. The crowd was up to over 5,000 during the Sermon on the Mount - and that was 5,000 men. The women and children were not counted. While this procession of people were traveling down the road near where she lived this woman seized the opportunity to claim her healing. I wonder how she recognized Him in that crowd. Jesus did not wear royal garb or any adornments that made him stand out. He was dressed just like everyone else in the crowd, yet she knew whom to reach out for. Perhaps she overheard Jaris telling of his 12 year old daughter who was ill and saw the crowds traveling in that direction and thought, "if he will travel to this little girl who is only 12 years old, surely since I have been bleeding as long as she has been alive, that all I have to do is touch his clothing on his way by". Do you think there could be a connection with the age of the little girl and the age of the woman's affliction? I certainly do. There are no coincidences with God! It may have an even deeper meaning than I have discussed, but there is a reason for these 12 years---think about that.
It was not a simple task for this woman to get through the crowd. Imagine a woman who is very weak from internal bleeding for 12 years, brokenhearted, discouraged and poor waiting for Him to come her way. She told herself with determination, "if I can only touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed." Then she pressed in. I can see her in my mind pushing and squeezing her frail frame through that crowd and reaching, reaching, reaching until her fingertips touched his clothing and instantly she was healed.
God's Word says that she had been to physicians and had spent all that she had for nothing. She was at the end of her rope so to speak. She was bleeding to death. Praise God, Jesus came to bring her LIFE. I believe God is telling us through this illustration that we can't do it alone folks! We can't look at the hopeless situation and live with it. We need to move toward Jesus! When we are broken and can get no lower, we can reach out and take hold of the hem of Jesus' garment and He - only He - can save us. Once we are saved, we walk in the fullness of LIFE - ETERNAL LIFE. It doesn't matter what you have been suffering with or for how long (12 years, 12 seconds, etc.), Jesus is near - near enough to touch.
There is a key to eternal life in these scriptures telling this woman's story. Once she BELIEVED, she had to DO SOMETHING. She had to move closer and closer until she could touch Him. If she had heard about this Jesus fellow and his miracles and merely believed he could heal her and sat in her house eating bon bons and watching soap operas and let Him pass by, she would have missed the moment of her healing. Do you see it? This story is much, much more than a simple story of a miraculous healing; it is a part of God's plan of SALVATION and HEALING. We need to do more than just believe - God's Word says that even the demons believe and they shutter (James 2:19). We have to believe, make a decision to seek Him and reach out for Him. And then what? The power, His power is imparted unto us. Jesus wanted to know who touched him for he felt the power leave him! Let me tell you something - with that power comes LIFE and life abundantly. Along with that comes all the blessings of heaven and the final power over sin (Satan) and the grave!!! Praise His Name!
Now, let me show you something. In the next verses it tells that Jesus arrived at Jaris' house and that precious 12-year-old little girl was dead. No problem for Jesus. He raised her up, back into LIFE. Glory! This makes it clear to me that this story of the woman with the issue of
blood being sandwiched between the story of Jaris' daughter's resurrection makes it one big story revealing God's plan not just for healing, but eternal life with Him. With that comes the healing of every kind.
I ask that you meditate on these scriptures and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you through them. If you have never reached out and taken hold of Jesus for your salvation and healing, please do so now. Merely click here and be led in the sinner's prayer.
Until next time, I speak blessings to you and your household in the Name of Jesus. . |
