Heart Matters

“For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” Matthew 9:21

Recently I’ve been thinking about those who’ve had a face to face encounter with the living Lord Jesus when HE walked the earth as a Man (GOD-MAN) thousands of years ago. Those who saw Him in His flesh and were never the same.  They beheld His glory, they believed, and as a result their lives were changed forever.  Is it not the same for every single believer today? Were we not just going about our business, living our lives, struggling to cope, survive, or even thrive when the unexpected happened?  Were we not oblivious, blissfully living in the ignorance of the deception we accepted from the world, our flesh, and the devil? Did we not all have a deep void which we tried our best to either ignore or pacify by attempting to fill it with the  temporal and/or the shallow? Yes, I believe this is how it was for us up until the moment we first believed.  There we were doing life as normal, that is until like those all those many of years ago who cross paths with Yeshua, we too found ourselves face to face with our desperate need for the Savior.  He met us where we were, He allowed us to see who He was,  we believed and He saved us, and now we too can say we have never been the same since.

While it’s true that today we didn’t actually encounter the Lord in the flesh, we still were able to see Him in the supernatural way He brought us to Himself.  Through those who shared the Gospel with us, we heard Him speak. Through those who served us in His name, we felt His touch.  Through those we knew who lived their lives lifting Him up, we were drawn to Him.  Face to face with Jesus we were also faced with a choice-we (believers) chose to believe and we became altogether new.  Yes it was then when we first believed, at that moment of truth, that Jesus came into our lives and wrecked us like nobody’s business.  We became children of God, new creations, Christians!  It never ceases to amaze me when I hear how others came to faith in Christ.   No matter what corner of the world the person is from their salvation story always testifies to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  It always reminds me of the Scripture which says “The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to everlasting life.” 2nd Peter. 3:9 Yes it is the LORD who pursues us.  He sends others to tell us about His great love for us.  He allows circumstances so we can see our great need for Him.  He draws our hearts to Himself. Although He resurrected and ascended many years ago, He did not leave us alone.  HE sent His Holy Spirit.  Although the LORD is no longer walking in a specific location on the earth. The Holy Spirit is moving and working in the life of every single believer!

Now my baby sister happens to think it’s really an unfair thing that she wasn’t born during the time Jesus lived on the earth for 33 years.  She just can’t seem to get over the fact that He didn’t allow her the privileged of residing in one of those cities in Israel during the fullness of time when He came.  I guess it’s of little importance to her that if she was born back then we probably wouldn’t be sisters and wouldn’t get to do life together in the here and now. We’ve talked about this often and believe me she’s not budging.  No matter how I try to make an appeal to her logical sense, she remains salty that she didn’t get to see Jesus when he was here.  It doesn’t matter  to her that there’s a chance that  seeing him as the physically unattractive and uncomely man that He was (as He is described in Isaiah) she might have hardened her heart towards Him and rejected Him as her Messiah.  It’s seemingly insignificant to her that she possibly could have been a member of the crowd that was shouting “crucify Him!” “crucify Him!” No my sister believes with all her heart that had she been there, she would have been like those we read about in the Bible who had an incredible encounter with Him and were changed forever! It makes no difference to her when I remind her that since she’s a believer she WILL see Him one day and she will live with Him forever.  No matter what scenario I pose to her, she still feels she would have preferred to been there and I guess it goes without saying she also strongly thinks she would have believed.  She cracks me up!  Although I don’t share her sentiments, I do get where she’s coming from.  Whenever I read about those one on one encounters those men and women in The Bible had with Christ I can’t help but think about how extremely blessed they were-are.

One of my favorite accounts is of the encounter Jesus had with the woman with the issue of blood.  It’s recorded in Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8.  The Bible says she had a “flow of blood for twelve years.” She had some sort of internal bleeding.  Although it doesn’t specifically say that her ailment was that of a continuous menstrual cycle,  it’s reasonable to deduce that if she was constantly losing blood, more than likely that is the manner in which it was flowing. Many believe she indeed was living with a period that never ceased. Unimaginable!  And to make matters worse, she had been dealing with this “curse” for 12 whole years!  Women can you even conceive the extent of her suffering?  Can you imagine the what type of bondage  and isolation this would have thrown her into? During this time women on their menstrual cycles were deemed  unclean and as such they had to live outside the camp for the duration of their periods. This poor lady would have had to remain apart from all her family and friends for 12 whole years.  Additionally, she would have had to avoid even touching anyone else because doing so would have made them unclean as well.  She wouldn’t have been able to even go to the temple to worship. Every day of her life would have been lonely and laborious. Can you imagine the laundering she would have had to undertake to keep herself fresh and clean? Can you imagine how fatigue and weak she must have been because of the blood loss?  And yet this incredible woman  mustered up the energy to get close enough to Jesus, in the midst of a crowd of people no less, to touch the hem of  His garment.  Every time I read this passage of Scripture I want to weep.

The lady with the issue of blood was Desperate-she’d been suffering for a long time with no hope in sight.  She sought medical attention, exhausting her funds and resources but on one could offer healing.  I’m thinking she was willing to try anything and probably utilized all her strength to jump through every hoop the doctors presented her with, all to no avail.  Dr. Luke (Luke 8: 43) said she “had spent all livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any..”  As a result, she was left with no where else to turn. Her desperation forced her to seek out the Lord.  There’s a lesson for us here.  Do we not  also run to other humans for relief from what pains us most?  If it was up to us, we’d always want our needs to get met by: our family, the man we love, our friends, etc…)  Even for those of us already found in Christ, we can be greatly tempted to run to man with our problems.There’s something about the flesh that is just determined to get what it wants from the source it wants to get it from.  We go to doctor after doctor to be cured.  We continue to seek justice and healing from that loved one who hurts us over and over again.  We give 100% of our strength to try to control our own outcomes. I can speak for myself at least and say  I seem to find it easier to try to figure it out on my own or through others than to just simply have faith.  But isn’t it great how our Lord is willing to let us hit a brick wall and in doing so cause us to become so desperate that we begin seeking Him? He always makes Himself available to us-He’s always right within our reach.

The lady with the issue of blood was Deliberate-she must have heard about this “Jesus of Nazareth”, the One who turned water into wine, the One who caused the lamed to walk, the One who healed a whole multitude of diseases and unclean spirits, the One who raised the dead.  And so she decided to seek Him for her healing.  She gathered up her strength and made her way into the crowd.  The multitude that followed the Lord “thronged” Him. They were all up on Him, like gravy on rice,  almost crushing Him as He walked and yet this frail lady was able to press in to the point of contact.  All she wanted to do is touch the hem of His garment, and that’s exactly what she did.  Now I wonder why she didn’t want to grab Him and pull Him on the side to tell Him her entire pitiful story from beginning to end in an effort to convince Him she was worth healing.  I wonder why she didn’t scream out to get his attention and garner His sympathy.  I wonder what made her okay with simply touching the hem of His robe when all of Him was just inches away? I believe I know the answer-it was her belief.  She believed that all it would take for her to be healed was to just touch the border of His garment and that’s what she was determined to do.  In fact, that’s what she did do.  Here too, there’s a lesson for us.  When we find ourselves in the midst of our most difficult spaces-weak, fragile, defeated and desperate, normally the last thing we want to do is pray.  We stop going to church and isolate.  We allow our minds to fixate on our disappointments and  we become depressed.  We know during this time we need to press past our emotions and fervently pursue the Lord but we use our weaknesses as an excuse. Instead of pushing past our present state to grab a hold of the Lord we clinch onto to the idols that give us any temporary form of relief.  But when we’re at our weakest that’s when we need to be determined to draw closer to God more than ever.  It is then we need to stay reading and meditating in the Word of God.  It is then we need to continue to pray without ceasing.  It is then we need to attend church and weekly Bible Study and turn up that praise and worship music in our cars and homes. The Lord wants us to be deliberate in our faith.  He wants us to exercise the discipline needed and press in to Him. The lady with the issue of blood deliberately left her dwelling place and went to seek Jesus.  She was so deliberate she was able to push pass the risk of being recognized and called out for being unclean in the general population.  She was so deliberate she was able to push past the possibility of someone accusing her of making the Lord unclean because she touched His garment. She was so deliberate, she made her way through that crowd and was healed. 

We only pray when we feel there’s nothing left and yet it should be the first thing we do because it’s nothing when it’s left to God.

The lady with the issue of blood was Delivered-she sought the Deliverer and He delivered her-physically and spiritually.  She was sincere in her desire-she had pure motives.  She didn’t draw attention to herself by crying out for mercy in front of everyone. Instead she quietly grabbed the hem of His garment.  She was strong in her belief that Jesus was powerful enough to heal her-so powerful that all she had to do is touch the end of His clothing and she would be healed.  She believed and her faith made her whole.  Now this isn’t a matter of  “naming it and claiming it” but rather a matter of placing all hope in the hands of the living God.  She had tried all she could to get healed and none of it worked but now she knew where her healing would come from.  As soon as she touched Him, “her flow of blood stopped.” (Luke 8:44). Now I love the interchange that happens next. “And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?'” LOL!  Leave it to Peter to call it out!  They were like -“seriously? You have this crowd of people practically crushing You and You want to know who touched You?!!”  Okay so lets get this straight, Jesus wasn’t asking because He didn’t know who she was.  He is God and knows everything.  He knew who she was and He willed to heal her.  The reason why He wanted to know or asked who touched Him is because He wanted to give her a chance to make herself known.  You see the Lord never just forces salvation upon a person, it’s always a choice.  He had healed her physically, and now He wanted to make sure she was healed spiritually.  I just love my JESUS!  I believe before she even came forth, He was looking directly at her the whole time because it says “Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling…” (verse 47).  She came forth to Him and  “declared to Him the reason she touched Him and how she was healed immediately.” I believe in that moment, she was truly healed.  In that moment as she was confessing with her mouth I think it was then that her heart was believing.  Look at Jesus’ response to her “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace.”  Dr. John MacArthur says that that phrase “made you well” can also be “has made you whole” “indicating her healing was complete.”  He said it is the same Greek word that’s translated “to save”, the same one often used in the New Testament for “saving from sin.”  (See John MacArthur’s book One Perfect Life).  The Lesson for us?  Ultimately, Jesus is all we need!  Here He was, walking in the midst of that crowd  and willing to heal that woman grabbing the hem of His garment.  Here He was on His way to minister to another ailing person and stopping to meet the needs of another.  Here He was allowing His power to go out and heal her physically, and making sure He pursued her to heal her spiritually too.  This is who our LORD is!  HE can handle all it!  All of our needs, all of our prayers, all of our desires, all of our pain.  He can take meet all of us right where we are-all at the same time!  HE IS GOD! Oh the way He loves us!  Just as He delivered the lady with the issue of blood He wants to deliver you!  It’s up to Him and according to His perfect will.  He doesn’t always heal physically because sometimes the physical is being used in a major way to draw us to Him spiritually.  While He is okay with us coming to Him with our needs, He wants us to need Him more than anything else.  So are you pressing in to Him today?  Will you come out of hiding when He calls you out?   Will you allow that which is making you desperate cause you to be deliberate so that you can be delivered?  I sure hope so!

HEART TO HEART: COME TO JESUS WITH ALL YOUR NEEDS, BUT MAKE SURE YOU NEED HIM MOST OF ALL.