Mark 5:25-26 (NET) - Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had . Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse.
The account of the woman with the hemorrhage never fails to move me.
Here was a woman who not only suffered physically, she also suffered a malady which made her "unclean" in the eyes of the law as well.
Mark's account of this woman tells us that the physicians were not able to help her.
Now that she had spent all that she had, they were likely unwilling to treat her as well.
Mark 5:27-28 (NET) - When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak, for she kept saying, "If only I touch His clothes, I will be healed."
Here was a woman with tremendous faith.
She believed that all she needed to do to be healed was simply to touch His clothes.
All this in spite of the fact that the practitioners of medicine had not been able to help her in twelve years.
Mark 5:29 (NET) - At once the bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Think for just a moment about how this must have felt.
One moment you are bleeding and have been doing so for twelve years. The next moment, you touch His clothes, the bleeding stops and you feel within your body that you are healed.
But it was not just the woman who felt this, Jesus felt it as well.
Mark 5:30 (NET) - Jesus knew at once that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"
In my heart, I believe Jesus knew who touched Him. I believe He asked this question for the benefit of those around Him.
This question is like the one God asked in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve disobeyed Him.
Genesis 3:8-9 (NET) - Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the orchard. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"
God is all knowing. He did not need to ask the question. He knew exactly where Adam and Eve were hiding.
He asked this question to draw out a truthful response from them.
Jesus did likewise.
Mark 5:31-33 (NET) - His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing against you and you say, 'Who touched Me?'" But he looked around to see who had done it. Then the woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
I can almost see the look of love and kindness on His face when he addressed her.
Mark 5:34 (NET) - He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease."
I can almost see the look of relief and gratitude on her face as well.
Along with her magnificent faith, I take away two other things from this account as well.
The first is that Jesus referred to her as "Daughter" which denotes a relationship of a deeper nature perhaps as a result of her faith.
The second is that Jesus felt power go out from Him and that it happened as a result of someone not touching Him but merely touching His clothes.
So many people minimize Jesus.
They say He was a good man or a good teacher or was someone with good ideas.
Yet when you read this account in Mark, you have to realize that He was so much more.
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeet.byethost3.com on Friday, October 1, 2010.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I'll be back here on Friday, October 8, 2010.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
A Matter of Trust
Psalms 31:5 (NET)
Into your hand I entrust my life; you will rescue me, O LORD, the faithful God.
In Texas, geckos have become as much a part of the landscape as pecan trees and bluebonnets.
These pinkish brown lizards made their way into Texas and decided that they liked it here as much as the rest of us and made it their home as well.
They really are amazing little creatures. When they are young their skin has a transparent quality and you can actually see their tiny hearts beating.
They can scale everything from rough walls to smooth glass and even hang upside down from ceilings.
They also have another quality. They can squeeze through the tiniest of cracks.
I find them in my garage all the time and occasionally they make their way into my home.
I have no animosity toward them, in fact, I really like these tiny creatures.
While my home is a great place for me to live, I know that for them it really is not.
In fact, their chance of survival inside my home is greatly diminished.
I try to capture them if I can and release them into the bushes by my patio.
This is not easy for a number of reasons. They are tiny, fast, agile and have detachable tails.
Final score: Geckos 4, Jim 0.
Although I want to save them, they see me as just another predator to elude and they succeed far more often than I do.
Recently, I found several gecko corpses by accident.
I found them in the crease that exists between the edge of my front door and the door frame where it hinges.
Apparently, these saw me when I came in before I saw them.
They looked at the crease that formed between the open door and the frame as a safe place in which to hide from me. Their place of refuge then turned into a trap from which there was no escape.
"What a pity", I thought, "that these little fellows mistrust my intentions. If only they knew that I just wanted to take them gently in my hands and place them where they belong."
Yet, isn't that the way we are? Isn't that the way we have always been since the beginning?
God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He gave them everything they needed and gave them only one restriction, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
They were not to eat of its fruit. They were not even to touch it.
Yet, they did.
And as soon as they did, they realized that what they did was wrong and tried to hide themselves from God.
Genesis 3:8 (NET) - Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the orchard.
Things have not changed very much. We still make poor choices. We still end up in places and situations we shouldn't. We still sin.
And when we do, we do what the geckos do. We try to run from God rather than running to Him. We allow fear to keep us from putting our lives into His loving hands and trusting Him to put us where He knows we need to be.
Remember, He only wants what truly is best for you.
2 Peter 3:9 (NET) - The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because He does not wish any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeet.byethost3.com on Friday, September 17, 2010.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I'll be back here on Friday, September 24, 2010.
Into your hand I entrust my life; you will rescue me, O LORD, the faithful God.
In Texas, geckos have become as much a part of the landscape as pecan trees and bluebonnets.
These pinkish brown lizards made their way into Texas and decided that they liked it here as much as the rest of us and made it their home as well.
They really are amazing little creatures. When they are young their skin has a transparent quality and you can actually see their tiny hearts beating.
They can scale everything from rough walls to smooth glass and even hang upside down from ceilings.
They also have another quality. They can squeeze through the tiniest of cracks.
I find them in my garage all the time and occasionally they make their way into my home.
I have no animosity toward them, in fact, I really like these tiny creatures.
While my home is a great place for me to live, I know that for them it really is not.
In fact, their chance of survival inside my home is greatly diminished.
I try to capture them if I can and release them into the bushes by my patio.
This is not easy for a number of reasons. They are tiny, fast, agile and have detachable tails.
Final score: Geckos 4, Jim 0.
Although I want to save them, they see me as just another predator to elude and they succeed far more often than I do.
Recently, I found several gecko corpses by accident.
I found them in the crease that exists between the edge of my front door and the door frame where it hinges.
Apparently, these saw me when I came in before I saw them.
They looked at the crease that formed between the open door and the frame as a safe place in which to hide from me. Their place of refuge then turned into a trap from which there was no escape.
"What a pity", I thought, "that these little fellows mistrust my intentions. If only they knew that I just wanted to take them gently in my hands and place them where they belong."
Yet, isn't that the way we are? Isn't that the way we have always been since the beginning?
God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He gave them everything they needed and gave them only one restriction, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
They were not to eat of its fruit. They were not even to touch it.
Yet, they did.
And as soon as they did, they realized that what they did was wrong and tried to hide themselves from God.
Genesis 3:8 (NET) - Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the orchard.
Things have not changed very much. We still make poor choices. We still end up in places and situations we shouldn't. We still sin.
And when we do, we do what the geckos do. We try to run from God rather than running to Him. We allow fear to keep us from putting our lives into His loving hands and trusting Him to put us where He knows we need to be.
Remember, He only wants what truly is best for you.
2 Peter 3:9 (NET) - The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because He does not wish any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeet.byethost3.com on Friday, September 17, 2010.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I'll be back here on Friday, September 24, 2010.
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