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THROWING STONES

In John 7, we learn of a powerful example of Jesus’ wisdom.  Jesus had gone to the Mount of Olives and spent the night. (Luke 9:58 tells us that He didn’t even have the ordinary comforts of a home of His own to go “to lay His head.”)

Early next morning, He went to the temple once again to teach. (John 8:1-11) A crowd came to Him and listened to His teachings. (I wonder if we would be as anxious to get up early and go to hear Jesus!? Are we anxious to get up on Sunday morning and make our way to the church building?) Jesus sat down and started teaching. In ancient times, authoritative teachers sat when they talked to people, in the temple. As He was teaching, the scribes and Pharisees once again came to try to trap and confound Jesus. (See Matthew 22:15 which says “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.”) Here they brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, who I can just visualize them throwing her down in the middle of the crowd. It is not clear why the man was not brought as well. The Old Law was very specific how to “handle” adultery. In Exodus 20:14 and Deuteronomy 5:19, adultery was part of the 10 Commandments. Deuteronomy 22:23-30 is very specific about the punishment for adultery and rape. The normal punishment was to stone the woman and the man to death. The scribes and Pharisees reminded Jesus of that. (As if He needed a reminder!)

Jesus knelt down and started writing something with His finger, as if He had not heard them. He didn’t say anything. If Jesus had said not to stone her. He would have contradicted Jewish law. If He had said to stone her, He also would have gone against Roman law. Jews were not allowed to carry out their own executions or capital punishments under Roman law, unless approved. (John 18:31) Don’t you wonder what He wrote in the dirt? Some think He wrote the 10 commandments. Others think He started writing the names of these scribes and Pharisees and the women they had committed adultery with. I kinda like the last one myself, but as I said we don’t know. That part of the story is not important for us to know. But whatever it was Jesus did not answer right away.

They continued to bother Him. He stood up and said in verse 7, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Then He knelt back down and continued to write. These men knew the law. Maybe they realized that they could be stoned because of their own sins, if they admitted they had committed the same act they were accusing the woman of. In fact, Jesus here included ANY sin. Verse 9 reads, “then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.” While Jesus was writing in the dirt, the oldest scribes and Pharisees, left first and then the younger followed. This left Jesus and the woman standing where they had possibly thrown her. Jesus stood up and asked her “Woman where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She replied that there was no one.

Jesus tells her “Neither do I condemn you…” Some want to stop right there and try to verify that Jesus condoned the sin. But the end of that verse says “…go and sin no more.” Jesus not only shows forgiveness of sin but then tells her to sin no more. Do not go back to the sin! He did not condemn her, but neither did He condone her sin!

Some today, are so ready to watch and wait for someone to sin, so they can condemn them and some even start gossip. Especially those we work with or associate with, outside of our brothers and sisters. Sometimes this even happens between family members and our brothers and sisters in Christ. In the ladies’ class I am teaching about James, we have talked about the tongue and what damage it can do. I used an example of someone gossiping about me and the use of the funds the church was giving us, when we were waiting for my husbands’ disability retirement to be approved. His work did not pay him for seven months. Even though I was trying to work two jobs and sometimes three, it was not enough with all the visits my husband was making to the hospital and all the bills associated with that. Someone, member of the church, took it upon themselves to start gossip, slander, that I was giving some of the money to a family member. Totally false! Thankfully a friend asked me about it and got that gossip stopped.

When confronted with gossip, Charles Swindoll says, ask them to ‘Wait a minute. May I quote you?’ Which is usually followed by a long pause, stopping that damaging wagging tongue! Read Matthew 7:1-5. Jesus is talking about judging. He says “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” In other words, our vision is impaired when we judge others, because, as the scribes and Pharisees did, judgment is so easy for us to do. Especially when we don’t know the facts of a situation, and when we are prideful thinking that we are not sinners.

After Jesus tells her to sin no more, He tells the crowd at the temple, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” He is pointing out that as the sun is the physical light of the world, He is the spiritual light of the world. As this light, Jesus exposes and gives sight to those spiritually blinded by the world and their own selfishness.

When we feel we are so excited to expose a sin in another, make sure you know the stones are true, that you are throwing. BUT DON’T THROW THEM OUT THERE ANYWAY! Go to that person and talk to them one on one. Matthew 18:15-17 explains how to approach supposed sin in one another. We are told so many times in the bible to judge not. James 4:11 tells us “Do not speak evil of one another…”

Throwing Stones! Don’t be like the scribes and Pharisees, who judged the adulteress, before they looked at themselves and realized that they were sinners too. The lesson of the adulteress woman, shows us that, yes, she was a sinner, but yet Jesus gave forgiveness to her and He gives forgiveness to everyone, no matter what they have done. When Jesus sets us free, we have to still obey His laws and sin no more!

Don’t throw stones so quickly-reach rather for Jesus spiritual light. He helps us not to walk in darkness but rather walk in His saving light!

Till next time!

                                                                  Keela

EMBRACE FREEDOM JESUS PROVIDES

It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. Years ago, my daughter, her two little boys and I had traveled several hours the day before to see my son-in-law graduate from Navy boot camp. When the ceremony started, a huge metal garage door opened directly across from where we sat. Some 350 men and women were marching in place in their dress uniforms.

That in itself can give you goose bumps, but what was so beautiful was the huge snowflakes that were falling from the sky. Then it hit me: these young men and women were dedicating their lives, and their families, to protect my freedom, no matter what the weather, the cost of possibly their own lives, or the loss of time with their families!  

What is freedom to you? Is it the fact that I was able to travel several hours to do something I wanted to? Is it the fact that my four granddaughters, four grandsons and three great grandkids, have the ability to grow up and do or be whoever they want to be? Is it the fact that my family can worship wherever and whenever we choose? What about the fact that I can sit at my kitchen table reading the Bible and leave it there, for all to see, to read later?

We also have another type of freedom, that through our Savior, Jesus Christ. The freedom from sin. Romans 6:10-11 tells us “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We have the choice to grab hold of this freedom and turn our backs to sin in our lives. God started this freedom of choice from the very beginning of time, as Genesis 2:16-17 says “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.’”

God provided the freedom. It was Eve and Adam’s free choice to not obey God’s command. We have this choice today as well to follow Satan or God.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” says the Book of Galatians. “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

That image of those Navy men and women entering the gymnasium with the beautiful flakes of snow falling will always be a memory I will cherish. Just as they were dedicating their lives in service for us so we can be free; we as Christians must dedicate our lives in service, so that we can protect this freedom we have through Christ.

Thank you to all those willing to serve our country through their and their families sacrifices. Thank you, God, for your sacrifice of your Son, who gave us the choice of freedom to serve others.

How are you showing the freedom that only Jesus can give? Are you serving others and letting others know about who you serve, our Jesus?

Serving others truly frees us to serve our Savior!

Thank you, God, for these brave men and women who are willing to put their life on the line by serving to protect us. Thank you to my daughter and four kids, and so many other families, for giving up the time with their family member, so we can all be free. Thank you to Jesus Christ who gave us freedom through His suffering on the cross!

Till next time!

                                                    Keela

A WEEK LOST

Watching the wasp continuously hit the hospital room window, made me wonder, why God created wasps. What was its purpose. Then I started thinking about the gnats, spiders, flies, roaches and mosquitoes. What were their purpose for being created by God at the beginning of time. Do you ever wonder why God allows or brings into being certain things?

I had something really weird happen to me. Because of a cut or bug bite to my cheek, that bacteria got into, my cheek, eye and neck swelled up, got red and hot on that side. My doctor immediately put me in the hospital with powerful IV antibiotics and fluids. At the end of that week, I was much better but had a hard spot that the antibiotics did not “break up.” A facial surgeon, without any type of deadening, poked a sharp pair of scissors into that area and squeezed out the yuck! That was one of the worse pains I have ever had in my life! I know it needed done and I tried to be tough. The doctor sent me home with oral antibiotics. When I am writing this, I am still not 100% better. I have since gone back to my doctor. Told him about the painful procedure and he became angry. He said that facial surgeon should have never done that. He should have deadened the area and done it in a sterile operating room instead of right there in my room. Going through that, made me wonder why and what purpose, like in creating bugs, there was in me having Erysipelas with no warning. Why did that surgeon make the choice to cause me that much pain? Why did I lose a week of my life in a hospital room?

Time goes so fast at times, doesn’t it? When you are in a hospital bed, what is right in front of your vision-a clock. Seems that time stands still, while waiting for pain meds. When my daughter and four little ones were visiting me from Virginia, those two and half weeks seemed to absolutely fly by! Of course, time does not change to slow or fast! But rather, it is our thinking-our mind set-our attitude that causes us to think of time as slow or fast. Proverbs 23:7 says “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” At times, the week in the hospital felt like forever and then other times it seemed to go by quickly.

Have you ever pondered why bugs were made by God to bite and be annoying by buzzing around our heads-why things happen to us that stop our whole world of normalcy-or why time creeps or goes by fast?

I have never thought about this before, but think about insects as part of creation. Genesis 1:24-25 reads “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind’, and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” Do you see the end of those verses “God saw that it was good.” I love dragonflies, ladybugs and butterflies. They are a beautiful creeping thing God created. The National Geographic says there are approximately 925,000 different species of bugs, intricately made for a reason. Some can be detrimental to crops and give us diseases. But others God created: to give 60% of a bird’s food-some help keep harmful organisms in check-pollinate plants-disperse fruit and seeds from plants-some clean up ours and animals waste-some antibiotics have been created by certain ants-bees give us honey and wax. So, God did create them for a purpose!

There is something else I have never thought about. The Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve lived at the beginning of time, was perfect-no crime-no sin-disease or suffering. No bug bites to get infected. Everything and everyone lived in harmony. It wasn’t until Adam and Eve sinned, did there become the world of pain-suffering-disease-bug stings and insects buzzing around our heads!

God used bugs to punish people in the Old Testament. Exodus tells us of the plagues. Three of the ten were insects. The third plague was lice. The fourth plague was flies. The eighth was locusts. Leviticus 11:20-23 tells us about insects that can be eaten and those which could not. In Exodus 23:28, Joshua 24:12, and Deuteronomy 7:20 hornets were used to defeat other nations. God used busy little ants as an illustration of a creeping insect comparing them to a lazy person in Proverbs 6:6-11. God used insects, throughout the Bible, to help the Israelites and us, generations in the future, to learn important lessons.

Why do unexpected things happen to us that take away the precious time we have here on this earth? Do you know how to answer that? Why me? In 1999, my aunt and uncles’ home was completely destroyed in the Moore, Oklahoma tornado. When they came out of the cellar, their home was flattened. Cars crushed. They did not even have a toothbrush. The next time I saw my aunt, she said she never asked why me, but rather why not me? In Matthew 5:45 tells us “…for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Even though we are doing everything we can to obey God’s law and love others, we are still in this world with its pain and sorrow. But God gives us encouragement to keep on keeping on. Joshua 1:6 tells us “Be strong and of good courage…” and verse 9 “…Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” And from my favorite passages in Isaiah 40:28-31 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

We, both the good and those who are evil,  are all in this life together, walking down the same streets-going through rough times that have no explanation-living with the creeping insects of this earth. Things happen to us without any type of explanation, but the difference between us and the people of this world is: we have the hope-the promise-the assurance of our God’s love when we walk our path next to His. Isaiah 41:10 says “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” We just have to remember to lean on Him, His assurance and the peace He gives us.

Why did I get that bite or cut that got infected? Why me? The question needs to be answered, why not me! Even when we are a follower of God, rough times will come our way. I feel I have been reminded, from this scary experience, that God is with me-by my side-in those rough times. God uses our tough times to help us learn and to fulfill His purpose on this earth. Jeremiah 29-11-14 reads “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you says the Lord…” God uses what happens to us, for our good in the future and to shine a light for Him. Thank you, God!

Why did God create that wasp that kept hitting a window to its own rhythm in its mind? (I guess they have minds.) Or any of the other creeping creatures that make me run for cover? Someday, after I have left this earth, I think the seemingly nuisances of insects, will be found to cure many diseases or for other purposes. I have faith that God had a purpose for creating them. Thank you, God!

A week lost! Or was it?

Till next time!                        

                                    Keela

ENEMIES HOOK

Usually when I eat my lunch, I watch a show on tv. This day it was “Touched by an Angel” episode. Of course, the show is about angels who are brought to earth by God to help a person. This episode was about the devil working in a families’ life and those around them. The husband is deceived by a man who places bets on horses. He had received a large check right at the right time. He was overjoyed because his insurance was getting ready to expire and he had a new baby on the way. Where he worked, a man heard him talking about receiving it and how excited he was to have it. By the man and through the devils’ deceit thru him, he convinced the husband to bet his entire check on a certain horse and he could double his money. The angel assigned to him, tried to reason with him. But sadly, he was led down the wrong path, through gambling, because, of course, the horse lost the race. Then, the show focused on his pregnant wife. She was a hairdresser and while going through some boxes, she found some tallow cards. She thought why not, so she looked up how to use the cards. The angel assigned to her tried to convince her that nothing good would ever come from those cards, which were just decorated cardboard and held no power. Through a series of her “reading” the cards, they were shown “true.” One customers’ cards, said she was going to have a bad accident. She went out the door and sure enough a truck headed right towards her. But the angel pushed her out of the trucks’ way at the last minute. But the deceit was done, because she, the wife, and another customer, believed the cards were correct. The other customers’ cards told her she was going to be revisited by an ailment. She believed them, being also deceived, and went into the restroom and held a gun to her head, because she was a cancer survivor. She did not want to go through the pain and treatments again. The angel came into the bathroom and let her know he was an angel, and convinced her of the truth that she would not die of cancer and God still had work for her to do. Fast forward to, the wife went home from work to get something she had left there. When she got to the stairs to leave, a hard contraction hit her and she ended up falling down the stairs. She opened her eyes and saw a lion (the devil) standing at the top of the stairs roaring because he thought he was winning. Her angel ended up coming to her and told her she had to call out to God for help, and He would come to her rescue. Long story short, good overcame evil. Each one of the people, had made bad choices, but when they centered on God and made the choice to ask Him for help, they saw clearly the deceit the devil had fed them. And once again they were centered on God. In the show, when the wife called out to God for help, the lion growled and turned around. The end showed the devil being defeated and turned into a kitten, meowing and running away!

Ok, so you are saying, what does that have to do with anything that we are going through? It has everything to do with us today! The devil and hell are not talked about by the tv evangelists and some preachers in the church. They are all so wrapped up in trying to make us “feel” better about ourselves through emotion. If you have been reading my blogs, you realize that I am an encourager. That is the way God “wired” me. I feel there is so much media availability today that our young are pushed into feeling bad about themselves, worthless, so sinful that they feel they cannot change now and will continue in sin, others become depressed because of so much comparison with others. That is all deceit from the devil! I published a ladies’ study guide, “God’s Beauty Plan,” to encourage young and older women that God made us beautiful inside and created us for a purpose. I feel that is something that is necessary for our generation and generations to come. But I feel we also need to teach others about the darkness of sin and where that will lead. There is a lot of availability today because of media, and the deceit from the devil is only going to get worse.

The devil is a liar. Jesus tells us in John 8:43-44 “…you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the very beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it.” He works on our weakness’. He makes us believe what is not true. Both angels with the people in the show saw and talked to, conveyed to them of God’s love; showed them there is a power of evil, an invisible power, which can pull us into its vises and cause us to go down a wrong path to destruction; told them that it only takes a moment of weakness for the devil to work his way into our lives; we put our faith in worldly things instead of our God and Father; the devil works through people that he already has under his power; he works through what fears us the most; the angel told the wife, who had been alone after her fall, the devil was trying to cause her to lose her baby, because he knew God was going to do great things through the child  (couldn’t that be said about the children who are killed thru abortion); the devil had them right where he wanted them, looking at the things of the world and they were trusting in them.

Because of lack of your time and space, here are a list of verses in the bible I want you to turn to and find the truth of the vices of the devil. (1 Peter 5:8, Genesis 3:1, 14-15, 1 John 3:8, 2 Corinthians 11:3, Acts 5:4-5, John 10:10, James 4:7; Luke 22:1-6, Job 1:6-7, Revelations 2:8-17, Matthew 4:1-11, Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 11:14, Hebrews 2:14, 2 Timothy 2:26.) And if those verses do not convince you, I want to quote a few verses that tell us there is actually a hell. Matthew 10:28, Jesus says, “…do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Talking about the parable of the tares in previous verses, Jesus says in Matthew 13:38-42, “…the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 8:12 says the sinful will be “…cast out into outer darkness…” Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus tells us that those who have not been faithful will “…go away into everlasting punishment…” In Luke 16:19-31 talking about the rich man who was in hell saw Lazarus in heaven and wanted Lazarus to just give him a fingerful of water “…and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame…” There are so many other verses also, but you get the idea. I just know hell is not where I want to be. So, let’s look at how we can keep from letting the devil win and take us to live with him for eternity.

John 8:31-32 Jesus says, “…if you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Back to the verses above about hell in Matthew 25:46, those verses also tell us, at the end of that verse “…the righteous into eternal life.” Romans 2:7, Paul is talking about God’s righteous judgment. “…eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seed for glory, honor and immortality…” Revelations 21:3-4 “…God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Read the rest of that chapter which gives us an idea of heaven. Of course, we cannot understand how wonderful it will be there! We will know how beautiful and peaceful it will be when we get there. (I for one, am not going to say to God, ‘I thought the gates were made of pearl.’ He would say ‘how did she get in here?’) The verses simply are telling us that heaven will be beyond our understanding. I sure want to go there, don’t you? Hell does not seem so inviting now that we have “seen” the glory of heaven, does it?

Thank you for listening about the show I watched. It just implanted in my heart how deceiving the devil can be, telling us lies to cause us to fall into ‘his web.’ The negativity that runs through your mind and heart needs to be replaced by our God, through His word that give us His positivity, hope, confidence, promises, and realization that we are made in His image. We just need to have a servant heart, be obedient to His word, share our faith, keep our heart full of the promise of a heaven, which is beyond our human understanding. When the angels in the show revealed they were angels, a light formed around them, showing that light comes from God. Behind the devil was only darkness waiting for then.  John 1:4-5 says “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” The Light is our God. The darkness is the devil himself.

Have you seen the devastation of the earthly fire that went ramped throughout Maui, Hawaii? The peoples’ earthly processions all gone. Their city in ruins-like a war zone. Hell is not going to even be like that. IT WILL BE WORSE!

My happy place is sitting by the ocean sitting in silence watching-listening-feeling those beautiful waves, especially with my grandkids.  Heaven is not going to even be like that. IT WILL BE BETTER!

We have to reach out to God, like the ‘angels’ on the show above told the people. We have to seek Him. It is our choice. One of my favorite verses in the bible is, 2 Chronicles7:14 “…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” I want that don’t you? One bit of positivity here, is that if the devil keeps working on you, then he has not gotten you by his hook. Put on your armor and fight the devil. (Ephesians 6)

So, reach out to God, serve Him, help those in need, shine your light for others to see. The devil will flee from you because you are in the light and not in his darkness. Make it a mission for the rest of your life to not listen to the darkness of the devils lies, who is the enemy who can get you into his hook. But rather fall into the loving arms of the one who shines His light for all to come to him and can only show you love and peace-our Father God!

Till next time!

                                                                     Keela

A TOUCH OF FAITH

In Mark 5, we read of a man named Jarius whose 12-year-old daughter was dying. He came to Jesus begging Him to go to his daughter to help her live. While on this journey to save Jarius daughter, we read of a woman with “…a flow of blood…” She had this for 12 years! (I thought it kind of interesting that she had this ailment as long as Jarius daughter had been alive. Just thinking!) Read Leviticus 15:19-30. Women were considered impure, during that certain time of month. But she had this for 12 years! Her uncleanness continued this whole time. She could not touch anyone or anything without cleaning and had to go to the priest and have him offer sacrifice for her at the end of her monthly flow of blood. But she had not had an end; she continued unclean, year after year. As a woman, I cannot even fathom how embarrassing-how isolating-how painful-how abandoned-how alone-how rejected-how destitute-how broken-how ashamed-how desperate-how frustrated she must have felt. She had to have felt defined by her illness. It controlled her life in what she could and could not do. I am sure she was most likely anemic, fatigued and worn out physically. (Of course, her flow must not have been heavy or she would have died because of the loss of so much blood.) But needless to say, she was limited in who she could interact with and what she could do or touch. Verse 26 says she “…had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.” She had many expensive treatments trying to find healing, but she ended up getting worse. I read a commentary that one treatment the doctors would use at this time in history, was to carry the ashes of an ostrich egg and that could heal you. I imagine if we were in her shoes, we would have tried about anything too.

Verse 24, says “…a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.” I envision it like being at a conference or a concert with a lot of people. I have been to many where the crowd is shoulder to shoulder in the concourse. This unnamed woman, had deep faith in Jesus and pushed her way through this crowd to get to Jesus. According to law, everyone she touched became unclean. She felt if she could just touch Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. She was disobeying law by touching others and would even make Jesus unclean by touching His garment. Yet she knew Jesus had healed so many and she was desperate, through her faith, to touch His clothes. She knew that through Jesus she had hope! The hope of an unrestricted future! If only we could have that much faith. There are so many times in my life, I have tried so hard to solve an issue within my human realm. There was one time, I just did not have the money to pay my water bill. The water department did not want to hear my “sob story.” If I didn’t pay, they would turn my water off. I went to a relative and they did not have the money. I went home and through many tears, I prayed to God to help us. I didn’t know what to do. The next day, an unexpected check was in the mail. I was able to pay the water bill. Does that happen every time we don’t have hope of solving an issue in our lives? Of course not. But I think back to it and wonder why I did not go to my heavenly Father in the first place. Isn’t it human nature to try to figure things out ourselves and then when we are exhausted from worry and stress, we turn to Him? Just like a father watching his child trying to put together a Lego set. The child is struggling but does not want any help. But then when the child realizes that he needs help, he turns to his father.

Do we feel Jesus is the last resort? Even though, the answer is not as evident, like in my water bill, and the answer might be no-still trust God that He has your best interests for you-He is your only answer and hope-not our last resort! In the illustration about the woman with blood issue, she had spent all the money she had-tried many treatments-she had even gotten worse. But then she realized and had faith and hope that Jesus could heal her. She pushed her way to Him. She reached out to Him. She knew He was her only true hope. She had to put action into her faith!

Verses 29-30 say, “Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My clothes?” Did you see the word immediately, twice in that verse? As soon as she touched Jesus’ garment, her illness was gone. Jesus immediately knew that by touching His garment, someone had been healed. The disciples were like, what? Telling Jesus, He was surrounded by people. Of course, someone touched Him. I am sure there were many who needed healing in this crowd, but there was something different about the one who touched Him.

This woman was courageous and had true faith in Jesus. She was “so hungry” for Jesus and His love and power, that she pushed herself through that huge crowd. Jesus wanted to correct any mistaken notion she may have had about her healing. It was not any magical quality of His clothing, but His divine will that had made her well. Verse 33 says that she was afraid and trembling but “…she fell to the ground and told Him the whole truth.” As a woman, don’t you feel how embarrassed she was to tell Jesus everything, in front of this crowd. Jesus gave her His entire attention. Jesus tenderly called her “…daughter…” This is the only time in scripture that Jesus calls any woman, daughter. Jesus was tender and compassionate to her and her situation. Jesus makes known to her and the people around observing this, that it was because she had deep faith, that she was healed. Faith itself does not heal; rather, it is the proper object of that faith, Jesus, who heals and we have to put into action our faith by reaching out to Him.

So, what are some of the things we can learn from this story in the Bible for us today? I am sure there are many, but quickly I want to tell you two, that I see.  First, she reached out to Jesus. When we are going through trials and feel helpless-hopeless-broken-abused-angry-worthless-alone-depressed- suicidal-we have to reach out to Jesus through prayer. We hold onto so much “stuff” and don’t reach out for Him. We have to come to the feet of Jesus, just like this woman did, and tell our truth through faith. Doesn’t God already know what we are going through anyway? He wants us to take the action of coming to Him in humility of faith. God can give you peace, so you can take one more step. Have you ever found that if you pour your heart out to Jesus in prayer, that you feel better-more peaceful. The same is true if we talk our truth to a trusted friend. When we hold those negative feelings within our hearts, those feelings will “eat us up.”

Second, how did this woman even know about Jesus? Verse 27 says “When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd…” Someone had told her or she heard someone talking about Jesus. This shows that we need to tell others about Jesus. There are so many “things” a person will turn to in the pain, if they do not have faith in Jesus. Alcohol-drugs-sex-possessions-worldly people. Those people, that someone choses to turn to, needs to be us. We need to be ready, at any time, to let others know of the light that Jesus can give them and their trial. Matthew 28:19-20 says “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Jesus commands us to teach others and let them know of the saving grace and the love that comes from our Father. If the woman with the flow of blood, had not heard about Jesus, I wonder if she would have had this medical condition till the day she died. She would not have known how to have faith in Jesus and the fact that He has the power to save!

This woman was unnamed, but then Jesus called her “…daughter…” How comforted she must have felt! How free, she had to have felt, of all those burdens, that issue of blood had given her! We are also freed from sin through Jesus’ death on the cross. We just have to kneel before Him and honestly pour out our truth! And shine our light for others to be led to God!

This outcast woman became a precious daughter of her Lord! We, as women, are also blessed to be called a daughter of the King! What a simple touch of faith can do!

Till next time!                                  Keela

(Oh, and by the way, Jarius’ daughter was raised from the dead!)