[Jesus said] “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:31-34 NIV).


When we read the story of Jesus healing the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, it is hard for us twenty-first century women to imagine such a condition lasting for so long. Medical science has progressed far beyond the rudimentary knowledge of Jesus’ day. It is simply unthinkable today.

But I suggest there are still many women with chronic bleeding of a different sort. We bleed from the heart.

From the time Sarah was six-years-old, her father crept into her bedroom in the dark of night and violated her little body. Now, as an adult, her heart bleeds.

When Beth was walking to her dorm room from the college library, a lurker jumped from behind the bushes, dragged her to a nearby shed and raped her at knife-point. Now, ten years later, her heart bleeds.

After twenty-years of marriage, Lucy accidentally stumbled upon an in-town hotel receipt in her husband’s wallet. Suspecting the worse, she uncovered past e-mails, supposed meetings that never occurred and a trail of deceit. When presented with the evidence, her husband admitted to having a three-year long affair. And her heart bleeds.

Laura was laid off from her job and her mother’s words re-emerge like sewage leakage from an underground septic tank. “You’re no good. You’ll never amount to anything. You’re a loser just like your father.” And because of the lies, her heart bleeds.

Melissa holds her newborn little girl in her arms and coos her to sleep. Interrupting the sweetness of the wee hours of the morning, she hears her aborted child crying from the grave. Guilt presses down as the ever-present weight deflates her joy. And her heart bleeds.

Women - hoping the pain will go away. Awakening each day with a memory that cuts a fresh wound. Women-longing to hear the words, “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

The woman with the issue of blood was no different from you and me. While her apparent illness was physical, her inward suffering ruled her life. She had lost her family, all her money, and her standing in the community. She was viewed as an unclean, untouchable outcast. But in one radical moment, one momentous decision, she reached out to Jesus and grabbed hold of her healing.

He wants to set you free from your suffering, but he will not push you out of the jail cell or yank the chains off your neck. He unlocks the door, but you must walk out the door. He unlocks the chain, but you must stop wearing them around your neck.

We can choose to bleed. We can choose to remain in our suffering and pick at the scabs of the past. But hear me dear friend, it is a choice. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). That’s what he wants for each of us. But we have to embrace the truth and, like the woman with the twelve-year-bleeding, reach for our healing.

In John, chapter five, Jesus encounters a lame man sitting by a pool of water where the paralyzed, blind, and afflicted gathered. Then Jesus walked up to him and asked a strange question, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6b).

Perhaps it wasn’t such a strange question. Many times we get used to being emotionally sick, and we wear the sickness like a shroud. We become walking wounded, picking at emotional scabs – not allowing them to heal.

Jesus said to the woman, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” That is the same healing he offers to you and to me. What will you do?

We have to overcome the idea that the body is irrelevant to prayer. In fact our souls express themselves through our bodies. We are spirit enfleshed. Monks know this: their desire is for God, and they pray with their bodies when they stand and sit and sing the psalms each day. read more...

They also believe that bodily work, with the intention of serving God, is prayer. Ignatius of Loyola would enthusiastically agree. Augustine remarks that those who sing, pray twice. We bow our bodies as a sign of adoration. We join our hands and bless our bodies with the sign of the Cross. We receive the host at communion and eat it. We go on pilgrimage, which is a bodily prayer, with its abandonment of creature comforts: we focus toward the goal of the pilgrimage with our bodies, as well as our hearts. Truly the body prays, because it is as human persons, body and soul, and not as angels, that we meet our God. You won’t hear God saying: ‘Now, when you pray, please leave your body behind you. I’m interested only in your soul!’

For those who love God, their final breath, whether conscious or not, matches the prayer of Jesus when he says: ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit’ (Luke 23:46). His Father had been the desire of his whole being, body and soul, throughout his life, even when he was busy or sleeping. The Father is our desire too. Concentration of mind may lapse during my time of prayer, but my body is still in the place of prayer. If someone asked me what I was doing, I’d say, ‘I just want God, and this is the best I can do to show it.’

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be - (Psalm 139:14-15, NIV).

God can set you free to be all He created you to be. A healthy self-image is not rooted in pride, and it does not exalt self above others. Success comes when we learn to accept God’s evaluation instead of our own and when we give Him permission to make us what He created us to be.
 Be yourself.
We should always be looking for something new to learn, an area where we can grow and changes that need to be made. Sit down with your mate or close friend and ask for a realistic evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses. Constantly search for gifts and abilities on which you can work. Don’t be afraid of change. It is a sign of life and growth. Change what needs to be changed, accept what you cannot change and quit whining about it! Don’t waste another minute trying to be someone you were never created to be. Stop questioning God’s design for your life.  Learning to see your-self through the eyes of God is like “carving away” everything that is not part of the original design – God’s plan – and then learning how to accept what remains.
 Guard your mind.
We are bombarded on all sides by the media, family and friends, co-workers and even enemies who have a certain identity they want to assign to us. We have a choice. No one makes us feel inferior without our permission. We will become what we allow our heart and mind to dwell on. An old adage says it well: “You can’t keep a bird from flying over your head but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.” It is impossible to avoid destructive thinking entirely. We will be tempted. We will have negative thoughts and temptations, but we do not have to allow them to dwell in our minds. God has given us a “garbage disposal” for the mind.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”

 Control your tongue.
Our words either build up or tear down. Scripture tells us not to curse others because they are made in the image of God.  Psalm 141:3: “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.”
Words are like seeds. What we plant will grow. If we sow destructive, critical words, we will reap a life that is negative and critical, but if we sow words of truth, we will reap a life of peace and purpose, knowing who we are in His eyes.
 Be Patient
Weeds spring up overnight but it takes years for a mighty oak to grow. Today, you can take the first step toward gaining a new perspective of who you are in Christ. Our Father says it this way in Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.

“We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” - (Numbers 13:30 NIV).

All through the Bible, God gives us great and wonderful promises about who we are in Christ, what we have in Christ, and where we are in Christ. Let me remind you of just a few.

• I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)
• Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. (Proverbs 16:3)
• God…has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3).
• For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:5)

The Bible is packed full of many promises just like those. However, the enemy, Satan, tells us that we are worthless losers with little to no power to live in victory. He tells us we are but “grasshoppers” in the face of our difficulties and struggles. So, who’s reports are we going to believe?
The Israelites faced the same situation. They had been freed from Egyptian slavery and then headed into the desert. Then God signaled it was time to enter the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. He said, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan which I am giving the Israelites.”
At God’s command, Moses sent in twelve men to spy out the land. Ten came back with this report:
We went into the land which you sent us and it does flow with milk and honey! But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large (Numbers 13:27,28). The men went on to say they were like grasshoppers compared to the giants who lived in Canaan.
However, two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, believed God. This was their report: We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it (13:30).
Guess who the people believed? They believed the ten who said, “we can’t,” rather than the two who said, “God already has.” Why? Lack of faith and an abundance of fear. I have an acronym for fear: False Evidence Appearing Real. They saw only the giants, but failed to see Almighty God. God had already given them the land, the people simply needed to walk in and take possession of it. But instead of moving into the Promised Land, they wandered in the desert for forty years because of their unbelief. The entire generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, died in their unbelief. Caleb and Joshua marched in and took possession of what God had already promised and provided.
Oswald Chambers notes, “Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be non-existent. But remember God’s assurance to us – “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, ‘The Lord is my Helper,’ or are we yielding to fear?”
I don’t want to be like those Israelites who didn’t believe God told the truth. Do you? Let me ask you a few questions: Are you going to move into the land flowing with milk and honey - take the promises found in the Bible and make them yours? Or, are you going to believe the evil report and continue wandering around in the desert – free from slavery, but missing the Promised Land? Who’s report are you going to believe?

Dear Woman of God,

Be still for a while and praise God for His favor, His grace and His awesomeness. God is able to do the impossible and is always near. He loves us unconditionally.

Dear God, This is my friend whom I love and this is my prayer for her. Help her live her life to the fullest. Please cause her to excel above her expectations. Help her to shine in the darkest places where it is impossible to love. Protect her at all times, lift her up when she needs You the most, and let her know when she walks with You, she will always be safe.

Amen!

“Now he [Jesus] had to go through Samaria,” (John 4:4 NIV).


I have to tell you, the story of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well is one of the most exciting passages in the Bible for me. It is filled with hope for all women who feel abused, misused, and forgotten. It is for all women who have tried everything and everyone to fill the void in their hearts, but still hear the echo of emptiness ringing in their hollow souls.

I want you to go back and read the story of the Samaritan five-time divorcee and her encounter with Jesus at the well. It is found in John 4:1-26,39-42. Go ahead…I’ll wait….

Now that you’re back, let’s chat about it. I hope you felt the length and the depth of the words of this story. You see, this is the longest recorded conversation between Jesus and any one single person in the entire New Testament…and it was with a woman.

The shortest route from Judea to Galilee lay on a high road straight through Samarian territory, but the Jews routinely crossed the Jordan River and took the long way around to avoid going through the towns of the despised Samaritans. Jews avoided Samaritans like the plague…literally. Like a quarantined hospital room, the Jews kept their distance.

So it wasn’t because of geography that Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” Oh no. He had to go through Samaria because His Father told him to. As Jesus reminded the disciples many times, he only did what his Father told him to do (John 5:30; 6:38; 8:26; 9:4; 10:37-38; 12:49-50).

Jesus had to go to Samaria because of divine destiny. Another translation states, “Jesus had a need to go to Samaria” (KJV). He was there on special assignment. It was not a coincidence or causal meeting, but a “deliberate, intentional, and calculated decision on the part of the Savior of the world to go meet with her.” You see, there was a woman in Samaria who had been used and abused all her life. And now, God reached down from His throne and chose her for such a time as this. While she felt that she was damaged goods, fit for no one, God chose her as His special spokesperson for an entire town. And He sent His own Son to commission her for ministry.

So Jesus “had” to go, not because of geography, but because of what His Dad wrote in His celestial day-timer. And while the disciples went shopping for groceries, Jesus waited patiently for his assignment to arrive.

While most women went to the well to draw water for their daily use in the cool of the morning or late in the evening, this woman went at high noon. The scorching sun of high noon was a small price to pay in order to avoid being snubbed by the other women in the town. She preferred the heat of the sun to the cold shoulders of the women. So while the women gathered for girlfriend time at the well early in the morning, this particular woman waited until they had returned to their safe havens in order to find safety of her own.

When Jesus asked her for a drink, he didn’t demand it of her. He never does. He simply asks. But the fact that he even asked was radical. Men did not talk to women in public in this culture. Jewish men didn’t talk to Samaritan women at all. And for a Jew to drink from a Samaritan’s cup was unheard of. Jews considered Samaritans unclean, and to drink from a Samaritan’s cup would in turn make them unclean. Jesus wasn’t concerned in the slightest, for it is only by drinking from his cup that any of us could ever be clean to begin with.

Jesus spoke to her directly and respectfully. This was no doubt radically different from any other Jewish man she had come in contact with. Don’t for one minute think that her nationality and gender were happenstance. They were both intentionally chosen by our very intentional God – just another example that God’s plan to set the captives free was for all who would believe. And He crossed gender, racial, and religious boundaries to do just that.

STANDING FIRM IN THE STORMS OF LIFE

2 Corinthians 6:6 (NLT) “We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, our sincere love, and the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Just as storms in life are a certainty, so is the provision of God. Life can be messy and bad things will happen, but every crisis and every storm is also an opportunity to trust God. He calls us to a heavenly perspective when facing challenging times. He calls us to see the storms of life as He sees them -- opportunities for His power and purpose to be illustrated in human terms. How can we face the storms of life in a way that honors God?
First truth: Live a pure life.
2 Corinthians 6:6 (NLT) “We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience.”
The apostle Paul was certainly no stranger to storms. In his writings to the church at Corinth, Paul lists several actions we can take to survive and even thrive in those storms. Notice that purity is listed first. Paul is sending a clear and certain message. Integrity and power for daily life are the result of a heart committed to purity. A clean heart unleashes the authority of God in us and through us. Impurity corrodes stability while purity generates a supernatural strength. It is that power and stability that keeps us from falling.
Psalm 51:10 (NASB) “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
The Psalmist links a pure heart with a steadfast spirit. “Steadfast” literally means “fixed or unchanging” and defines the kind of strength that can only be found in a right relationship with God. Stability is essential when those blustery winds of life’s storms are raging. Some storms come to uncover that cherished sin we try so hard to bury. But make no mistake, the purpose of the storm is always to purify – then empower. If we refuse to deal with the sin in our life, God will urge us toward obedience by allowing the storms to come.
Second truth: Seek understanding.
2 Corinthians 6:6 (NLT) “We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience.”
Understanding is only as good as its place of origin. Human understanding is limited and tainted while Godly understanding is infinite and unspoiled. Our greatest lessons are learned in the fiercest storms. I know you have heard that statement many times – but are those words a living reality in your life?
A teacher was asked a question by one of his students who had come across Deuteronomy 6:6 that says, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” The student asked, “Why does it say to put God’s commandments upon our hearts instead of in our hearts?” The wise teacher responded, “It is not within man’s power to deposit truth directly into his heart. All we can do is place truth on the surface of the heart so that when the heart breaks, it will fall in.”
Every circumstance that results in brokenness is designed to produce greater self-control and a fresh perspective. We can face every storm with confidence, knowing that God will redeem it for understanding and truth.
Third truth: Learn to be patient.
2 Corinthians 6:6 (NLT) “We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience.”
I must confess that I am not the epitome of patience. In fact, I hate to wait – on anyone or anything – which may very well explain the presence of certain storms and trials in my life. James had the same problem but a much better attitude.
James 1:2-4 (NIV) "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
I tend to consider it pure joy when I can escape trials of many kinds, but James tells us that trials can and should be faced with patience and an attitude of joy. Not joy for the trials but joy in the trials. Don’t miss this vital truth. Joy is deeply-rooted confidence that God is in control. Joy is a chosen attitude and understands that trials are not punishment.
Take a $5 bar of steel. If you cut that bar into ordinary horseshoes, it is worth about $10. That same $5 bar of steel cut into needles is worth $350 but cut into delicate springs for watches, that same $5 bar of steel is worth $250,000.
Trials are a test, a measurement of growth. Patience gives God permission to work and even expects to be tested.We go to great lengths to avoid trials and shelter ourselves from the storms of life. The result is spiritual immaturity. God will not build our character without our cooperation and He will not work in us without our permission. We must surrender, invite Him to work and then by faith, patiently embrace that work in our life. Warren Wiersbe writes, “When God permits his children to go through the furnace, He keeps his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat.” Doubt puts our circumstance between us and God while faith puts God between us and our circumstances. Patience comes when we give up the responsibility for the outcome to God.