Now we get to see the results of her faith. I am trying to picture what is happening here. The lady has reached out and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. Immediately she is made well. You can be assured that she is crouching down when reaching for the garment. I think that as she felt the healing power of God going through her she almost became suspended in time, looking at her hand. The crowd around her kept moving, and quickly – she was hidden by them, so when Jesus looked around – He couldn’t see her, she had to come forth.
Imagine it – imagine immediately. You have spent ages dreaming, building your faith. You take action, push through and do all you know how to do – and then what you have spent 12 years dreaming for happens immediately. Not only does it happen immediately, but you feel it immediately.

What does that say about the grace of our God? I am all for miracles that occur over a period of time, but sometimes it is OK to see things immediately! I serve the God of the immediately! We need to build our faith and start believing for things to happen immediately. When you are in a lot of pain, you want out immediately, you don’t want to wait!

If you look at all the miracles that were conducted under the ministry of Jesus – you’ll see how many of them were immediately. Peter and John pulled up the lame man, and he walked immediately.

God is the God of the immediately.

I don’t know about you, but my mind has a hard time coping with this word immediately, especially when I think about God acting on my behalf immediately. I can imagine God doing things for me in the future and over a period of time. I can cope with that. If I dare to let my mind think immediately, fear comes and says, “yeah, but what if it doesn’t happen immediately?” And that fear in failure can, for me, often be greater than the faith of success.

The thing of it is, why should I worry about whether or not it happens immediately? That really is not my problem. I don’t have to make sure that it happens – that’s God’s job. Besides if I am always questioning what will happen if God doesn’t answer – that is a sure sign that I am not in faith for it to happen immediately anyway – so therefore it will not happen immediately.

There is an overriding law that governs human existence that I am totally convinced works all the time, and that is the law of you will have whatever you believe for. If you believe for immediately, you can have immediately – this woman proved that. If you believe for the future, that is when you will receive: in the future.

Let’s dare to believe that we can see the immediately happen – and see it happen for us. God is for you, immediately.

Have you ever thought about this word shall? It is a simple word that we use often. I think we use this word a little too casually these days. The reason I think this is because it is the strongest word we have in the English language to describe doing something – ie. I shall do…means that you will do something. There is no way out of this word – it carries no negativity.

When you use the word shall, it will happen. There is no doubt. No way out. No possibility of failure. This even is very definitely going to happen.

Maybe we don’t hold this meaning in our minds when we use it, but nevertheless it does mean this.

So this lady, even though she seems to “sneak” up to Jesus, is completely and utterly sure of what is going to happen to her when she gets there. She, like Jairus, has shown us what she is believing for through the words that she said. We see that at a certain point in time, she will get healed. No ifs. No buts. No maybes. Just a shall.

When you have been determind enough to get into the presence of the Saviour, you have to be convinced that God will do what He said He will do. This is what faith is all about. It is a question that I ask myself when I am believing God for something – can I honestly say that what I am believing for shall happen?

Am I at the point where I know that?

Or am I still trying to second guess God?

I don’t read this account of this lady and come away with the impression that she has made a provision for failure. She doesn’t seem to have a backup plan. In fact, there was really nothing else she could do. She had spent all her money. She was not getting better at the hands of the doctors. She has no back up plan because she can’t.

Do you remember the story of the guitar that I mentioned earlier? I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what God had spoken about this guitar. I didn’t casually believe for it. I knew God’s word to me. So even though it was sold to someone else – I still kept believing. I didn’t try and help out God. I didn’t try to come up with another explaination. I just believed.

I got the guitar too.

I rememeber when I first got hold of the fact that faith comes by hearing and by hearing the Word of God. I did what any normal person my age would do - I purchased for myself a walkman (my logic was that it would increase my “hearing” by listening to teaching tapes). Foolishly though, I forgot to purchase batteries. So I thought I would practice some of these principles of faith that I had been learning, I decided to believe God for some new batteries for the walkman.

This was late one night when I prayed about this, and after praying, I went about the rest of my business. The next morning, I still didn’t have any batteries, but I know what I was believing for. I took my walkman, put in a tape, put the headphones on my head and left the house.

Now you may think this is stupid, walking down the street with a walkman and no batteries. The interesting thing is, as I walked out of my house, there – on the front wall, was a pack of Duracell batteries. Well, I say a pack, there was half a pack – it was a pack of four and there were two in it. These batteries were brand new. I only needed two, and these two batteries “happened” to be the right size.

I put them in my walkman, and praised God whilst listening to my tape!

I may have been stupid according to some people, but I got what I was believing for. I had no back up plan. I had no alternatives in my mind, I just figured that God would deliver – and He did.

I shall have my guitar.
I shall have my batteries.

I shall.

It is a strong statement. It is, infact, an ultimate statement. Can you say that when you release your faith, when you touch your point of contact, I shall…?

“Keep On Saying It”

If you read the Amplified Bible on this particular verse, you find out something quite interesting about the expression she said. This is a continuous verb, and the way the Amplified writes it is, she said, and kept on saying…

It is essential that once you have released your faith, that you do not allow your confession to slip. Keep on saying what shall happen. The reason that you do this is because you do not want to talk yourself out of what you are believing for. You will eventually listen to your mouth, and you will start to believe it – as we have already mentioned, you will have whatever you say.

I have found that many people will go to different church meetings and crusades. They will get excited and begin to shout. They begin to believe what the preacher is saying and during the meeting will make a decision to apply what is being spoken about to their own life.

But when they come out of the security of that meeting, and take themselves back into the real world, they will back out of their decision that they had made at the meeting. As we saw earlier, this is due to the ground in which the Word (seed) was sown. One way to prevent this from happening is to keep your eyes and heart in the Word of God, and to keep the Word of God coming out of your mouth. This will help keep you consistent, and focused in

For she said, and kept on saying – I SHALL BE MADE WELL! In the midst of her trial and hardship she was declaring as hard as she could, and as often as she needed – I SHALL BE MADE WELL! What an awesome statement. What courage this lady had. What a lesson of faith we can learn here.

We can come up with a million excuses as to why this scripture doesn’t apply to us. We can focus our energy and time into persuading ourselves that although this could happen to this woman, it couldn’t happen to us because we are different.

Because our background is all wrong.
Because it doesn’t agree with the theology of my denomination.
Because I don’t have this kind of faith.
Because my husband would never understand.
Because…
Because…

You and I have a very real choice to face. We can dedicate time proving how this couldn’t work for us – and blend in with the rest of the crowd and watch it happen to someone else.

Or we can spend that same time digging into God’s word and building our faith. We can put into practice these principles and instead of blending in, we can stand out. Instead of watching it happen to someone else, we can have it happen to us.

There is no middle ground for us. If we try to enter the middle ground, we end up in the crowd, and very quickly get pushed to the back and our lives and hopes become insignificant.

But if we dare to dream.

If we dare to stand out, and do what no one else is doing…
If we quit making excuses…
If we put aside our alibi making abilities
If we dare to believe God can and will do the extraordinary for us
We will also have a story to tell, and what a story it will be!
Don’t wait a moment longer – begin writing it now.

I want to look at the particular area of clothing that this woman touched. The Bible is quite careful to tell us what it was – the hem, so what is the reason for this?

Before we go further with this though – I want you to pay attention to the word touch. This implies gentleness – she didn’t pull or grab, she touched. It only takes the gentlest of touches with the Master for miracles to happen. The woman knew there would be enough power in that one touch to get what she needed. She didn’t want attention. She didn’t want the sermon. She didn’t want forcefulness. She just wanted to touch because that would be enough. This woman’s faith was very simple. It had simple needs.

People in the crowd were brushing against Jesus, even knocking Him. They were certainly “touching” Him. It was certainly a lot stronger than this lady. But a gentle touch of faith on the clothing of Jesus did more than all the much “stronger” touching of the others. Sometimes the delicacy of faith is the strongest thing that there is!

Sometime the gentlest of touches can be the strongest connection you can make.

You know when you have connected with the living God, because something happens, even if you are only in contact for a brief second, and it just seems as though you have touched His clothing and that is as close as you have got. For that split second, faith will cause cataclysmic changes to happen.

God is not holding back. He will respond to a gentle and speedy touch if it is in faith.

There is something about this gentle touch though that we need to note. It didn’t touch blindly. It knew where to go. If you only have a split second that you can be in contact with the power of God, you had better know where the best place to make that connection is.

This lady knew exactly where to get her brief contact. It was very specific – the hem of His garment. We can easily see that. But why?

At the hem of Jesus’ garment were hanging tassels. These tassels were put on the Jewish cloak to remind them of the Torah.

Numbers 15:37-41

37 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

38 “Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.

39 “And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,

40 “And that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.

41 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Matthew, who recorded the fact that the woman touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, also mentions this two other times:

Matt 14:36

36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well,

Matt 23:5

5 “But all their works they (the scribes and the Pharisees) do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.

It is always interesting to do these side studies in the Scriptures. Now we have discovered that it wasn’t only the woman with the issue of blood that wanted to touch this particular part of the clothing, but many people did. And all those that touched the hem with made well, or perfectly well.

We can also ascertain that the teachers at the time ascribe great importance to this part of the garment, and they made theirs larger – to show men their “spirituality”.

We see from the passage in Numbers that the hem (or tassels) was to remind men of the commandments of God, and that God had delivered them from Egypt. I guess the scribes and Pharisees thought by making this part of the garment bigger, they were giving themselves a “bigger” reminder. They are like the Christians that by a huge Bible just to carry to church to show that they are a great Bible scholar – only they never read it. The hem of the garment was a symbol of the covenant that man had with God, and to remind them to do the will and commandments of God. It also seems that is serves as a public display of the covenant man has with God.

It not only reminded them to do the commandments of God, but also to avoid harlotry and to be holy unto God.

The word “holy” is an interesting word, and it is a wonderful subject to study. Holiness is a whole book in itself. To be holy is to be separated unto God. It is about giving your whole life over to God. This is easy to say, but much more difficult to do.

I can imagine that this lady with the issue of blood has finally made a decision that she was going to get healed by God, and not spend more money on doctors, or try any other way. She had decided that God was her route. She had consecrated her decision and her faith toward God and she became Holy.

It is an obvious extension to reach for the hem of the garment because them hem represented physically what she had decided spiritually.

The hem also represented that Jesus was a man who had dedicated to the will of God. Reaching for the hem of Jesus’ garment was a great point of contact to release her faith. It was the perfect thing to reach for.

This could also explain why many other people reached for the same hem and got healed. They reached for something that symbolised holiness and covenant with God.

It is always interesting to study these things out and not just read over them. I think that there was a real reason why the woman decided to touch this part. Everything this lady did had a reason and a purpose.

Faith is not aimless; it is very focused in on what it wants.

Neither is faith without reason. Touching the hem of the garment had a reason and purpose.

When you believe God for your miracle, don’t reach aimlessly. Don’t be unfocused. Be specific, because faith is.

And the best place to start? Remember the covenant that you have with Almighty God.

For she said… The word for used here carries on from the previous verse. It will explain to us something, in this case, the particular action of touching His garment. So the reason she touched Jesus’ garment is because she said if only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.

This is an important point. Don’t miss it!

It sounds really simple, but do you remember earlier where we looked at how your mouth indicates what level of faith is in your heart. Here we see exactly what the woman is believing, because of what she said. That faith caused her to do something. Her action was driven by her faith. Her faith caused her to press in and go beyond everyone else in the crowd.

Maybe no-one else thought about sneaking up behind Jesus. I am sure that everyone wanted to be around the front. This meant it may have been slightly easier to get behind Him. Still, her faith caused her to do something that no-one else had done (with the exception of Jairus). No-one else may have thought of approaching Jesus in the same way. But so what? She got there!

People worship in different ways to me. I may want to be a little more direct when it comes to entering into the presence of God. Others may be a little different; they may come up “from behind” as it were. It really doesn’t matter. I am always amazed how people want to mock the way other Christians worship just because they are different to them. So what? What does it matter? Their faith takes them a different route to you, but they still get there. Their faith still gets them in the presence of God, and if you watch them closely, it won’t be too long before you’ll see a miracle!

When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him
in the crowd and touched His garment.

She came behind him… why? Why not to His face like Jairus did? As I mentioned to you before, under Levitical law, this woman could have been killed for coming out. She didn’t want Jesus to see her for fear of her life.

Isn’t that interesting?

This woman, at this point in her life has enough faith to believe that Jesus will heal her. But notice the method she is believing for. She will sneak up behind, touch his clothes and sneak off again without anyone knowing. Why would she come up with such a plan as this?

Obviously, she feared for her life. She must have had some strange ideas about Jesus to think that He would order for her to be killed, or at least draw enough attention to the situation that she would have been questioned by the religious leaders of the time.

In other words, these strange ideas resulted in some form of bondage in this woman’s life. This is one of the reasons I believe that Jesus stops and talks with her (more on this later).

I know so many people that have such faith in their lives – especially for certain things, but with that they carry some of the weirdest ideas I have ever come across. But God still works through them because that is where their faith and knowledge are based. I used to have, and some would argue, still do hold some strange beliefs and ideas about Jesus, but God brought me through it. I didn’t need a theology degree (thank God!) to get healed, and neither did this woman. She didn’t need perfect understanding of Jesus or what He stood for. She didn’t have to be perfect, and she didn’t even have to know Him that well, she just had to believe.

And that is what she did – odd as her views were, but she believed none the less. And she got healed. God doesn’t demand you to be right,  He just demands that you trust! It seems odd because that is the opposite way to society these days.

If you think about a child, they have a faith that is unquestionable – especially in their parents. They are creative. They are just not right though! They don’t paint within the lines. They don’t say the right thing. They do exactly the wrong thing and exactly the wrong time in front of exactly the wrong person. They don’t sing in tune, they don’t dance to the beat and they don’t be creative in the “right” ways.

So we spend the next 18 years teaching them to be right.
They paint inside the lines.
They dance to the beat.
They can still do the wrong thing, but at least it wasn’t seen!

It is OK to teach people to be right. But lets not teach them to be right at the expense of teaching them to be themselves, or in exchange for their creative abilities.

We take new Christians and teach them to be “right”. They have to do things in a certain way, stop this, do that and everything else in the middle. We teach them how to be right, instead of how to be themselves.

I am not saying this is bad, nor am I saying that this is good. God can cope with weirdness. He can cope with people not being “right”. That is the reason He sent His Word and His Spirit to us. He just cannot cope with our unbelief.

Don’t strive to be right at the expense of your faith. It is not worth it.

I would worry so much about doing the right thing that I never did anything. "I don’t want to get in the flesh" or "I need to make sure that I am in the will of God" were all ideas that I once held. They are not bad ideas, but sometimes they were excuses for not doing anything.

We try and avoid being extreme, but we become extremely boring. RIght is good. God will show us what is right. I learned a great expression at Bible School – "it is easier to turn a car when it is moving". The Apostle Paul wanted to go somewhere and do some cool things for God. Rather than sit there and wait for some divine call – he started to move. As he was moving – he knew he was heading the wrong way so he kept adjusting his course until he knew he was on the right path.

Sometimes we have to do the same thing. It is better to have a little wildfire than no fire at all.

When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him
in the crowd and touched His garment.

Can you imagine what this lady felt like when she heard about Jesus? In the previous verses, we looked at what this lady went through. We looked at some of the possible emotions, fears and disappointments she went through. If there is one thing we have learned so far it is that this lady has had the most horrendous time for the last 12 years. Then she begins to hear about Jesus. She begins to learn that in an instant He can reverse the last 12 years of her life. Things won’t get worse. She won’t suffer anymore. She doesn’t need any money. It would almost seem too good to be true!

But she kept hearing. When she kept hearing, faith kept coming. When faith kept coming, there came a point when deliverance was inevitable.

One thing that I have noticed when people hear the good news of Jesus is that they go though several “faith” stages. In fact, there are four of them. Mark also lists these people, and the parable of the sower sowing the word is another book in itself. Here, we will quickly look at the four different types of people that the parable mentions and we will examine which category the different people fall in.

Mark 4:1-20 (New King James Version)

New King James Version (NKJV)

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

1 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air^[a] came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
9 And He said to them,^[b] “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Purpose of Parables

   
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that

      ‘ Seeing they may see and not perceive,
      And hearing they may hear and not understand;
      Lest they should turn,
      And their sins be forgiven them.’”^[c]

The Parable of the Sower Explained

   
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Think about the concept of seed. What ideas come to your mind when you think of seed?

Probably something small, planted, it grows up, you plant lots, you don’t keep digging it up, it needs to be watered and nurtured (protected), seeds produce after their own (ie. Plant apple seeds, you get apples – not pineapples), YOU SOW YOU REAP.

Planting a seed with the idea of it bringing a harvest is called sowing. Another word to use would be invest. Jesus said in verse 20 that some of the seed would bear fruit, some 30, some 60 and some 100 fold. This is like investing £1 and getting £30, £60 or £100 back.

Type One: The Waysider (v15)

These people have the Word of God stolen out of their hearts immediately after they have heard it. Sinners fall in this category (2 Cor 4:4). Notice it is the devil that steals the Word that was sown – not God! According to Matthew 13:19, these people hear the Word but they don’t understand it.

Consequently, we can understand here that if we aren’t going to be Waysiders, we must understand the Word. For example, when you understood the word regarding salvation, you got saved: that seed produced the fruit of salvation in your life.

You understand the Word by allowing revelation knowledge from the Spirit of God. This comes from diligent, constant and prayerful study of the Word of God. I made a decision that I would understand the Word of God. This meant, when I read something or heard something on a tape and I didn’t understand it, I would continue to study and carry on listening to those tapes until I did understand it. Sometimes it took a while, but I made the decision to understand the Word and sometimes that’s what it took.

Type Two: The Stoney (v16,17)

(Jesus spent more time talking about this type of person. I believe this is because this is where the majority of people are in the church today).

These people must understand the Word to stop Satan stealing it, but notice what else they do: they hear the Word, and they also receive the Word. This, therefore, has to be a higher category than the Waysiders.

4:16 “…receive it with gladness…” These are people that go to church, or listen to someone preach and get happy and excited about what they hear. They think, “Yeah, I can do this!” And they even put to practice in their life some of the things that are spoken about from the pulpit. This is what I call Feel Good Christianity.

4:17 “…have no root in themselves…” ie. They are not firmly planted, or we could say immature, they are not mature enough to endure. If a tree has very deep and strong roots, even a hurricane cannot move it, but a large tree without any roots will get blown down very quickly because it cannot withstand the impact of the storm. Jesus uses this analogy to talk about us – if we have roots, deep strong roots in our faith, then no matter what storms come in life, they won’t knock us down (and how many know that Christianity is not a problem free religion?). Those people that don’t have those roots will fail, and Jesus in Matthew 7:26 called this type of person a fool!

As I said, a lot of Christians are like this, they are fine as long as everything else is fine. It is easy to believe God when you’re well! A good character trait of a Christian is one that perseveres and endures – in fact, it is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). You can see the woman who had the issue of blood enduring. Things aren’t going well for her and she is believing in spite it all. This woman has some strong roots inside of her before she comes to Jesus.

What we can understand by this is that having the Word of God bear fruit in your life is not easy, but it is the most worth while thing that I can think of and it is certainly worth the pain and sacrifice. I had to sacrifice my social life and study time when I went to Bible School as well as doing my final year at university – but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world!

“Persecution arises for the Word’s sake” Understand this point now – persecution will come, Satan will see to it! This is the persecution that the Bible often refers to, and it arises for the Word’s sake.

When you receive the Word of God – you become categorised by Satan as one of the most dangerous people on the planet. You become a very big threat to him – he wants to try and kill that Word for this reason! I guarantee that Satan would have used all kinds of trickery to get the Word out of this woman – he would have sent more persecution, but that didn’t stop her!

“Immediately become offended, stumble, indignant or resentful” (Amp. Bible). This is what happens to this person. They receive the word, and it seems to be going well for a little while. Persecution arises and they have no ability to endure, so immediately they become offended etc.

For example, they hear the Word concerning healing. They think to themselves, “Great, God wants me healed, I’ll believe that and never be sick again, and everyone I pray for will get healed!” This goes on for a few days, then sickness comes upon them, so they pray and believe God for their healing. There is no instant manifestation though, so they become offended and say, “obviously, what that preacher said was wrong because I haven’t been healed!” Not only that, but the same carries on over to when they pray for people and they don’t get instantly healed – they become offended, indignant etc.

So, to recap, you must hear the Word, you must understand the Word, you must receive the Word and you must be mature enough to endure persecution. Be like the woman with the issue of blood – don’t be like the stoneys!

Type Three: The Choker (v18,19)

These people hear the Word and even endure persecution, so we have come up the ladder one more run, but we are not out of the woods yet, because something else “creeps in” according to the Amplified Bible. This is an interesting statement, because a lot of what Jesus talks about never happens instantly, they creep in making them hard to detect and defend against.

The 3 thing that Jesus talks about here is:

1. cares of this world
2. deceitfulness of riches
3. desires for other things

v19 (Amplified) “Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour of riches and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless.”

(1)  cares of this world: ie. Worry and anxiety.

Jesus makes an interesting play on words here when he says this “chokes” the word (v7). The root meaning of the word “to worry” is literally “to choke or suffocate”. Worry will cause you to look at the Word and then look at the problem and not know which is going to happen. This is double-mindedness. In Matt 6:25-34 Jesus commands you not to worry. Here you have to learn what Peter talks about in 1 Peter 5:7 (Amp: Casting all the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.)

(2)  Deceitfulness of riches

This is something that you must pay attention too. Riches are not wrong! But if you’re going to have money or wealth – watch out – it can be deceitful. It can deceive you into thinking that you have power, fame, security, safety etc! This is what Jesus warns about. Someone told me once, it is not wrong for you to have money, it is wrong for money to have you! You know when money has you, and has deceived you when you can’t give it away.

(3)  Desire for other things

• your desire for TV v desire for spending time with God
• your desire for recognition, acceptance and admiration of your friends v standing up for what you know to be true.
• Your desire for comfort v God’s calling.

etc.

When your desire for other things is greater than your desire for the things of God, you become unfruitful, esp. where the Word is concerned. If you don’t take the time and make the sacrifice to study and learn the Word of God, then the Word will never really bear fruit in your life.

The Word of God is not a get-rich-quick scheme. You don’t do these things for a few weeks and then, hey presto, you have a 100 fold return in your life. This has to become part of your lifestyle!

Think about the our “young lady” here. Was she under the cares of this world? Certainly not, she knew that she would get healed. You can tell that by what she said. What about the deceitfulness of riches? Again – no, she has spent all that she had. Desire for other things? You can tell from the account we have of this woman getting healed that she sought out healing for 12 years before meeting Jesus. She had getting healed more of a priority than anything else in her life, in fact, getting healed seemed to be to her a greater priority than living. She didn’t stumble at this block. Indeed, she is located in the fourth group of people that the Bible mentions:

Type Four: The Fruit Bearer

Mk 4:20 Amplified: “And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive it and accept and welcome it and bear fruit – some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much and some even 100 times as much.”

Luke 8:15 “But the one that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the Word with a noble [just, virtuous, worthy] and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience”

Seed never grows up instantly to bear fruit. We have seen how we need to understand the word, be mature and endure, get rid of those things that choke the word – and again here we see patience is emphasised. Seed has to grow to bear fruit, and it has to grow in good soil.

(1)  Good Soil

The soil it is referring to is your heart, ie. Having a noble and good heart. This is a heart that is right before God, one that is pure and is cleansed from sin. One that is submitted to Him – you don’t need a perfect heart, just a perfectible heart!

(2)  Growing the seed.

The key to doing this is understanding that this often TAKES TIME (there is always a time period between sowing and reaping) hence we need PATIENCE! So what is that we do during this time period between sowing and reaping?

1 Cor 3:6 “I planted, Apollos watered, but god gives the increase.”

We find elsewhere in the Bible that Apollos was a teacher (Acts 18:24-27). Paul was the man that bought the gospel to them, ie. He planted the seed, but Apollos watered it. How? By teaching.

To water the seed of the Word of God, continue in that teaching. Today we complain if we hear a sermon more than once, but this is a scriptural principle (if the church understood this, tape sales would double over night!) For example, let’s use go back to the person who hears the message of healing, and their healing doesn’t instantly manifest, you can :

1. endure for a while, but because it looks like you are getting sicker (persecution arises for the Word’s sake) you stumble and quit believing God for your healing.
2. endure but worry yourself silly In case God doesn’t heal you, or
3. carry on in the teaching of healing, learn all you can about it, daily study the Word concerning healing, read books on it, listen to tapes on it – and that seed will be watered and I guarantee healing will eventually manifest! Why? Because after the seed is planted and watered, GOD GIVES THE INCREASE, and that seed will bear fruit and healing will come! It has too!

This is true in any area of you life! If you need healing, study healing. You don’t plant apple seeds to reap a harvest of pineapples! What you plant and water will bear fruit according to the seed principle.

If you have financial needs – study prosperity and let your faith grow.

If you have family problems, then study what the Bible has to say about your family and your authority as a believer in that situation.

Study the solution in the Bible to your problem. Hear the Word, and be like this lady who had heard it so much and was so convinced of its truth that it was ridiculous for it not to come to pass in her life. Now you understand a little about people in groups 1 to 3, you can recognise the symptoms of them in your life. This will help you become a fruit bearer.

This lady was a fruit bearer. I am sure that she went through all three people groups though. Maybe a few of the points she missed out. But when she first heard about Jesus, I am sure she would have dismissed it. I am sure that the first time she entertained the thought in her mind that Jesus may heal her, she probably laughed it off like everyone else, including Abraham.

But the more she heard, the more she began to entertain those possibilities. The more she did this, the more she began to dream of being well. Word of God dreams were being built in her heart. Faith was being born, until one day, she just absolutely exploded and couldn’t take waiting anymore. Faith was ready to posses. It had been waiting too long.

What about those dreams in your heart? Do you let the Spirit of God take the Living Word and build them in you until faith arises to such a degree that you posses those dreams? Or have you become stagnant, not really going anywhere? Have you forgotten the dreams that God has given you to fulfil? Friend if this is you, then rise up, get before you God and get back to where you should be. Have Him recreate those dreams in you. Let them posses you, and in turn you will posses them! It is never too late, dream the dreams of God. Expand your consciousness and your spirit, come up to a higher place and dare to believe that God can accomplish those dreams through you.

and she had suffered many things from many physicians.
She had spent all the she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.

This verse shows four distinct events:

1. She suffered many things
2. From many physicians
3. She had spent all that she had
4. She got worse.

Nightmare # 1: Suffering many things

The New Testament talks a lot about the subject of suffering. It is quite interesting to do a study on that subject – and although it is not my plan to go into great detail there are a few points I want to raise about this (for further study, read the book, Must Christians Suffer? By Kenneth E. Hagin).

Suffering is mentioned in the Bible – but it mentions different kinds if suffering that you must be aware of – as not all suffering is the same.

For example, we suffer persecutions and ridicule, just as Jesus did. Paul had many sufferings, including shipwrecks and imprisonment. However, one of things we don’t need to suffer – as is so clearly pointed out in this verse – is sickness and disease. Sickness and disease is a curse – it is not a blessing! I have never read in the gospels one account of Jesus saying to someone – Get sick! It’s a blessing! When He laid hands on people – they got healed, not sicker! Everything about Jesus fought sickness and disease. He called it a bondage.

You may suffer persecution and ridicule for your faith. Like Paul, you may want to know the sufferings of Christ – but that suffering doesn’t include anything that Jesus redeemed us from at Calvary.

Be clear in your understanding of this subject – do study it in the Bible. Don’t fall into the ‘suffering trap’ that a lot of people in the church have done. Don’t be that selfish and self-centred!

The ‘many things’ that this woman suffered from – she got delivered from! Remember that, because that brings hope to you. She suffered many things, much more than the average person suffers these days, and she was made whole!

Another ‘captain’ of suffering was Job. Think about him for a moment. What do you think of when you think about Job? Is it how God turned him over to the devil, who then practically destroyed Job? What a life he had. Nobody has good things to say about him – but everyone knows of the hard times that he went through.

But did you ever read the most important pages of that book – the last two? I think, along with the Song of Solomon, it is one of the most misunderstood books of the Bible. I remember reading Job, and someone pointed something out to me that I had never seen before:

Job got delivered!

You and I will probably never experience what Job did, but even if you do, there is still hope! The whole book of Job spans a time period of a few months (not years). When he was at the lowest any human could get to, he prayed and repented. He offered a sacrifice in faith, and within a few months (not years), God restored to Job twice what he originally had! Glory!

When you, in the midst of your problem, reach out in faith to God, He will restore to you all that you lost – and more – at least twice! If God did it for Job under the Old Covenant, how much more shall He do it for you under the New Covenant? I never hear sermons on how God restored Job, but rather on the hard times he had. If that’s all we do – we serve an injustice to Job.

Do you know how much, in modern day prices, God gave to Job during those few months (not years) of restoration? If you think how much a sheep is worth today, and a camel etc – if you total it up, according to a friend of mine, it will come to over $10 million!

I think that this is brilliant!

God took a man that was so broke and poor, that was undeniably destitute and within a few months, he is worth over $10 million! That says something about the style of God to me! That excites me, because I am a son of that God. He will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten!

But when God restores, He doesn’t just restore. He restores with a style that is undeniably God:

• That style takes a poor man and turns him into a multi-millionaire.
• That style takes a sinner and turns him into the righteousness of God!
• That style takes a woman that has suffered many things for many years and instantly heals her, and delivers her!
• That style takes a man that has no possibility of ever seeing, and giving him sight!
• That style takes a man that has no education and turns him into one of the world’s most successful ministers.
• That style takes the worst thing you have ever done and swaps it with the best thing that He has ever done!

God is an extreme God! Whatever the bondage is – God’s style is extremely opposite.

I see the heart of God in Job. I see the style of God in those pages. I see what God is willing to do for me in those pages, and it gives me hope!

Suffering many things? You are not the first, you won’t be the last – but you can be extremely delivered! It might not be instant, but deliverance is coming.

Nightmare # 2: From Many Physicians

This lady suffered many things from many physicians…

It almost seems that the people that should have cured her illness are being identified for one of the reasons for her suffering. Sounds bizarre doesn’t it? Go to the doctor, and become sicker! Seems strange to say such a thing.

My father-in-law took some advice from a financial advisor, and instead of making him money, it cost him money – quite a bit in fact.

Sometimes parents that should love and nurture their children abuse them.

Lawyers sometimes give legal advice that means you end up in jail.

When you have a particular problem, it makes sense to go to someone who is a specialist in that area as they probably know more than you do when it comes to resolving that problem. It is common sense – most of the time.

If you don’t know about the subject of volcanoes – you go to a teacher that does.

I learnt to play the flute because I spent time with someone that knew a lot more than me about it.

Seems reasonable, doesn’t it?

It makes sense that when people are sick, that they go and visit their doctor. But what happens when that “specialist” gives you advice that you think will help (because you trust them), but instead makes you worse off.

I know in most of the “developed” world – there would be law suits galore! It would be worth thousands, if not millions.

But what happens when not just one doctor makes you worse, the next one does too, and then the next, and then the next. What do you do then? We can see that this lady thought that answer was with her doctors because she kept going back to them.

I used to wonder, and if I am honest, I still do – why a woman that is repeatedly beaten by a man keeps returning to him after he has beaten her. I think I know part of the answer because this lady did the same thing going back to these doctors – she thought that the answer was with them – and they were her only hope. Not only that, I think that she went to them out of fear. The fear of what might happen if she didn’t keep going back was great.

She became trapped in a cycle of pain and agony and she didn’t know of any other way out. The longer she stayed in it, the worse it got. But that was better than the alternative on not being in that cycle. There is almost a security in it.

It stayed that way for years.

Then she heard about a man named Jesus. She heard about Him more and more until one day, she started to think to herself there might be a way out of the trap that she was in. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

Then one day she broke free.

It wasn’t an easy journey, it was in fact very dangerous. Faith propelled her though! She made it – and the ending to the story we will discover later on.

Sometimes the very people that should help you out of the mess that you are in make it worse. Sometimes the very people that should supply you with love have you trapped in a cycle of fear. They may have held you there for years.

There is a way out. There is someone that can help. Jesus!

Nightmare # 3: She Had Spent All That She Had

Have you ever been tired? More to the point, have you ever been completely exhausted? It is a position where you come to an end in yourself. You feel as though you have given all that you can, but it is not making a difference. In fact, the harder you seem to try – the worse things seem to become.

I imagine that this is what this lady felt – amongst everything else that is going on. I don’t know what prompted her to spend all that she had – perhaps it was the hope of healing, perhaps, as we discussed previously, it was fear. Probably a mixture of both.

She was at the end of herself. She had given everything that she had to get better. But things just got worse. Although it is a different case, I can’t help think about the man (or woman) addicted to gambling.

They lose a few pounds (or dollars). So they gamble a little more, because now they are behind – so the have to “win” back the money they lost – only to loose again. The mentality of this can’t go on for ever, sooner or later I must win kicks in. Eventually, they have spent all the money that they had to try and “break even”.

I know the woman with the issue of blood was different – but she too kept spending, hoping that it would all work out at the end of the day, like the gambler – she was perhaps afraid to cut her losses and walk away. She kept spending, but still things get worse!

Perhaps not to the same degree, you may have felt something similar. Perhaps in your marriage for example? You have given all that you can, perhaps not money – but mentally and emotionally. You have given and given until you can’t give anymore. You become weary and tired. The marriage is getting worse. It seems as though it will end.

Perhaps not a marriage, maybe your job? You gave years of loyal service – only to have it pushed back in your face. You feel cheated.

Your finances maybe another area? No matter what you seem to do in and of yourself, you are always down each month and you cannot understand why.

Maybe it’s guilt? You have tried to put something behind you, an event from your past, but no matter what you do, you can’t.

Perhaps your ministry. You have given to the people until you feel you cannot give anymore. You are all out of energy, love and compassion. You have nothing to say. You perhaps feel broken?

I don’t know what it might be. All I know is, is that at times I have come to a place where I feel as though I have given all that I can, and I can’t physically, spiritually, mentally or emotionally give anymore. And all that seems to happen is things get worse the more effort I give.
I feel tired.
I feel weak.
I feel even cheated sometimes.
I feel like giving up.

I am sure that this lady did too. I cannot begin to understand what 12 years of this must feel like. She had given all that she had, and I would venture to say that this includes her dignity too. She must have felt a whole range of emotions.

But then she met Jesus.

When she couldn’t give any more, when she was all out of herself, she did something that we should all do. We should go to Jesus. I don’t think we should wait until it gets to this stage in our lives – it’s not necessary. But if we are here – then lets go to Jesus. Perhaps then we will learn, at least in part, what is meant by the two wonderful expressions:

• Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength… (Isa 40:31)
• When I am weak, then I am strong…(2 Cor12:10)

In the Scripture I quoted above – those that 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 – is a wonderful promise. The word renew used here means to exchange. You take your tiredness and weariness and exchange them with such strength that you will soar like and eagle, run and walk without fainting. I believe this is what this lady in the passage did when she touched Jesus’ garment – she renewed or exchanged her strength. Of course – this promise is based on a condition, that you wait on the Lord.
When you have spent all that you have, when you need to exchange your strength, when you have come to an end in yourself – go to Jesus. Learn from this young lady in this story.

Nightmare # 4:She Got Worse

We have seen the many different avenues that this lady took to get herself well. She did all that she could do naturally. She went to many doctors. She spent all the money that she had to get better. But during those many years of suffering, one thing became apparent – it didn’t matter what she did, things just got worse!

I remember this nightmare when trying to sort out my finances. I knew that I was in a mess, so I began to sort them out. I made lots of effort. I spoke to people. I arranged different methods to pay back money owed. I budgeted. I calculated. I did all I knew how to do. But it seemed no matter what I did, something would always turn up that would do more to damage my situation than the good by what I was doing.

The bottom line? Things got worse.

But that’s OK, because it didn’t make it any harder for Jesus to sort out. He wasn’t panicking about my situation. He knew exactly what to do.

The woman was sick, and no matter what she did, she got worse.

I was broke, and no matter what I did, it got worse.

What about you?

The interesting thing is that with both the lady in this story, and me with my finances, things got worse – only for a period of time. They didn’t stay that way. They got better. This is the hope of this story.

Things maybe getting worse. Things may have become so bad that you think things can’t get any worse – only to find out that they do. I don’t know your personal situation.

Jesus does though.
It’s only for a period.
Things will get better.
Just trust Jesus.

and she had suffered many things from many physicians.
She had spent all the she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.

I know that I have mentioned this a few times already – but I think it is worth repeating – how bad is your problem compared to this lady?

One of the things that I am picking up from this verse is the amount of times that she would have been disappointed.

You have a problem, so you go and visit your local doctor – he should be able to sort the problem out.

Come to find out he can’t.

Must be a little more serious than you thought. You are not disappointed at this stage – but perhaps a little shocked, and maybe slightly worried. Still, not to be set back – you are referred to another doctor who has a more specialised knowledge in the area that you need.

This second visit costs you a little money – but you think that it will be worth it, you don’t mind spending this money as your complaint has got a little worse since you visited with the first doctor.

The second doctor can’t help you either. He doesn’t tell you this until you have been 3 times though. That cost you quite a bit of money, but that is not you major concern. You have become worse.

But most of all, you have experienced a little disappointment, you thought that this time it would be sorted. Still, you strength of character will not allow you to quit there, you see the next doctor, and the next, and the next – each time spending more money, each time experiencing more disappointment, each time getting more rejecting from your friends and colleagues, each time having an extra piece of hope robbed.

In fact, you do this many times over, seeing many different people and you do it for 12 years! You have now had 12 years of disappointment, of rejection, of hopelessness and of cost.

12 years.

The Bible said that she suffered many things from many physicians. I don’t know how many "many" is, but I do know it had to be a lot. Each time she went for the visit – she paid the doctor to tell her there was no hope and that things were getting worse.

I don’t think I can identify with a situation that bad.

I can be encouraged by the woman’s persistence though! Not once did she give up – each time she went back to the doctor things got worse – not better! But for some reason she kept on going. There was still a little glimmer of hope in her that things can and will change for her.

They did. When she met Jesus.

Have you met Him yet? I mean really met Him – met Him to such an extent that the power of God healed instantly all those things that had been getting worse for years and years?

What is the antidote for disappointment? Hope.

Romans 5 (The Message)

1-2 By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

3-5 There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

The Amplified Bible, in Verse 5 writes

Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us

The hope that comes from being a Christian, that true hope is the only cure for disappointment. And boy did it show with this lady.

She must have had set backs and disappointments during those 12 years. But she never gave up – hope was always there. Then, all of a sudden – instead of hoping in man and its medicine – she could hope in Jesus.

That hope led to faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1) – so without hope, there can be no faith. This is where so many of us miss things. We try to have faith without first getting our "hopes up". But faith is void and aimless without hope. So this lady had hope, hope in the man of God. That gave forth to faith.

If she’d have given in to the (legitimate) disappointments – hope would have been choked and faith would never have been born. When the trials come – do what Romans talks about – develop patience, which ultimately develops your hope. You do this so that when your time has come and you meet with our Saviour in a real and powerful way – then you respond in faith and not fear.

Do me a favour – get your hopes up. Get them way up.

and she had suffered many things from many physicians.
She had spent all the she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.

Again, the Bible shows, in a little more detail, some of what this woman has been through. God is very aware of your problem, He is very aware of what you have been through and even what you are going through.

Every day of those 12 years, God knew what was happening with this lady. I am totally convinced that God would have healed her on day one of this problem if He could have done. I do not believe for one instance it was God’s will that she go through this mess for 12 years – God’s will was to heal her (as we see).

Please understand something about God – He knows what you have need of before you ask Him. That is a lesson we learn from Jesus. God is acutely aware of your problem, don’t think for one minute He isn’t. In fact, He knows it better than you.

God knows what your situation is. He also knows the exit route for that situation (and if there isn’t one, He’ll make one!). All you have to do is let Him tell you.

I do believe there are some things that you will have to go through to “learn”, but that doesn’t mean it is God’s highest best. For instance, when I was having a hard time financially, I learned a great deal. I should have learned it before going through what I did though! That was God’s highest best for me, I just didn’t listen. Test and trials are not your teacher – that’s the job of the Holy Spirit, it’s just that you may not listen until in the middle of that test or trial.

That’s the way I was. I didn’t hear the warnings, Matt, listen to Me. If you carry on the way you are going, you will have problems in your finances.

I didn’t learn the lessons of Scripture, through wisdom a house is built , and by understanding it is established, by knowledge  the rooms are filled with all precious  and pleasant riches. (Prov 4:3,4)

All the information and wisdom I needed not to go through what I went through was there, I just didn’t realise it. But thank God, He still remained faithful, and He taught me in the midst of it all and never once left my side.

God knows what you are going through – so you don’t need to keep telling Him, especially in your “prayer” times! I have been in prayer meetings where people just seem to tell God how bad things were down here on earth by dictating to Him, in explicit detail the events as they happened. They talk to God like He hasn’t got a clue about what is going on.

Don’t mishear me, I don’t think it is wrong to tell God about what you are going through, but if you leave it at that – then surely this is not prayer. It is telling God how bad things are. Instead you should be telling Him of all the wonderful opportunities He has to prove His faithfulness. You should be reminding God of His promises, not the problems.

Let me say that again – remind God of His promises, not your problems.

I am sure that this is what Jesus meant when He said, your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask Him. So don’t tell Him what you need – ask Him for it!

Her faith literally causes he to put her life on the line. Is this a reckless gamble? Or is it a desparation for God to move in her life?

This woman had become so desperate – she had spent all that she had, but grew worse – that she was willing to risk that very last thing that she had – her life – to receive her miracle. I cannot think of one time where I have purposely risked my life to receive a miracle from God – not one.

Have you?

Let me put this question to you another way – how desperate are you for the things of God? Sometimes I find it very easy to get complacent with my walk with God because of the apparent ease that things seem to happen. For example, it is harder to get a miraculous healing from God in Western ‘civilised’ countries than it is in say a country like Africa. The reason I think to be simple. In England, we rely on medicine and doctors (understand here that I am not saying don’t take medicine or go to the doctor). We have got used to them being around.

In Africa, they haven’t. They have to get a miracle there, or they will die. There is desperation in these people that you do not find in the UK, due mainly to the differences in the standard of living.

How desperate are you for your miracle? Are you so desperate that you are willing to risk you life for it? Are you so sure that God will give you what you are after that you would put your life on the line believing it?

Or are you just a ‘hoping and a praying’?

One of these attitudes leads to a motivation, which will lead to action. Faith always motivates you to action. It never lies dormant.

The other attitude will leave you where you are and not doing a thing!

Desperation will cause you to step out and take risks. It will cause you to push through the crowd, even putting your life on the line. You will not rest or be satisfied until your miracle is manifested. You are motivated. You are active. You are moving towards your goal. You are hungry.

I have never met a person yet that had a desperation for the things of God that would not go away who did not receive their miracle.

If you don’t like your life, pray and change it, but whatever you do, do not become complacent or melancholy, always remain desperate for the things of God. This lady had desperation for her miracle that was greater than the fear of being killed. Be the same way. Dedicate to always be hungry for God. Don’t let yourself be satisfied with where you are at with Him because there is so much more to know.