Tag Archives: disillusionment

Lent, pt. 18

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And with a final burst of strength, she extends her arm with fingers grasping until, finally, they close on cloth. The hem of His garment.

hem3

Instantly, she feels whole. Healed. Yes, the pursuit has wrought victory over pain!

Her faith was champion! She pursued and was now devoted.

What a story! It would be great if we all had success stories like this woman. After so much toil and suffering, the end of that season came and she was healed!

There was Pain for 12 years. Lent, pt 14

This led to Desperation. 

But, because she did not go to Jesus first, a Problem arose. Lent, pt. 15

And she became Disillusioned.

People were in her way. Lent, pt. 16

They were potential Distractions.

Nothing would stop her Pursuit. Lent, pt. 17

Her Determination was strong.

As we finish her story, Jesus speaks and this woman is healed.

What was the Product of this journey? Now, fully healed, she was Devoted to Jesus.

Sure, she may have been frightened because she did not ask permission or even speak to Jesus. She just reached out and grabbed his robe!

All of her fears or misgivings were dismissed after speaking with the Lord.

She became a devoted follower of Jesus. At least I think she did. The bible does not give us her story after this encounter. So dream with me…

When Jesus performed other miracles, she would be in the background affirming that Jesus is really doing this and it is not some magic trick.

Was she at the scene during one of the miraculous feedings? Can you imagine her sharing some bread with a friend and explaining her own healing?

Or, she was witnessing the death of her Lord. As he hung on the cross, she would urge those around her that this man is innocent. He is God! He healed me!

Sure, those are just speculations on my part but it is fun to think about the future when we see the present.

What is Jesus doing right now.? Will your future be affected by your present?

Simply put, are you devoted to Him?

I hope my words can spur you on to devotion.

Whatever phase (pain, problem, people, pursuit, or product) you are in, keep moving! Don’t let the devil win. Jesus already won. Just live it out.

As devoted followers of Jesus, we can change our world. After all, Jesus changed us first!

devoted

 

Lent, pt. 16

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Lent, pt. 14 was about Pain leading to Desperation.

Lent, pt. 15 dealt with the Problem and how it leads to Disillusionment.

This post, Lent, pt. 16, will show us how People can be a Distraction.

Our main character, the woman, was in Pain which led to the Problem.

Verse 27, in Mark 5, notes a turning point for this woman.

“When she heard about Jesus…”

Was it a neighbor? Perhaps Jesus was in her town and she heard the crowd.

How she heard of Jesus is does not really matter. The fact that she did hear of Him is of utmost importance.

Have you heard about Jesus? What an awesome and life-changing story!!!

Read the gospels. They give eye-witness accounts of His life.

Just reading about the life of Jesus could bring change in your own life. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

This woman still had the crowd in front of her. She had People to go through.

The People in this story are the Distractions of life.

Distractions could be:

  • temptations
  • work
  • hobbies
  • laundry
  • spouse
  • relationships
  • church
  • etc.

Just about anything could be a distraction.

If the devil is a magician, he is waving his left hand so we cannot see his right hand doing something else.

I believe that distraction is the biggest tool of Satan. That’s why I listed good things on that list along with the negative things.

If we get distracted, we are not as focused on God. If that happens, the door is now open for greater sin to come into our lives.

The woman in our story was focused though.

“…she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,…”

Meditate on those words. What type of struggle or pain did this woman endure to get to Jesus only to touch is robe?

What will you endure to get to Jesus?

woman with bleeding

Remember, she was desperate.

If you are desperate due to pain, don’t let it become a problem which will disillusion you. Fight your way through the people, which are distractions, until you get to Jesus.

And that is what I want to speak on tomorrow.

What do you call fighting the crowd until you see Jesus? Pursuit. 

Lent, pt. 15

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We read yesterday how the woman, who was subject to bleeding, was in Pain.

In that pain, she was driven to desperation.

However, she soon had a Problem.

Reading Mark 5:25-34 can, again, give context.

If Pain=Desperation, then Problem=Disillusionment.

Here is what I mean.

Before she found Jesus, she tried normal methods to get healing.

Doctors, medicine, etc. But none of that was not working. In fact, she was getting worse.

This disillusionment with the world’s system can sneak up on us. This is what it might look like in today’s day:

     Going to the casino because you can’t make rent this month.

     Hiring a prostitute because you can’t find a wife.

     Leaving a job because you were treated unfairly.

     Breaking up with your boyfriend because of trust issues.

     There maybe more in your life. We all can have problems.

These circumstances become problems because we don’t go to Jesus first. 

The text says that the woman was going to doctors and getting worse before she ever heard of Jesus. She was disillusioned.

But thanks be to God because we have heard of Jesus.

Ironically, He may choose to use the very problems in our lives to bring about healing.

A doctor could do surgery.

An angry spouse could have a change of heart.

You could get a raise at work.

Life with Jesus does not exclude problems. Life with Jesus gives hope through problems.

It is okay to let you Pain push you towards Desperation.

But please don’t let your Problems bring about Disillusionment.

Tomorrow, you can come back to see what part the People will play in our narrative.