He knows Your Name.. In His Eyes (Day 1)

he has made everything beautiful in its time

He Knows Your Name

Mark 5:21-34

Jesus And The bleeding woman..

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of  the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.  Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, He fell at his feet.  He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”  So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.  And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.  She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and  touched his cloak, because she thought,

“If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.  At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked,

  “Who touched my clothes?” 

 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.  He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Will you pray with me…

Dear Heavenly Father, how amazing You are. Thank you for showing us what a woman after your own heart looks like.  That when we lay down the walls, and seek after You, especially when we are bleeding, You will make us a priority.. I know first hand what it feels like to not want to bother anyone with my pain or problems, and to find out I don’t have to, I can come straight into your presence and give You all of me.. all of my pain, and You will be there with open arms and words of hope! Oh how beautifully freeing that is.. May your grace and comfort touch us as we walk with this sweet friend hand in hand.. Praying for your love to penetrate the hardened places of our hearts and lives as we seek to be beautiful in Your eyes, and Your eyes alone..

In the Name of our precious Savior we pray,

Amen

 It is interesting to read what the New Living Bible commentary has to say about this woman…

”While we do not know the exact nature of her illness, we do know that she was subject to bleeding for twelve years, and  her existence must have been wretched because she would have been shunned by people, since anyone having contact with would have made ceremonially unclean.”

Lev 15:25-33

How wretched that must have been indeed!

 This is such a sad picture, isn’t it? 

She was already shunned and isolated because of her illness, and on top of that, she would be responsible for making others ceremonially unclean if she had contact with them, and to that add guilt!

What a HUGE burden to bear, Right!

 In her deepest need, she had no one who would, or even wanted to reach out to her. The loneliness alone would be cause enough for so much pain, but the truth was she was bleeding, and desperate…. She spent all of “What she had” on doctors…..no one could help her.  She was unclean, alone, and literally bleeding!

I can remember the day this woman’s story jumped off the pages, and my heart was so broken for her. 

As I sat there, alone, in my bedroom, reading about her story, her pain……I was thinking, oh, how lonely she must have been, how desperate… Her pain tugged at my heart until I finally realized that I was her!  I could relate to her desperation…. She had been struggling for 12 long years, going from doctor to doctor seeking help, putting all of her hope and money into everyone and everything offered, spending everything she had to get better, to find relief…

While I was not bleeding, physically, I was bleeding.

  I was bleeding from a broken and weary heart.  I was hurting, and grieving over past decisions, and failures….things I couldn’t change even if I wanted to.  At this time in my live I was 30 years old, and had excitedly accepted Jesus into my heart and life just 5 short years prior. As I sat there reading, something in me started to awaken.  Believing that God loved me, and cared about me, I had begun to live my life not realizing that God actually knew me…. This truth became a reality to me as I visualized Jesus eyes…I  pictured Him looking around the crowd.  His eyes adamant, and intent, searching; as He asks,

 “Who touched my clothes?” 

 I sat there paralyzed, my thoughts started racing, remembering that Jesus was on his way to heal a sick girl, and thinking to myself, he must have been in a hurry…..Now he is stopping, was He angry? I found myself shrinking back in my chair just knowing this wasn’t going to end well!  

Then the disciples say to Jesus,

“You see the people crowding against you, and yet you ask, “Who touched me?”

…Oh, man!

There you have it, even the disciples are annoyed!  This is definitely not going to end well!

But that’s not what happened at all…..

 His eyes meet mine. I am full of fear, exhaustion.  I am broken hearted and ready for another failure.  

 All I can say is that I have never, ever, in my whole life been struck, and then pierced by eyes being so full of such deep compassion…  He was drawing my fearful and empty heart into His presence…There was no one else there….I was covered by the most precious loving kindness I had ever experienced.

 

Are you ready to surrender your heart, your agenda, and your motives in exchange for something that is real and good?

You are known by God.

 Can you imagine, for just one moment, that the God of this whole universe, cares about what is going on in your life? It wasn’t until this moment that I truly realized  I was not alone, and I did not have to suffer alone. It was surprising to discover that even though I had let God into my heart, I was keeping Him at arm’s length, I truly didn’t  understand that When I reached out to Him,  He already knew everything about me, and had been waiting for this moment… The moment I discovered that I was holding on to so much pain..

Dear Friend,

YOU don’t have to suffer alone…

Day 1, Question;

Have you ever invited Jesus into your Heart, or life?  If yes, this would be a great time to write out all of the details about your experience that you can remember..

How did you hear about Jesus? Where were you when you accepted Him as Your Savior? What has changed in your life since you met Him?  What was important to you before you accepted Him into your life? Have those things changed? What is important to you now?

If the answer is no, I haven’t invited Jesus into my heart, maybe ask yourself, why Haven’t you?  Is there something you are afraid of? You don’t agree with? Do you feel unworthy?  Or maybe you just need more information on what that even means…

Please take your time, and answer these questions.  The answers will help you so much as we explore what it looks like to live a life beautiful, free and dependent on who God is, and who you are in His eyes. Beautiful, loved, and the daughter of the king most high…

Heavenly Father, Thank you for this time, and for my new friend.  Please, will you help us to break down walls, thoughts, and feelings that keep us from letting you know and have all of us.. all of our hearts, minds and souls. We love you, Jesus,

In Your name we pray,

Amen

Food for thought;

 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

Psalm 139:13

Live in Love :)

Lisa

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