Mark 5: A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 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.27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”


    Many times it is hard for Western women of the 21st century to fully comprehend the restrictions that women lived under during the days that Jesus walked the face of the earth.  Our culture is so very far removed from the customs and traditions of the ancient Hebrews.  In studying what was permitted and what was not permitted, one thing we understand is that Jesus did more to elevate the status of women than any other single human being in all of history. His compassion faileth not.
    The woman described in Mark 5, had been ill for twelve (12) long years.  Not just a headache.  The King James Version calls her ailment as an "issue of blood."  Other translations describe her affliction as: "...constant bleeding,"  "...a discharge of blood,"...."...a hemorrhage,"..."chronic bleeding."..."a bloody flux."  Under hygienic social restrictions the woman would have been banished from normal routines.  She was considered "unclean."  Much like a person diseased with leprosy , she would have been excluded from community activities and forced to announce her "uncleanness" when in a public place.  This woman had endured such a heavy weight of afflictions for over a decade. Yet, hope sprang to the forefront of her soul as she heard the testimonies of those others that had been perfectly healed of divers kinds of illnesses.  So hopeful was she that she dared to defy the societal restraints that accompanied her affliction and seek relief at any cost.  Perhaps it was her desperation that prompted her courage or her courage that circumvented her desperation.  Perhaps the two worked in tandem. Nevertheless, the woman assumed a position that would both hide her from judgmental eyes and position her to touch "but the hem of his garment."  
     On her knees, under the radar of the critical Pharisees, she hunkered down and waited for the crowd to carry Jesus past her quivering body.   For she "thought, If I can but touch his clothes, I can be healed."  Two very exceptional realities are presented to us in this passage. First, the position of humility is by and far the one that gains ground in the spirit world.  We have been versed in the Proverb: "Pride goes before a fall."  However, the enemy has done a switcharoo with this verse:                                     Proverbs 61:18 states: " Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall."
The difference is life threatening.  If a person believes pride may make them fall, they are rather confident that they can get back up and continue on.  But, if pride brings destruction, there is no recovery.  Pride is a deadly sin whether you are saved or an unbeliever.  Only the opposite spirit will bring us into the healing presence of Almighty God; "...humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due season He will lift you up." 
       Secondly, our unnamed heroine in  Mark 5, was tenacious. Not only  willing to get as low as necessary to obtain what had been beyond her grasp for twelve very bloody years, but  her bold, clandestine assertiveness  won for her the desire of her heart.  Her  remarkable unspoken  faith  manifested in a prophetic act of laying hold of the goodness of God, even the hem of His anointed garments. Immediately, the issue of blood was dried up and she knew in her body that she was healed.
       Amazingly, she was not the only one that knew that healing virtue had flowed downward to fill the valley of despair.  Jesus, stopped and asked His disciples to identify the person that had received the healing impartation.  Encompassed about by hundreds, maybe thousands of bustling, eager inquirers, the disciples were"put-off" that the Master would even ask such a question.  "Are you serious?'' they replied.
     Jesus was serious for He had felt the virtue leave his body.  Silently he searched for the glow of supernatural health that would be evidenced on someone's countenance.  Just a few feet away from Jesus, she suddenly appeared at his feet, again.
Trembling with awe-struck fear and the after -effects of the anointing that breaks every yoke, she haltingly confessed that she was the recipient of His ever-flowing mercy and grace.  Kindly, gently, with great compassion the Lord lifts her to her feet and pronounces a blessing: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
     Do you find it compelling that even though she was already healed, even though Jesus already knew that healing virtue and gone from His body, he still instructs her to go in peace and be freed from suffering.  Was this an admonition to throw off the lingering emotional traumas that so often accompany pro-longed physical afflictions.?  He released peace over her troubled psyche and instructed her to walk free of any lingering emotions of self-pity, fear or rejection.  "God in peace and be freed from your suffering." 
     Touching the hem of His garment always brings healing.  And when we are open with the Lord's questioning, and "tell Him the whole truth," we often find ourselves pouring out of our hearts the horrible years of horrific trauma that will continue to  hamper even our healing if not identified and released. Jesus knew this and dealt with this woman on all three levels of her being:  1) physical, "Your faith has healed you. 2) spiritually, "Go in peace." and 3) emotionally, "be free from our suffering."
     Let us not neglect such a great salvation!  The Lord has truly proided for us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness, let us not give up until we walk healed, whole and in complete peace and freedom. 
AMEN!

     Having a horse in your backyard is not all that uncommon in rural Oklahoma.  No one really notices. Unless, of course, something out of the ordinary occurs, which is exactly what happened yesterday on Redbud Lane.  A beautiful spring afternoon filled with raking leaves and cleaning flower beds quickly became an adventure in endurance for the whole family.  
     Our liver-chestnut gelding had been stalled all day, patiently awaiting the reprieve from his small paddock. We promised the kids a ride when the yard clean-up was finished. After several hours of lawn ministry, Isaac, our ten-year-old twin, asked if he could bring Tumbleweed into the round pen, curry  him and ride him bareback. However, Mark, my husband, and I were both preoccupied with finishing the disposal of bagged leaves and broken branches.  So, I gave our eager wrangler permission to attach the green lead rope to the green halter and take the 1000 pound pet from the small corral into the larger enclosure commonly called a "round pen."  It should have been an easy and uneventful assignment.... should have been.
     I heard Issac yelling at me and I stopped raking leaves to look his way.  "He won't let me catch him," Isaac yelled in frustration.  "When I get close to him he runs into the stall...when I go in the stall he runs into the paddock.!"  "Great," I thought.  "He is being ornery."
  Mark dropped his rack and plodded patiently toward the obstinate equine.  When, Tumbleweed, saw him coming he trotted back into the stall.  Mark opened the gate, left it open (notice: left it open) and followed the gelding into the stall.  What happened next was totally unexpected.  As Mark reached for the horse's halter, he quickly turned away from him , did a 180 and headed for the open gate; freedom was in his eyes.  I watched in shocked helplessness as  flying hooves and flowing mane flew past me. Disregarding my shouts to "whoa", the now unrestrained backyard "brumbie" had become a riderless racehorse.  The whole family fanned out and followed the charging mount: two hours later we were still unsuccessful in our bid to capture this recalcitrant steed.  We were only able to get within 40 or 50 yards of the animal before he saw us coming and took off running in the opposite direction as if his life depended on it.  Nonetheless, his galloping through the neighborhood had now become a safety issue for both vehicles and pedestrians. We needed help!
    We love animals and we ride, but we are not "cowboys."  We were stretched beyond our abilities to reclaim Tumbleweed.  In desperation,I made a mental recall for names of area residents that were horse "savvy" and knew how to swing a rope.  This horse was NOT going to  be restrained with kind words and pieces of apple. While Mark, our daughters Erin and Isabela our sons Ian and Isaac pursued the pony, I called several phone numbers before anyone answered my pleas for assistance.  Long time friends and true equestrians, Kelly and Donna, came to help us corner this contentious critter.  Walking behind him, swinging their lariats, they were able to drive him more than half a mile back to with a few blocks of our barn.  I have to admit I was glad to seem him running toward us instead of toward  busy Hwy 69 that runs North and South of our property just a short distance in the opposite direction.  Perhaps, this ordeal was soon to be over.
    Meanwhile, Eden, our six-year-old granddaughter had climbed the giant Magnolia tree in our front yard to get a better few.  Standing beneath her I began to pray... to pray a very precise prayer:  "Father, thank you that according to your Word, you have given us dominion over all the creatures of the earth...in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I command Tumbleweed to submit to the authority of Mark, Kelly and Donna....he will no longer resist being caught....he will submit to human authority in Jesus Name..."  As I finished praying, I heard from the branch  above me an agreeing "Amen, amen!" Eden and I made two.( Matt. 18:19, Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.)  Within minutes the parade of worn-out rustlers could be seen slowly making their way up the lane, Mr. Tumbleweed in humble submission, walking passively with  green lead rope in Mark's hand.  Thank you, Jesus!
     Life can quickly hand us unexpected circumstances:  wild storms, wild children, wild economies, wild health issues, wild thoughts, wild emotions, wild offenses, wild horses...  Albeit,  while  we wrestle through the wildness of the circumstances, we are never at their mercy.  We have been given everything we need according to  life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)  God is with us and the Lord has given to us His mighty Name to weld to overcome every situation that we find ourselves wrestling with.  We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. (Romans 8:37)  Encourage yourself in knowing that there is nothing that comes against you, as a believer in Jesus, that cannot be subdued and tamed in the Mighty Name of Jesus. "And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth...and you may ask me for anything in my name , and I will do it." (Matt. 28:18-20, John 14:14)
Amen!