THE PRESS: THE ROAD TO WHOLENESS

 Greetings and Salutation O Ye Who Are Facing...the Crowd of Opposition,

Back in the 80's I use to lead worship at a church called NEW LIFE CHAPEL.  One of the songs that we sang was PRESS ON...and it goes a little something like this...

"So let us know...let us PRESS ON to know the Lord...for surely as the dawn He will come...and as the dewdrops kiss the morning grass...so He will come to His own...my faithfulness to thee had faded away...like a cloud I could stand before the sun...I was broken...but then You came...and made me whole again...Oh come let us return to the Lord."

Some times...when you are facing trials, troubles, tribulations, temptations...it seems like God is nowhere to be found.  In those times I personally feel I need to take matters into my own hands and rectify the situation...but every time I do...I come up short.  Oh I may have temporary fixes to my problems but no REAL RESOLUTIONS.

This Ruminator Rambling was inspired by a Digital Blog by Mylon and Christi LeFevre. 

In the book of Hebrews...it speaks of REST...and how an "evil and unbelieving heart" prevents that 7 Day Rest...not just a rest on the Sabbath.

"For indeed we have had the glad tidings [of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of DELIVERANCE FROM BONDAGE came to them]; but the message they heard...did not BENEFIT THEM...because it WAS NOT MIXED WITH FAITH [that is...with LEANING OF THE ENTIRE PERSONALITY ON GOD IN ABSOLUTE TRUST and CONFIDENCE IN HIS POWER, with wisdom and goodness]...by those who heard  it; neither were they UNITED IN FAITH with [Joshua and Caleb] the ones who HEARD...[DID BELIEVE]. (Hebrews 4:2 The Amplified Bible)

You can have a promise of GOOD NEWS...but IF you don't MIX IT WITH FAITH...all you have is HOPE.  You can pray IN HOPE all day long and not get an answer...but when you MIX IT WITH FAITH...that is when your CONFIDENCE goes from HOPE to POWER...and that is BENEFICIAL to you.

The first two pictures in this Rambling...shows a woman...with a need.  She had and issue of blood (hemorrhage) for TWELVE YEARS.  She had endured much at the hands of MANY physicians and had spent all that she had...and WAS NOT HELPED.  As a matter of fact...she had GROWN WORSE. (Mark 5:25-26)

NOTE:  How long have you been enduring certain things in your life...and they have not changed...but they are getting WORSE?

Some would blame the woman for her problems, others would lay it on God that he was teaching her a lesson, while others would blame it as AN ACT OF GOD.  But we know that this sickness was not FROM GOD...and that it was His will to HEAL THIS WOMAN. 

"And you know of JESUS of Nazareth, how GOD ANOINTED HIM with the HOLY GHOST and with POWER...and how He went about doing good... and HEALING ALL WHO WERE OPPRESSED BY THE DEVIL" (Acts 10:38)

:...The SON OF GOD appeared for this PURPOSE...that He might DESTROY...the WORKS of the d-evil (little d)." (I John 3:8)

This woman...was OPPRESSED by the WORK of the d-evil...NOT by God. 

She had HEARD about Jesus.  Many had heard...and today you may have heard about this Jesus.  She probably had heard how wonderful a teacher he was...she may have heard of various manifestations of God through Him...and most likely she had heard that He was a HEALER.  This HEARING had sparked HOPE in her.  This HEARING set here to THINKING.  She began to THINK..."If I just touch His garments...I SHALL GET WELL." (Mark 5:28)

Now...at this point...the woman is just like the people mentioned in Hebrews 4:2 at the beginning of this Rambling...and probably just like many of us as we face trials, trouble, tribulations, and temptations....but not experience BENEFIT.  She probably had HOPE...but she had to go BEYOND HOPE and mix in FAITH.  She thought and KEPT SAYING..."if I only touch His garments I shall be RESTORED TO HEALTH." (Mark 5:28)  Then with this hope mixed with faith...she added the final piece to mix...SHE DID WHAT SHE WAS THINKING AND SAYING.

"She had HEARD the reports concerning JESUS...and she CAME UP behind Him in the THRONG (press) and TOUCHED His garment...For she KEPT SAYING If I only touch His garments I shall be RESTORED TO HEALTH." (Mark 5:27-28)

The CAUSE & EFFECT was BENEFIT.  "And IMMEDIATELY her (FLOW OF) blood was DRIED UP AT THE SOURCE...and (SUDDENLY)....she felt in her body that she WAS HEALED of her (DISTRESSING) AILMENT. (Mark 5:29)

NOTE: Notice...that what was a problem for TWELVE YEARS...was resolved IMMEDIATELY.  Also note that this problem was DRIED UP AT THE SOURCE (the root).  Also note that SUDDENLY her FEELINGS matched HER FAITH.  This woman was HEALED from the OPPRESSION of the d-evil.

Jesus TOOK NOTE of something taking place.  He FELT the VIRTUE...the POWER OF HEALING ANOINTING proceeding from Him.  He turned around an questioned..."Who TOUCHED me."  Notice it was not Jesus TOUCHING but someone with FAITH touching Him.  The disciples told Him everyone was PRESSING IN and TOUCHING HIM. (Mark 5:30-32)

The woman KNEW WHAT HAD BEEN DONE FOR HERE. (Mark 5:33)  "But the woman, KNOWING what had been done for her, though ALARMED and FRIGHTENED and TREMBLING, fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth."  (Mark 5:33)

NOTE:  Sometimes when the SUPER comes on your NATURAL...and the POWER is released in you...you may be on an EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER in HIS PRESENCE...but your TESTIMONY before the Father will bring you to a PEACE and REFRESHING in HIS PRESENCE. (Act3:19)

The question is...WHAT MADE HER WHOLE.  Wonder no more...Jesus answered that question.

"And He said to her, Daughter, YOUR FAITH (that is, your trust and confidence in Me, springing from faith in God] has restored you to health.  Go in (to) PEACE, and BE CONTINUALLY HEALED and FREE from your (distressing bodily) disease." (Mark 5:34)

NOTE:  It was HER FAITH (in God) that made her whole.  She was told to go in PEACE...and BE CONTINUALLY HEALED and FREE from the distressing bodily disease.  We are told in Mark 11:22 in the Amplified Bible..."And Jesus replying  said to them HAVE FAITH IN GOD...CONSTANTLY."   We are not to let our guard down...continue to have faith in Him...continue to walk in the work that He has done in you.


FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

As we walk out this life in the Land of Nitty Gritty... we are amphibious in the sense of we live here on planet Earth, but we are NOT OF THIS WORLD... because we are of The Kingdom of God (righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Romans 14:17)  We walk by FAITH and not by SIGHT or THINGS REVEALED TO THE SENSES and please God as we DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM...and not just passively inquired. (II Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:1; Romans 1:17; Hebrews 11:6)

We know that the kingdom of God suffers violence and violent men TAKE IT BY FORCE. (Matthew 11:12)  We know that through much tribulation we ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (Acts 4:22)  We know that faith without CORRESPONDING ACTIONS is dead. (James 3:17)  We know that we are called to PRESS ON for THE PRIZE to the mark of the high upward  calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)  We know that we are to KEEP ON ASKING...KEEP ON SEEING...KEEP ON KNOCKING with a TENACITY and WEARING GOD OUT, (Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:9-13; Luke 11:5-8)

DO YOU HAVE FAITH?  It comes...and comes by hearing the WORD OF CHRIST...THE ANOINTED ONE...ANOINTED WITH YOKE BREAKING, BURDEN LIFTING, OPPRESSION REMOVING, HEALING POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST. (Acts 10:38)

When Paul was before a man who was lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked...Paul fixed his gaze on him...and PERCEIVED that He HAD FAITH TO BE MADE WELL/WHOLE.  When Paul saw that...He said with a loud voice, STAND UPRIGHT on your feet." And he leaped up and began to walk." (Acts 14:8-10) 

Begin now...to HEAR...and what you HEAR...THINK ON IT...and what you are THINKING ON...begin to SAY...and then add some CORRESPONDING ACTIONS TO THE MIX...and get ready for GOD TO MOVE ON YOUR BEHALF.

Love and Faith Filled Kisses
Rodney "Mooing and Chewing and Doing The Cud of the Word of God" Boyd