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How to be Made Whole - Part 7 & 8: Interrupt Your Story

5/26/2024

REVIEW

I hope you have been getting some practical truths out of our current series entitled “How To Be Made Whole.” I personally have enjoyed not only camping on verses like First Thessalonians 5:23 that teach us about God’s will to make us completely whole, but also looking at the specific examples in the Bible where people were made whole.

How many of you know that the Bible contains the keys to wholeness? The Lord is so good to give us example after example in the Bible of those who did indeed line themselves up with God’s will and obtained their healing & wholeness. He did this to teach us how if we would do what they did, we can be made whole like they were. Amen?

So we’ve looked at several examples so far such as the healing of the man by the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus’ cleansing of the ten lepers, the healing of Blind Bartimaeus, and then Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother in law. We learned from this shorter example of healing how important “speaking to the mountain” is when it comes to us being made whole.

We saw how in Luke’s account of this story, Jesus “rebuked the fever.” He didn’t pray to His Father to take it away. He didn’t plead with God to do it for them. No, He spoke to the fever! And so we asked the question – Can fevers hear? Well, based on what happened next in the story, we can conclude that they can hear because it says that the fever left her. And so if fevers can hear, then you can bet the bank that tumors can hear, colds can hear, headaches can hear, etc.

Church, Jesus talked to inanimate things like trees (Mark 11:14 & Matthew 21:19), the wind, the sea (Mark 4:39 & Luke 8:24), and even encouraged His disciples to talk to the mountains (Mark 11:23)! Yes, we learned how Jesus said in Mark 11:23-24 that we shall speak to the mountain. He didn’t say that we pray to God about the mountain. And that’s the problem a lot of times when it comes to healing. In many cases, Christians are praying to God to heal the person. No, there is a time to pray and there is a time to say! More times than not, we are to actually speak to the sickness, take authority over it, and command it to leave in the name of Jesus.

So then we went back to the Old Testament and looked at a very familiar story of David & Goliath and looked at how this is exactly how David tackled His giant – by speaking to it. Yes, we looked at that real life example - at how it describes the battle that takes place between our ears with the various voices, thoughts, and imaginations that arise in our minds when it comes to our giants. And we saw how David took care these “mind games” by speaking to them.

I’ll tell you, church, learning to speak to the giants & mountains in our life is the key to seeing them removed. But if you and I shy away from our giants and always just walk around these mountains, they will remain. It’s time we face our giants and see them slain once and for all. Amen?

I’d encourage you that if you have missed any of these teachings to go back and listen to / watch them, as they contained vital, Scriptural keys to being made whole.

So let’s again go back over to our keynote verse for this series – First Thessalonians 5:23 – where we learn about God’s heart to see our whole man made whole. Again, this verse reads – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Saints, there are so many awesome truths contained in this one verse, but I want us to look at one very important piece of information that it’s easy to overlook: Notice how Paul described God here as the God of peace.

Now if you’ve paid attention, there are several different virtues that our God is the God of. But most of the time, He is called this – the God of peace (Romans 15:33, 16:20, Philippians 4:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Hebrews 13:20). And I think that is significant.

You see, I don’t know if most Christians would refer to God in this one way if given the choice. We might call Him the God of love or the God of power, but the Scriptures refer to Him this way far more than any other virtue. So the question then is, why? Why is peace the primary way God is described.

Well, when one comes to understand what peace really is, it becomes clear. You see, peace is not just some state of mental tranquility. Nor is it just an absence of war & conflict. Peace can include these things, but the peace the Scriptures reveal to us carries more of the idea of wholeness. This idea originated in the Old Testament when God revealed Himself to Gideon as “Jehovah Shalom” – the Lord is peace.

You see, the Hebrew word shalom didn’t describe peace as we like to use it. It described “completeness, soundness, wellness, as in welfare, health, and prosperity.” It came from the root word salem which described something being perfect, complete, or whole. In fact, I love one expositor’s description of shalom as “nothing missing & nothing broken.”

So this sounds a little bit more like the subject at hand, doesn’t it? When we speak of the God of peace, we speak of the God of wholeness, soundness, and completeness. He is not the God of brokenness, but of wholeness. In other words, He is not in the business of brokenness; He’s in the business of wholeness!

So last week, we started looking at another example from the Gospels of a woman who was in desperate need of a touch from the Lord. Yet, this woman realized that in order for her to receive this “touch,” it wasn’t going to come by her waiting on Him to touch her; she knew she was going to have get to Him and touch Him. Of course, I am talking about the woman with the issue of blood.

Now before we get into this story, I want to remind you of something that is very important, and it is this: With all of these accounts of healing in the Gospels, there is a reason it is in here, and it is not just for a history lesson; these things are recorded for you and I to discover three things:

It’s to show us who Jesus is (i.e. how He is the Son of God and why we should believe on Him. And also, who He is in authority, power, character and personality)
It’s to show us how we can be more like Jesus (To learn how we can minister more like Jesus did to the sick and be more Christ-like)
It’s to show us, if we are like the one being ministered to in a particular account of healing, how we can receive the healing that Jesus has for us.

So when we read these stories of how an individual was made whole, we need to read it through this lens and make it personal to our lives.

AND SUDDENLY

Now I want us to begin looking at this familiar story of the woman with the issue of blood. This is such a powerful story that perfectly reflects how we can be made whole in our lives.

Let’s begin by looking at Matthew’s account …

Our story of this woman technically begins in Matthew 9:20, but I want you to notice something that is very different about her story. It begins with the following two words – “And suddenly …”

Now by throwing this phrase in there, it shows us that something else was happening for there to be an “And suddenly.” For one, the conjunction “And” indicates that this is being tied together with whatever was just happening. Then the word “suddenly” shows us that something happened “unexpectedly.”

You sometimes find this word “suddenly” in the Bible when, for instance, Jesus and His disciples were out on a boat in peaceful waters and then “suddenly,” a storm arose. You find it also in Acts chapter 2 when the disciples were in the upper room praying and “suddenly” there came a sound from heaven and the Holy Spirit filled the house. On another occasion in the Book of Acts, we see God sending an earthquake “suddenly” to free Paul and Silas from that Philippian prison. You get the picture, right? When the word “suddenly” is used, we are seeing an interruption in the normal course of nature.

So this woman’s story “suddenly & unexpectedly” interrupted something. And what was that?

Well, if you read the prior two verses, you’ll find that another story had already begun – the story of Jairus, the ruler of the Synagogue.

We see in verses 18-19, that this man came to Jesus and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” And so Jesus arose and began following him along with His disciples to this man’s house.

And then “unexpectedly,” this woman with the issue of blood, barges into what was supposed to be Jairus’ day. Yes, she comes “out of nowhere” and gets her own miracle.

Now you need to understand that this chain of events is very uncommon in the Scriptures. Usually when a story is started, we don’t see another story interjected in the middle of it. But this was different. And do you know why? It’s because she determined for it to be that way.

You see, sometimes you gotta “Interrupt the Story!” What I mean by this is that there is a customary order to things and a plan that everyone expects things to go according to. And sometimes, the order and the plan need to get interrupted! Sometimes we have to do what we have to do to get our miracle like this woman did, even when it upsets the normal course of things.

You see, there were several things that were violated in this account of healing: Number one, again Jesus was going to heal Jairus’ daughter and this woman interrupted a good thing that was supposed to happen. Number two, this woman violated the Law by being considered unclean and putting all of these people who were thronging Jesus in danger of being made unclean as well, not to mention trying to touch Jesus and risking making the Rabbi unclean!

But here is my point: If you want to get different results than the majority, then you’re going to need to do things differently than the majority! Don’t just do things the way everyone else does—if you want different fruit than everyone else, then you need to plant differently from everyone else.

One thing that I do when I read these accounts of healings & miracles in the Word of God is I look for the actions and characteristics of the person receiving their answer. And do you know what you see? Like in this account of the woman with the flow of blood, they were not just casually believing; no, they were aggressively believing for their miracle! Like we’ve seen already, blind men cried out to the point that the people around them were telling them to shut up (i.e. Blind Bart). In others, women followed the Lord patiently crying out for His mercy to receive a miracle for their loved ones (i.e. the Syrophoenician woman). In many of these accounts of healings, people went to extreme measures to get what they needed from the Lord and were not concerned with what people thought or what people might do.

A couple who were friends of ours had been believing God for a child and after the woman conceived their miracle, the baby was born prematurely and they were told she would not live. So the couple decided they were going to believe God, and they also decided that they were not going to let anyone in that room where they kept the child unless they were talking faith!

Of course, this offended the family members who traveled to come see them and offer their condolences because they wouldn’t even see them. But guess what? They got their miracle! No, they were not cordial or polite, but sometimes we must decide—Do we want people to like and accept us or do we want our miracle. Sometimes, we cannot have it both ways.

THIS WOMAN’S ISSUES

So let’s move over now to Mark’s account of this story because I like the details he gives us concerning this woman & her plight …

Her story begins in Mark 5:25 when we are told that this woman had a “flow of blood” for twelve years.

Now this woman’s condition is not clear in terms of a modern medical diagnosis, but here are some other translations rendering:

KJV- “issue of blood”
TEV- “severe bleeding”
NIV- “subject to bleeding”
TLB as well as many others describe this as a “hemorrhage”

Therefore, I think it’s clear that she was hemorrhaging with a woman’s issue.

Now according to Leviticus chapter 15, a woman who has a discharge of blood from her body was considered unclean. And in order for her to be regarded as clean, the bleeding would need to stop for at least seven days. Therefore, because of this woman’s condition of continual bleeding, the woman would have lived in a constant state of uncleanness according to the Law. On top of that, anyone who touched her, anything that she laid on, and everything that she sat on was also considered unclean, and those who came into contact with these things had to wash themselves and their clothes, and be unclean themselves until evening. (see verses 19-27)

But notice how this verse also tells us that this woman’s issue had been going on “for twelve years.”

So picture what was going on in this woman’s life: She was considered unclean for twelve years—meaning, anyone she touched or who touched her would have been considered unclean for a certain period of time. So it stands to reason that she did not have much physical contact at all for twelve years.

Now consider that for a moment: Can you imagine what it might be like to have no physical contact with another human being for twelve years? Not a hug, not a handshake and not even a pat on the back? That would have been psychologically taxing for anyone.

So I make this point because I think it is important for us to understand that this woman with the issue of bloods’ “issue” was not just her hemorrhaging; she would have had several other “issues” as well.

You see, while we might not all be able to relate to this woman’s physical issue, we might have some who can relate to all of her other issues that came through it. Some of us might have also been in a situation where we didn’t have the physical contact with others that we would have liked. Some of us might have been dismissed, ignored, or rejected like this woman obviously was.

And, church, sometimes those things can have damaging effects on our souls. In fact, I’m convinced that some people have been mortally wounded by these situations & circumstances and never quite recovered from those things.

Friends, the Lord wants to make us whole of those “issues” as well, and the same principles that make one whole from various physical issues will work on this soulish issue as well. Amen?

And we go on to read in Mark’s Gospel, we see that these weren’t her only issues, because notice what Mark 5:26 says, “and (she) had suffered many things from many physicians.”

Other versions of the Bible translate this phrase this way:

The Jerusalem Bible – “after long and painful treatment under various doctors”
The Contemporary English Version – “She had gone to many doctors, and they had not done anything except cause her a lot of pain”
The Message Bible – “a long succession of physicians had treated her”

Thank God for doctors! They are on our side! We are on the same team! Many of us would not be here if it weren’t for doctors and medicine. So we are not against them, nor should they be against us for believing in spiritual healing.

But while we are certainly not against doctors or medicines, we should never put our full trust in doctors or medicines. We need to always remember: They are just “practicing.” They are not the true expert opinion on the subject! Therefore, we are to put our trust in God alone!

Now this does not mean that we do not ever go to a doctor or take any medicine. We just do these things in the name of Jesus—meaning, we are doing what we believe He is leading us to do. And if He leads you to take a certain medicine, then take it in Jesus’ name—putting your focus on Him to do the work, not necessarily the medicine.

So if the doctor tells you to have a procedure, don’t just say okay. Pray about it. Find out what the Lord will lead you to do. (Compare with Second Chronicles 16:12 – Asa’s disease in his feet and how he sought only the physicians and not the Lord)

Mark 5:26 then goes on to say, “She had spent all that she had.” Luke’s account says, “she spent all of her livelihood” (Luke 8:43).

It can be expensive to be sick, church. Just think about it: If we lived like the Bible tells us that we can and should (i.e. not partying, drinking, smoking, being sick, getting divorced, etc.), we would certainly have more flexibility financially, right? You know what that tells me? Things associated with the kingdom of darkness take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and certainly cost you more than you want to pay.

So even though this woman had spent all of her livelihood, doing everything she could in the natural, Mark 5:26 goes on to tell us – “and (she) was no better, but rather grew worse.”

Boy, I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who have this same testimony. They’ve got some serious physical, mental, or emotional problems, and they have invested a lot of time and resources into being made well. However, they have gotten “no better.” On the contrary, they have “rather grown worse.”

Again, I like the way Dr. Luke describes this: In Luke 8:43, we are told – “and could not be healed by any.” Isn’t it refreshing to hear a doctor tell us that all of these physicians “could not” heal her.

You see, a problem with some doctors is many of them overstep their boundaries. Some will say things like, “You can’t be healed.” No, what they should say is— “I can’t get you healed.” Many will say, “You just have to accept this.” No, what they should say is— “You don’t have to accept my professional opinion.”

Now when it comes to this woman’s situation, do you know someone like this? Or better yet, is this you? If so, know this today – Sometimes it’s a good place to be when you have exhausted all your options, because then you are forced to turn completely to God or not. This lady was in a desperate situation because she had no more money to pay the physicians.

So needless to say, this woman had “issues.” And these issues were more than just the physical one. She had all of the other issues to go along with it like the obvious relationship issue of not being able to be around people or be touched by anyone for the past twelve years. She was also in financial straights because she had spent her entire livelihood on trying to get better. There’s no telling how many other “issues” this woman had either.

So let’s now turn to what the Bible says she did. Let’s move on to Mark 5:27 and see how this woman interrupted her story …

STEPS TOWARDS WHOLENESS

Mark 5:27 begins by saying, “When she heard about Jesus …”

Again, we see that this is how faith comes—by hearing. It does not come by “seeing, feeling, or experiencing;” faith only comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

However, notice that this Scripture does not say that she heard from Jesus (i.e. hear the Word); this Scripture says that she heard about Him. This proves that faith comes not just from hearing the Bible or the truths contained in it. No, faith also can come by simply hearing about what Jesus has done in people’s lives. This shows us the power of testimonies. They too can produce faith in people!

So what was she hearing about Jesus that produced faith in her. Well, she was obviously hearing what she had faith for. Which was what?

Well, this verse goes on to say, “… she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.” And then verse 28 goes on to say, “For she said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”

Now let me throw this in here, that in Matthew 9:20, we are told that she “touched the hem of His garment.” The hem of His garment was where the tassels hung, which according to Numbers 15:38, were meant to remind the Jews of the Lord’s commandments contained in the Torah and to keep them from following their deceitful hearts into spiritual harlotry.

Perhaps this woman knew this and she was symbolically showing her desire to take hold of the Word of God and take her healing! Mark 11:23-24 talks about “believing we receive when we pray,” and the word “receive” actually means “to take.” So this apparently is a big key to healing – to take it.

But again, this was where her faith was at, which is evidenced by what she said – that if she may touch His clothes – only the hem of His garment – she would be made well. Evidently, she was hearing that people who touched His clothes, His garment, or the hem of His garment (as Luke puts it) were getting healed! Amen! You see, what we hear is absolutely important!

Now I want you to notice how Mark 5:27 tells us that this woman “came behind” Jesus.

Now, of course, this could have been the only way which she could get to Jesus, for as Jesus’ disciples said, the multitudes were thronging Him (Mark 5:31). But it could also have been because she was sneaking up on Him to take what she needed. The reason I believe that this latter reason is the case is because when Jesus asked who touched Him, she didn’t immediately fess up, but rather was “fearing and trembling” (Mark 5: 33).

Again, this shows us that receiving from God is not always going to be in the way people would consider appropriate or even ethical. This woman was not even supposed to be out in the public, for she was unclean according to the law. So she did what she had to do to get to Jesus and take her healing. Amen!

And we need to realize just how dangerous this was for her. Again, this woman was considered to be continually unclean, and whoever touched her or she touched—whether through physical contact or simply her clothing brushing up against something or someone—would be considered unclean.

So for her to pass through this crowd—probably bumping into and touching many different people from the crowd that was thronging Jesus—was a crime punishable by death. On top of that, but Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, was present there, and he had the authority to have her stoned. So this woman was running a great risk by doing what she did here!

Do you know what we can learn from this? The living faith which comes by hearing will have works and actions tied together with it that will seem unorthodox or downright scary to the carnal mind. But as I always like to say, the best fruit is out on the end of the branch where there is less security and more risk. Amen!

Now again, in Mark 5:28, we are told – “For she said …” In the Amplified version, it denotes – “she kept saying.”

You see, sometimes, some good self-talk is necessary! Talk to your soul and tell it – “This is going to happen or that is going to happen!” This is what faith does—it says! Faith has a voice! Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks! So if you want to know what is in your heart in abundance, just listen to what you keep saying.

You see, this woman kept saying, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well” because she believed in her heart that this was true. It was the hope of her heart! Therefore, it was her repetitive statement!

So let’s consider the process of this woman’s faith here:

She heard about Jesus—which is where the faith comes from according to Romans 10:17. She obviously had ears to hear about Jesus and then she took heed to what and how she was hearing about Him.
Then after she heard, she acted (i.e. she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment). Faith that is alive, according to James 2:14-26, is a faith that works. You see, there is a difference between the works of faith and the works of the law. James was not talking here about doing works to get something from God. Rather, he was talking about the corresponding action of faith because we believe God has already got something for us.
Finally, we are told that she said. Amen! We believe, and therefore, we speak. We believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. But notice the terminology— “for she said …” This indicates that after she heard about Jesus and faith arose in her heart that she started saying, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well!” You see, she had tried everything else; now she was saying, “if only …” And then, after she continually said this, her words drove her to her knees, and she started pressing through the crowd on the ground to get to Jesus’ clothes.

So what happened next? Well, Mark 5:29 tells us – “Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.”

So “immediately” when this woman did what she kept saying she was going to do, she got what she said she would get.

Church, we need to know how our faith can get us specifically what we desire. I mean, this woman kept saying that if she can just touch Jesus’ clothes she would be healed, and guess what? She got exactly that, “immediately”—feeling in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

HE TOUCHED ME OR YE TOUCHED HE?

But then we see what happened next in Mark 5:30 – “And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus immediately knew inside Himself that some of His power had gone out of Him and He didn’t even initiate it? I think a lot of people think Jesus was in charge of when and how much power went out of Him, but this verse teaches us something different.

Evidently, Jesus was not the only one determining when His power was dispersed. In this case, this woman placed a demand on the healing anointing that He possessed. And I can guarantee you this – if she could do this yesterday, we can do the same today, for He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore! Amen!

However, even though we see Jesus knowing that power had gone out of Him, we see how He asked – “Who touched me?”

Now most Christians probably believe that Jesus knew the answer to this question, and was just asking to get the woman to identify herself, but I’m not so sure of this. I think we assume Jesus always knew everything, but we need to remember that Jesus was not operating in the omniscience of God all the time. He was still a man – a man filled with the Holy Spirit. And it was this Holy Spirit, Who revealed things to Him at times. So I personally believe this was one of those times where Jesus didn’t have light on who it was who touched Him.

But Jesus’ disciples didn’t have any problem believing He didn’t know either because notice what verse 31 says … “But His disciples said to Him, ‘You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ “

Notice that Jesus’ disciples thought it was a strange thing for Him to ask, “Who touched My clothes?” when there were multitudes thronging Him. In other words, there were a lot of people touching His clothes. So for Him to ask this question was perplexing to them. They were like – “Duh, a bunch of people are touching your clothes, Jesus. What do you mean?”

What this teaches us, however, is that people can be going through the motions, doing or saying certain things, but that doesn’t mean they will all get the same results. In this situation, hundreds of people were touching Jesus, but one particular person, put a demand on the anointing, and He perceived power going out of Himself.

So what Jesus was really asking was – “Who really touched Me?” In other words, people can say all the right things and do all the right things, and still not connect and get results.

So a question then is this – What is the difference between how all of these other people touched Jesus and how this woman touched Him? Well, the obvious answer is – She touched Him by faith.

You see, all of the other people (which I’m sure some of them were getting healed, but probably not all of them) were not putting a draw on the same power that this woman did or else Jesus would have not perceived power coming out of Him when she touched Him. So there was something different about this situation, and God obviously wants us to get that difference by recording this in the Scriptures.

Now in Mark’s account, Jesus said, “Who touched My clothes?” but in Luke 8:45, he said that Jesus asked, “Who touched Me?”

Either way, touching Him or touching His clothes would have made Jesus unclean according to the Law. And we see this throughout Jesus’ ministry that things that seemed so black & white according to the Law, were oftentimes violated and transgressed. However, these times where Jesus didn’t follow the Law to a T like the religious leaders thought He should, were always in meeting the needs of a person. In other words, love always trumped their religion.

Church, we must always strive to keep ourselves from being so dogmatic on our doctrine that we forget about the needs and desires of other people. People are what are important to God, not our strict adherence to the Law or the Bible. Sure, we should not err on the side of violating the Word, but if it comes between loving people or loving our doctrine, people are more important.

Now I think it is very interesting that a major point in this account of healing was “touching”… The woman said that if she could just touch his clothes she would be made well and Jesus spun around and asked “Who touched Me?” All of this was happening when her particular affliction had doomed her to not touching anyone or even touching anything that would touch their clothing. This shows me that what she did to take her healing was such a huge step of faith. Even to the point that she had to do something that the Law indicated was “unclean.” Amen!

Then in Mark 5:32-33, we see what Jesus did next – “And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.”

So at this point, when Jesus looked around and saw this woman, he apparently then knew it was her. And then she, fearing and trembling, fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

I think it is interesting to see how this woman reacted after receiving her healing ...

First of all, notice that she was “fearing and trembling.” Of course, this is referring to the fear she must have had of potentially being stoned for breaking God’s law and going into public, touching whoever she had to in order to get to Jesus.

But I want us to look at it from another perspective—notice that this verse says that she was fearing and trembling knowing what had happened to her. This speaks volumes to me, and portrays the heart of so many Christians …

You see, so many feel they are asking too much of God at times or they are irritating Him in some way. And I’m sure this woman thought she had upset the Lord by “cutting in line” and getting what she needed without asking first. But notice the Lord did not rebuke her for this or even acknowledge how she did what she did in any way. He just simply said, “Go in peace.” I just believe the Lord loves it when His people receive from Him, however that looks.

Then notice that she “came and fell down before Him …”

This, to me, shows this woman’s heart. She didn’t run from Him; she ran to Him. Friends, we must learn to always do this. When everything in our emotions is telling us that we missed it and made a mistake, run to the Lord and fall down before Him—trusting in His mercy and His grace. Amen!

Finally, notice that she “told Him the whole truth.” She didn’t tell Him a half truth or start making excuses as to why she did what she did. She simply told Him the “whole truth.” Friends, walking in truth is a major key to being set free. It is when we cover our mistakes and weaknesses that the Lord cannot free us from them.

You see, there’s something to be said for being a person who is humble & transparent enough to tell the whole truth. I think most people like staying in the darkness and not fully disclosing everything that they have been through. And I get it – it’s hard to trust that people won’t look at us differently afterwards or that they won’t use that information to tear us down. But there is power in not hiding these things and putting them out there. I mean, how can we get healing of something that we aren’t willing to bring to the surface. And the fact is, a lot of people have either had things done to them or have done things to others that have never been talked about. And these things can very well be a major hindrance to what we see Jesus saying next to this woman …

Mark 5:34 says, “And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

This one truth right here completely counters so much popular theology: Notice that Jesus said out of His own mouth that it was not His power that made this woman well; He said her own faith was what made her well! If this seems strange to you, let’s look at a few other things that Jesus said to those who came to receive from Him:

Mark 10:52- The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus- “your faith has made you well”
Matthew 8:13- The Healing of the Centurion’s Servant- “as you have believed, so let it be done for you.”
Matthew 9:29- The Healing of the Two Blind Men- “according to your faith let it be to you”

So here we have three other witnesses (all out of Jesus’ own mouth I might add) that clearly show us that it is one’s own faith that heals them, not God’s. Now, of course, this does not mean that we are not healed by means of the power and    anointing of God. That should go without saying. But the truth is that since Jesus, the grace of God Himself, has come, it is our faith that simply receives that power and anointing that has already been given by God’s grace.

Understanding this is    the key to learning how to receive our healing from the Lord. We are not waiting on God. We are not looking for Him to do it. No, we are believing in what He has    already done and expecting to receive it by faith & hope.

HOW TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE

So this is a great time to change the narrative that you might have been on for however long you’ve been going through whatever it is that you have. Yes, you can interrupt your current story and put a final chapter to it.

So in closing, let’s look at a few ways that we can interrupt our story and change this narrative of our lives. And I want to do this by looking at the beginning lines of a few of our popular novels …

Now one of the most well known books in our nation’s history is the one called Moby Dick written by Herman Melville. And does anyone know what the opening three words are of this famous book? It is “Call me Ishmael.”

Of course, this opening line of this classic novel is one of the most iconic and memorable in literature. This simple yet powerful sentence introduces the novel's narrator and sets the stage for the story to unfold. But I think it illustrates something that some people do that has caused their story to unfold …

You see, some of us have had them written because of a certain identity. Like Moby Dick begins with “Call me Ishmael,” some of our lives have gone a certain course because of what we call ourselves. Yes, our identity has determined our reality, which has produced our story.

Abram & Sarai are a great example of this. Coming from a pagan lifestyle, they were called to leave their hometown and live a life of faith, following this new God. They were even given promises from Him of how He was going to bless them.

But even with these promises, it was a constant state of wandering for them as “they dwelt in the land of promise as strangers” (Hebrews 11:9).

Then God changed their names – changing Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “the father of many nations,” and changing Sarai’s name to Sarah, meaning “a Princess.” And when God changed their names, everything changed! This is when they conceived the promise that they had for 25 years.

So what we see in this story is that when there was a name change, this is when there was a life change. This is when the promises of God become conceived – when we change our identity.

If that’s you, it’s time to interrupt your story. Yes, some of us might need to say, “Don’t call me Ishmael anymore. Call me Isaac.”

Now some of our stories have been written because of certain attitudes, mindsets, and mentalities …

Most of us can quote that iconic opening line of Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities – “It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.”

That reminds me of one of those glass half full / glass half empty kind of statements that a lot of people like to make. You see, some people will look at their situation as the best of times while others will look at them as the worst of times.

Did you know that a lot of times our stories have gone the way they have simply because of how we see things? Two people can walk through very similar circumstances and one can see it as the worst of times and the other can see it as the best of times. It’s not that their situations are all that much different, but the way they view it is completely different.

For example, it might be two people get laid off from their job. Well, one person might view it with that glass half empty kind of mentality and say in their heart, “This is so terrible! What am I going to do? I’m going to lose everything! I can’t believe they did this to me! I’ll never forgive them!” However, the other person might have that glass half full mentality and have a totally different perspective like – “Well, I guess God has something better for me. His plan is always perfect. I will choose to trust Him. Who knows why my employer laid me off. Perhaps things were tough on their end and they had to make some really tough decisions. I bless them and trust God’s blessing on me.”

I know those are two polar-opposite responses, but they can greatly determine our future. And I can guarantee you that there are a lot of people who respond to things they are dealt in life with terrible attitudes & mindsets, and it set them on a course that they’ve never recovered from. If that’s you, it’s time to interrupt your story.

A less familiar opening line of a Book is what was being announced on the streets of London in the book series The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It reads – “The King is dead. Long live the Queen.”

This reminds me of the opening words of the Book of Joshua that read – “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: ‘Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel.’” (Joshua 1:1-2).

Now I want you to notice what the Lord apparently had to say to Joshua here. Now we can only speculate on what was going on here, but there is the likelihood that Joshua, and all the rest of the children of Israel for that matter, were grieving over the death of Moses. I mean, he was their Deliverer (i.e. Savior) and was used by God to be the one who connected them with Him.

So when he died, I can all but guarantee you that there was a difficult time moving on. There was likely an unusual amount of grief & mourning, coupled together with hopelessness and despair because after all, who could fill Moses’ shoes?

So that’s the context of this story of Joshua, and why God had to tell him – “The King is dead.” But at the same time, the Lord told Joshua – “Long live the Queen.”
Of course, I’m referring to the fact that it’s time to move on and go on into the next phase of God’s plan to possess the Promised Land.

Do you think that might be God’s Word to some of us here today? Again, if this is you, then it’s time to interrupt your story. Yes, it’s time to move on from that person, place, or thing that is now dead and “arise and go over this Jordan” to possess our Promised Land. I’d be willing to bet a pretty penny that the Lord is saying this very same thing to some of you today.

Church, whatever it may be that has caused our story to be written like it has, know today that it is possible to erase the past and see a new narrative written in your life. Yes, you can see it changed, like this woman with the issue of blood did, to have a “happy ending” rather than the sad, less than desirable continual repeating of history that has plagued your life – and this will happen as we do one or more of the following:

Change our Identity.
Change our Attitude or Mindset.
Move on from the Past.

Write your own happy ending today, church. Amen!

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How to Be Made Whole - Part 6: Speaking to Your Giants

5/12/2024

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REVIEW

In our current series entitled “How To Be Made Whole,” we are learning not only how it is the Lord’s will for our whole man to be made whole, but also how this can occur.

But, you know, it’s not good enough just to know God wills something. There are a lot of things that God wants and doesn’t get.

For example, do you remember how Jesus – the One who said what He heard the Father saying – said, “O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem … How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (See Matthew 23:37)?

Notice how Jesus said that there was something that the Lord wanted to see happen. He willed to gather the children of Israel under His wings, protecting & providing for them. However, they were not willing to let that happen. This shows us that God’s will doesn’t always come to pass just because He wants it. No, He will never usurp our will to get His.

So as we’ve seen, God’s will is certainly that our whole man be sanctified completely and be made whole. But it’s not automatic. We need to also be willing for that to happen. Amen?

So that’s what we started off this series of teachings learning – how Jesus, in the story of the man healed at the Pool of Bethesda, asked him, “Do you want to be made whole?” We learned how this question is foundational for all of us being made whole – Do we really want it? Because since God wants it for us, we can have it if we just want it too.

But since then, we’ve looked at a couple of other examples of how others were made whole. In other words, we looked at specific examples of how those who did indeed line themselves up with God’s will obtained their healing & wholeness. We did this, knowing that these things are recorded for our instruction, teaching us that if we do what they did, we can be made whole like they were. Amen?

So we looked at the Healing of the Ten Lepers and saw how, while all ten of them were cleansed from their leprosy, one of them (a Samaritan) returned to the Lord and was made whole. We spent a couple of weeks on this story, learning what this Samaritan did to get something more than his friends.

Then, over the past two weeks, we’ve looked at another story in the Gospels where healing occurred – Blind Bartimaeus.

In this story, we learned some powerful truths about how one obtains wholeness from the Lord – such as, the importance of getting the Lord’s attention, crying out no matter what the voices around us and within us are saying, throwing aside those beggar’s garments, and learning to look up.

I’d encourage you that if you have missed any of these teachings to go back and listen / watch to them as they contained vital, Scriptural keys to being made whole.

But now let’s go back over to our keynote verse for this series – First Thessalonians 5:23 – where we learn about God’s heart to see our whole man made whole. Again, this verse reads – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We’ve already pulled out from this verse some powerful truths – the first one being how this verse reveals to us that we are a three-part being – spirit, soul, and body. Paul said here that this is who we are “completely” and “wholly.” Therefore, God wants you and I sanctified and preserved in all three parts of who we are.

Isn’t it awesome, saints, to know that God cares about our entire, whole man. No, it’s not just the spiritual things that He wants taken care of. Sure, He cares about our spirit and our eternal & inward condition, but He cares about the body too. Yes, He wants us just as physically healthy as we are spiritually healthy. Not only that, but he cares about our soul’s condition as well. That means he wants that part of us that makes us who were are (i.e. our life) to be made whole as well.

So this includes everything! Yes, every part of us has the potential for being healed & whole, set apart and kept. Amen!

We’ve also noted how the word “may” at the beginning of this verse indicates that while it’s possible for this to happen, it may or may not. And that is completely dependent on what we were talking about earlier – whether we line our will up with God’s will.

We also learned how by throwing the word “Himself” in there, the apostle Paul is showing us that this process is going to completely be the Lord’s doing. In other words, the Lord is not going to need any of our help sanctifying us or preserving us. While we must believe, the work is all His to do it. Therefore, all the glory is all His too.

So let’s get into another truth from First Thessalonians 5:23: Notice how Paul described God here as the God of peace.

Now if you’ve paid attention, there is several different virtues that our God is the God of. But most of the time, He is called this – the God of peace (Romans 15:33, 16:20, Philippians 4:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Hebrews 13:20). And I think that is significant.

You see, I don’t know if most Christians would refer to God in this one way if given the choice. We might call Him the God of love or the God of power, but the Scriptures refer to Him this way far more than any other virtue. So the question then is, why? Why is peace the primary way God is described.

Well, when one comes to understand what peace really is, it becomes clear. You see, peace is not just some state of mental tranquility. Nor is it just an absence of war & conflict. Peace can include these things, but the peace the Scriptures reveal to us carries more of the idea of wholeness.
This idea originated in the Old Testament when God revealed Himself to Gideon as “Jehovah Shalom” – the Lord is peace.

You see, the Hebrew word “shalom” didn’t describe peace as we like to use it. It described “completeness, soundness, wellness, as in welfare, health, and prosperity.” It came from the root word “salem” which described something being perfect, complete, or whole. In fact, I love one expositor’s description of “shalom” as “nothing missing & nothing broken.”

So this sounds a little bit more like the subject at hand, doesn’t it? When we speak of the God of peace, we speak of the God of wholeness, soundness, and completeness. He is not the God of brokenness, but of wholeness. In other words, He is not in the business of brokenness; He’s in the business of wholeness!

REBUKING THE FEVER

So today, I would like us to look at another instance of Jesus’ healing & making someone whole. And this one is probably not one of the first one’s folks will think of, nor is there a ton of Scriptural real estate given to it, but it’s a great example nonetheless – the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law.

Did you even know that Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law? Now you know, there are some people who believe this is why Peter wound up denying the Lord those three times, right? You might ask why – because Jesus healed his mother-in-law. LOL!

No, in all seriousness, Peter evidently had a great mother-in-law because of what we see about her in this story. So let’s dive into it – In fact, this story is told in three of the four Gospels – Matthew 8, Mark 1, and Luke 4 – but we are going to just look at Luke’s account (Luke 4:38-39) because of something Jesus specifically does in this story.

Now in Luke 4:38, notice how this account begins with “Now he arose from the synagogue.” It would be good for us to back up and read what happened in the synagogue right before this account of healing because it ties into what we are going to be talking about today—the authority that we have to command the powers of darkness to leave (Compare verse 35).

Then we are told that Jesus entered Simon’s (Peter’s) house: So evidently Peter had a house. I think a lot of us have imagined that when guys like Peter went on to follow Jesus, that they got rid of all they had. After all, isn’t this the price of discipleship – to sell all you have and follow Christ. But you would have to add to the Bible to say that this is what everyone who becomes the Lord’s disciple is called to do. Evidently, Peter still had his house even though he didn’t get to stay there much.

You know, having things like transportation and houses are tools. Being blessed with things is not a bad thing. They are tools with which God blesses us with in order to bless others with. I mean, where would Jesus have gone if Peter did not have a house?

In fact, in Mark 1:29, this account of this story called it the house of Simon & Andrew. So what we see here is that not only was this Simon Peter’s house, it was also Andrew, Peter’s brother’s house too. On top of that, evidently Peter’s mother-in-law also lived there as well.

So what I take away from this is the Lord’s heart to make whole everything in our house. Amen! Yes, the Lord cares about everything which concerns us – our people, our things, etc. All that is within our house, Jesus can and will make whole! And why? Because He loves and favors us!

Know this today, church! Because you are highly favored by your heavenly Father, He wants to “perfect the things which concern” you (See Psalm 138:8). That means that God will take care of everything in our “house” – everything that is part of our lives and that we value. Amen!

The next thing we see in this story is that Simon Peter’s wife’s mother was “sick with a high fever” Now it is interesting to note the word that Luke uses for “sick” here because the King James Version says, “taken with.” It comes from the Greek word sunecho which literally means “to hold together” or “to grip tightly.” It was also used in Luke 8:45 to describe how the crowds hemmed Christ in, in Luke 19:43 to describe an army surrounding Jerusalem, and in Luke 22:63 to describe the soldiers holding Jesus in order to beat Him. This gives us an interesting picture of certain sicknesses, doesn’t it? The high fever she had, had her hemmed in. It surrounded her, attacking her like an army. It gripped her and held her so that it could beat her. This doesn’t sound like sickness is our friend, does it? No, sickness and disease are not a blessing; it is our enemy! And it seeks to oppress, defeat, and destroy us!

Here is a good analogy: Notice that the King James Version says, “taken with.” There have been some very popular movies released in the past several years with the title, “Taken.” Spoiler alert: In these movies, the story is basically of this man’s family being individually taken captive and how this man (Liam Neesan) is on a mission to recover them. Well, in these couple of movies, first his daughter and then his wife was “taken” against their will, were forced to go with and do what these people who kidnapped them wanted, etc. So my point is that when we are “taken,” then our free will is not involved—which is always how God does things. Therefore, it should be rather obvious to us that sickness that attempts to take us captive, not giving us a choice, is not from God.

For example, there are those who try to make things like paralysis out to be God’s will for them—citing these things as their “cross to bear.” No! These things cannot be what Jesus was referring to when He said, “take up your cross and follow me.” And do you know why? It’s because Jesus said to take it up. So if you do not have the option to either pick it up or lay it down, then it cannot be your cross. Amen? No, the “cross” that Jesus was referring to in these passages of Scripture is an obvious reference to denying ourselves and laying our life down for the cause of Christ; it’s not our wheelchair, our walking cane or any other ailment that we cannot simply just lay down when we decide to. So when someone comes to you and says, “No, this wheelchair is just my cross to bear,” just ask them to prove it and get up and walk - because, again, if it is your cross, then you can take it up or lay it down by your free will. And this is exactly how you can tell what is God’s will for you to walk through: Just ask yourself the question: Naturally speaking, do I have a choice to go through this or is it being forced on me against my will? The Good Shepherd (Jesus) leads and guides. The bad cowboy (the thief) ropes and binds.

Luke also tells us that it was a “high fever”: So as Dr. Luke was known for doing, he gives a little more detailed description of the affliction. So in other words, she had an extremely high temperature.

So how did Jesus deal with this high fever? Well, the way most Christians who even consider the spiritual side of things would deal with it, this might mirror the last phrase in verse 38 – “and they made request of Him concerning her.” In other words, we would pray for them, making a request of God to take the fever away. But that’s not how Jesus dealt with it. Verse 39 tells us that “… He stood over her and rebuked the fever …”

Now to “rebuke” does not mean to simply say, “I rebuke you.” No, to “rebuke” something means to chide it, to ridicule it, to correct from a position of authority. But I want you to notice what He was specifically rebuking here. Jesus was actually addressing the fever! He was not chiding Peter! He was not ridiculing his mother-in-law! He was not even rebuking the devil, per se! Get this: Jesus was talking to the fever! Amen!

But a good question is: Can fevers hear? ... Well, Luke 4:39 goes on to tell us, “… and it left her.” So evidently fevers can hear! And if fevers can hear, then you can bet the bank that tumors can hear, colds can hear, headaches can hear, etc.

Yes, church, Jesus talked to things like trees (Mark 11:14 & Matthew 21:19), the wind, the sea (Mark 4:39 & Luke 8:24), and even encouraged His disciples to talk to the mountains (Mark 11:23)!

In that latter example, Jesus said in Mark 11:23-24 that we shall speak to the mountain. He didn’t say that we pray to God about the mountain. And that’s the problem a lot of times when it comes to healing. In many cases, Christians are praying to God to heal the person. No, there is a time to pray and there is a time to say! More times than not, we are to actually speak to the sickness, take authority over it, and command it to leave in the name of Jesus. This honor and privilege have all the saints! (see Psalm 149:9)

TALKING TO OUR GIANTS

So the way to see these mountains removed is to speak to them. But did you know this is how we see our giants removed as well …

One of my favorite examples of this in the Scriptures is in the story of David & Goliath (See First Samuel 17:4-54): In this example, David had a giant just like all of us have our giants. These are things that we are confronted with that must be overcome in order to progress in our walk with God.

Now it is important to understand that this story is a real-life example of an encounter between a young shepherd boy and a massive giant warrior who lived on the earth. So this definitely happened. However, it is also a type & shadow of something that we all will face in our lives. No, we are not all going to face a literal giant in the flesh, but we will face things that will seem “giant” to us. And the key here is facing these insurmountable issues that come against us and not shying away from them like the majority of the soldiers of Israel were doing upon David’s arrival.

So in this story, we are told that Goliath came to present himself before the armies of Israel for 40 days and verbally taunted them twice a day. So not only was Goliath’s appearance intimidating, but his words made Israel “dismayed and greatly afraid” (vs.11).

Now how many of you can relate to this? How many of you have had the enemy come at you for around this many days straight, harassing you in your heart & mind, in an attempt to make you “dismayed and greatly afraid”? I’m sure we’ve all had this “giant” come against us at different times in our lives.

Then David came on the scene and there were several things that he did in this event that we can do as well to counter our own giants.

The first thing he did was realize that Goliath was not just defying the army of Israel, but he was defying the armies of the living God. David realized Israel had a covenant with God and that meant that God was bound to give them the victory over these Philistines.

You see, in a covenant, when one of the parties went into battle the other fought with them. Therefore, David knew that because of Israel’s covenant with God, that this “uncircumcised Philistine” (i.e. this Gentile who did not have a covenant with God) was no match for him.

You see, this is what the enemy will do: He doesn’t always come at you directly. He will put thoughts in your mind that defy the armies of the living God. In other words, he will bring accusations about God Himself, and he will attempt to slander God’s people. And sometimes when that happens, it’s easy to agree with him. Why? Because it’s not personal. It’s not aimed at you. But I just love what David did when he heard these blasphemous words. He took it personal!

You see, David could have just ignored these words and gone on his merry way. But he didn’t. He recognized the error that was being spoken in his ears, and he was also hearing of the benefits that would come to the one who would do something about this giant.

Church, this is a beautiful illustration of how we all ought to be hearing in our hearts. We first need to able to recognize the spirit of error when it rears its ugly head, and we also need to hear the voice of truth, which if we are hearing correctly, will oftentimes remind us of all of God’s benefits.

I’m reminded of the 103rd Psalm where David spoke to his own soul, telling it to bless the Lord. But he also told his soul to do something else, didn’t he? He also said, “And forget not all His benefits …”

So if I’m hearing from God, this is something I will be hearing – about all of the benefits I have in Christ, not all of the fears of what I can’t have or won’t get. Those lies have to be correctly discerned in our minds so we can do something about them when they come. Amen?

But then guess what other voices piped up? The voice of his brother trying to take the wind out of his sails, accusing him of things like pride and having bad motives. Have you ever heard anything like this inside of you? Is there a voice that tries to condemn & accuse of things? You need to know something today – those voices are not of God. They are the voice of doubt & unbelief.

So guess how David dealt with his brother’s accusations? He first spoke back to him and then he turned from him and kept on inquiring about what these benefits were. Amen!

Church, that is how you deal with those naysaying voices inside of you: You speak to them and then turn your back on them and continue saying the right things! Amen!

Doesn’t this sound familiar with what Blind Bart did when those voices were trying to get him to be quiet? Yup! The Bible says that he cried out all the more!

The next thing we see in this story is that David’s words where heard - they told Saul. Verse 31 specifically says, “Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him.”

One takeaway from this verse is that yours and my words are heard too. It may not seem like it at times. It may feel like our words are falling to the ground. But our faith-filled words are most definitely heard. And because of that, those “Sauls” then will try to bring us back to reality.

In verse 33, we see what those voices in our mind will tell us – “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” Yep, that’s what the unbelief will tell us – “You can’t do that! And let me tell you why …”

So how did David deal with these words (i.e. thoughts) of doubt? He recalled those memories of his past victories. Yes, he not only recounted how he was used by God to kill a lion and a bear who, in the natural, seemed to be impossible victories, but he also spoke back to those words of doubt, telling them about what God had done for him.

So, remember: Declaring our past victories will spark faith in us for the current giant in our life. We need to build memorials in our lives that call to remembrance all the things God has brought us through and then speak them!

So after David got the “good to go” from king Saul, which was miraculous in and of itself because, you have to remember, if David lost, they would have all become the servants of the Philistines, yet he let David be their representative. So Saul was essentially putting all his eggs in one little basket – namely, this youthful, little basket named David. So David’s confidence must have been very convincing, and true faith will be just that – it’ll sell.

So then we see, in verses 38-39, how Saul wanted David to wear his armor for this confrontation with Goliath, but David declined and made the decision to go into it just wearing his own spiritual armor.

Church, this is an important point: We do not need to try and fight our own battles wearing what maybe worked for someone else. That’s not the best way to get victory. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God (See Second Corinthians 10:3). In other words, we just need to get our weaponry from the Lord. Sure, others can offer good advice, and there is some safety in the multitude of counselors, but the things that will bring us victory will be the help we receive directly from God. Never forget that.

And in the next verse (verse 40), we are told how he got his weaponry. He went to the brook and gathered five smooth stones. So what do these symbolize?

I see them as those words from God that we receive from the brooks of His presence. Yes, they
are rhema’s that you and I can receive that are washed in the water of the Word. In other words, they are those truths, instructions, and direction we get from the Holy Spirit that are refined by Him, making them as spiritually aerodynamic as they need to be.

We need to hear from the Holy Spirit, saints! These are the smooth stones that will be used to slay our giants. It’s not going to be other people’s weapons. Our victory will come straight through what the Lord naturally gives us through His Spirit.

Then we see how David drew near to the Philistine … And we are told that Goliath looked at David and “disdained him.” This resulted in him beginning to roar like a lion, trying to put fear in David’s heart. And Goliath said something that the enemy still says today – “Come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field” (vs.44). In other words, “Come on! Try and take me on! Try and believe for your wholeness! Try it, and I’ll take even more away from you and leave you with nothing!”

So, what was the enemy trying to do to David here? He was trying to put a picture in David’s head of what would happen to him if he confronted this giant. This illustrates to us how the enemy will try and use our imagination against us. If he can get us to ponder those pictures of defeat in our minds, then our faith will grow weaker.

You see, it has been well-said that the word F.E.A.R stands for “false expectations appearing real.” And the way that these false expectations appear real is in our mind and our imagination.

On the other hand, if God can get us to ponder images of victory in our minds, then we will grow in faith and, therefore, will receive what God has for us. You see, we have to see it in here (i.e. in your heart and mind) in order to see it out here (i.e. in the natural)!

So, what did David do when Goliath was trying to paint that picture of defeat in him? Did he just stand back and do nothing? No, David verbally responded to those fear-filled images by creating faith-filled images in himself!

I just love what David said in response to his giant in verses 45-47 – “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

He essentially told his giant, “Yeah, you’ve come at me with pain, hurt, and heartache. But I’m coming at you in the name of Jesus!” Do you hear the confidence there? And it gets even stronger when David said what he did next … He said, “The Lord will …” and “I will …” This is faith-talk, saints! And it’s what determines whether things “will” happen or not. Yes, in verse 46 alone he used the word “will” three times – “the Lord will deliver you into my hand,” “I will strike you and take your head from you,” “I will give your carcass…” David had tremendous confidence and boldly confessed what would happen before he ever saw it happen.

But again, this is what David was able to see: We are told that he saw Goliath dead in this valley with birds and wild beasts eating his carcass. Saints, it would do us good to sometimes just close our eyes and imagine ourselves being able to do things that have seemed impossible. When we start seeing it through the eyes of faith then we will start seeing it with the eyes of our head!

So all of this led to the big face to face with his Goliath: Verse 48 begins to tell us how the talk was over, and it was “go time!” And we see how it only took one stone to slay Goliath and we are even told how “there was no sword in the hand of David” (verse 50). What the Holy Spirit is wanting us to see there is how the battle is not ours, but it belongs to the Lord. In fact, this is something you see the Lord repeat over and over in the Scriptures from the Lord defeating Pharoah’s army for the children of Israel to God giving Jehoshaphat a supernatural victory.

You see, it is easy to gravitate towards thinking that we need some help in the natural to get victory over our obstacles, but that’s not true. All we need is the Lord. Now if the Lord tells you that something else is needed, then yes. But generally, you will find that our victories come through us not needing to fight with our own armor.

CONCLUSION

Church, we must also learn to do these things David did as we face the giants in our lives. Mind you, this defeat of Goliath is what positioned David for what he had been anointed to do. So a lot of times, us reaching our full purpose & calling is going to come through us tackling our giant.

But I believe this story teaches you and I how to see that mountain – our giant obstacle – removed and moving past the mediocrity of where most Christians live.

But if we are going to take anything away from this story of David vs. Goliath, know this: The best way to counter these giants is to speak faith-filled words – to rebuke the thing that is hemming us in and binding us up. Why do I say this? It is because before David ever tried to take on Goliath, he first spoke faith-filled words. This is why I just love a quote I heard from Mark Hankins! He said, “Never run at your giant with your mouth shut!”–to which I give a hearty ‘Amen!”

So church, whatever the mountain / giant is that seems to be keeping us from getting “over the hump,” know that these things are removed from our lives by us taking authority over them and speaking to them. Speak to that depression and tell it – “You are not going to rule my life anymore, depression. It is written, I am free indeed in Christ Jesus. He has redeemed me from you.” Speak to that fear and say, “Fear, you have no hold on me. The Scriptures say that I am no longer in bondage to you. I have a spirit of faith, not a spirit of fear.”

Yes, church, speak to that mountain. Curse the fig trees that aren’t bearing fruit. Bless the ones you desire to bear fruit. Use the power that is in your tongue to bring life to what needs it and to bring death to the giants that need to go.

You have the authority & dominion over your garden just like Adam did. You have the power to frame your world with your faith-filled words just like God did. That small rudder has the power to steer your life to get you to the other side. Amen!

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How to Be Made Whole - Parts 4 & 5: The ROad to Receiving Wholeness

5/5/2024

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REVIEW

We have been on a new series for a few weeks now which I have entitled “How To Be Made Whole” where are learning how it is the Lord’s will for each of us to be made completely whole – spirit, soul, and body. But our emphasis in this series is not to just focus on what the Lord wants, but how to get what He wants. And so the way we find the answer to the question – How to be made whole? – is by looking at the specific examples that we have in the Scriptures of how people were made whole, knowing that the Holy Spirit inspired these examples for our instruction.

So our text for this study is First Thessalonians 5:23 where the apostle Paul clearly reveals to us that it is God’s will that every person be made whole “completely.” Again, this verse reads – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We’ve learned that this verse reveals to us that we are a three-part being – spirit, soul, and body. This is who we are “completely” and “wholly.” Therefore, God wants you and I sanctified and preserved in all three parts of who we are. So, it would be a good idea for us to chew on this verse until our hearts assimilate every spiritual nutrient that’s contained in it.

Did you know that meditation on God’s Word is a lot like how we eat food? Yes, there is the process of chewing on the truth that begins the whole process of digesting our food. And what I think we do too often is we try and get that food into our stomach without adequately chewing on it first.

So let me show you how to chew it up so that your heart can assimilate it better: Just take a verse like this and speak it out loud to yourself like so – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify ME completely; and may MY whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of MY Lord Jesus Christ.” And each time you recite it, emphasize different words in it and even expound on them. Let me give you an example based on things we’ve learned …

“Now may the God of peace Himself …” = Lord, thank you that by including the word “may” here, that you have given me the choice of letting you make you whole. So I give You permission to do this work of sanctifying me completely and preserving my whole man. Show me the things I need to see. Teach me the things I need to know. Do a deep work in me of uncovering hidden hurts, wounds, beliefs, etc. even if it hurts to go there. I choose the life you have for me. And I also thank you that even though it is I who have to allow this, that it is You Yourself that does the work. I’m not going to be made whole by my own power or abilities. This all comes through You doing the work Yourself.

So what I am doing here? I am appropriating the truths contained in this Scripture through personal relationship with the Lord. This is a form of meditating the Word that can help us renew our minds to the truth which will lead us on the path to wholeness.

But don’t just meditate on this one in First Thessalonians 5:23. Do the same with the specific accounts of healing that we have been looking at as well.

We started out looking at the story of the man healed at the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus asked this man, “Do you want to be made whole?” And our takeaway from that example is that even though there was the supernatural phenomena of God healing the first person who got in the pool when that angel came down and stirred the waters, we can dramatically increase our odds of being whole is if we don’t wait around for God to move but rather if we just get to Jesus. In other words, our healing is not in a place but in a person – namely, the Person of Jesus Christ.

So we learned that when Jesus asked this guy this question, this is the foundation for all of us to being made whole – Do we really want it? Because if we do want it, we can have. And if we do want it, we will do what it takes to get it. Amen?

Then over the past two weeks, we’ve looked at another story in the Gospels where healing occurred – The Story of the Ten Lepers.

We saw in this story that these ten lepers came to Jesus and cried out for mercy. And the Bible tells us that when Jesus saw them, He said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”

Now remember, He told them to do what lepers do when they’ve been cleansed of their leprosy before they ever had the manifestation of that healing – showing us that our God who calls those things that be not as though they were, will oftentimes tell us to act on the truth without any evidence. And we learned that this is likely going to be the way you and I are going to be whole. We can’t wait around for it to happen before we act. No, we must believe without seeing for we walk by faith and not by sight.

But we also learned that there was one of these lepers that was a Samaritan who returned to Him after he realized that he was cleansed, and the Bible teaches us that this man wasn’t just cleansed but was made whole as well.

So we looked at several things that this man did by faith that made him whole:

“returned” – So we learned that drawing near to the Lord is a necessary first step to being made whole.
“and with a loud voice” – We also learned that lifting our voices is also a necessary step because a serious voice with raised volume can erase all the other voices (a point we will learn in the next account of healing as well).
“glorified God” – We learned how glorifying God is such an important piece in our healing because the tendency is to glorify other things. So magnifying Him positions us to receive our wholeness.
“fell down at His feet” – And we learned how getting serious enough to worship the Lord with this posture is what positions us to have the Lord change us.
“giving Him thanks” – Finally, we saw how giving God thanks is a way to receive what has already been done. This likewise is a step to being made whole.

So all of these things are what our faith will do to receive our wholeness. And again, this doesn’t just apply to physical issues. It also works for the issues associated with a “Samaritan Leper” too – the issues of the heart.

BART TIMAEUSSON & THE OTHER BLIND MAN

Now let’s move into another account of healing that teaches us similar methods to being made whole found in Mark chapter 10 …

In Mark 10:46, we are introduced to a man in desperate need of a touch from God – Mark calling him “blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus.” I like to call him Bart because just think about it, if your name was Bartimaeus, you’d probably want to be called something else, right? Sure, you’d probably go by the shortened version of your legal name like we tend to do in our culture today. Also, Mark is sure to also tell us who Bart was the son of because that is how they made a distinction between people who had the same name like we have surnames (i.e. last names). So if Bartimaeus were living in our culture today, you might know him as “Bart Timaeusson.”

Now, here is yet another instance where it is important to harmonize the gospels and compare them together because in both Mark & Luke’s account, we are told that there was one blind man. And in Mark’s account, we are even told this one blind man’s name. However, in Matthew’s gospel, he says that there were two blind men that received their sight.

So, which is correct? Was there two blind men or was there just one? Well, since we know that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (Second Timothy 3:16) and all of these books were written as men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to do so (Second Peter 1:20-21), we know that there is no contradiction here. So, if we are going to stay on God’s side, then we must conclude that while there was certainly one blind man named Bartimaeus, there must have also been another blind man accompanying him, crying out with him. This does not mean that Mark & Luke were incorrect either just because they did not mention a second blind man. They were simply focusing on the fact that there was a blind man who was super aggressive in obtaining his miracle. For all we know, Bartimaeus was the “alpha” blind man, who was the main initiator of this miracle and the other guy, while involved, was simply following suit.

JUST SAY NO TO SITTING BY & BEGGING

And notice how verse 46 goes on to describe how Blind Bart “sat by the road begging.”

Do you know this describes the majority of believers? They are infirmed, for sure. They definitely have needs like this man did. But they are doing the same thing Bart was doing here – “sitting by” and “begging.”

You see, church, doing these two things is not what will cause one to receive from God:

First of all, let’s look at the phrase “sat by the road”: Now we know this might have been all Blind Bart could do because, after all, he was blind. But most of us can do more than this. But a lot of people don’t want to do much more than just idly sit by and hope the Lord comes to them and brings their healing to them. However, sitting by is not how one receives from the Lord. I’m sure that there were hundreds of people sitting by the roads that Jesus traveled on who had similar needs, and we don’t hear of a lot of them because why? Because they didn’t do the things that Blind Bart did. That is very important to understand because like I’ve made the point of already, these stories being inspired to be included in the Bible is for our instruction.

In another instance, we have an account of two blind men that followed Jesus, even into the house that Jesus entered (See Matthew 9:27-31). And the word “followed” in Matthew 9:27 denotes that they were following Him in a purposeful and deliberate manner.

So I want you to picture what was going on in this story: These two blind men didn’t just stay where they were. They got up, and they began following the Lord. Now you understand that this was a real-life example of “the blind leading the blind” so there was a good chance of these guys stubbing their toe, banging their knee, falling on their face etc. Yet, they got up and pursued Christ anyways! No, they didn’t just sit by, hoping Jesus would come to them.

This reminds me of the story from Second Kings 7:3-8 where the four lepers who sat at the entrance of the gate said to one another, (and I paraphrase) “Hey, why are we just sitting here until we die. Instead of going into the city where the famine is and just being doomed to die there and instead of staying here at the gate and dying here, let’s go surrender to the camp of the Syrians. For what’s the worst that can happen? All they can do is kill us, which seems to be our only options anyways.”

Now I tend to agree with these leper’s mentality here. They understood they were going to die if they kept doing what they had been doing. So instead of delaying the inevitable, they put themselves in the position of living by putting themselves in the position of dying sooner rather than later.

Of course, we know the story – The Lord caused the Syrian army to hear the noise of a great army with chariots and horses, and they wound up fleeing. So when these lepers entered their camp and were able to eat and drink, and to carry away clothes, silver and gold.

Friends, it is amazing what can happen when we simply decide to leave the status quo and “arise” and start heading in a certain direction. Too many just sit and do nothing because of fear! They stay where they are at because they are afraid of the unknown.

David said in Psalm 23:5 that the Lord prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, didn’t he? Well, first of all, we know that this is not in heaven because we have no enemies there. This is here, now on this earth! But the truth I want you to see is that the table is spread out for us to partake of healing, which is the children’s bread, but its where the enemies of our faith are. In other words, we must arise and head into the enemy’s camp and take back what he has stolen from us! Faith arises and follows the Lord! Amen?

And notice that Blind Bart was also “begging” while sitting by. Of course, he was begging for money because, being blind, he was truly desperate for alms to survive. But we need to see how this symbolizes something as well …

Notice how Bart was still blind as long as he was begging. That’s because begging is not believing and believing is not begging. Church, we are believers, not beggers. If I am believing God, I am putting my faith in what He has said. I’m not offering up “shotgun prayers” where I throw up as many as possible and hope one hits. No, I am specific and not desperate; I’m confident and not despondent. There is a big difference between one who simply begs, pleads, and implores, and one who stands in faith, who trusts the Lord, and knows that He will provide.

And if you’ll notice that at the end of the story, Mark 10:52 shows us how this blind man who once – “sat by the road begging” started “following Jesus on the road.” In other words, the same blind man who “sat by the road” begging (vs. 46) is now a healed man who is “on the road” following Jesus!

And I believe this is a transition that we must all go from in order to consistently receive from God: we must transition from “begging” God to do things for us to “following” the Word of God and the instructions (i.e. the road) that it lays out for us to receiving from God. Yes, the key to walking out our miracle is found in the truths and principles contained in the Word, not in begging the big pie in the sky out there to maybe, in His sovereignty, give us a little crumb.

If you recall, Jesus called His disciples to follow Him before they were ever changed. No, their lives were not transformed until after they followed His instructions and followed Him. This is how His disciples were made whole then, and it is how His disciples will be made whole today as well.

Just follow Jesus, saints! Do things His way and you will more consistently enter into the things God has for you. Amen!

So Blind Bart obviously did something! He didn’t just continue sitting by the road. He also moved from the place of begging to specifically looking unto Jesus for his answers— thus truly “following” the Lord before he ever started following Him physically.
FAITH COMES BY HEARING & THEN ACTS

So what took him from this place of despondency to receiving His wholeness? We start seeing the answer to this in Mark 10:47.

It starts with – “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth …” In other words, when he heard what was being proclaimed throughout all Judea that it was Jesus of Nazareth – the Anointed One of God, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38), then he did what he did.

You see, when Peter met Cornelius and started preaching the gospel to him, his relatives and close friends, this is specifically what he said was said throughout all Judea from the time of John the Baptist. So the truths contained in Acts 10:38 are the gist of the gospel that was being heard throughout the land – that God had obviously anointed this Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and He was going about doing good, and that he was healing all who were oppressed by the devil.

We see yet again in the life of Blind Bart another instance where someone’s act of faith was based on what they heard – which echoes Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Friends, never underestimate the power of what you hear, and not just what you hear with your natural ears, but what you truly hear with the ears of your heart. This is why hearing the good news is so vital to your walk of faith—because it is what determines what your faith will be placed in.

Then we are told that after he heard that it was Jesus, “he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’”

So what he heard determined what he did, right? And that’s how it works with us to, church! What we hear determines what we believe, and what we believe determines our actions. And what was it that Blind Bart did? The Bible says he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”

So again, we see another person imploring the Lord for mercy: Saints, we don’t want what we deserve; we want mercy! Mercy is not getting what we do deserve. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve.

You know, you don’t have to reap everything you’ve sown. The devil will feed us this lie and say, “Oh, this has happened to you because you opened the door to him, you made this mistake and that mistake.” This does not mean you won’t get healed! We can receive healing by God’s mercy!

In Philippians 2:25 it says regarding Epaphroditus “God had mercy on him” It is believed that Epaphroditus was overworking himself and this is what caused his illness. Well, this is when we need God’s mercy—not reaping what we’ve sown.

Now this does not mean we tempt God and continue sowing bad seed and making bad decisions, but when we make mistakes and poor choices, there is mercy available.

Now why do you think that time after time these sick & infirmed people continuously asked the Lord for mercy in regards to their infirmities? It is because this is the way they were taught! You see, to the Jewish mind, under the Old Covenant, they equated sickness, disease, poverty as curses that were brought on because of sin. This is why you see in the Gospels people asking questions of Jesus like – “Why did this bad thing happen to these people? Was it because they were worst sinners than others!” or “Why was this man born blind? Was it his sin or the sins of his parents?”

You see, this was their belief system, but Jesus corrected that mindset by saying, “No, not all sicknesses and tragedies are because someone has transgressed God’s commandments.” But I believe this is the reason why you see this pattern in the gospels of the sick and infirmed individual asking for mercy—it’s because they had such a law mentality that they believed that they deserved the infirmity that they had. And the “gospel” is that Jesus healed them all- every one of these people who felt that they were getting what they deserved according to the Law they were under. Friends, that is what “Grace” Himself has done – He has provided “mercy” over “judgment”! Amen!

So try to imagine what this crying out for mercy sounded like. I can guarantee you that it was not some half-hearted crying out. Do you know how I know this? It is because of what we see happening next in verse 48 …

Mark 10:48 says, “Then they warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more.”

You see, people aren’t “warning” you to be quiet if you are not making quite a ruckus. No, I’m sure he was irritating everyone there with his constant & loud crying out. But notice what he did as everyone was warning him to be quiet – the Bible says, “but he cried out all the more.”

What if Bart would have been more concerned with pleasing the people here? What if he would have been more concerned about what they were telling him more than what his heart was telling him? What if he would have started out crying out to the Lord and then when the people started ridiculing him, warning him to shut up, he would have stopped calling on the Lord? Well, you can be sure that he would not have been in the Bible if he would have let the people shout him down!

No, this Scripture says that Bartimaeus “cried out all the more!” This reminds me of King David when he led the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem and he danced before the Lord with all his might (see Second Samuel 6:12-23). When his wife ridiculed him for that, he told her – “I will be become even more undignified than this!” (vs.22)

But another way to look at this is that the ones warning you to be quiet are not usually the ones who come from without; they’re the ones who are within – meaning, the biggest enemy to us calling on the name of the Lord is our own soul. Yes, it will tell you to be quiet. It will try and shout you down. This is when you have to cry out all the more! Amen!

For example, have you ever heard those voices in your mind telling you that you’re wasting your time, it’s doing no good, etc. when you are confessing the Word, praying in tongues, etc.? Those thoughts that oftentimes just feel like us are not always just us. A lot of times they originate from the enemy, and are an attempt to get us to quit doing the very thing that is effective.

So when those thoughts come into our heads, what are we to do? The same thing Bart did: We cry out all the more! Amen! No, we certainly don’t back off, and we don’t even just continue doing it at the same level we were. We ramp it up, and become even more persistent! Amen!

HEARING THE LORD’S DIRECTIONS

And do you know what this did for Blind Bart? Mark 10:49 says, “So Jesus stood still.”

So this man’s persistent faith of crying out, even when others were trying to shut him down, caused Jesus to stop in His tracks! I picture this like so – Jesus was passing by, and He just stopped, not looking to the left or to the right. He just stood there.

Did you know that your persistent faith can actually place a demand on God’s anointed one? The Lord can be moving in a certain way, and there doesn’t seem to be an open door for the ministry of healing and then the Lord stops what He was doing and honors that faith. Amen.

So after Jesus stood still, we are told that he commanded Bart to be called to Him. And verse 49 says, “Then they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.’”

So there is a very important point that we need to see in this chain of events: When Jesus stopped, He spoke to those near by to him (probably His disciples) and commanded them to call him. So what happens? They did exactly that! “Then they called the blind man …” And specifically, what they said to Him was – “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”

I want you to recognize how this works with us today: We have those who are called to the five-fold ministry. There are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These are meant to hear directly from the Lord like a herald was called to hear the word of the king. Then their job is to “preach” (or proclaim) the Word they receive from the King of kings.

Now that certainly does not mean that we all can’t hear from the Lord ourselves. We all have the same Spirit and have the same capability to hear from God. However, there is a reason why God gives us these ministry gifts. And one of those reasons is because not everyone does hear from the Lord the same, and a lot of times, we need to have a voice that represents the Lord to either share with us something we aren’t able to hear or to even confirm something that we’ve already heard.

But what if ol’ Blind Bart would have responded like some people do when the Lord gives them a message through one of His vessels? What if he would have said something like – “Thank you, but I can hear from the Lord myself”? Well, I think it’s likely that we wouldn’t have heard about him.

Church, we need to have the humility and discernment to hear the Lord’s directions, no matter what vessel they come from – whether that be another person or another vehicle like television, radio, etc. God is always speaking, but we aren’t always listening. And lot of the times, the reason for that is because we are only looking to hear from Him through one medium. But there are so many times, that He will either give direction or confirmation through others. That’s why we always need to both position and posture ourselves to hear.

What I mean by “position” is be in the right place at the right time: Sometimes we miss what the Lord is saying because we are not where we are supposed to be when we are supposed to be there. Like for example, over the years I’ve heard so many say something to the effect of – “Pastor, you know, I really didn’t want to come to church today. Everything was trying to keep me from being here. But I’m so glad I did – because I needed to hear the Word you gave.” I’ve heard that so many times.

So where do you suppose all that adversity came from that was trying to keep them from being here? Do you reckon the enemy of our soul knew what was being said that day and tried to keep them from being here? I bet that happens far more than we realize.

Being in “position” can also describe watching or listening to the things where God might be wanting to speak to us through. So spending time watching & listening to the right things is also a way of positioning ourself to hear from God.

So being in “position” is super important, but our “posture” is also important:

You see, our “posture” describes the heart by which we are hearing Him with. I’ve come to find that while there are a lot of believers who will audibly listen to what God is saying, their heart isn’t good ground. This might be because they don’t place the proper value on it, that their pride keeps them from receiving it, etc.

This is why I said earlier that we need to discern when God is speaking so that we can place the appropriate value on what we are hearing. Jesus said, take heed both what we hear and how we hear it. Evidently, that has a lot to do with how what we hear impacts us. Amen?

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

And now, I want you to notice what it was that Jesus’ representatives said to Blind Bart because these are the words you’ll generally hear from them today as well – “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” This is a good summarization of what preachers of the Gospel are told by Jesus to proclaim. In fact, it is the ministry of reconciliation that all of God’s people are called to share with others (See Second Corinthians 5:18).

The first things is “Be of good cheer”: Have you ever heard your pastor or some other preacher exhort you in their message to rejoice? Have you ever heard a minister of the gospel encouraging people to rejoice no matter what is going on your life? Well, if you’ve heard that, then you’ve heard from the Lord – because for one, we told countless times in the Bible to rejoice always. So if it’s repeated in the Word of God, then it’s the same as the words for the Word Himself. Amen?

But my point is this – How many of you have had your flesh & mind not like it when you heard it? Undoubtedly, many of us when we heard that had thoughts go through our mind like – “Who does he think he is telling me to ‘rejoice in the Lord always’? He doesn’t know what I’m going through. He hasn’t ever walked through the hell that I have.”

Well, I’m sure Bart could have thought something similar like “Don’t you tell me to be of good cheer. I’m blind and you have no idea what it’s like to sit by this road and have to beg for money. So don’t you tell me to ‘cheer up.’”

But here is a good lesson for us – Sometimes the truth can be offensive. Sometimes it can be telling us to do something that seems unreasonable and unsympathetic. So just because the truth we are hearing is challenging to us, learn to recognize whether that is just your flesh, pride, etc. that doesn’t like what it’s hearing. I can promise you that your flesh will usually pitch a fit when it’s corrected. Not to mention, the unrenewed parts of our minds will not generally accept something that doesn’t line up with the way it already was thinking.

So when you hear truths like this – to rejoice – know that if your life is not currently measuring up to that, then it’s us who needs to change and not the truth. Especially, when you consider that walking in the truth will always yield better results.

So what was the next thing the Lord’s representatives told Bart? To “rise.”

The word “rise” here literally describes awaking from sleep. The root word describes one collecting themselves in regard to their faculties like a person who was in a deep sleep has to collect themselves when they are abruptly woken up. Therefore, it means to rouse from sleep, or even to rise from death.

Now there are a couple of important takeaways from this word to “rise.”

Number one, it’s important for us to realize that you and I have the ability to get up / wake up simply because the Lord told us to. You know, if it’s any less simple than just simply making the wholehearted decision to arise, then God is unjust in so many things that He said in the Scriptures.
Let me illustrate what I’m saying: How many of you didn’t like being woke up by your parents when you were younger? How many of you had to catch the bus, so you had to get up a little earlier to be sure you made it to the bus stop on time. I was one of those kids.

And I had a father who generally was the one who woke me up on those mornings. And I recall how he had a unique way of getting me up which will give you a little insight into why I am the way I am:

He would come up the stairs to my room singing a song – which I believe was one of those commercial tunes from the 50’s or 60’s for a particular vacuum company. The jingle went like this – “Got to go! Got to go! Go get a Gibson! Go get a Gibson! Go get a Gibson now!”

Now how many of you not so morning people would not have been super annoyed by someone waking you up at the crack of dawn to that tune? Well, I didn’t like that very much either. My flesh wanted to continue to sleep. I did not want to rise up out of that warm bed. But who was right then? My father was! He knew it was not about what I wanted at that time, but was about what was right for me. Likewise, we sometimes need a father figure in our life who will tell us to wake up. Yes, we need someone to sing us the following jingle – “Got to go. Got to go. Go get salvation. Go get salvation. Go get salvation now.”

Church, to need representatives of Jesus in our life that will tell us what we need to hear and not just what we want to hear. Yes, we need someone to tell us – If Jesus can rise from the dead, you can rise from the bed. Hallelujah!

Sure, our flesh won’t like, but do you know what does? Your spirit! Your born again, spiritual self is a morning person! In other words, it stays awake, alert, and alive! It’s just our flesh that wants to slumber and sleep. And I’m obviously not just talking about physical sleep; I’m talking about slumbering spiritually and not staying active and alert to spiritual things.

Church, we need people who tell us what Paul was quoted as saying in Ephesians 5:14 – “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” Amen!

Finally, we have the third and last thing that Jesus’ representatives told Blind Bart – “He is calling you.” Saints, just like we need to hear things like “Rejoice” and “Wake up,” we need to also hear the message of Jesus is calling us. Yes, hearing truths such as Jesus desires for us to draw near to Him and He wants a closer, personal relationship with Him is so important to our spiritual walks. We need people who will lead us closer to Christ and not just make us feel better about where we currently are.

So my point here is that these three things are what leads us to our wholeness. If they would have just told Blind Bart that he was okay where he was at and just showed compassion on his current condition, he might have stayed exactly there – where he was at and in the same condition. Sometimes being encouraged and exhorted by the truth is what will bring us from our current condition, unto Christ, where our wholeness is found. Amen?

THROWING ASIDE THE GARMENTS

And so after Bart evidently received this “gospel,” what do we see happening next? He acted! In fact, we specifically see him doing two of the three things that these guys told him.

Mark 10:50 says, “And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.” So notice that while we don’t know if he became of “good cheer” or not, we do see that he “rose” and that he “came to Jesus.”

Saints, there is something to be said for quick & simple obedience. But I’ve personally experienced that very few actually do the Word that they hear. This is why we see in the New Testament a portion of Scripture specifically devoted to be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves (See James 1:22-25). These are the one’s who will be blessed. In our case, these are the one’s who will be made whole.

But I want you to notice one specific thing that we are told that Bart did when Jesus’ representatives gave him His Word – We see him “throwing aside his garment.” This was extremely significant, saints!

You see, this garment that Bartimaeus was throwing aside here is understood to be his outer garment, which was basically what associated him with his being a beggar. When you study these things out, the garment that was being referred to here was more of a thick & sturdy garment kind of like a cloak or mantle. This was obviously a piece of clothing that protected them from the elements – keeping them warm at nighttime and protecting them from the sun during the day time.

And the words “throwing aside” literally describes him as “casting” them away from him. In other words, this was not just the simple laying aside of a piece of clothing, but the getting rid of it by throwing it as far away from you as you can.

So by throwing aside his outer garment, Bart showed here that he was not wanting to hold on to his prior lifestyle of being a beggar. This man knew that this larger outer garment might slow him down in responding to the Lord, so he got rid of it asap. He now was ready to lay aside all the weights that would associate him with his past and what would impede him from moving towards the new life Christ was calling him unto.

The writers of Hebrews exhorted us to do this very thing in Hebrews 12:1 by saying, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

How many “weights” do you suppose hold people back even now from arising and responding to the Lord’s call on their lives? And from this story, we see that these “weights” might be hindrances that keep us from receiving our healing. Let me explain: Do you think there might be some people who want to hold on to the things that come as a result of their infirmity? Maybe this would be the sympathy that they get from people. It might be some financial benefits that they receive because of their physical issue. And there are other “weights” that hold people back. But what we need to learn from this is that we need to not let any of these “outer garments” impede and ensnare us from wholly following the Lord. Amen?

And do you remember how I referred to David dancing before the Lord with all his might? One thing that is interesting here is that David humbled himself in this situation by only wearing a linen ephod and not his usual kingly garments. So like Bartimaeus, he did not let his garments hinder him from wholly honoring the Lord. You see, God does not mind us having things, but we should never let those things become a hindrance to responding to the Lord’s calling.

For example, if I were planning on running in a marathon, it would be downright dumb for me to show up wearing blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a trench coat to run in this race, right? No, this is why you see people competing in things like this wearing as little as possible – avoiding things that would add extra weight and weren’t very aerodynamic. No, they will wear very light material that would not provide any resistance. Amen?

So that’s probably one of the reasons Bart got rid of that outer garment – because it would have kept him from getting to Jesus as quickly.

Also, in First Peter 1:13, we are told to “… gird up the loins of your mind …”

You see, back in their day, men wore garments that were more like dresses than what we see guys wearing nowadays. So if they needed to do something that required some athleticism, these long, flowing robes would be an encumbrance. Therefore, what these men would do when they needed to maybe run or do something else that was not very casual, they would gather up that robe and tuck in underneath maybe a belt or something else in the waist area. This would remove any hindrance that might slow them down or cause them to stumble.

So what the apostle Peter is describing here is how we need to do the same thing when it comes to our minds: Like these men did back in Bible times, we need to gather up all of those loose thoughts that we generally just freely let flow in our minds and discipline our thought patterns. You see, the undisciplined mind that just meditates on whatever thoughts flow into it is what tends to trip us up and slow us down. So we have to do what the apostle Paul showed us in Second Corinthians 10:3-5 and pull down strongholds, cast down imaginations, and bring every thought into captivity.

You see, these verses are essentially describing what we have been seeing. Bringing every thought into captivity would be us girding up the loins of our minds, and casting down of the imaginations and strongholds would be us “throwing aside” the garments that could hinder us.

So the “garments” that you and I could have that impede us from getting to the One who can make us whole are those loose thoughts that distract us from our purpose. They are any & all hindrances that can weigh us down and hold us back.

RISE UP!

Then we are told that Blind Bart “rose.” This word used for “rose” was a different word than was used in the prior verse when Jesus’ representatives told him to “Rise.” This word meant to literally “come back to life again” (obviously as it was used to someone being raised from the dead).

But I believe that this paints a metaphorical picture of how when we respond to the Lord’s call, we come back to life again. In other words, just as this blind man are adopted a certain lifestyle because of his blindness of sitting by the road and begging, he had now made the choice to come back to life again. He chose life and blessing by choosing to respond to the Lord’s call. Amen!

You see, it would be easy for Bart to stay down. To stay in the same place & position that we are in. I mean, gravity is a natural law that will bring everything down. Well, there’s the law of gravity when it comes to life as well – because unless we choose life, we will just follow suit and enter through that broad gate to destruction. It’s just the natural digression. But if we want to live, we have to choose to “rise.”

Did you know that the Bible tells us that even Jesus said that His own resurrection was in His control? Yep! He said that the power to lay His life down & to raise it up was HIS (See John 10:18).

Someone might say, “Well, that was Jesus. That’s different.” Is it though? Aren’t we called to be just like Him? Doesn’t the Bible as He is, so are we in this world? It sure does! So we don’t just have the authority to lay our lives down, which we all know that are supposed to do. No, we also have the authority to raise it up too! Amen?

But when we just decide to stay where we are at and not give honor to the exhortations that we are hearing that we are doomed to have our life stay in the same condition as it is. This is us essentially deciding to stay broken and not receive our resurrection. It’s tight, but it’s right.

THE REAL QUESTION

Then we see in verse 51 what Jesus said to Bart when he came to Him – “So Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ The blind man said to Him, ‘Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.’”

Now Jesus might have asked him this because of the two possible answers he could have given him: 1. He was begging for money, so he might have wanted Jesus to give him alms. 2. But he might have requested healing for his blindness – which we know he did.

You see, when it comes to ministering healing to someone else, don’t ever assume that you know what someone else wants, needs or desires. Ask them what they want. Why, you ask? Because it is important for people to verbally express their desire that their hearts may be revealed. I think that sometimes we desire so much for someone to get their miracle that we start putting words in their mouth, and in our zeal, we sometimes get the cart before the horse. But what we need to understand is that the virtues such as patience, wisdom etc. also play a part in getting people’s needs met. And that is what Jesus was doing here—He asked them a question, not just out of curiosity, but strategically to position these two blind men for their miracle. Amen.

This is similar to Jesus’ question for the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda – Do you want to be made well? You see, not everyone wants to be made well. We would assume so, but that’s not always the case. Some people like their infirmities because like the attention it gives them, etc. So again, we don’t want to ever assume that somebody wants for themselves what we might want for them.

And so Bart responded to Jesus’ question with— “that I may receive my sight.” The Greek word that was used for “receive … sight” was the word anablepo and literally meant “to look up.” It was actually translated this way in other passages of Scripture. So Bart’s answer to Jesus’ question was, yes, a simple that he could see again. But with a lot of us, it needs to be this definition – to look up.

Did you know that this is one of the things that will keep someone broken, busted, and disgusted? It’s the inability to “look up.” It’s been well said that the psychologist says, “Look within.” The opportunist says, “Look around.” The optimist says, “Look ahead.” The pessimist says, “Look out.” But the Lord says, “LOOK UP!” Looking up is where the answers are, church!

So Lord, when you ask us what we want, may our answer be – Lord, I want to look up! Help my perspective, that I may see what I need to see and know what I need to know. No more of this wallowing around in the dust of focusing on my issues, but may I arise out of that pit, throw off the garments that impede me, and come to the Healer to be made whole. Amen!

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