Hammer on Anvil '

A woman was in the crowd who had been bleeding for twelve years, but no one was able to heal her. She came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his coat, and instantly her bleeding stopped. Then Jesus said, "Who touched me?" When all the people said they had not touched him, Peter said, "Master, the people are all around you and are pushing against you."

But Jesus said, "Someone did touch me, because I felt power go out from me." When the woman saw she could not hide, she came forward, shaking, and fell down before Jesus. While all the people listened, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Jesus said to her, "Dear woman, you are made well because you believed. Go in peace" (Luke 8:43-48, NCV).

Think of how desperate this woman must have been. Twelve years of bleeding. Some translations say she had spent everything she had on physicians who were unable to help her. Obviously she had heard of Jesus and what He could do, or she would not have crawled through a massive crowd to touch the hem of His garment. Imagine people staring as she navigated the sea of people, probably pushing here and there as she struggled to get through. Mosaic law dictated that she was unclean because of her condition. She was an outcast in her society, and yet that did not hinder her from doing what she had to do.

How desperate do YOU have to be before you strain to reach Jesus? A dear friend of mine described that his turning point came when he finally realized he would die if he did not change. He was enslaved to meth, cocaine and alcohol. He crawled on his belly and touched Jesus, and his life has never been the same. His ministry now helps many others to find the freedom he has found.

Another friend who has been miserable for years because she hasn't come to terms with her horrific childhood recently admitted she is broken and desperate for Jesus. She courageously admitted to being "fake on a daily basis." She has reached her breaking point and knows she cannot be whole without Jesus -- and without the help of her sisters in Christ.

Some of us know at an early age that we are a mess and we need Jesus. Others of us spend years wandering in the wilderness as the Israelites did, wondering why things aren’t working out like we thought they would. We feel lost in a crowd, and haven’t yet seen the Master in the distance who bids us come.

The woman with the issue of blood had a desperate physical need. Our spiritual need is even greater, though, until we realize we are wretched and poor and blind and naked, and we need a Savior. Will we hesitate, wondering what others will think if we push through the crowd to touch the Master? Or will our eyes be so focused on Jesus that we don’t care WHO sees us?

The decision to follow Jesus is the most important one we will ever make. It doesn’t have to be rehearsed or eloquent or pretty. Jesus only requires that we come, and that we give ourselves completely to Him.

They called the apostles in, beat them, and told them not to speak in the name of Jesus again. Then they let them go free. The apostles left the meeting full of joy because they were given the honor of suffering disgrace for Jesus (Acts 5:40,41, NCV).

I have never been able to wrap my brain around this passage of Scripture. The disciples were merely doing what Jesus commissioned them to do, and they were imprisoned, beaten, and threatened with worse. That part I understand; we are not to be greater than our Master, and since He suffered, we will suffer.

Their response is what baffles and humiliates me -- they rejoiced! When I insert myself into this passage and try to imagine what my own response would be, I confess it would not be nearly so noble. I enjoy my comfort way too much to be imprisoned and beaten. And I would complain loudly that I did nothing to deserve such treatment!

How about you? Does the thought of being "worthy to suffer shame for His name" cause you to rejoice? Or are you of the "all things in moderation" persuasion -- where faith is private and tidily compartmentalized and so shallow that it could never possibly get you into any trouble?

I doubt any of us has had to endure what the disciples did. To some of us, "persecution" might mean a coworker ribbing us about our faith, or one of our children being teased at school for reading their Bible in the cafeteria. Perhaps you experience chronic health problems, and bemoan that you are suffering persecution. But none of our everyday annoyances comes even close to what our brothers and sisters around the world are suffering. We don't have to meet in secret to hold a church service. Our church affiliation does not make us targets to be thrown into prison, tortured or killed.

Sometimes harassment comes from your own "camp" -- well-meaning Christian brothers and sisters who don't understand your zeal and passion for God, and encourage you to "cool it" when you get "out of control." A precious friend of mine is undergoing some of this right now -- God has put her in a place where gay people are drawn to her, and she loves them with the love of Jesus. Does she try to change them? No -- she knows that is not her job. She is a free-flowing conduit through which Jesus can touch others, because her heart is surrendered to Him. And she gets lambasted by the Pharisees who think she should judge the gay people and convince them they are headed for hell.

When my husband was fired from his job as a reporter at a small-town newspaper because he started a local right-to-life group, a well-meaning friend said that was the closest thing to persecution that he had ever witnessed. But John was quick to assure him that losing his job was a far cry from being persecuted for his faith. He merely took a stand for his religious convictions, and was fired.

I guess the question we all need to ask ourselves is one that is difficult to consider: Are we so sold out to Jesus and His purposes that we are willing to die for our faith? Are we willing to go wherever God asks us to go, and spread His Word boldly, even if that means risking bodily harm or even death? Is our relationship with Jesus strong enough to withstand such persecution, or would we lose heart and recant our faith?

Let us endeavor to possess a faith so vital that we, along with the Apostle Paul, can say, "To live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

"I leaned against a wall to take it all in: bodies on the floor in spatters of urine and vomit ... demons manifesting eerily ... a woman's crippling pain disappearing, fevers breaking, hearts changing -- the weeping, the singing, the stretched faces of poverty and the shocking messiness of God's presence with humans. And somewhere in the midst of the grit and the glory, the wonder and the wretchedness, I managed to have one crystal thought: This is what miracles are like." -- Jordan Seng

The above quote describes what the author witnessed at the end of a church service. He and his team began to pray for people, and powerful things started to happen. A man delivered from addiction promptly threw up all over the shoes of the person praying for him. When a woman fainted under the power of the Holy Spirit, two young women knelt and prayed for her. As they did, a curious bump surfaced under the skin of her belly, and began moving around. They knew it was a demon, and when they cast it out, the woman woke up.

I love that Seng calls this "the shocking messiness of God's presence with humans." We miss our mission as Christ followers if our faith is confined to attending Sunday morning worship services. Jesus was always on the move, gravitating not toward church people but to the downtrodden and disenfranchised. He didn't shun crowds of dirty, smelly people -- He walked in their midst, preached to them, fed them, healed their bodies, and delivered them from evil spirits. So zealous was He to complete His earthly mission that He often lacked time to eat or sleep.

Somewhere along the line, it seems we have forgotten that we are supposed to look like Jesus. We prefer to have things neat and tidy, and tend to be attracted to those who look, act and perhaps even smell like us. Addicts and the demon-possessed can get help elsewhere, thank you very much.

I have been involved in an abortion recovery ministry for several years. When I first started, my husband and I had to move on from two different churches because the pastor would not support what God was calling me to do. The subject of abortion, I was told, is "too shameful and embarrassing" to discuss in church.

Yes, abortion recovery is messy. So is addiction to pornography or drugs or alcohol or gambling. But do we not serve a God who gives hope? God wants us to run toward these people, not away from them! I'm sure the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8 felt messy. She had been bleeding for 12 years. She was desperate. What if Jesus, when she strained to touch the hem of His garment, would have recoiled in disgust and said, "Ewww! Get away from Me!" I am ashamed to confess that I have reacted that way. And God is gracious to continue to show me my own ugliness in order to teach me more compassion.

Jesus, though He was the very Son of God, did not lord it over people (no pun intended). He didn't behave as a prima donna who exuded a "touch Me not" aura. People came to Him in droves because they sensed His love and compassion and the power of God to change their lives.

Which of these are you more like? If you find you are more of a prima donna, ask God this week to reveal the ugliness in your own heart -- the things that people at church may not see on Sundays, but that God sees. Hebrews 4:13 says nothing in all creation is hidden from His sight, and He is the One to whom we must ultimately give account. When it comes time to give that accounting, I pray we may all be able to say that we were not afraid to get messy.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17).

In my decades of church involvement, I have heard very little about mentoring. That seems strange, given that the Bible is clear that we are to be accountable to one another in the Body of Christ.

Honestly, I think the reason we don't hear much about mentoring is that the majority of people don't WANT to be accountable to anyone else on a personal level. They don't want to check in with someone who is going to ask them how they are doing, for example, in their prayer and devotional life. Or how their battle with pornography is going. Or whether or not they are being good stewards with their finances. We want to show up on Sunday morning with our "goin'-to-church" masks, and not share with anyone else what the rest of our life is like.

A couple of years ago I met a wonderful young woman who asked me to be her mentor. As I grew to know her and love her, I found she was accountable to several people about her comings and goings, because she genuinely wanted to be a godly woman. Though she was barely 30 years old, she had a firm grasp of the truth of Proverbs 11:14: "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety."

Since that time, I have been involved in several mentoring relationships, and I am incredulous that I missed out on it for so long! Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." If we don't bare our souls to another on a regular basis, how will we ever grow as human beings, let alone as followers of Christ?

The past couple of years, I have been privileged to watch my husband mentor different men who were part of a life recovery program. These men have overcome various addictions and negative life patterns and their lives are heading in a more positive direction. It is a joy to see them blossom and grow as the result of these mentoring relationships.

Jesus mentored the disciples. Eli mentored Samuel. Elijah mentored Elisha. Paul mentored Titus and Timothy. Mary, when she found out she was pregnant with Jesus, took the initiative and left town to go visit Elizabeth, a woman "full of the Holy Spirit," who spoke truth to her and encouraged her. It is obvious throughout the Bible that these iron-sharpening-iron relationships were the norm -- not the exception. We are not meant to be "lone ranger" Christians. James 5:16 says we are to confess our sins to each other so that we can be healed. And that's precisely what happens in a healthy mentoring relationship.

If you sense there is something missing in your relationship with Jesus, this might very well be the thing. Is your Christianity "me and Jesus" only? Or is there a mature Christian in your life to whom you confess your shortcomings? If you are not currently involved in this type of relationship, I encourage you to ask God who in your circle of relationships might serve as a mentor to you.