As we serve God we often times cannot see where He is due to being so crowded with life. But if we can learn to be persistent and desperate enough to be moved by our faith we too can see miracles come into our lives!
Sermon Notes: https://www.heartofgraceministries.com/blog/after-the-fact/power-persistence/
36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again.
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
Matthew 9:19-22
19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.
20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
36-37 – It was crowded and difficult to maneuver around to see Jesus. Unless you were going to be strong enough to get to Jesus you were pushed out of the way
43-44 – We find a point of desperation; how desperate was this woman after she had suffered for 12 years with something she could not explain? How desperate was to find a solution after she has spent everything she had? This desperation was finally enough to use faith to push through when she could not see Jesus…to get where He was.
45-48 – Now the woman knew she had touched Jesus. Jesus wanted the woman to know that He knew she had touched him. As she testifies the witness of her miracle stirred all whom heard her speak.
As we serve God we often times cannot see where He is due to being so crowded with life. But if we can learn to be persistent and desperate enough to be moved by our faith we too can see miracles come into our lives
Hebrews 4:9-12 – Rest Remains!
[9] There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
[10] For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
[11] Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
[12] For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
There remains therefore a rest to the people of God! We cannot enter into rest until we cease from our own works! It’s there for you if you are willing to come into rest!
Rest can only come for the children of God when we begin to surrender the things that keep us away from our focus to God. It’s hard to acknowledge things in this manner, but when done can truly unlock a powerful virtue within you! To be able to be in the middle of a trial and enter in the rest of God is far more of value than anything you could use to replace it! That should speak to each and every one of us!
Luke 6:35-38 – Rewards For The Benevolent!
[35] But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
[36] Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
[37] Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
[38] Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
There is rest for the benevolent! Learn to be selfless and your reward can be great. Learn to be merciful! When we learn to live with the mind of Christ, our quality of life as well as the qualities of our character will begin to change. We will begin to become strong witnesses of God and the clear distinction of separation from the world will be truly present in you.
Matthew 10:40-42 – Rewards For The Humble Servants!
[40] He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
[41] He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
[42] And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
When we lose our lives for Christ we find that eternal life! When we give to other fellow servants, we shall not lose our blessings! Amazing! If we can we learn to unlock this as individuals and as a church, the blessings will absolutely begin to flow in an abundance in your/our lives!
2 Timothy 2:10-13 – The Word Not Bound
[10] Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
[11] It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
[12] If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
[13] If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
The word of God is not bound. If we live, we live. If we deny, we deny. When we read into it like that, it paints a pretty simple picture. Let us learn to not be ashamed and not only come into acceptance but to start learning to advertise how wonderful God is in our lives!
2 Corinthians 4:15-18 – Light Afflictions!
[15] For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
[16] For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
[17] For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
[18] While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Our outward man will always come short and fail, but the spiritual person CAN continue! Those things that are not seen are eternal (and spiritual). We can through faith continue in life and have joy while we are here until we get to inherit those things far eternal!
Romans 8:18-26 – The Glory Will Be Revealed!
[18] For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
[19] For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
[20] For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
[21] Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
[22] For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
[23] And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
[24] For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
[25] But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
[26] Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The spirit will help our infirmities! The infirmities are not worthy to be compared to the testimony and experiences that you will be able to speak of once you have conquered and came through!
1 Corinthians 15:24-26,46-58 – Staying True
[24] Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
[25] For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
[26] The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
[46] Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
[47] The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
[48] As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
[49] And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
[50] Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
[51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
[52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
[53] For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
[54] So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
[55] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
[56] The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
[57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord! The church of today needs to step up and be the true example for the church of tomorrow. We cannot be the church of the past. Let God lead you into that new life! The Lord will come quickly, you better be ready!
Mark 5:25-34
[25] And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
[26] And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
[27] When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
[28] For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
[29] And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
[30] And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
[31] And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
[32] And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
[33] But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
[34] And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
This is small and simple thought that I feel like is easy to express, especially to those that are being jaded about their obedience to God. Press through the crowd, get past the bystanders and objects around you and obey God! Your blessings are not behind them, but ahead! We have many issues that we face, as we know, VERY MANY! But when we push, pray, fast, and stop trying to do everything else that we know to do finally just trust God, we will be made strong!
It has been very interesting lately for me to observe conversations of people that I am around to really understand the point of view from someone who walks with unbelief. Most of the time I will pray for all of the people that I am concerned for, the ones that are lost, as we all do. But as I continue to try and draw closer to God every day and learn more about what I need to do to improve, I am stirred by the thoughts that I have been given.
When we go with the tide of the world, we are as the world, and take of its appearance. When we go against the tide of the world, even though the waves crash hard on us, we become separated, and have the ability to finally stand out and be a people that can draw others to God. We often forget that we are with the Master of the sea, the very one who created the waters of the world. Let me try and break this down a little bit more.
You can go and attend all the church services, sing songs, preach messages, teach lessons, blog your ideals, and broadcast your beliefs to the world; but ultimately there is only one true representation of what people will really be drawn by. When it comes right down to it, how you live your life every single day with how you act and what you do is the complete definition of your Christian life.
In other words, there are going to be moments every single day where you will make or break someone’s decision to make Christ their Savior in their life. There are going to also be moments where someone that hasn’t been where they should be with God continues to stay that way simply because of the behavior they observe from you.
They might see you going through all of the motions of being a “Christian”, but where is the virtue that is talked about in the scriptures:
John 4:15-21
[15] Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
[16] And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
[17] Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
[18] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
[19] We love him, because he first loved us.
[20] If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
[21] And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
The most important thing to remember in your everyday life is to carry that virtue, to remember that while going and doing all of the things that God has called you to do, while also walking an upright life before him and setting a good example in front of others, that every bit of this must be done with LOVE.
People need to see the virtue of love in our lives, that spirit of charity. For when that love is in our hearts, it will be able to handle all of the situations where anger or impatience would normally try to come in and ruin the example that we try to show. When we go against the tide and fight things with love and patience, with the faith that we are going to make it through, they will be drawn to our belief that we serve a God that will bring us through. That is what draws people, not the fact that we attend church every single time, or that we are efficient or great in all the talents that God has given us. Everyone is good at something; it’s how people handle situations that make people be drawn to it.
Go against the tide, be a believer in God, and know that the example you show is being watched every single day, and that we are held accountable! It’s so important to remember this last scripture:
Luke 6:22
[22] Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
