100 Days of Right Believing: Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing (33 page)

P
erhaps like the woman with the issue of blood in the Gospels (see Mark 5:25–34), you are facing an impossibly hopeless situation in your life. It could be a debilitating sickness, a marital situation, a financial crisis, or a prolonged challenge. In the natural, the future looks dismal and there appears to be no reason to hope. If that is you, I encourage you to believe that you too can experience the kind of breakthrough this woman experienced.

Imagine: for twelve long years, she had watched helplessly as her condition went from bad to worse no matter what she tried. Most of us would have given up. How did she find hope in the midst of her hopelessness? What gave her the courage to hope again?

I believe that the secret to her faith can be found in these five words: “She had heard about Jesus.”

What do you think she heard about Jesus? This is an important question because whatever she had heard imparted an audacious sense of Bible hope and confidence in her. And this imbued her with a boldness and tenacity to risk everything just to touch the hem of His garment. She knew well the religious laws concerning unclean persons such as herself meant that she could be subjected to public humiliation and, very possibly, violence if she was recognized. Clearly she must have had no doubt in her heart that she would be completely healed the moment she touched the hem of His garment or she would not have risked it.

The Bible does not tell us exactly
what
she heard about Jesus, but I submit to you that she must have heard story after story of how Jesus healed the sick everywhere He went, how good and gracious He was even to the unclean lepers or the down-and-out who came to Him. What she heard about Jesus produced in her a positive, confident expectation of good, which we can see in what she declared: “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” This hope then resulted in a faith that was effortless.

Faith as defined in God’s Word is “the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen” (Heb. 11:1
NLT
). In other words, the hope that she had in the goodness of Jesus became faith, and this faith gave her the boldness to press through the crowd and receive her healing from Jesus.

What are you hearing about Jesus? The more you hear about His goodness and grace, the more faith will unconsciously arise in you to receive your miracle.

H
earing plays a huge part in right believing. You cannot believe right unless you are hearing right. Man, that was good! I don’t want you to miss that.
You cannot believe right unless you are hearing right.
I believe the woman in yesterday’s reading began to believe right when she began to hear right. God’s Word tells us that “faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ” (Rom. 10:17
NLT
).

What you hear is vital. If you are believing God for a breakthrough in your life, pay attention to what you are listening to. Are you hearing messages that are full of the good news of Jesus? After you listen to these messages (or read these resources), are you filled with the heavy sense of what
you need to do
? Or are you filled with the empowering sense of who Jesus is in your life and everything
He has done for you
at the cross?

According to the law, the woman with the issue of blood was unclean, unworthy, and disqualified. If she had heard that Jesus was no different from the religious Pharisees of her day, there was no way she would have had a positive expectation of good. Under the law, when the unclean touches the clean, the clean becomes unclean. But under the grace of God, when the unclean touches the clean (Jesus), the unclean becomes clean! This woman didn’t defile Jesus with her uncleanness when she reached out and touched His garments. On the contrary, she was infected with Jesus’ health and wholeness and made completely whole. Oh, the beauty and the depths of God’s amazing grace!

What have you been hearing about Jesus? Are you hearing about a hard, legalistic, and religious Jesus who is demanding, harsh, and unforgiving? Or are you hearing the true good news of His love, grace, and tender mercies toward you?

The true gospel of grace always imparts hope and faith to you to believe in Jesus and His goodness. No matter how long you have been struggling or how long it has been since you saw any results, I want to encourage you to fill your ears, eyes, and mind with the good news of Jesus. Trust me, when you incline your ear to messages that are all about His grace, you will inevitably begin to have a positive, confident expectation of good. When your heart is filled with hope through hearing all the amazing stories about Jesus, like the woman, you’ll reach out in faith. Beloved, reach out and receive your miracle and freedom from your loving Savior today!