Ran across this poem this week on the subject on faith.

Doubt sees the obstacles
Faith sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night
Faith sees the day.
Doubt dreads to take a step
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions, “Who believes?”
Faith answer, “I.” ¹

We are teaching on the subject of Real Bible Faith and how it works and we are honing in on the aspect of words. How important are words in the life of faith? The world was never conquered by intrigue; it was conquered by faith.  ² You are more than a conqueror. That’s what the Bible states. So as the world over comer that you are, it’s vital to continually hone your use of words. More How to Release Your Faith with Words. That’s what we are looking at in this week’s Light on Life.

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The Woman with the Issue of Blood

Mark 5:25–34 (KJV)
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.

• Who was this woman?
• The Bible doesn’t give us her identity.
• She remains nameless in scripture.
• And you may feel that you’re just a nameless one in the crowd.
• There’s good news for ‘nameless ones’, and this woman represents that. She represents hope for the unknown.
• You know it’s so easy for society to throw people away when their situations can’t be solved simply with a pill.
• So many are uncomfortable by the tough cases. We don’t want to deal with them.
• God is not this way.

Why was this woman such a hopeless case?

• The Bible says that this woman was a broken woman.
  • The woman was physically broken.
  • She had a condition in her body, a twelve-year flow of blood which dilapidated her.
  • How weak this woman must have been? What a chore it was just for this woman to get out of bed and face another day of blood loss.
  • Twelve years she faced this trial. Twelve years is a long time.
• The woman was socially broken.
  • Because of her condition she wasn’t allowed to come into contact with others because according to Jewish law she was ceremonially unclean. So, she was physically broken and lonely on top of it.
• The woman was financially broken.
  • She spent all she had to try and change her state to no avail. So, now she was physically messed up, lonely, and broke.
• The woman was mentally broken.
  • The best medical minds couldn’t help her.
  • How frustrating it must be to go to physician after physician with a glimmer of hope to be helped and yet have your hope dashed time and time again? How devastating to hear the words “There’s nothing more we can do?” Well, you’ll hear those words from men, but not from God.
• In the midst of all of this, the Bible tells us something else about this woman.
• This woman heard something.
• She heard of Jesus.
• What did she hear about Jesus?
• She heard He was healing people.

Luke 5:15 (KJV)
15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.

• Jesus had a growing reputation as a healer.
• She tapped into the hope of that reputation.
• But, that’s not all she heard.
• She also heard people were being healed by touching Him.

Mark 3:10 (KJV)
10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.

Mark 6:56 (KJV)
56 And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.

• Is this possible?
• Can you be healed by touching or was this just a supernatural thing only Jesus could do?
• Jesus was anointed by the Spirit without measure.
• One of the characteristics of this anointing is it is transferable by cloth.
• That is the anointing of God can be stored via cloth.
• We see this in the ministry of Jesus and also in the ministry of Paul.

Acts 19:12 (KJV)
12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

• So, this was not just an extraordinary ‘Jesus one of kind’ miracle.
• You can do this today.
• When the anointing of God is upon you, grab a cloth. Pray over it. That anointing which is upon you will go into the cloth. Send the cloth to a person who needs healing and watch what God does.
• At any rate, this woman heard and determined to touch the hem of His garment.
• Why the hem?
• Why not the sleeve or some other portion?
• On the hem of Jesus garments were four tassels that had a blue cord.
• Jews were commanded to sew these tassels on the four corners of their garments.
• These tassels were to remind a Jew of the commandments of God. (Numbers 15:37–41)
• Now in Matthew 23:5 Jesus took the religious leaders to task over these tassels because what they did was made the tassels bigger so they could be seen.
• They did this so they could parade themselves as being holy.
• Do you see the difference between Jesus and these Pharisaical religious leaders?
• The Pharisees were about the show.
• Jesus was about the power.
• When you touched a Pharisees tassel, nothing happened.
• When you touched Jesus tassel, power came forth.
• The woman with the issue of blood found this out.
• It’s important that you don’t concentrate on putting on a show.
• Paul said my preaching was not with enticing words of mans’ wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and power.
• Don’t be about the show.
• Be about the power.

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Where did this woman hear of Jesus?

• We know she heard of Jesus and so we know she had faith because faith comes by hearing.
• But she still wasn’t healed.
• Hearing is not enough.
• Where did she hear about Jesus?
• Maybe a neighbor came by and told her of Him.
• Maybe she heard about Him in the local market where she shopped is she dared to venture out.
• Maybe she happened to hear about Him the very day He was in town.
• The point is there was a period of time between the time she heard and the time she made the journey to find Jesus.
• She heard, which means she had faith to be healed. But, she still wasn’t healed.

When did she receive her healing?

• When she said something.
• She said, “If I may touch his garment, I shall be made whole.”
• When did she receive her healing?
• When she did something.
• She acted on the words she spoke and made physical contact with Jesus garment.
• Salvation works the same way, you know.
• How do you receive the new birth?
• You do it with faith.
• You have to hear first.
• You heard the message of the gospel and when you heard, faith came.
• But, in order to be saved, you can’t just hear.
• You have to release the faith you have gained by hearing.

Romans 10:9–10 (KJV)
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

• You have to confess with your mouth Jesus is your Lord.
• You have to say it.
• When the woman said, when she spoke words, she was saved from her physical distress.
• When you say, “Jesus is my Lord”, then God’s power goes to work and your spirit man is recreated (2Cor. 5:17) and you are saved from your sins.
• When you say it, you receive it.
• When you confess it, you possess it.
• Believing in God is not enough.
• The devil believes (James 2:19). What good did that do him?
• Believing in Jesus is not enough.
• You have to speak out what you say you believe.
• The Lordship of Jesus becomes a living reality when you use your mouth and release faith filled words.
• That’s what happened to this woman and that’s what can happen in your life.

The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46–52 (KJV)
46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

• According to Jesus, Bartimaeus’s faith is what restored his sight.
• Jesus said it did.
• Now, we have already seen faith is released two ways, by saying and by acting.
• So somewhere in this passage, there has to be some saying of the Word or some acting on the Word, or both.

What did Bartimaeus say?

• Bartimaeus said, “Jesus, you Son of David, have mercy on me.
• Bartimaeus used words to access mercy.
• Healing is a mercy, the Bible says it is (Psalm 6:2)
• So, Bartimaeus cried out for healing just like the Psalmist did.
• The crowd tried to shut him down but he persisted.
• Mark it down, the crowd which represents the majority, is not always right.
• Just because there is a lot of people saying the same thing in our society doesn’t mean it’s the right thing.
• So, he cries out for mercy. The crowd tries to shut him down. He cried out even more. That is, Bartimaeus is even more willing to stand alone and persist in the face of opposition.
• Jesus summons him.
• When Jesus called him, Bartimaeus does something very significant.
  Mark 10:50…And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
• Here’s the action part.
• Remember, Bartimaeus was a beggar.

What does beggar mean?

• Beggar means he was in a poor state.
• Poorly housed.
• Poorly fed.
• Poorly clothed.
• Why would a beggar throw away probably his only garment?
  • The garment he needed to stay warm at night.
  • He was poor. It’s not like he had a closet full of outer garments.
  • How is he going to find his coat in the midst of the crowd once he has finished talking to Jesus?
• There’s only one explanation.

Bartimaeus knew he was going to be able to find his coat because he knew he was going to come back seeing.

• No problem finding it if you can see.
• That’s faith in action.
• But that’s not even the whole story.
• Did you notice when Bartimaeus was brought to Jesus that Jesus asked him a question?
• What was it?
• “What do you want me to do for you?”
• “What an odd request, Jesus?”
  • Isn’t it obvious what this man needs?
  • Look at his face, he’s blind.
  • Look at his clothing, he’s a beggar.
  • Why would anyone ask a poor blind beggar what he needs?
  • It’s obvious what he needs, isn’t it?
• What was Jesus doing?
  • Jesus was trying to school Bartimaeus into faith.
  • He was trying to get him to vocalize his faith.
  • “What do you want from God Bartimaeus,” Jesus asks? “Say it out loud.”
• Faith says it.

Speak Your Faith

• Do you need strength today?
• Go to the Word.
• Hear it.
• Receive it.
• Act on it.
• Say it.
• You can speak faith filled words for strength.

Joel 3:10 (KJV)
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruninghooks into spears: Let the weak say, I am strong.

• Are you depleted?
• Are you zapped?
• Do you seem to be at your wits end?
• What do you believe about your current state?
• Do you believe the Bible?
• Do you believe what the Bible says about strength?

Psalm 18:32 (KJV)
32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, And maketh my way perfect.

• Do you believe this?
• Another way of asking this is, ‘Are you hearing this’?
• Because, if you are hearing this, you have faith.
• Now release your faith by saying what God said.
• God said He will gird you with strength.
• God commanded us to be strong in the Lord.
• Say what God said and you’ll possess all that heaven has for you.

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Call to Action:

Check up on what you’re saying. One minister said, “People need a check-up from the neck-up.” Did you ever hear anyone give a testimony which ended in the words ‘Pray that I will hold out faithful until the end?’ What’s wrong with this? It’s not strength. Strong people make the finish line. The believer in Christ is going to go sweeping into the city. There not just going to crawl and barely make it limping across the line. Lift your head and get a different picture. Get a victorious picture of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. You are His child. You are His offspring. You are of God and have overcome. You cannot talk weakness and expect to be strong. You cannot talk lack and expect to be prosperous. You cannot talk sickness and expect to be healed. You cannot talk the problem and expect the problem to go away. Here these words in 2 Corinthians 4:13 and allow your mind to be renewed.  “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”

Episode Resources

For more resources on the subject of healing please see the following:

1. Why is Faith Important and Who Has It? [Podcast]
2. How to Release Your Faith with Words [Podcast]

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Question: What have you learned about speaking faith filled words? Please share your testimony in the comments section below.

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