Well, I want to continue, so Pastor Seth has been doing a series on holding patterns, and I've been teaching on your faith has made you whole, or your faith has saved you, or your faith has made you well. It's the same word used in all those, but I really feel like today is a convergence of the two, that what I want to talk to you about today, our discussion today, will be really something that can create a holding pattern in our life. As we talk through the story today, we're going to look at the woman who had the issue of blood. I really just sense that God is taking us to not just principles of faith, but levels of faith, that He's going to stretch us and move us to new levels of faith.
It says in Romans 1 Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. In it, in the gospel of Jesus, the righteousness of God is revealed. It says, from faith to faith, for as the Scripture says, the just shall live by faith. So that as the gospel is preached, which is the power of God, revelation takes place that reveals to us the nature of God, the righteousness of God, and in that we actually move from one level of faith to another.
And God never intends us to stay the same, that He loves you where you're at, but He loves you enough for you not to stay there, that He wants to bring you out of things, He wants to bring you into other things, but also He wants to grow you. He wants to grow you in many ways. We grow from glory to glory. He says we're transformed and we live from faith to faith.
So there's one level of faith to another. And so when we look at the story, we look at a few, we look at Blind Bartimaeus a couple of weeks ago. Last week, we looked at the woman who was in a especially wicked center that came in and anointed Jesus' feet. And today we're going to look at the woman with the issue of blood.
And there's only, there's four instances Jesus says your faith has saved you or your faith has made you whole. The other one is with the ten lepers that were healed and one that was a Samaritan return to give thanks. And so when Jesus says your faith has made you whole, I probably beat this like a beat in a dead horse, but it's the word sozo, which means that your faith has saved you. It means that your faith has healed you, that your faith has made you whole, made you complete, restored, brought back to health, protected, secured, delivered.
All of those things are encompassed in that one Greek word sozo. So some Bibles might say your faith has saved you, some might say it's made you whole, some might say that it's made you well. It all means the same thing, it's all the same word, just depends on how it's translated. And so we want to look at the story today and I believe God is going to really speak something for you today and release something new in your life today.
I really, I have three points today, but really one is probably the main point is what God really highlighted out of this story for me this week is that she came from behind. And so that there are three things I want to look at today, the first one is that the way we move from faith to faith, the way that we move from one level of faith to another, is there's a coming from behind. Number two is that there's a confession of the reason and a confession of the results. So a coming from behind, a confession of the reason and a confession of the results and also there's a continuing into wholeness.
And I think as we move through the story today I want you to see that progression, I want you to see the levels of faith that God wants to bring us through, but it starts with the first one which is coming from behind. So if you have your Bibles, we're going to read from Luke chapter 8. This story can also be found in Matthew chapter 9 in Mark chapter 5, but we're going to read from Luke's gospel today. So Luke chapter 8 and we're going to be reading verses 40 through verse 50.
Luke 5, I'm sorry, Luke 8 verses 40 through 50. So it was when Jesus returned that all the multitude welcomed him, they were all waiting for him. So he's just returned from the Gatorines where he delivers the demoniac and he gets in the boat and comes back to the other side. So people, they're waiting for him to get back.
And verse 41 says, and behold there came a man named Jairus and he was a ruler of the synagogue and he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house for he had an only daughter about 12 years of age and she was dying. And as he went, the multitudes thronged him. So when he gets back, this guy, Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue says, hey, my daughter's sick, almost to the point of death, I need you to come heal her. And so Jesus left with Jairus and as he left everybody follows, and not only do they follow, but they're all thronging him, they're pressing in.
Like if you've ever seen videos from the 60s when the Beatles would go anywhere, and if you were alive back then, I wasn't, but I see a couple of you that were. But I've seen pictures, right? And people thronging them. And that's kind of like what it was.
It's just like they're pushing into Jesus. And it says in verse 43, now a woman having a flow of blood for 12 years who had spent all of her livelihood on physicians, it could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of his garment and immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, who touched me? And when all denied it, Peter in those with him said, master, the multitudes throng and press you.
And you say, who touched me? Like you're encompassed by people. Like how could you even ask that question? And Jesus said, somebody touched me for I perceived power going out from me.
Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him and declared to him in the presence of them all the people the reason she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. And he said to her, daughter, be of good cheer, your faith has made you well go in peace. And while he was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him, your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher.
But when Jesus heard it, he answered him saying, do not be afraid, only believe and she will be made well. Father, I thank you today for your word. I thank you for you're the one. You are the one that heals.
You're the one that saves. You're the one that delivers. You're the one that makes well. You restore and make things the way that you intended them to be.
You put the pieces back together in our lives. Father, I pray today that the reality of the resurrected Jesus would impact at least one person today. I'm believing for more, but at least one Lord. In Jesus' name.
Amen. So the first thing we see is this, is that there was a coming from behind. It says now a woman, and we know that this woman, it said, had an issue of blood for 12 years. So more than likely, most historians, most theologians think that this was some sort of chronic hemorrhaging, like a menstrual hemorrhaging that continued for 12 years.
Now part of the law that she would have lived under Jewish culture, which lived under the law of Moses Leviticus, chapter 15, would say that if a woman has a discharge of blood, during the time of her discharge, she's unclean. And if you touch her, you become unclean. And not only that, but if she sits on the bed or if she touches anything and you touch the thing that she touched, it's unclean and now you become unclean. And so that all the entire time, her husband could have no intimate time with her.
She could not go to the temple and worship. She couldn't associate with anybody so that she was completely isolated from society. Now I got to imagine, I mean, man, you know how bad it is for a week. Like, the Bible doesn't mention it, but the unsung heroes got to be the husband.
I mean, imagine 12 years. Come on. I'm getting a whooping when I get home. I got time to dig out of this one.
Don't worry. No, but she's been dealing with the thing for 12 years. It's not just affected her body, but it's affected her worship. She can't go to the temple.
She can't go to the court of women. It's affected her marriage. She can't have be intimate with her husband. It affected her social interaction.
She can't hang out with her friends. She's unclean. Anything she touches is unclean. Anyone who touches her or touches anything that she touched is unclean.
It said that woman came from behind. Now we know physically why she came from behind because here's Jesus. He's going to Jairus's house. There's a multitude thronging him and where can she not be?
She cannot be in the multitude because she's unclean. When I was a kid, it was like you had the kudis. You didn't want to touch the person who had kudis. Whatever the kudis are.
If you touch the person who had kudis, that's what you got. You got the kudis. She's behind the multitude. She comes from behind because she cannot participate in the crowd.
That's the general thought here. As I studied and prayed into this this week, I looked up the meaning of the word behind. The word behind means this. Obviously, it means after backside, after backside, after back or from behind from the rear.
She physically came from behind. It also is an adverb in a press position that means place or time. Physically, the place she came from was from behind the crowd. I believe as it results to time, she actually stepped out of her past.
She stepped out of the thing that had kept her behind for 12 years. There were things that just ruined her life. When she hears about Jesus, she comes from behind. She comes out of everything that was attached to that issue that was part of her behind.
I got to ask you this. What's your behind? I don't mean your behind. What's your behind?
I went through this story. I tried to think of things that would have been this woman's behind that she came out of because I think within all of the things that she dealt with, there's something that applies to almost everybody today. You're behind can be a number of things. It could be number one.
You're behind can be fatigue and weakness. Do you realize that when you have an ongoing flow of blood that it actually depletes the strength in your body, that for 12 years she has a flow of blood that's coming out of her that continues to weaken and fatigue her? Your behind could be weakness. It could be fatigue.
It could be, I just can't go on. I can't take another step. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. Your behind can be weakness and fatigue.
Your behind could be stereotyping and labeling. You know they called her ant flow. Like what else would they call her? Queen of the unclean.
I don't know. But something was attached. A label was attached to her condition. Some of you today are living free in Christ but still living with a label from a previous decision you made one time in your life.
So you can be free but still be living with that stereotype. Attic, pervert, liar, gambler, bitter, angry, rageful. Stereotypes attached to her behind. Blownliness and isolation.
She couldn't worship. She couldn't interact. She couldn't be intimate. Maybe some of you are dealing with that today.
The thing that's holding you in your past is that you feel isolated and lonely. I don't have anybody. I don't have that person to call. I don't have that person to wrap with.
I don't have that person to decompress with. That can be part of your behind. Shame and embarrassment. You can imagine after 12 years, like I'm sure the first week, the first month, she's still walking maybe not with people but she's holding her head up but after year 2, year 3, year 5, I'm sure it becomes hard to hold your head up high.
It becomes shameful. It becomes embarrassing. God, what's wrong with me? Why is this my problem?
Why do I have to carry this? Lack and financial loss, it says that she spent all that she had. Maybe you've made bad financial decisions. Maybe you've done things that you've like the prodigal son, you've squandered all your money.
You've made bad investments. You've done things. Whatever it is, she pursued every avenue possible and spent every dime she had and now she has nothing. She's penniless.
Pain and suffering. It says in Mark's version, it says this, it says that she suffered much at the hands of many doctors. Imagine that. She actually goes to the one person that could help her that had the knowledge and wisdom at the time to fix her condition and yet instead of being healed, she suffers from it.
An adventure to say, there's some of you today that have opened your heart up emotionally to someone that should have been the person to help fix you but instead they hurt you. That you're carrying scars in there from a relationship that you were open to and the one person that should have had the ability to help you ends up hurting you. Doubt and disappointment could be your behind. Imagine for 12 years going to doctors and every time you go, everyone that you go to says, I've got the answer.
This is it. And every time you go home, it's not it. But sometimes maybe you've prayed for breakthrough for years. Maybe you've prayed 100 times.
Maybe you've been prayed for 100 times. Maybe you begin to think, maybe this is my lot in life. I just can't believe for breakthrough anymore because it's been so long. That can be part of your behind.
Bittleness and anger can be part of your behind. Maybe she was bitter at the physicians. The people that said that they could help her but couldn't that actually cause much trauma in her life. Maybe she was bitter at God.
But God, why is this thing happening to me and why haven't I received the breakthrough that I've been praying for? That can be part of your behind. And I know it seems odd but comfort and complacency can be part of your behind because like when Jesus went to the polar Bethesda, the God had been laying for 38 years, he says, do you want to be made well? Because sometimes the place of pain can also be the place of comfort that we retreat back to because it's known.
At least I know what I have here. At least I've learned how to deal with the thing that I have now. And I actually retreat to the place of pain and use it to insulate myself from walking into what God's wanting me to walk into. Get to the point where I don't care anymore.
Like it is what it is. This is me, this is who I am. I'm not going to change. I've tried.
I've been there. This is my safe place. It's said that this woman came from behind which meant that the things that were part of her behind, she steps out of them. See this is biblical and we're going to look here but here's what I want to tell you today.
No matter what your behind is, it starts by getting your head out of your behind. No matter what your behind is, it starts with getting your head out of your behind. And I do mean the other behind. Paul says that this way, you're ever here, this is forgetting those things which are behind.
It starts here. But too many of us want to leave our head back there. Paul says this in Philippians 3.12, he says, not that I've already attained or I'm already perfected. He's like, so Paul who's the most mature, the word perfected means mature.
So, so Paul recognizes that in Christ he's perfect. He tells that other places. But at the same time, even though he's perfect in Christ, he's still maturing. Imagine the most mature apostle of all time saying, I don't consider myself to be there yet.
I'm still in process. He says, I don't consider that I've already attained or I'm already perfected or matured, but I press on. That I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. He's saying, there's certain things that Christ Jesus has laid hold of for you.
For you. He went to the cross for you. He resurrected for you. And he laid hold of things for you.
And Paul says, I'm not there yet, but I'm pressing on because I don't want to leave anything that Jesus laid hold of for me untapped into. He says, I want to lay hold of all that he laid hold of for me. And he says to do that, I press on. See what happens when we think we've arrived?
We no longer access all that God has laid hold of for us because no matter what you've laid hold of, there's more. He says, brother, I don't count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do. Now he says one thing, but it sounds like two. It's like two heads of the same coin, right?
You have one coin, but you have a heads and a tail. He says, forgetting those things which are what? Behind and then doing what? And pressing forward, reaching forward to those things which are ahead.
It's not one or the other. It's both. See, it's not just reaching forward, but it's forgetting the things behind. So if you think about it, forget, you're like, well, I just can't forget the trauma that I went through.
Forget means this. Go to the next slide. It means to neglect or not care for. It doesn't actually mean that I've somehow erased it from memory.
I know God can do that. I know that he can allow that to happen in your life, but between now and the point where he removes that memory, if he does, he says do this. Treat it as if it doesn't matter anymore. Neglect it.
It's caring about it. See what happens? People care more about the trauma. You get stuck there.
It becomes your behind. It's your past. He says you got to forget about it. You got to get to the place where you don't feel deli and I don't know what the word is.
You just don't stay there anymore. And he says reaching forward, which means to stretch into. It means to stretch toward. Do you know what you, like if I told you to stretch, everybody stretch with two hands, right?
Now, if I'm reaching back and I'm trying to stretch, at best I just got like this little alligator arm. I'm never going to be able to lay hold of all that God has laid hold of for me. Until I let go of the past, treat it like it doesn't matter anymore, quit taking care of it and nursing it like a baby, let go and stretch forward. Only with two hands can I even attempt to lay hold of all that Christ has laid hold of for me.
You got to come from behind. You'll never reach forward until you first come from behind, but it's almost simultaneous. It's just too many people want to do this. They want to hold on to the one and reach for the other.
You got to let go and you put both hands out. You stretch forward. He goes on to say this, before we do that, do you realize that that you're behind is not always trauma, but sometimes it's trophies. Do you ever meet somebody that still lives in high school?
They never get out of the glory days of 12th grade and now they're 60 years old. Christians do that all the time. You live on yesterday's breakthrough. See Paul recognized that it wasn't just trauma, but it was also trophies because earlier in chapter three, he talks about all the things that he did right.
He said righteousness as it pertained to the law, I was blameless. Fallless. I kept it perfectly concerning zeal. I was a church persecutor.
See he had bad issues in his past and he had good stuff, but you got the success can be as much of a hold back as a failure. See I believe this that if Satan can't destroy you with failure, he'll give you success. Do you realize that somebody who is successful needs prayer more than somebody that isn't failure? Do you realize that?
If you're failing, what other options do you have but Jesus? When I've got a breakthrough and I'm starting to live successfully, guess what I have? Options. It doesn't have to be Jesus.
Imagine that Jesus, the most successful person that ever lived on the face of the earth, he never failed, but he never stopped praying. He prayed from the day that he was young till the day that he was baptized. It says as he came out of the water and was praying the Holy Spirit to send him like a dove, that he said he went to the wilderness and prayed as was his custom all the way to the day that he died, went to the garden and he was sending him down the cross, pray, pray, pray, pray. See a lot of people will pray until the time they get anointed.
A lot of people pray until the time they get breakthrough. A lot of people pray until the time they get delivered, but even more so once you've had breakthrough, you need to press into all that God has for you. Because if the enemy can't destroy you with failure, he'll destroy you with success. It's easy to put your trust in over the things when you have options.
Just ask the rich young ruler that Jesus met one day. The disciples said, well, who then can be saved? It's all about where you put your trust. Paul says this, I press onto the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, let us as many as are mature. Do what? Have this mind. The mindset of maturity moves forward.
He says, if you're a mature believer, show me somebody stuck in their past and I'll show you somebody that doesn't know or somebody that chooses to be immature. If you're living from your behind, you're living in immaturity. Because Paul says, if you're going to be a mature believer, you're going to have this mindset that no matter what you're behind is, you're going to get your head out of your behind. You start here.
See, she came from behind. Number two is this, confessing the reason and the result. It says in the tree of life version, T.L.V., it says, in the presence of all the people, she confessed why she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately. Before she stood up to testify, Jesus asks a question, what was the question?
You touched me. Who touched me? Peter said, duh. He's like when he took Jesus and rebuked him in Matthew 16.
I'm the anointed apostle where I've got all the insight. But he says to Jesus, that's a dumb question. Like everybody's touching you. And Jesus says, I know somebody touched me because I perceived power going out of me.
See sometimes when we see a question that Jesus asked, we think it's for the purpose of interrogation. But this question was not for interrogation but for an invitation. He's inviting her to a place to prophetically declare something. See here's what happened.
She, think about this. What did she touch? You don't touch the hem standing up, right? Pastor Seth said I'm always on the ground.
So she touches the hem. Power is released. Jesus perceives power going out of him and into her. Do you know what happened?
One or two things happened. Either she retreated back to her behind or the crowd kept moving and she didn't. See here's what happens. If you don't move forward in your present, your present becomes your new behind.
See what happens is a lot of times when we receive breakthrough in our life, we retreat back to the place of comfort and complacency. There's a stewardship component that when God gives you breakthrough in your life, he wants to bring you to a new level of faith to where you prophetically, he pulls her out of the crowd not to punish her but to prophesy. See it wasn't to embarrass her, but it was to empower her. Not just her, but to encourage Jairus.
See Jesus knew there was another miracle in the works and he knew that her faith would increase his faith. And see too often what happens is we get a miracle in our body, we get a breakthrough in our life and we just go back to our life and keep living our life and never tell anybody the reason why. We find the reason in Mark chapter 5 verse 27 it says, and when she heard about Jesus. When she heard about Jesus, when she heard about Jesus she came and touched his garment first she said, if I may only touch his clothes I'll be made well.
She heard that there was a man named Jesus that when he touched the leper, the leper she didn't get on him but the cleanest got on the leper. She heard that when he went to the widow of Nain whose son was dead and Jesus touches the open coffin that that was another unclean situation that the uncleaness of deadness didn't get on him but resurrection life impacts that young boy. She hears about it Jesus that everywhere he goes he heals every sickness and every disease. That everybody that ever came to Jesus for healing left whole and complete and restored.
And when she heard about Jesus she came. See it was the story of Jesus that brought her out of her behind and allowed her to reach forth in faith. But now the power has been released she goes back to the behind. The reason I know she went back to the behind because looking the next slide says this, Matthew no go back right there.
Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden look at this she came. It's the same word before she came but behind but she she had to pull her forward again. See I believe God's calling us not just to receive miracles but to release prophecy. See there's somebody that needs to hear your story.
There's somebody that's going to get news that your daughter just died but because you spoke something into the atmosphere right before that they have faith to believe. It says she came trembling falling down before him. See I think sometimes when we receive a miracle we think we don't deserve it. Oh my gosh I just tapped into power I'm not deserving of.
Because when she came back to Jesus she now comes fearful. She went from coming in faith to coming back fearful because I believe she didn't think she deserved what she'd received. And Jesus says there's another level of faith. There's more.
And I'm going to pull you out not so that I can punish you but so that you can prophesy what I've done in your life. And so when he pulls her up it says she declared in the presence of everyone including Jairus she says let me tell you what happened. I had a condition for 12 years. It wrecked my life.
I couldn't go to church. I couldn't go to play cards. I couldn't go to bed. I couldn't go anywhere.
I lost all my money. I lost all hope. But I heard about a man named Jesus. And the man named Jesus heals every sickness.
He touches lepers in their cleanse. He touches coffins in the dead rise. And I just knew that if he could do that if I could just touch the hem of his garment I would be made well. And by the way did I tell you I had to condition 12 years.
Don't you know that Jairus's ears perked up when he heard 12? Because his daughter was also 12. And that Jesus said I'm preparing you for a set up. Because there's a man here that although he has faith when he gets the bad news his faith is going to be attacked by unbelief.
And he needs to hear the prophetic word that you're going to release in order so that when he gets that word that his faith not doesn't decrease but it rises. See I believe God's calling us. It says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. That when we testify about the reason, it doesn't say reasons.
See what happens is we get caught up in the mechanics. He didn't call her to testify to the mechanics. Hey well let me tell you. Well I put one knee in front of the other and then when I got right to the hem I stretched and I touched the third ribbon from the right and when it dangled just and I saw an angel flutter.
No. There's only one reason. There's only one reason it's Jesus. The fact that she reached out was an expression of the faith she received because she heard about him.
Don't get hung up on the mechanics of it. That she could testify to the why. The reason. And also the result.
He healed me. And if he healed me he'll heal you. The Apostle John says it like this in 1 John 1 through 3. He says that which was from the beginning.
Speaking of the, this is the same guy that wrote the book of John that says in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. In him was light and the light was the life of men. He says in 1 John he says something similar. Get this.
That which was from the beginning. Speaking about the eternal word of God that became flesh. He said which we have heard when she heard about Jesus. That which we have heard.
That's which we have seen with our eyes. That's which we have looked upon. We actually didn't just see him but we examined him. We observed him.
That which we have what? Touched with our hands. We concerning the word of life, the life that was made manifest which we have seen it and testify it and proclaim it to you. It says the very thing that was revealed to me, the word of life.
That word life, zoe. It's God's life. It's not just like eternal life is not just living forever. You're going to live forever somewhere.
You'll either live forever with him in his presence or you'll live forever separated from God forever in a place called hell. Eternal life is not just living forever. Eternal life is God's life in you. It's everything that God is in you.
He says I'm testifying it because I've heard it. I've seen it. I've witnessed it. I've touched it.
The word of life. Now I'm proclaiming it to you. Here's why. Look at verse 3.
Next slide. It says that which we have seen and heard we proclaim so that you too may have. You too may have fellowship with us and our fellowship is with God and his son Jesus Christ. What John is saying is this is that because of the eternal life that's in me, I'm connected to God.
But it's not just for me. I've seen it. I've tasted it. I've heard it.
I've experienced it. I've experienced it. And now I'm declaring it to you because God wants to lift you too. That you can have the same intimacy with God that I do.
Like it's for you. God's calling you to step up from the place of being a receiver to now being a releaser. Like you've received it. You've experienced it.
Now it's not time to walk back to your old behind and take your power with you. He's pulling you out of that. No, get back up here. Get back up here because somebody needs to hear what you've been through.
Somebody needs to hear about what I did in your life. The last thing is this, continuing a wholeness. He says daughter, daughter. Now Jesus never referred to anybody else's daughter.
He speaks to her relationship, intimacy, covenant. I think it was speaking to Jairus too because it was his daughter that was now sick. But he says daughter, your faith has made you well. Too often we get hung up in the mechanics and I think Jesus is just pointing back to, hey, it wasn't the fact that you touched the hem of the garment.
That was the corresponding action. It was your faith. It was the fact that if you read Matthew's Gospel, it said that she said within herself, if I may touch but the hem of my garment, I shall be made well. Like she could see it before she could see it.
She heard about Jesus. The word created faith in her. Hope rose up. Faith is a substance of things hoped for.
She could see it and her faith grabbed on to that thing that she would be made whole. And Jesus is just turning her focus. Hey, it wasn't the mechanics. It wasn't the reach.
It was your faith because here's what happens when the crowd leaves and Jesus leaves. What do I do the next time? What do I do when there's no hem to touch? See when we get hung up on the mechanics, we relegate faith to a work.
Jesus says that worked in this instance. It may work again. It may not, but it's your faith that made you whole. And then he says this, go in peace.
Matthew's verse, or Mark's verse, says this, go in peace and be whole from your affliction. See, Jesus doesn't bring just healing to your physical body. He takes care of all those other related issues. He says go in peace.
It literally means go in two peace. The word go means to continue on the path or to continue on the journey that you've already started. Anybody ever get healed and lose their healing? Okay.
Let's be real. I've done it. And as I was studying this this week, I thought, is it possible? See, he tells her go, your faith has made you whole.
Now I want you to continue into wholeness, continue into peace. I think sometimes what happens is this. We receive breakthrough. Let's say we got healed.
Then we skip a step and we try to go into wholeness, but we never did step two to where we confessed and prophesied and declared what God did. And by not declaring, because it says the spirit of faith speaks. And by not saying anything to anybody, we go home and start to wonder, well, did you ever get healed? And then you start to think, well, I wonder how long it's going to be to what comes back?
Two hands. See, I believe when we receive healing, there's this step of stepping up and declaring the reason. And the what happened to me. And if he did it for me, he'll do it for me.
Well, if I say something, what if it comes, see, what happens is when we don't engage our mouth to confess, the enemy comes in and starts planting down their head. Well, what if it comes back? What if the symptom returns? What if I say something and then it comes back?
Then it'll look like an idiot. Been there. Six months ago when Baba Louie was here, I had a maybe four months ago, I had a chronic nose bleed. My nose bled every day or every other day for probably three months.
We're sitting at dinner at my table. He reaches every place where my nose, I don't have a nose bleed for two weeks. But those whole two weeks, I never told anybody. The whole time, every day I get up, I get a tissue.
Guess what I'm looking for? Looking for blood. I'm waiting for it to return. And after you'll never guess what started happening, it returned.
And I started bleeding again. And I finally got to the place where God, I know you've healed me. I laid hands on myself. I was healed once and for all time.
And it's never come back since. But I think sometimes what happens is by not declaring what God did in my life, it creates opportunity for the enemy to come in and drag me back to my behind. See that God pulls me out to pull me up so that I can prophetically declare, so that I can continue into the wholeness that He's put me into. See, there's steps and stages.
There's more to faith. God just doesn't want to heal you, but He wants you to be a mouthpiece. See, He doesn't just want to, see, there's this thing where we receive power, but then God wants us to release power, but then also be able to retain the healing that we already receive. I think it goes along this that you can't keep what you're not willing to give away.
And I think what happens is sometimes we lose our healing because we're not giving it away after we've received it. That God wants to use you to lay hands on the sick. God wants to use you that you've been healed. Now go heal and sick.
Heal the sick. Cleanse the lepers. Cast out demons. Raise the dead.
Freely you have received. Freely give. That's what He tells us disciples. But for some reason we receive and retreat.
We're no longer going to receive and retreat. We're going to receive and release. God's calling us to a place of releasing. God's calling us a place of being a prophetic voice in His community.
God's calling us to a place that we're going to encourage people's faith. That this place will be the nucleus of what's going to happen here in Cumberland. It's going to start here. But as long as we're receiving and retreating, it's going to be stuck in your behind.
That sounded better than it came out. All right. We're going to pray.