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| Message by Bro Bryan |
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| WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FEW SECONDS CAN MAKE! by Bro Bryan Mark 5:25-34 25A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— 27after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 28For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 29Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 32And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” What a difference a few seconds can make! How many lives have been turned completely upside down all in the matter of what happened in the space of a few seconds? A car wreck, a wrong decision, something said or done in the passion of the moment can all take just seconds to happen but can change forever the way people will face their future. Consider this woman who came to Jesus with a desperate need. She had been sick with an incurable issue of blood for twelve years. The doctors of that day had done all they could do, and now they had totally given up on restoring her health. How weak and depleted the issue of blood must have made her as she drug herself to the place where Jesus was. Tired, weary, and drained of strength, her heart must have sunk within her when she saw the crowd of people pressing in to get close to Jesus. Instead of giving up and going back home to die, she pressed on believing that if she could get to Him she would be made well. But how could she get close to Jesus knowing that her issue of blood made her unclean and therefore unable to touch others unless she made them unclean as well? She concluded, if I can just touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made whole! This meant she would have to crawl underneath the crowd in order to touch the hem of His garment. How easy it would have been to give up. How easy it would have been to lose heart and go back home. How easy it would have been to let her pride step in and tell her not to do such a degrading thing to herself. The next few seconds of her life would be critical, and as we now know by reading the rest of the story, her decision and actions would change forever the way she would live out her future. The time had come when what she would decide to do in the next few seconds would change her world! She managed to muster up the strength to find her way underneath the crowd to the feet of Jesus where she reached forward, and in a few seconds, received the blessed healing she so desperately needed and wanted. What if she had decided to give up when she saw the crowds? What if she just didn’t think it was worth the trouble? What if she didn’t believe enough to even have come? The answers are all the same. NOTHING would have happened, and she would have never known how much she missed! I believe this too is the danger we all face daily in our lives, not taking the time or the extra moment needed in order to find what great blessings God may have for us. How many blessings have we passed by and totally missed when we’ve decided that taking the time needed was simply not worth it? Let’s face it, great things do happen when people choose God, but even greater things happen when people choose to go that extra mile and not get weary in well doing when seeking God. Therefore be careful what choices and decisions you make. Never take for granted the moments God has given you. Never let a few seconds in your life cause you to make the wrong decision or choice, because what you do in a second can totally change the way you will face the rest of your life or eternity. |
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