Cheer UP! Podcast
Cheer UP! Podcast
Bleeding for 12 Years, Healed in One Touch
After 12 years of suffering, one desperate woman risked everything to touch Jesus' garment. Her story teaches us that faith can transform us from outcasts to daughters and sons. What are you willing to risk to find healing? #Hope #FaithStories
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Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, Kara R Hunt, and with me is the beautiful Sherri Swalwell. How are you doing on this stormy Midwestern day, Sherri?
Speaker 2:Well, we've talked in the past about how I love storms and I don't know. I think I'm kind of ready for spring to have sprung sunshine, pleasant temperatures, not super cold, not super hot. Yeah, I think I'm over the storms. I think I really am. You're over the storms. God is good, and even in the midst of the storms you know the nature storms are such a you know what. Tara, I'm grateful to be alive today. To be completely and totally honest, if God wants to give us storms, then I know he's going to bring us through them. And if God wants to give us sunshine, then I'm just going to thank him for the days that we have sunshine, because right now he has just shown so many miracles in our lives over and over again and not just our lives but the lives of those around us that I am just truly, truly grateful that I know I can trust him. Through the storm, through the good days, I'm just grateful for every day that he gives to us, and I'm even grateful for the jobs that I may not necessarily enjoy.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely. And you know what God ministers to us in the storms. You know what I mean In the natural storms that we watch from the safety of our homes sometimes, or from shelters, and in the spiritual storms, it's just amazing how, whether naturally or spiritually, how God just can use that right and just minister to people in the midst of it all.
Speaker 2:He changes us Like when you go through some major storms.
Speaker 2:We are not the same. We are right. We are changed, and changed for the better. We we have more faith, we have more trust so that when the next storm comes not if but when, because we all know that the next storm will be coming until we are up in heaven and seeing him face to face, but when the next storm comes, then we have the background from the previous storm to say you know what this looks awful, but God's got me, and even if him getting me means that I get an answer that I don't necessarily want, he will still be there through that answer that I don't want.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely, you know, and, like you said, when you've been through one storm, the other ones it still may be scary, but you kind of have a, you have a piece about it because you're like whoa, okay, I remember God got me through that one. So, and he's the same yesterday, today and forever. So he's going to get me through this one too. Don't know how, don't know when, don't know what the storm's going to, you know entail, if it's going to be a cat, one, two, three or four, you know, spiritually speaking, right, and everything else. But all I know is that I'm going to get, he's going to be with me and hold my hand through it.
Speaker 2:All you know I might be kicking and screaming through the storm because I might be like hey, I just had one, can't I get a? Break like really another one, yeah because, man, if you going through the biblical figures that we have gone through, it builds my faith because it shows me that I don't have to be perfect.
Speaker 2:I can have those reactions of really God, another storm already, like I barely caught my breath from the old storm, from the other storm. But he's okay with that. He doesn't mind our, our reactions and our um, honest answers. He just wants us to say, regardless of all that, I trust you, I'm buckling up, I'm ready for you to take me.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:But I mean right. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Right and we may come out with our hair all messed up and you know clothes a little, you know worse for wear, but we're still standing right.
Speaker 2:Right, and we're still stronger. We're not just standing stronger, but we're standing with. Oh, what is the knowledge and experience that we can both?
Speaker 1:others the wisdom.
Speaker 2:yes, yes, yes. We cannot dispute that and we cannot let that. We can't negate that or minimize that. That's the word I'm trying to say. We can't minimize that, because God uses that to then, in turn, encourage other people. And how many people encouraged us when we were just starting out and they were in the position where we're in now?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. You know it's some of the best pillars, strong people of the faith you know mentioned in a Bible and that we know here on this terra firma, this earth, they've all been through a lot Right.
Speaker 2:Uh-huh, exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the key phrase there is been through Right, right, you know they didn't get stuck there. They're not still there, they're still not, you know, and everything else. They've been through it all and their testing has, you know, has turned into a testimony, and God is so good. And actually that just segues perfectly into our topic for this week's episode. So if you're just joining us, if you're just tuning in and this is your first time tuning in to the True Podcast thank you for joining us. We welcome you and we just pray that you enjoy the podcast and that you'll be blessed by it. And for those of you who continue to tune in every week, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. You have no idea how much we appreciate you, and if you've been blessed by this, by the podcast, please share it, please like it or download it. Or if the social media platform that you're listening to it on allows you to leave a review, please just add a few words. It just it would help us so much. These platforms really kind of operate by likes and reviews and it would just make it a lot easier for people to find it if they're looking for this type of podcast, and our goal here is well, there's several missions and goals. One of them is to just help bring people along this journey to joy of walking with the Christian faith, and so if it has blessed you in any way, please like, leave a review or share it, and you have no idea how much we appreciate you doing that.
Speaker 1:Last week we talked about Lydia in the New Testament and talking about biblical figures in the past and how their lives and what the things that they have been through kind of coincides with the things that we still experience today, all these thousands of years later. And this time, from the New Testament, we're going to be talking about the woman with the issue of blood, and I just want to give you some notes here that I have on her, and of course, she's in the New Testament and her I guess I could say story I'm looking for a different word but her story can be found in the Gospels of Matthew, mark and Luke. I do not think it can be found in, I don't think it's talked about in the book of John or any of the books of John, but you can definitely find out about the woman commonly referred to as the woman with the issue of blood in the Gospels of Matthew, mark and Luke and according to these accounts the woman had suffered from a chronic bleeding disorder for 12 years. And back then, when that happened to women or I think, if you had any type of disorder where you were male or female, but especially anything to do with blood, then you kind of became socially marginalized and a lot of the times economically marginalized in society as well. Now a lot of people kind of wonder like what does this mean? And I think the King James Version don't quote me on this because I don't have it right in front of me at the moment, but I think it refers to like a flow of blood and a lot of commentators and scholars and theologians have said that have kind of referred to it as a chronic menstrual bleeding disorder such as menorrhagia or uterine fibroids disorder such as menorrhagia or uterine fibroids and which you know nowadays that can be done medically with the technology and stuff we have now, but back in those times they didn't have that and, as a matter of fact, by society back then in biblical times it was considered that you were impure. It was associated with impurity, I should say, which led to a lot of the ostracization and hardship.
Speaker 1:I am so sorry, I am so tongue-tied this morning, but what's so awesome about this woman's story is that, despite what she was going through, somehow some way she had heard about Jesus, jesus Christ of Nazareth and his healing powers. So she had heard about this and she was just like, after dealing with all of this, you know this constant, nonstop, never-easing, unceasing bleeding that was causing people to shy away from her, that was causing her to be ostracized, that was causing people to to to shy away from her, that was causing her to be ostracized, that was causing some to think that she was impure for some kind of reason, not to mention the economic hardships because he, because you, can you even imagine back then, without having all the the conference, the feminine conference that we have now to deal with situations like that of having to work or try to make a living? So now here she is dealing with all of this and she hears about this man. And she hears about this man, jesus, who's in her area, who's in her town, and she heard that he heals. People have been like, oh, he healed this person, oh, he healed that person, and especially in Luke, chapter 8, in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, before it gets to her.
Speaker 1:I believe her story in Luke is Luke, chapter 8, verses 43 through 48, or somewhere in that area. But in the beginning of Luke, chapter 8, you hear about all the healings that Jesus is doing as he's making his way, you know, through the towns, you know and everything else, and so she's somehow another. This is, I say somehow. Another word had come to her that you know. Hey, there's this man and he's healing people of all sorts of sicknesses and diseases and infirmities and illnesses. You know, she became determined, she's like I have got to find this man.
Speaker 1:And she approaches Jesus in a crowd, because he's surrounded by a crowd, and she touches the hem of his garment, just believing that he would heal her. She's just believing she had just heard all these stories and we don't know. We're not privy to the stories of the miracles and healings that she's heard about, but whatever she heard has ignited her faith to the point where she's just like, oh my gosh, he's surrounded by all these people, but if I could just touch the heel of his garment, you know, then I will be healed and want to know what she was, she was, and it was immediate and it talks about how immediately her bleeding stopped and she was healed. And Jesus, sensing that someone had been healed, he turns to the crowd and he asked who touched me, you know? And she's like, wait, what? Like? These people think I'm impure, I should be ostracized. You know, I shouldn't even be this. You know in the crowd, you know and everything else. Obviously, you know, she's afraid and possibly trembling, and you know, but she confesses and say, hey, you know, it was me. And he reassures her that her faith, so, whatever story she had heard, whatever testimonies that had been shared with her, whatever she may have witnessed of someone whose hand may have been healed or, you know, it was rithered or broken or arthritic, and then she's like seeing them working with it again. Whatever she saw, whatever she heard, it built her faith up to the point to where she just knew that all she needed to do was touch him and she would be healed. And one of the curious things here is that she touched him. He didn't touch her like the other people.
Speaker 1:Like I said when you read in, like chapter eight, you know, or something like that. She touched him, she reached out to him, you know, and that is so apropos to us today. It's, you know, we're not in biblical times, to where we could see Jesus just walk past us. So we could go to the nearest town where he's at, you know, and be like, oh my goodness, jesus, heal me, but we can still or he lays hands on us and say, you know, be healed. So we're not in biblical times, but we're in better times, because now we can just reach out to him and say, jesus, jesus, jesus, just heal me, and spiritually reach out to the hem of her garment, you know, and again, she's just a powerful example of the healing, of the power of faith and the transformative impact of, you know, the Jesus ministry.
Speaker 1:And, like I said, it's only like five verses or so in Luke, chapter 8. So I just kind of want to just kind of go through it really quick and this is the King James Version. But you know, to not take up so much time, I'm just going to kind of just take out the these and thous and everything else. But Luke, chapter 8, chapter 40. Oh, I think I said it started in. Oh, it does start in 43. But I'm going to start in 40. Okay, it says and it came to pass, that when Jesus was returned. Now he's in Capernaum to the people they gladly received him for they were all waiting for him. People they gladly received him for they were all waiting for him. And remember now, before verse 40 happens in Luke, chapter 8, he's been on a healing campaign. You know that's not the word I want to use, but that's basically what was going on. There was just healing and miracles were abounding. So they're excited that he's there.
Speaker 1:Verse 41, and behold, there came a man named Jairus and he was a ruler of the synagogue and he fell down at Jesus' feet and besought him that he would come into his house, for he only had one daughter, about 12 years of age, and she lay dying. So this situation was dire. But as he as he, as in Jesus, as he went, the people thronged him. They're just gathering around him, right. They've heard about all these healings and all these miracles that he has been doing and no doubt people either wanted to witness more of them, see it with their own eyes, or they needed healing.
Speaker 1:Verse 43, and a woman having initial blood 12 years, which has been all her living, upon physicians. So there were doctors back then. As a matter of fact, I think Luke was a physician who wrote the book of Luke, which had spent all her living upon physicians. Neither could be healed of any, so there was no earthly remedy for her. All the physicians knew everything that they knew to do at the time, but none of them had been able to help her. So in verse 44, came up behind him Jesus and touched the border of his garment, and one of the theologians scholars say this pertains to one of the four tassels on the hem of his garment which form part of the Jewish mantle, the blue of the tassel which was worn by most men and reminded Israel that their help came from above and of their duty to keep the law. And more about that can be found out in the book of Numbers in the Old Testament, in chapter 15, and in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 22. So anyway, verse 44, she came up behind him and touched the border of his garment and immediately, immediately, her issue of blood stanched, which pretty much means the cure. It stopped. They're using the word stanched means it stopped. She was cured permanently. This was not a temporary fix, this was permanently. She would never be troubled with this problem again.
Speaker 1:Verse 45,. And Jesus said who touched me and when? All denied Peter. And they who were with him said master, the multitude thronged you and pressed you and you say who touched me? You know they're just like Are you really asking this question? Like there's throngs of people around you. Verse 46. And Jesus said Somebody has touched me, for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. Yes, and again, remember, he didn't touch her. She touched him, she reached out to him. Verse 47,.
Speaker 1:And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, not hid, which you know kind of implies that she didn't really want to be seen, probably because of the things we mentioned before about how they thought of her as impure, you know, or that something was wrong with her or that, you know, they didn't want to be anywhere near her and everything else. 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, for which cause she had touched him. So basically, it sounds like in front of everybody, she just confessed it all about how she had touched him. So basically, it sounds like in front of everybody, she just confessed it all about how she had been to all these physicians, how she's been dealing with this for 12 years, all the consequences and ostracization and the people looking her. So it sounds like right here she tells it all because it said she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately, verse 48, and he said unto her daughter and I never picked this up before, but one of the theologians or whatever it's saying here, pay attention At first she was referred to as woman.
Speaker 1:She was first referred to as a woman and now, after she's been healed, she is referred to as daughter, which speaks of relationship pertaining to both her salvation and her healing. And I'm like, wow, that's right, he did say she was referred to as a woman, just as a woman with initial blood, and now she's like daughter, like a father saying daughter, daughter, be of good comfort, your faith has made you whole, go in peace. And I'm like, oh my gosh, it's like relationship change, just like that. How beautiful is that, you know? And then her story kind of just ends there and it talks about and it kind of goes on about. You know, there's a ruler from the synagogue how thanked you know. You know one of his helpers comes up and you know he talks about, hey, your daughter has died, you know, and things like that. So, but her story really doesn't end there.
Speaker 1:I think another mention is mentioned to her later in Luke, chapter 8. But and tradition says I believe, I'm almost positive that tradition says that her name was Victoria. Don't quote me on that. I know the name began with a V and I'm like, was it Valerie or Victoria? But I really believe that tradition meaning like Jewish tradition, those type of papers and books and scrolls refer to her name. As said, her name was Victoria. Wow, what a story. Am I right, sherry?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I always thought that I knew a lot about that story, but you really opened my eyes and showed me even more. I did not catch, until you mentioned it, that first she was woman and then she was daughter. That is such a huge point to have brought out. I love that you brought that out. I will never look at the story again the same as I have in the past, and I always loved the story in the past, so you just made me love it even more.
Speaker 1:I know and you know when we dig and it goes back to what you said earlier right about how, as we've been going through the people in a Bible, biblical figures and what they've been through and how God brought them through certain things, whether it was doubt, whether it was fear, whether, in this woman's case, you know the issue of blood, you know how when you dig into it and you research it and you study it out, and you know it's just so much more is there. I think that sometimes we really realize you know and things you know and things like that. It's just so much more. And I'm sorry, I was just trying to go back to my notes to try to figure out why did I not write that woman's name down? But it really doesn't matter whether her name was Victoria, whether it was Valerie or it was another name that began with the letter V. I just know it began with the letter V. That tradition Jewish tradition, I think says it doesn't say that in the Bible, but I believe in Jewish tradition. It said her name was, I think says it doesn't say that in the Bible, but I believe in Jewish tradition. It said her name was, I believe, victoria.
Speaker 1:He didn't call her Victoria. He called her daughter. He called her daughter. How beautiful is that and how life-changing is everything. Life-changing, life-changing, it's everything that's life-changing. She's no longer going to be ostracized. She's no longer going to be known as that impure woman, right, that has to go through all these rituals and everything else before she can go into a social gathering. She's no longer going to have to depend on everyone else necessarily to take care of her, because now she's able to go back and work you know, at least not as they can go back and work, but at least be able to provide something to her household, even if it's just like gathering grain or you know, and things like that. And she's no longer just referred to as the, you know, as the woman with the issue of blood. She'll be a part of society again, a welcome part of society, and she's known as the woman who was healed by touching the hem of Jesus' garment versus the woman with the issue of blood. Listeners, true nation. I just want to really hit that part home because no matter what you've done, no matter what you're going through, no matter what people think of you, no matter what people think of you because in her case they were just like ostracizing her. Oh, she's impure, you know, and everything else. But again, at the time they were referring to the biblical laws that were in it's not Leviticus, I think, it was in Deuteronomy, you know, and everything like that. But Jesus didn't see her that way and she was healed immediately. Her whole life changed when she stepped out in faith. When she stepped out in faith, she went from just a woman to daughter when it came to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and that is life-changing.
Speaker 1:And you're like Carrie, yeah, but how do I reach out to him and reach out for him in this garden right now? I need healing. I have something that I'm dealing with, you know, and everything else. All you have to do is pray. All you have to do is say Jesus, jesus, jesus, help me, pray to him. Some people find prayer difficult. Pray to him. Some people find prayer difficult, but literally, it's just like talking to someone in a room that you may not be able to see with your own eyes, but he's there. If you are a believer, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as Nazareth, as your Lord and Savior, he is there in a room with you and you can talk to him just like you talk to anybody else, have a conversation. He already knows your heart, he already knows what you're dealing with. He's just asking you to reach out to him so that he can help walk you through it, just like the storms we were talking about earlier.
Speaker 2:Am I right, sherri? Absolutely, and if you're someone who wants to know Jesus and you want to reach out to him, all you have to do is say Jesus and he will come, even if you priorly do not have a relationship with him. God just wants a relationship with us and so he wants us to come the way we are. He wanted the woman to come unclean. Back then I don't think she was allowed to work. To be honest with you, I don't think she was allowed to go into social situations, because if you read the old testament and you read all the laws that were concerning surrounding blood, women husbands and wives couldn't even be together when the woman was having her menstrual cycle.
Speaker 2:So I don't think, think she, I think you're right, cause I used to have to go to a tent You're right, go ahead and then they had to purify themselves when their cycle was over before they could even be back with their, with their husband. So I think he was um not just ostracized but isolated, like, I think, her social skills you think COVID-19 on steroids. Like I think her social skills were none nil, so for her.
Speaker 2:To vent it out and to touch the hem of his garment like she did. That took a lot of guts, a lot of faith, and I think she could have been in big trouble if they had caught her or whatever, and she was doing stuff that would quote unquote, cause other people to be unclean. Don't completely quote me on that, but go read all of the different laws in the Old.
Speaker 2:Testament and that will tell you what she was and wasn't allowed to do. And I don't think she was allowed to do very much at all. And to think about 12 years of that, 12 years of not being able to stop bleeding and the anemia oh my word, like I don't think she would even want to do stuff because she'd be exhausted from losing all that blood and iron.
Speaker 1:And she would probably pale.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah. There are just so many different layers to this, but the bottom line it doesn't really matter. I mean, God used this woman with the issue of blood, but think about it nowadays it can be any disease that you have any condition that you have addiction, anything.
Speaker 2:It doesn't have to be a medical condition, or it doesn't have to be, you know, something like MS that you have no control over. It could be, it could be anything, but God wants us to come to him, and that's that's the bottom line. Like in John 16, 33, we're told these things I've spoken to you from Jesus that in me you will have peace in the world world. You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Whether or not this lady realized it, she believed that promise from God and she was going to do whatever it was that she could to get there.
Speaker 2:So I want to talk to you today specifically. Are you searching? Are you seeking? Do you want to know what it's like to have that kind of a relationship with God? Do you want that kind of a relationship with God? Well, it is super easy to get Like. God wants us to have that relationship with him too.
Speaker 2:So we don't want another day to go by without you being able to experience what it is to surrender your life to him and to start your relationship with God.
Speaker 2:So if that's you and that's what you want to do, in Romans 10, 9, we're told if we believe, if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, we will be saved.
Speaker 2:So one of the ways that we can demonstrate our surrender to Christ is by praying a prayer. And it's not the words of the prayer that makes the difference, it's believing the words in our heart. It's truly surrendering our lives to God and saying I'm giving you everything, I want you to be Lord over my life and I want you to take care of me here on out. So if that's you and that's what you want to do, there's no time like the present to start. All you need to do is pray this prayer after us oh Heavenly Father, I come to you in Jesus' name. I believe you died on the cross and that you rose again. Want to say welcome to the family. We are so glad that you have made that choice that will change your life, and don't take our words for it. You are a son or a daughter of God now and you can pray to him with confidence, saying Lord, show yourself to me, lord, show me what's real.
Speaker 2:Show yourself to me, lord, show me what's real. Lord. What kind of a relationship do you want us to have? And then trust him and wait and see, and I'll tell you what it will be the best adventure, sometimes scary, sometimes uncertain, sometimes joyous. Sometimes you'll see miracles. Like it is the best life that you will ever live. The hardest life, the most challenging life is the best life that you will ever live the hardest life, the most challenging life, but the best life. It is the decision that you will never regret. And I can say that with confidence, having walked with God since I was six years old, but having really, truly surrendered my entire life to him for the last 30 or more. Like he makes a difference. It's a humongous difference. We are so glad that you were here today, that you joined us on the road of the woman with the issue of blood. Next week we're going to talk about the woman at the well and we're going to see what kind of insights that God's going to give us through that story.
Speaker 2:But in the meantime, if you love fiction, head on over to Kara's website karahuntcom and you will see she has an amazing series, the Habakkuk series. I am so sorry, I didn't know why I couldn't the Habakkuk series. I am so sorry I didn't know why I couldn't get Habakkuk out. Habakkuk I say it both ways, but I absolutely positively love Kara's writing. She is amazing and her series will just grab you from the first moment that you read the first page until you read the next, and you'll be waiting for more, wanting more, and thankfully she's giving us more so you can get her books.
Speaker 2:Their Paper Dolls is the first one, then Paper Dolls Kite, paper Dolls Priscilla, paper Dolls Lydia, then Paper Dolls Eve and then Paper Dolls Mary. You are going to just absolutely love her books. You can get them in e-book, paperback and audiobook Once you've read her series. If you want to, you can come on over to my website, cherrieswellwellcom, and you can read my fiction series, the Redemption of Green Pines. I also have some nonfiction books as well Bible studies, devotionals and some prayer journals that you can pick up so you can start writing down all the blessings and write down all the things that God is teaching you through the good, the bad and the ugly.
Speaker 1:And your studies are also on YouTube. A Bible version app right.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, my Sisters in Christ. It's called Building your Sisters in Christ Community is what it's called on the YouVersion app. So, yes, you can read that on there. And then, if you want to read the full study, it's Sisters in Christ, and you can find that at Amazon and KU. So, yes, we just have lots of little goodies that you can look at and be a part of.
Speaker 2:Get to know us a little bit more. If you want to have us get to know you a little bit more, we have two different options. One, if you're more private and personal, you can email us at cheeruppodcasts at gmailcom. If you are more extroverted and you want to join the party and have other people join it with you, then head over to Facebook and it's a Cheer Up Podcast. Facebook group is what I'm trying to say, and you can start a conversation there and hopefully, more than just us will answer and we will have a whole bunch of people joining in on that conversation. So lots of ways to connect with us, lots of things to connect with.
Speaker 2:If you love the Cheer Up Podcast and you listen to it every week, please share it with a friend. Encourage them to listen too every week. Please share it with a friend, encourage them to listen too, and if you want something else in the meantime during the week, you can head over to. I have a YouTube channel Jesus Me Every Day. I would love it if you would subscribe over there as well, if you like the content and you enjoy it. That's Tuesday mornings. I upload something new every day over on YouTube. So, having said all that, have a great rest of your week, a great day, and we are excited for you to join us again next week for another exciting episode of the Cheer Up Podcast on your journey to joy. Thank you.
