A large crowd followed and pressed around (Jesus). And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” …
(Jesus) said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” – Mark 5:24-34
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She had been suffering for years. She spent all that she had. She grew worse.
Then she heard about Jesus.
She came to him, touched his garment and believed he would heal her.
And Jesus spoke to her. He healed her, sent her off in peace and set her free.
This is the story of the redeemed.
We’re suffering, hurt, empty. We’re spent, exhausted, depleted. And we’re continually getting worse as we search the world for remedy.
Until we hear about Jesus.
We approach him in prayer, timid, terrified, desperate for healing and hopeful that relief just might finally be within reach.
And then the unthinkable: we’re noticed. Exposed. Laid bare. Healed.
Without shame, without cost.
We’re named. Son. Daughter. Welcomed into the family of The Most High King. Crowned.
We’re sent out in peace. Changed, never to be the same again.
We are free.
For some people it happens in a moment, all at once, a weight lifted off.
For me, it was a process. A gradual shift.
But regardless of how, this is a picture of salvation. And this is the hope for all those still searching. Healing is possible. It is available. And it is a gift that the Giver so desperately wants us to have. It will recover our life and make us new.
Once we are healed, we will never be the same again.
This does not mean every day post salvation is perfect. Not at all. But it does mean that every day post salvation starts with a new truth, a new identity: son, daughter. We are welcomed into the family of God. And that defines us. Not our past. Not our wounds. Not our circumstances. We are His. And He is ours.
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“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” – Isaiah 55:1
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:13-14
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” – Revelation 21:6
As for you, you were dead in your transgression and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world… – Ephesians 2:1-2
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – Hebrews 4:15-16
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. – Hebrews 2:11
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ… – Ephesians 1:4-5
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2 Corinthians 5:14
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. – Galatians 5:1
Sing it – Whole Heart, Hillsong
Soaking in the Son 