“But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” Mark 5:33-34
Father, we give you praise that healing flows from even the hem of your garment. Father, we pray for all the participants coming to the Deeper Still retreat, that they would come and fall before you Lord and tell you the whole truth so that they may be made well, have peace and be healed. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
March 8, 2016, Deeper Still had its annual fundraising banquet. Four beautiful testimonies were shared by four of the participants who went through a retreat last year.
One of the participants who shared was Judi. Last summer, Judi reached out for the hem of Jesus’ garment and the result was nothing short of miraculous. The post today is written by beautiful and free Judi. She also shares part of her story in a short video at the end! Thank you Judi for sharing your story with us today!
scan·dal·ous
ˈskandləs/
adjective
1. causing general public outrage by a perceived offense against morality or law.
Today I am in a quite different place from where I started this journey. When I walked onto the porch at the Deeper Still retreat last year, I felt like the dirtiest outcast that had ever tried to get close to Jesus. I was reminded of that day a few weeks ago when my church started a series on scandalous grace. They started it in Mark 5. I had heard the story of the woman with the issue of blood so many times before. But in this season of my life, the message brought something out that I had never seen before. Look again at verse 33:
33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
She told Him the whole truth. The whole story. She spoke it out loud, even with her voice shaking. And she was healed.
I have known my entire life that God was the God of the universe. I have known my entire life that Jesus died on the cross at Calvary for the redemption of mankind. I have always known in my head that I am not the ruler of my life. This past year, I finally allowed that knowledge to get into my heart. When I surrendered to that knowledge, He indeed became my Lord. This past year has felt like a whirlwind of change and a roller coaster of events and has been both the hardest and the sweetest year of my life. But that has not come easily. It has taken a lot of prayer, even more listening for Him to tell me where I am and to show me where He wants me to go. It’s taken faith that He will be my rock now and even when it’s all said and done. It’s taken the faith to follow Him where He calls me. Even into scary, unknown places with people I don’t know, in order to start dropping the weight of the baggage I’ve been carrying for decades. And I have dropped it… by the ton…
Like the woman with the issue of blood, I knew He was a healer, but the crowd was so big…
And He healed me anyway.
Like the woman caught in adultery, I knew I was guilty and the crowd was so angry…
And He forgave me anyway.
Like Zacchaeus, the crowd was just too much over my head…
And He dined with me anyway.
And like the second thief on the cross, I deserved death for what I had done in my life…
And He paid the cost for me anyway.
I am free. I am not perfect and have no ability or desire to be. But I serve a mighty God who has equipped me. I have the full armor of God to protect me daily. I have been set free from the lies of the enemy. I am the daughter of the One True King and am an heir with Christ! If you are in Christ, I hope you know that you are, too!
Voice by voice, story by story, we really can be victorious in Christ. Scripture reminds us in Revelation that we have conquered him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. Mine was an ugly story to tell. Mine is a story some people want me to keep to myself. But it’s now His story and He will be glorified by it. This is my story….
To Karen and the team members, I can’t even begin to say thank you enough for being the examples of freedom I needed to head safely in His direction with my own life. I have found my voice. I will not stop proclaiming the freedom in Christ that I have found. I will praise Him until he calls me home!
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