One Touch...

The whole faith concept and practice has become a prominent focus, study, and unfortunately, it has been somewhat of a issue in my life. Moving away from everything I have known for 22 years has been a somewhat difficult thing to do. It is taking everything in me to keep my faith in God and remember that He is in control and His way is perfect no matter if it makes sense to me or not.

Back in June I did something I have always wanted to do, but never thought I would. I got a tattoo on my right foot of an icthus with the Greek word for faith on the inside. It can be seen here where my grandfather blogged about it! Anyway, not only do I think that it's cool, but it also serves as a reminder/declaration to walk by faith. In the midst of the tattoo and having my faith stretched by moving I heard Nicole C. Mullens song on the radio entitled "One Touch". After hearing the song I decided it was time to revisit the story of the woman with the issue of blood and see what God had to show me.

As I began to read in Mark 5 I was blown away simply by her faith. Wow, such a "low" woman on the social status took a huge risk, basically risking her life, just to see if she could be healed. It wasn't a done deal that if she touched Him she would be healed, but with her faith she knew all things were possible and she was willing to take the risk.

Here's where God stepped in and showed me something new... After she touched the robe of Jesus, He stopped and asked who touched Him. Now, Mark says He was in a large crowd and they were pressed against Him.

Let me put a visual to this, Below is a picture of the busiest crosswalk in the world.This crosswalk is located in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan. It is estimated that 5,000 people cross it at each changing of the light. Now I have walked this crosswalk several times and let me tell you, It is impossible to walk across it without being touched. Now, this might be a little out there, but I want you to have a visual of a crowd and how many people were around Him.

Hundreds of people touched Jesus, but He only stopped at the touch of one. Why? Because He felt the power leave His body. The woman's faith had healed her... Wow, amazing, but here is what I saw as the cool part...

Time out, soak in the fact that many people had touched Jesus while in the crowd...

Here we go. Hundreds of people had touched Jesus, but only ONE received the power and was healed. Likewise, hundreds of people "touch" God today and they do not come away any different. Some people read His word and are changed, but some aren't. Some people spend time in prayer and worship and draw closer to Him, but some don't. Some pray and receive the strength, but some don't. Each time what the people did outwardly was the same. They worshiped, prayed, ect the same way outwardly or physically if you will, but the inward actions make the difference- Faith. Many times we go through the motions and get nothing because we expect nothing, we are just doing it because we are supposed to. It's when we believe, have faith, and confidence in God and His powers that we receive the power and come away different after "touching" Him.

Join me in approaching God with faith and confidence during prayer, study, and worship times and come away different. I leave you with some of the lyrics to"One Touch."

I had to touch the Hem of His garment
And i know I've been made whole
And how I had pressed my way through this madness
And His love has healed my soul.

Then with one word He touched the hem of my garment
And you know I've been made whole
And somehow He pressed His way through my madness
And His love has healed my soul.

Pressing On.