Good Morning Family
I'm sure you have no idea how much it warms my heart to have all of you here every time we gather together. I am grateful and so abundantly blessed.
Each and every one of you matter!
Let us pray..
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for what you have done for each of us
the seen and the unseen
O Lord, open our ears that we may hear your word. Open our eyes, that we may see your presence
Open our arms so that we may learn to embrace others,
Especially those we disagree with, who are also your children
Open our hearts and minds to Your divine truth
Amen
"Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came 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 affliction.”
Mark 5:25-34
I've called today's message: If I Could Just Get To Jesus..
Because in the woman with a bleeding disorder, we find the Human Condition.
The human condition encompasses the unique and believed to be inescapable features of being human.
One of the things that so many people fail to recognize today is that they are human.
So many live their lives with the flawed attitude that they do not need God.
I have heard countless people in my lifetime tell me how they do not need God.
I am sad to say, some even within my own family..
I’ll never forget the day in my early teenage years, when I stood in the kitchen
of my father’s home and listened as my grandfather yelled at my Christian
uncle, who was attempting to share his newly found faith with him. As he yelled, he told him “I don’t need God!” he said, “I’ve lived my life
exactly the way I wanted to live it and I never needed anything from your God.”
Sometime later, my uncle sold off most of possessions, gave some of the money to the church he was attending and also decided to take a trip to Jerusalem. I vividly recall his excitement.
When he returned from his trip, much to my uncle's surprise, my grandfather made the decision to have him committed to a mental institution for evaluation, as he was "clearly mentally ill" believing in a God that doesn't exist and selling off his belongings.
Many years later, my grandfather drove to get ice cream. A young lady, not paying attention as she was driving, ran a stop sign. Her vehicle collided my grandparents vehicle, hitting it broadside.
My grandfather was taken to the hospital, where within a few days, his organs began to shut down and he died.
He was previously a very healthy man, he had plenty of money in his pocket.
A great deal of wealth in the bank. He owed numerous properties and vehicles.
By all standards of today, he was set for life.
However, he was not prepared for death!
He, of course, had a trust set up for that inevitable day, however, he was unprepared eternity.
The same uncle, who he had previously committed, became executor of the trust.
The same one, who had agreed not to put him in a facility, should his health begin to require special care.
The ink was barely dry, when the same uncle had made the decision to have him moved to a care facility, where he died, alone.
Without going into too many of the personal details, he became the greedy, opportunistic example, which divided the family, that when he was in Christ, once believed was wrong and had sought to change that day in my father's kitchen.
I remember well the funeral.
It was stoic and cold, no one was crying, much less speaking.
There was no celebration of his life, or where he would spend eternity.
I remember thinking, how I really didn't know this man and had not seen him for the last ten plus years.
I remember my grandmother asking who I was, as she hadn't seen me for years.
I remember thinking to myself, how this man, just before he drew his last breath, had more wealth than he could spend in his lifetime, yet it did not buy him even one more moment of life.
I remember arguing over who would help to carry the casket.
I remember thinking, there was no more opportunity to give his life to Christ.
I remember thinking, that with all the wealth he had left behind, he did not do one bit of good with it, nor leave a legacy of Godliness and Righteousness for his family.
But on that day, he left for me an unforgettable realization how glad I am saved, that I need God!
And I need Him every
day of my life.
And on the day, should I ever forget my need and dependence on Him, I
may very well be drawing my last breaths.
Let me make something perfectly clear, I need God!
I fear the Lord.
I recognize and acknowledge my dependence on Him.
I tell Him everyday, often!
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that without Him in my life, I am and would be nothing.
I understand that without Him, I wouldn't be alive today!
I understand that I am totally dependent on Him for every breath I breathe.
Every beat of my heart.
Every thought that I think.
I need Him.
Oh how I need Him!
So why is it that so many people can only learn this the hard way?
Why does it take so many people having to hear the Dr’s bad report in order for them to turn their heart to God?
To cry out to Him?
What is it about us that would ever cause us to believe that we are independent of God?
The woman in our Scripture reading today sounds like a lot of people I have met along life’s way.
She had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.
Our belief is that our doctors can keep us alive and well.
Our thinking is that our Money can provide for us the life that we want to live…
And while both of these may be true for a very small increment of time, neither of them is infinite or absolute.
The woman in our Scripture reading today was neither helped by the doctors but rather was harmed by their treatments.
She spent every dime of her family’s inheritance and her life’s earnings trying to buy something that money could never buy.
What she was looking for was something that only Jesus could give her.
I truly appreciate something about this woman.
And I believe Jesus appreciated it too.
She was desperate.
Her money had run out.
Her doctors not only couldn’t help her, but they caused her to suffer more by the treatments they gave her.
She had run out of options.
There was no other way to turn.
There was nothing else to do.
So she turned to the only One who could help her... Jesus.
Don't raise your hand...
How many of you ever been there?
Have you ever been to that place in life where you realize that no matter what you do, nothing is going to get any better?
In fact it just seems to be getting worse…
Maybe your there right now.
Maybe today you realize that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try,
No matter how hard you work
No matter how much you wish things were different…
It’s just getting worse!
Everything seems hopeless.
The awful cycle just seems to be progressively spiraling downhill and out of your control.
You feel like throwing in the towel and giving up.
I am here today to tell you something..
There is a release that comes when one arrives at the realization that they need God!
When the money is gone.
When things are not getting better.
When pride has been stripped away…
And we are left with only our faith and dependence in God…
Deliverance comes!
Relief comes!
Trust Comes!
Relationship comes!
And conviction comes because we realize that we have done so much against God in our pursuit to do it our own way.
The woman in our Scripture reading today was very fortunate.
The woman in our reading "happened" to be in a place where Jesus was passing by.
Not everybody with an issue of blood is going to get healed.
Not every body with a need of healing, or help, or deliverance is going to be helped.
But the woman in our reading understood something that we should try to learn today.
She learned it the hard way, but hear me, “You don’t have to!”
She said, “If I Could Just Get To Jesus!” “If I can Just Touch
Jesus!” “If I Could Only Be In His Presence For A Moment! – I Could Be
Healed”
Now maybe you’re not facing death today.
And maybe the doctor has not given you his final prognosis.
Maybe today, you're blessed to still have your health.
Maybe today, you're blessed to still be in your home.
Or have an income..
But maybe you’ve come to a place in your life where it doesn’t matter what people think of you any more.
Maybe you’ve reached a point of desperation in your life where you realize you need His help!
Maybe you’re ready like this lady was, to press through the crowd of
scoffers and spectators in order to touch the Only One who can really
help you.
The Only One who can change your life.
Maybe you have found yourself saying...“If I Could Just Get To Jesus”
I’ll never forget what people said about me when I started going to Church.
I’ll never forget what some of my family called me the night I was baptized in Jesus name.
I’ll never forget how my so-called friends abandoned me when I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ.
But I’ll tell you something else I’ll never forget.
I’ll never forget the all Helplessness and the Fear and the Hurt and the
Pain and the suffering of my life before I made the choice to bend a
knee before Him.
I'll never forget all the Pain and Suffering I had caused others by my choices.
I'll never forget that feeling when a doctor told me I'd never be able to walk again after a car accident.
And I’ll never forget the moment in my life when I realized that I
needed and wanted (more than anything in this world) His touch upon my
life.
I’ll never forget the desperation of my heart as I realized that “If I Could Just Get To Jesus” things could be different.
I pray today, that some of you listening or reading this message will hear my words..
Things can be different!
Your life can change.
It doesn’t have to stay this way.
YOUR LIFE CAN BE DIFFERENT!
The woman with the issue of blood found a secret to receiving God’s delivering power.
This woman realized what many in this here today have realized…
It doesn’t matter anymore what other people think…
It doesn’t matter what anyone will say…
All that matters is that she wanted and needed what only Jesus could
give and Nothing was going to keep her from receiving the help that
only He could give her.
Are you sick and tired of trying to do it on your own?
Are you tired of nothing working out, even though you're giving it your all?
Are you tired of sleepless nights?
Are you tired of worrying day after day, how your are going to make it another moment, much less another day?
Are you ready to set your pride aside enough to tell Him “Yes”?
Are you ready to be free from the thing in your life that eats at you day and night?
If You Would Just Come To Jesus Today…
It's not a quick fix, or magical potion..
It's a changed way of thinking.
A different way to live your life!
It's the assurance that no matter what this life throws your way,
you'll never go through alone!
You'll have an advocate, a mediator, sitting in heaven.
And you will peace, unlike anything you've ever known..
So, I ask you now...
Won't you Just Come Close To Jesus?
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries