June
12, 2003
YOUR
FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL
"Jesus
turned around, and when He saw her He said, 'Be of good cheer,
daughter; your faith has made you well.' And the woman was
made well from that hour" (Matthew 9:22, NKJV).
A woman
who had been sick with a flow of blood for twelve years came
from behind Jesus and touched the hem of His garment. "For
she said to herself, 'If only I may touch His garment, I shall
be made well' " (Matthew 9:21).
"Jesus
insisted on knowing who had touched Him. Finding concealment
in vain, she came forward tremblingly, and cast herself at
His feet. With grateful tears she told the story of her suffering,
and how she had found relief. Jesus gently said, "Be
of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well."
(Desire of Ages, pp. 344, 345).
"Jesus
gave no opportunity for superstition to claim healing virtue
for the mere act of touching His garments. It was not through
the outward contact with Him, but through the faith which
took hold on His divine power that the cure was wrought...
"When
the suffering woman put forth her hand to touch Him, believing
that she would be made whole, she felt the healing virtue.
So in spiritual things. To talk of religion in a casual way,
to pray without soul hunger and living faith, avails nothing.
A nominal faith in Christ, which accepts Him merely as the
Saviour of the world, can never bring healing to the soul.
The faith that is unto salvation is not a mere intellectual
assent to the truth. He who waits for entire knowledge before
he will exercise faith cannot receive blessing from God. It
is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in
Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces
Him as a personal Saviour; which appropriates His merits to
ourselves.. Saving faith is a transaction by which those who
receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God.
Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of
vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering
power.
"After
healing the woman, Jesus desired her to acknowledge the blessing
she had received...
"Our
confession of His faithfulness is Heaven's chosen agency for
revealing Christ to the world. We are to acknowledge His grace
as made known through the holy men of old; but that which
will be most effectual is the testimony of our own experience."
(Desire of Ages, pp., 344, 347).
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