Faith-bearing Seed for the Soul
"While the earth remaineth,
Seedtime and harvest
....shall not cease"

Genesis 8:22

AHEM!

Sometimes when praying with my prayer partner we transpose the letters in "Amen" and write "Ahem." After our discussion about "Ahem," we don't bother to change it any more, but ponder on what the Word says about a hem.

There was a lady who had internal bleeding for twelve years, who, when touching the HEM of Jesus garment, was healed. Crowding in around Jesus, here's what happened to her:

Matthew 9:20, 21

And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind Him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.

Why did she touch the HEM? Was she doubled over from the pain  in her body and touching the hem would be the easiest place to reach?

Was she beaten down by the crowd around her, and lying on the ground when He passed, crawled to reach Him because it was all she could manage to touch? Or, did she bow down deliberately to show Him that she was worshipping Him as her Lord and Savior, and from that pose of humility, touched the hem of His garment?

If she was wrought over with pain, she knew Whom to touch for relief. Had it been that she was beaten down and trampled under foot by others, she still knew Whom to reach out to for deliverance. And, were it that she exhaled all her pride, arrogance and self-sufficiency, when she bent over to worship at His feet, the healing was on the way because of her faith and expectancy in Him. It makes no difference from what position in life we reach out to Him from...to do so in faith, will bring the needed results.

POSSIBLY it was that there used to be a legend then about the Messiah... that He would be known to heal somone if they only touched the hem (tassles) of His garment. Regardless, she was making a statement... that she believed Jesus to BE the Messiah, the Savior and Healer. She  had FAITH that He was actually the Messiah and she would be healed from her sickness. See, it didn't matter about the "legend"...or even that it was an old superstition...it didn't matter WHAT the circumstances may have been...it only mattered that she BELIEVED and ACTED on her faith that Jesus WAS HER Messiah, and that He would have compassion on her.

A modern day "hem" is not always fringe or tassels as it probably was in Jesus' day...but today it is the "folded under" part of our garment.  In Old Testament times, Jewish merchants had a tradition of tacking unpaid debts to their walls. When a debt was paid in full, they folded it over and nailed it to the wall, signifying that the debt was satisfied. Considering this Jewish custom, to touch the hem of His garment, is to signify that we know WHO has paid the debt for us...the One who was nailed to the tree for a debt He not only didn't owe, but a debt that we were unable to pay.

When my husband was at the end of himself in trying to stop smoking, God touched him and shook him so powerfully in a prayer meeting that he was instantly delivered from smoking. Being overwhelmed, he asked  God to show him what kind of power had touched him to deliver him so  instantly and completely. He saw a huge hand in the sky...then a speck of dust trickled down and glanced off of the pinkie finger of the hand. It slowly drifted down and lit on his head and it began to shake him. God spoke to him and told him that was all the power of God that was needed for deliverance when we come to the end of our own efforts and turn completely to Him in faith.

I hope the next time your "Amen" typo reads "Ahem"...that you will stop and reflect on the fact that when we touch any part of Him, or anything that touches Him, healing power will flow and virtue will come out of Him to meet any need we have.

Se'lah!

Planted and rooted in Christ Jesus,

Marlene

Texas Seed Sower

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