“In the crowd that day was a woman who had suffered greatly for twelve years from slow bleeding. Even though she had spent all that she had on healers, she was still suffering. Pressing in through the crowd, she came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel of his prayer shawl. Instantly her bleeding stopped and she was healed. Jesus suddenly stopped and said to his disciples, “Someone touched me. Who is it?” While they all denied it, Peter pointed out, “Master, everyone is touching you, trying to get close to you. The crowds are so thick we can’t walk through all these people without being jostled.”
Luke 8:43-45 TPT
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14
When I visited Israel two years ago I had the privilege of going to the Garden of Gethsemane. I found out that it wasn’t a “garden” but rather an olive grove. The Hebrew name Gethsemane literally means “place of pressing.” Makes sense, since the only way to extract the oil is through pressing. Why did Jesus choose or rather why was that place chosen for Him to spend His final hours agonizing over the decision to not only suffer but be temporarily separated from His Father? In that moment He was pressed to the point of sweating drops of blood. Luke 22:44
The woman with the issue of blood had a decision to make. Keep bleeding or press. Press through the mob. Risking her life to receive her miracle. Have you ever had to talk yourself into doing something scary but you knew you just had to do it in order to move forward? Jesus did in the garden, and the nameless woman did in the reading. I told the Bible study group that nameless people in scripture left room for us to put our names in their story. Pressing always involves pressure. Most of the things we enjoy were made or produced under pressure. If Jesus hadn’t suffered none of us would be saved. Ever thought about that? Some of us treat our salvation so common we forget about the suffering He endured. He was pressed in that garden and on the cross.
I’m grateful for the stories that are recorded for us in scripture, because they allow us to see that we’re not unique in the things we go through. We tend to treat everything as happening to us. What happened to Jesus, happened for us. And He did it willingly. John 10:18
Whenever we allow the Holy Spirit to give us a holy perspective, we will come through victoriously. Pressing or pressure matures us.
“Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.”
2 Corinthians 4:8 TPT
Getting back to the woman with the issue of blood. The amplified version said she said and kept on saying. She built up courage to do something scary but necessary, if she wanted to have quality of life. She risked everything, having spent her life savings trying to get well. Your next breakthrough will be found in your willingness to press. Press through in faith to lay hold to your miracle. Are you suffering in your body? PRESS! Did you receive an evil report from your doctor? PRESS! Lacking what you need for yourself or family? PRESS! Your job is downsizing or closing? PRESS! The fringe of His robe is found in the PRESSING. Press through the fear, press through the doubt, press through the anxiety, PRESS! She received her miracle and we will too.
You’re too close to your breakthrough to quit. Jesus didn’t quit, the woman didn’t quit, Paul didn’t quit, and we’re encouraged not to quit. PRESS! Grapes don’t release the sweet juice unless it’s pressed. The sweetness of Christ is not exposed to the world until we’re pressed. Pressed into His image. We learn through the things we suffer. Hebrews 5:8 The pressing we go through will not destroy us. We’re pressed to release not to be destroyed. We don’t faint when we’re pressed, we gain strength. After that night in the garden, Jesus went through something no mere human have ever or will ever go through. The end result was out of this world! After His pressing, the Church bearing His Name was birth. (Acts 2) We are who we are because of His pressing through. He’s our example to never quit, never give up, but to be victorious.
Keep pressing until you hear Him ask the question “who touched Me?” That’s confirmation of your breakthrough.
There’s a big difference between being in the presence of Jesus and actually touching Him. Don’t stand around wringing your hands. PRESS! Don’t be sophisticated about it. PRESS! How badly do you want your miracle? PRESS! His pressing guaranteed our miracle. All we have to do is move towards what’s already been made available to us. Let the nameless woman’s words resonate in your spirit.
“For she kept saying to herself, “If only I could touch his clothes, I know I will be healed.”
Mark 5:28 TPT
Do you know? Then PRESS.
Jesus, through Your pressing we have received everything we need that pertains to life and godliness. Help us to press towards the mark of total wholeness in You. Let faith arise in our souls today as we read the countless accounts of so many who have touched You. In Your precious Name I pray. Amen
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
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