Faith amid desperation is the story that unfolds in Mark 5:24-29. We encounter two powerful stories woven together—Jairus’ dying daughter and a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve long years. As Jesus walked through the crowd on His way to Jairus’ home, the suffering woman quietly approached Him from behind. She believed that …
Have you ever thought about how interruptions can be a blessing? In our world, we don’t often think of life’s interruptions as gifts, but they often are. Our prayers interrupt God. Yet He welcomes them like a mother responding to her infant. Often, God uses interruptions in our lives to bring wholeness to our lives …
Jesus welcomes the hurting to make us whole. This reveals Jesus’ love, which introduces us to a moment of deep desperation and powerful faith. Mark 5:22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.[1]Jairus was a respected religious leader, a man of status …
The story of wholeness in the storms of life from Luke 8:22-39 gives us insight into how to navigate our storms. It is easy to think that God has left us on our own in adverse times. But that is not true. The early church applied these stories to the persecution they faced, first from …
Jesus gave a simple but powerful command: go tell what God has done. In Luke 8, Jesus had just delivered a man from a life of torment and spiritual bondage. He had restored a broken man. Jesus’ instruction reveals an important truth for all believers. Once Jesus opens our eyes and heals our hearts, He …
Spiritual blindness of the heart is not a physical problem, but a spiritual one. Many people see the world clearly yet fail to recognize their deep need for God. In Luke 8:30–35 we encounter a man whose life was completely broken. Forces he could not overcome possessed and isolated him. Luke 8: 30 Jesus demanded, “What …
From the story of Jesus healing the demoniac from the Gadarenes, we can see that society can’t fix brokenness. Oh, they had tried. Luke 8:29This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the …
Jesus’s power to restore is the good news of the Gospel. In Luke 8:28–33, we see Jesus confront the forces that had destroyed a man’s life. He demonstrated that His authority brings freedom and restoration. As Jesus arrived in the region of the Gerasenes across the lake from Galilee by boat, a demon-possessed man confronted …
True wholeness begins with faith in Christ, who restores what sin and evil have broken. He is the only one who can take us from bondage to freedom. Jesus encountered a man whose life the demonic had completely shattered. Luke 8:27 As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons …
Who we think Jesus is matters. The disciples were stunned after Jesus calmed a dangerous storm on the Sea of Galilee. Luke 8:25b The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”[1] The group was crossing the Sea …