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Mk 5:21-24 - When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. 22 One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet
23 and implored Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live." 24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him. NASU
I can remember going into meetings and saying, "Hold all my calls I don't want any interruptions."
Jairus is not the only interruption that Jesus will encounter this day. While on the way to Jairus' house Jesus is faced with another interruption. This time it is a woman who is in need of Jesus' healing powers for herself. She thought, "If I just touch His garments, I will get well." She moves in and secretly touches Jesus' clothes and when she does she is immediately healed of her 12 year long illness. This is where the story gets interesting. Jesus stops, turns around and says, "Who touched My garments?" This is not going according to her plan. She wanted to touch Him be healed and slip off into the crowd. Jesus wasn't supposed to stop and turn around and question the crowd of people.
Would you get involved and speak out like this? "Alright, if you touched Him I want you to tell Him, NOW, the longer we stand here the sicker my daughter becomes." Jairus waits patiently while Jesus engages with this lady and commends her for her faith.
The lady was sick for 12 years with her illness yet she never gave up on her faith. Would we continue to pray about something if our prayer had not been answered in 12 years? Would we remain faithful to God if we hadn't received the answer to our prayer sooner than that?
Do you know that anything that doesn't help you accomplish your goals is an interruption in your life? When interruptions entered into Jesus' life He used them to Glorify God. We need to realize interruptions may come into our life and stay for years so that we can glorify God with them. Jairus is going to receive more than he asked for that day. He asked for a healing and what he is about to receive is his 12 year old daughter resurrected from the dead. Many times with God you will receive more than you ask, but you must persevere through to the end. If your life is being altered because of interruptions, be like Jairus and the woman who suffered for 12 years, put your faith in Jesus and wait for Him to answer your prayers. Think About This: Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Luke 10:38-41 - "...He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." NASU
Martha's sister Mary is so enthralled with Jesus and His teachings the text says, "…Mary was seated at the Lord's feet." Mary is laser focused in on what Jesus is teaching while her sister, Martha, is concerned about what to feed everyone. Martha is trying to be a very good host, but when you have the Son of God in your house first things first and by that I mean you sit at the Rabbi's feet and listen to every word He speaks. My question is a simple one. If Jesus were in your home where would you be? Would you be at His feet listening to God speak to your heart, feeding your soul or would you be in the kitchen preparing a meal? In life we have choices that we will have to live with the rest of our lives. Some of our choices are more demanding of our time and resources. When you make your life choices make sure you choose ones that will help you get closer to God. Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and Martha chose to work in the kitchen and prepare a meal for all the disciples.
Lord, don't You care? How many times have we thought the same thing when we are going through some type of struggle in our own lives? We cry out "Lord don't you care that I am suffering, I am all alone, and I am the only one serving you? What thanks do I get for being a Christian?" Would Jesus say the same thing to us that He said to Martha? Verses 41-42 - But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." When we worry about everything that is going on around us we need to take a few minutes sit down and read the Word of God. We need to let God speak to us. We need to hear Jesus' commentary on Mary's choice. For He said "only one thing is necessary" and Mary has chosen the one thing that is necessary. He also says that the good part could not be taken away from her.
Don't allow the distractions of life take you away from your time with Jesus. Think About These: Choice, not chance, determines your destiny. Where we go and what we do advertise what we are. Many Christians expect the world to respect a book they neglect. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word John 1:45-46 - Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
This is what is going to happen to Nathanael. He is told by Phillip that he and some of the other guys have found the Messiah. The One Moses and the Prophets wrote about in their writings. He is invited to come and meet the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael makes this snide remark, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Whoa! What an insult? You see profiling is something that has been done for thousands of years. Nathanael judges Jesus simply because He was from the town of Nazareth. I had a professor who had a favorite saying and it was "Don't confuse me with the facts my mind is already made up." I have met a lot of people like that in the world and the church. Are you open to the truth? No really are you open to the truth? I have been a Christian for 50 years now and I can tell you about some of my conversations with non-believers and they have a lot in common with Nathanael. I remember one conversation I had with a person who knew me before I was a Christian. He couldn't believe I was falling for this Christianity garbage. So I asked him, "Why don't you believe in Christianity? His answer was the Bible is filled with contradictions. So I asked him, "Have you ever read the Bible"? He said, "No." So I asked him, "Well, if you have never read the Bible, how do you know it is full of contradictions?" Nathanael was not going to believe that Jesus was the Messiah simply because Phillip said, we have found the One Moses and the Prophets wrote about.
Phillip saw Jesus as the Messiah. The One Moses and the Prophets wrote about in their writings. Moses writes in Deut 18:15- "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. This prophet that was going to be raised up according Moses was going to be Jesus. Peter quotes this passage of scripture in Acts 3:22 and states Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Isaiah 61:1-2 is a prophecy that Jesus Himself says He is the fulfillment of it in Luke 4:18-21. I pray that you believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and the One who sacrificed Himself on the cross of Calvary so that we could have the forgiveness of our sins. There are a lot of other things we can believe about Jesus but the ones above are essential for us to believe. Jesus is the Christ. He is the LORD and Savior of the world.
I love Phillip's response "Come and See". He doesn't engage in an argument with him. He just very calmly says, "Come and See." There is a great lesson in Evangelism. We don't have to be argumentative. We don't have to force our beliefs about Jesus on any one. Some times a simple "come and see" might be our best answer. Once Nate meets Jesus we have a change of his heart or mind. John 1:48-50 - Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these." In order to become a disciple of Jesus you have to be open to the truth about Jesus as Nathanael did. The great take away from this Pump Up to me is an "honest skeptic" can be changed. They can become believers in Jesus Christ. All we have to do is be willing to tell people to come and see. Think About These: Truth angers those it doesn't fully convince. To hear truth and not accept it doesn't nullify it. The most important person to be honest with is yourself. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Matt. 26:51-52 - And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. NASU
In Gal 5:19-21- Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:… strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions,… envying, drunkenness,… and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Is Jesus telling us to put our sword of "strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, envying, drunkenness," away? Jesus tells us if we don't put our sword away it will be the very thing that kills us.
Look at the person who hasn't properly dealt with bitterness from events that have happened to them in their life. They go around like a time bomb. They're constantly looking for someone to disagree with and unleash an explosion on them. I am sure we probably would all like to relive a few life situations where we lost control. We blew it. We embarrassed ourselves and those around us. If we could only get those hurtful words back in our mouth or as Jesus would say, "Put your sword back in its place". Why does Jesus want us to put our sword back in its sheaf? Jesus tells us "for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword". He doesn't want us to die that way.
He says in Prov. 14:16-17 - A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is arrogant and careless. A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated. A wise man is cautious. He knows evil and turns around and goes the other way. A fool or in other words a man or woman who is not wise runs right into evil and will pay the price for being foolish. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If you will keep your sword in your sheaf you will not be quick to lose your temper. Again, how many times have we regretted losing our tempers? So the next time we want to get angry and lash out at someone let's say to ourselves you know this is probably a good time "to keep my sword in its sheaf". No sense cutting off someone's ear when I am not being led by the spirit of God. Think About These: "Anger" is just one letter short of danger. He who has a sharp tongue soon cuts his own throat. People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Isa 6:8-9 - Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" NASU
Isa 1:2-4: Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, "Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. 3 "An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master's manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand." 4 Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him. Look at all the indictments God lists against the Israelites. They have revolted, act corruptly, abandoned the LORD, despised the Holy One of Israel and have turned away from Him. God names two animals the ox and donkey that has more allegiance to their owner than the Israelites have for God. The ox He says, "knows its owner" and the donkey "knows its master's manger." Isaiah hears God ask, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" and Isaiah answers God with those faithful words "Here am I. Send me!"
First, Noah was told to go from the ark, take his family with him and bring out the animals. Gen. 8:15-18 - Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." 18 So Noah went out,…" Noah's family consisted of 8 people. He was told to Go out of the ark and be fruitful and multiply. As of the writing of this Pump Up the world's population is 8.2 billion people. I would say Noah obeyed God. Second, Jacob was told to Go down to Egypt. Gen. 46:2-4 - God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am." 3 He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. 4 "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes." Jacob went down to Egypt (75 descendants in all Acts 7:14) and when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt their population it is estimated between 2-3 million people. Exodus 12:37 says there was 600,000 foot soldiers not counting women, children and the elderly. Jacob went and God increased their number. Third, God told Moses to Go to Pharaoh and tell him to let God's people "Go". We know Moses did what he was told after some gentle persuasion by God. Fourth, the apostles in the New Testament were told to "Go" and preach by one of God's angels: Acts 5:19-20 - But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, 20 "Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life." Fifth, Philip was told by an angel and the Holy Spirit to "Go". Acts 8:26 - But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza." Acts 8:29 - Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." In both cases Philip did what he was told to do and the Ethiopian eunuch was obedient to the gospel message preached by Philip which led him to be baptized. There are plenty of other people in the Bible where God told them to "Go". Ananias was told to "Go" to the street called Straight and meet one Saul of Tarsus. The Spirit told Peter to "Go" downstairs, meet the men that came looking for him and go with them to Cornelius' house.
God has a plan to help people who have sinned to avoid an eternity in Hell. We are a part of His plan. He wants us to "Go" and make disciples of all nations. God wants all nations to hear about His plan. Matt. 28:19-20 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." So what is our decision? Do we have the attitude of Isaiah? Are we ready to say, "Here am I Lord. Send me!" Think About This: Delayed obedience is the brother of disobedience. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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