Just Believe

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

JUST BELIEVE

Luke 8:49-56

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," he said. "Don't bother the teacher any more." 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."  51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep."  53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!"  55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

NIV

If we leave out all the narrative except the words of Jesus we have all the truth we will ever need. Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed, stop wailing, she is not dead but asleep. My child, get up!” Words that can apply to our own lives. What victory does death hold over us? None, for we too will hear those words spoken directly to us, you are not dead my child, you are only asleep, get up! We need not be afraid, we only need to just believe and we will be healed. There is no need to wail, to mourn about death, to even concern ourselves with it, as we will receive the ultimate healing, eternal life. Why then do we cling so strongly to this natural life? Although we know the truth of eternal life, it still is somewhat of an unknown entity. No one that we know has actually experienced eternal life and returned to verify its existence. True, some say they have died and gone to heaven and come back to write books about it. But then we have also seen some of these are nothing but a hoax. Who can we believe about heaven and eternal life? Certainly no person, but definitely Jesus. He did not tell us to just believe in some story from another man, but he told us to believe in him. So why do so many believe in a story of a person rather than just accept what Jesus said? Why are some so inclined to believe what another person said about heaven and eternal life? Somehow we want proof of it being real. We want to know heaven is for real, but we cannot, it is not for us to know, but to believe the words of Jesus. “Don’t be afraid; just believe”.  We do notice that after Jesus raised her from the dead, he told them to feed her. There is no doubt about the providence of God, and the provision of God. He cares for us and provides us with our source of life, but we also need to labor for our wages, and eat to sustain our life. Jesus may have given her natural life back to her, but she needed to eat to sustain it. There is a partnership in a sense between God and us, a covenant, an agreement. Of course all the terms are his, and we need to agree. Why the parents were told not to tell anyone what he did, can only be explained in that Jesus did not want the crowd to know that much about him at this time. His time had not come, and he needed to keep this act of mercy, this miracle under wraps. But then of course we now know about it. But the greatest truth here is in those words of Jesus. “Just believe”.

Real Faith

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

REAL FAITH

Luke 8:40-48

40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 "Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you." 46 But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."  47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." 

NIV

First of all we have to notice Jesus was more than accommodating to Jairus, even though he was a ruler of the synagogue. There must have been some reason we were told the position of Jairus, but the point here is that he fell at the feet of Jesus concerning his only daughter. Perhaps the reason Jesus responded to him, was because he came about his only daughter. In those days women were not as important as men, women would not carry on the family name, as a son would. Women only had identity in their association with men, a daughter, a wife, a mother. But this man fell at the feet of Jesus pleading for him to come to heal his only daughter, a moving display of love. This in itself could be our life lesson, in that we should be falling at the feet of Jesus for our sick family members. If we do, believing he can heal even those who are dying, he will come with us. Certainly Jairus had that kind of faith. But we also have in this same narrative within a crowd pushing around Jesus this woman who thought if she could just touch the helm of his garment, she would be healed from this physical trouble she had not been able to be cured from which she had for years. When she touched him, healing power went out from him, and he knew it, after all he is God in the flesh. But he was being touched by many people, yet this one touch released power from him. We know, as he told her, it was her faith that caused this power to flow from him. Are we to believe Jesus, being God in the flesh, did not know it was she who touch him? Most likely Jesus knew who it was, but wanted her to witness to everyone about her healing, he wanted the crowd to see faith in action, perhaps even Jairus would be encouraged about the fate of his daughter hearing this woman confess her experience and healing. But we are left with no doubt here about faith. First with the faith of Jairus and then with the faith of this woman. Although God has the power to move mountains, in fact the ones he created in the first place, there seems to be a thread that runs throughout the scriptures, a thread of faith. We come to Jesus for salvation, believing we will be saved and get to go to heaven, but do we continue to come to him, falling at his feet, touching the helm of his garment, so to speak, for all the rest of the areas of our life? Faith is required. If we have faith, Jesus will. Will Jesus still move on our behalf if we do not have the kind of faith we have seen in Jairus and this woman? Maybe not. He continues to teach us about having faith. We need faith, real faith, gut wrenching, unwavering, and falling at his feet kind of faith. Is there a kind of fake faith? There might be sort of a fake faith, in our prayers, we ask, but we are not sure he will answer, or that if he does, he will say not yet, or maybe, or even no. There might be times we pray just because we think we should pray, but it is more a prayer out of obligation, then a prayer of real faith. We hear prayers from others, who choose to make their prayer a teaching moment for others, or at least to show others how well they can pray, but are those real prayers of faith? We need real faith when we pray and that is all we need. Real faith. 

Return Home and Tell

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

RETURN HOME AND TELL

Luke 8:34-39

34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

NIV

Here we have the man who had been possessed by a legion of demons being cured by Jesus, and for whatever reason all the town’s people were overcome with fear. Would they have rather this man be out of his mind, naked living in the tombs? Why would they have asked Jesus to leave them? Did they think it was some supernatural trick or were they just afraid to be in the presence of God because they were sinners themselves? All we know for sure is they were filled with fear because Jesus healed this man. We also do not know why Jesus didn’t take this opportunity for a teaching moment, to share the good news about the kingdom of God, but what we know is that he did leave them. He got into his boat and sailed off into the sunset. But the rest of this story is our life lesson. This healed man wanted to go with Jesus, to join the group of travelers, the band of brothers so to speak, but Jesus refused him. Jesus told him instead of becoming one of the group, go back home and tell all the people just how much God has done for you. This man did exactly that, he returned home and told everyone what Jesus had done for him. Here it is. When God does something wonderful in our lives, and he has done just that for each and every one of us who believe, what do we do? We might tell a few people, but then we join the group, the band of brothers, the fellowship, the church and hang out there the rest of our natural born lives. It seems we would rather be with the group then returning home to tell how much God has done for us. This returning home is not to a particular place, but a state of mind. What did we think before we accepted Jesus? We need to return to those who think likewise as we did and tell them what God has done for us. This is not preaching the four spiritual laws to them, but simply being a witness to what God has done for us. Yes, it is a good thing to gather together with other believers to worship God. But let us not simply hang out with other believers, but let us return home, to the place we once lived, in the darkness of sin, and tell everyone what God has done in our lives. How he cast all our demons into the pigs, so to speak, and healed us from living in a tomb, for that is where they are now living. We have been raised from the tomb, from having a dead spirit, and have been born again, alive in Christ. Let us return home and tell everyone what God has done for us. 

Drowned

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

DROWNED

Luke 8:26-33

26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,

which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" 29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. 30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

NIV

It seems clear we are once again seeing the power of Jesus over all things, especially over evil spirits. We just saw him command the wind and the waves, the physical and the now we are seeing him command demons, the spiritual. Why we are told that he spoke with them, asking their name, is a little strange other than for the purpose of letting us know this man was possessed by many demons. Are we to believe that the spiritual demons which possessed this man actually died with the pigs as they drown? If the spirit world is the spirit world including the demons, there would be no death for them until the last judgment when Satan, the beast, the false prophet and all those who have the mark of the beast, which certainly would include all the demons are thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. So if these demons did not die, then what is the life lesson for us? Could these many demons represent our many sins before we met Jesus? Could it also carry a meaning that even with the many sins within us, there is that awareness of who Jesus actually is? Could we secretly not want to be tortured by Jesus for our sin, but rather would just want him to cast them away, which in fact he does do. Jesus casts our sin, in fact, he takes our sin, and actually he already took our sin to the cross. But could this narrative sort of give us that picture of his authority over the sin in our life? The temptations, the sins that vex us so, that causes us to do crazy things, to act undignified, breaking the chains of restraint, being out of control could very well be seen as the demons of our life. Jesus has the authority over those demon, and he has, if we are willing, the authority over the demons in our life. We just need to ask him to command them to go elsewhere, and he will do it. Perhaps the point of his asking their name could imply we need to know the name of our demons, that is we should not ignore some, or try to rename or justify any sin, but to be open and frank with Jesus, giving him all their names, admitting the name of every demon, every sin. All of them, the legion left the man and went into the pigs and so it is with our sins, no matter the number or the severity of them. They are in fact drown, but not in the sea, but rather in the blood of Jesus. Our sin has been drowned. 

"Where is your faith?"

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

“WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?”

Luke 8:22-25

22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

NIV

Although this is a great story about how Jesus even commands the wind and the raging waters, it is not a teaching moment about the power of Jesus. We know he has the power, as he created all things that were created. We know he is the Son of God, and that he is in fact God in the flesh and therefore has the power over all things. So then the life lesson for us today is in the question Jesus asked his disciples and us, “Where is your faith?” We can be certain of one thing in this life and that is we will at some point, if not numerous times, experience a storm. This is not a storm of weather, but a storm of life, a difficult situation in which it seems as though we would drown. There are times when life simply delivers a harsh blow and we have the choice to respond in several manners. We could be filled with fear, as those disciples were, thinking they were in danger of drowning, but if we do that, we can also be sure Jesus will be asking us, “Where is your faith?” We could also simply allow this storm in our life to continue and try as best as we could to row through it on our own, but we must know that we cannot overcome the storm alone, we need Jesus. We need to know he has the power and he is willing to not only travel through it with us, but he will make sure we do not drown. But we should not wait for his question, we should already have that faith. Having faith when the sea is calm and life is as a bed of roses, everything is going so well and we have everything, no troubles. But what happens to us when trouble finds us? Do we question if God still is with us? Do we get all upset and fearful thinking we are going down for the count? Do we start looking for a way to sail out of the storm on our own, or do we look to Jesus and simply know he will take care of us? The one question we do not really want to hear is, “Where is your faith?” He should already know our faith is in him, always has been from the moment we accepted him as our Lord and Savior and always will be even after we step into eternity. Our faith is in Jesus. 

Family

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

FAMILY

Luke 8:19-21

19 Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you." 21 He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." 

NIV

There has been much made of this event by a lot of different opinionated scholars, which is supposed because of their various denominational affiliations. There is thought based on another gospel account his mother and brothers were concerned about the state of his mind and that is the reason for their appearance at this time. There is much discussion about whether this was actually his genetic brothers in the sense that Joseph and Mary had children of their own, making Mary no longer a virgin, which of course would only make sense. But the truth we are supposed to learn has nothing to do with his mother and brothers, but in his response to being told they were there. Again some would say he showed disdain for his mother and brothers, but the tone of his voice was not recorded. Was Jesus putting his family down, or casting them aside? No,not at all, his love for all is the same, yet even being fully God, he was also fully man, who had been loved and cared for those years before this time. This was his loving and caring family he grew up in, and it is inconceivable he would say anything harmful toward them. This sort of attitude toward family would not be a life lesson for us, yet in some sense it is. Jesus was merely demonstrating that he needs to be the first in our lives. Yes we all have families who we love dearly, he never meant for us to abandon our families. But we are to love him with all our being, putting our faith in him and our love for him before all else. That is to say if some members of our family were to try to take charge of us, thinking we have lost our minds, that we are being taking in by this foolishness about Jesus, then we would have to tell them we love them, but we love Jesus more and we are going to follow him, not them. If we have family that does not acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, as it appears some of his family had not yet, then we cannot follow them, but follow Jesus. Putting his words into practice, not works, but the practice here in order to be members of his family is acknowledgment that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of our soul. Putting into practice means in order to be a member of his family we must be born again. There is no work, no deed, and no human effort that can make us his mother and brothers, but only our acceptance of his work, his sacrifice for us. If we accept Jesus into our lives, we are his family. We are the family of God. 

Be Real

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

BE REAL

Luke 8:16-18

16 "No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him." 

NIV

Several truths here that could be taken on their own merit, and perhaps have been, yet this is the follow up statements of the four kinds of soil parable and its explanation to the disciples of Jesus. So he tells them if they are the good soil and produce a great crop, that is they allow the word of God to grow in their hearts and become the men God desires them to be, they should not hide that change in them. They cannot keep their knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom to themselves. They must stand tall and let everyone around them see the light of truth in their lives.  If we keep our salvation, our secrets of the kingdom of God completely to ourselves of what value is that? If we hide our knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom would we be in danger of even losing that knowledge? It appears that is want in fact Jesus is saying. If we only think we have the secrets but hide them away, not sharing them with anyone else, not showing the world the light, the enlightenment within us, either the devil, or the cares and desires of this world will steal or choke out this knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom we think we have. But if we allow this truth to make a real, not just a perceived change in our lives, then we not only will produce a great crop, but we will actually be given more knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom. The brighter we shine, the more we grow in Christ, the more we share the truths with others, the more they see the actual change in our lives, the more we grow and the more we learn about the secrets of the kingdom. So what is our response to having been given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom? First be that good soil and allow the word planted within us to grow in full view of everyone around us, then allow them to enjoy the crop, the fruit which the word has produced in our life, sharing with them all that we have knowledge of. Be real, not just appear real.