As our church goes through revival services, I’ve fallen a day behind again. Please be patient with me. Please pray with and for Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi. If you live in the Corpus Christi area, please come and see how God is moving! Dinner tonight, at 6:00, is Tacos! Come as you are, be fed physically and spiritually.

Numbers 12-14 Mark 5:21-43

“A leader of the synagogue, named Jairus, came there, saw Jesus, and fell at his feet. He begged Jesus, saying again and again, ‘My daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so she will be healed and will live.’ So Jesus went with him.” (Mark 5:22-24 NCV)

Jesus was a polarizing figure to the Jewish community. The leadership hated Him. The people loved Him. The average Jews, called “sinners” by the Pharisees because they didn’t adhere to their understanding of God’s word, followed Him everywhere. They sought Him out for healing. The leaders sought to bar people from entering the synagogue if they followed Him. Unless they needed Him. Jairus needed Jesus. He was desperate because his daughter was dying. He was so desperate that he left his dying daughter’s side and humbled to ask this renegade teacher to heal her. On the way back to his house, they got the message that she’d died. Still Jesus gave Jairus hope. The professional mourners were gathered around the house and Jesus ran them off. He had other plans for this young girl. He brought her back from the dead.

Jesus dismissed the mourners by noting that the girl was sleeping, but there was no doubt in the family that she was dead. Then, Jesus brought her back to life. He turned the funeral into a celebration. He warned the family not to say anything about it. He told people to talk about their deliverance from sins, to broadcast everywhere how God had changed their lives. When it came to miracles, however, He tried to convince people to keep it quiet. I have no doubt that people would see how Jairus’s life had changed. The synagogue he was a leader in would accept people who followed Jesus. They would live from that day on as forgiven children of God. When people meet Jesus, their lives are changed, and they make a difference in the world around them. Just as Jairus, who experienced an amazing miracle, lived a changed life, we who were dead in our sins and have been made alive in Christ need to show the world the difference Jesus makes. Tell others how God has loved you. Show others the love of God each day.

Lord, you’ve made an amazing difference in my life. Thank You for bringing me forgiveness. Let my life show others the change You will make in their lives through Your forgiveness and grace.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.