Theme Text: John 3:8
‘ The Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery, saying such should be stoned. So, Jesus said to them, “He who is without sin, let him first cast the stone”. And again, He stooped down and wrote in the ground’.

Today’s Text: Mark 5:22–42
‘ Then came Jairus seeking Jesus, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death: When Jesus heard it, He answered, Fear not: Only believe. And He took the damsel by the hand, saying, Talitha Cumi, meaning, Daughter, I say unto you Arise’.

Theme Word: ‘Christ In The Crisis’
It was a crisis that propelled a ruler from the Synagogue, Jairus by name, to fall at the feet of Jesus, seeking healing for his daughter. The same crisis created an opportunity for both the ‘woman with an issue’ and a young girl to come into contact with Jesus. Both received God’s touch so great, its testimony is still being used today to heal thousands. Your yesterday’s crisis is somebody’s breakthrough today. The ways of God can be a mystery. We may not fully understand exactly what God is up to or why, but there is one thing we are certain of, God is God. God is who He says He is, and He never fails. Mark 5:22-42 tells us that whilst Jesus was speaking to the ‘woman with the issue’, Jairus’ daughter dies. However, this does not faze Jesus, He turns to Jairus saying, ‘Fear not: only believe. She shall be made whole’. Now, if Jesus says, ‘She shall be made whole’, you can be assured that death may have come but It will pass.

We all have our own story to tell. Each story will portray wounds and scars; this is the inevitable consequences of living in a fallen world. However, we are often tempted to ‘pick’ at our wounds, preventing complete healing, closure, and release. Then there are people around us who seem to take pleasure in exposing past traumas: they refuse to be healed and insist on making sure that you don’t heal either. The worse type are those people found in the theme Text. These teachers of the Law should have been the first to steer her towards repentance and restoration. Instead, they chose public condemnation, retribution, and annihilation. So, when not even one friend or family member dared to offer cover. Jesus had to step in.

Isaiah 63:7-9 sum up this theme well, ‘I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings, His generous bounties, His great goodness, His lavished compassion, His extravagant love. He said, unquestionable, these are My people… So, He became their Saviour. In all their troubles, He was troubled too. He did not send someone else to help them. He did it Himself, in person. Out of His own love and pity, He redeemed them. He rescued them and carried them’. All I’m left to say is, ‘Thank You Jesus’ and ‘Amen’.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
– Father, I thank You. You have never lost a battle, and You cannot fail.
– You have turned all my scars into an Epistle. I will not be put to shame.
– Father, You have taken me from a crouching position. Now I rise.
– I have been messed up, messed down and messed around. You have magnified my mess into a Message.
– Father, You have empowered me to emerge not bitter, but better. Hallelujah.