FAITH CAPSULE: Ridicule is from the outside; it is an agent of discouragement.

Luke 8: 49-56

Jesus came to give life abundantly. He declared, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus was not stating I am coming…He came already to give Himself to whosoever receive and believe Him. He came to make us if we choose to follow Him. He lived an exemplary life for us to see that with Him, in Him and through Him, all things are possible. Jesus is our Advocate, our representative before the Father. Have you accepted Him into your life? If you have accepted Him you have become a believer. As a believer, make sure that all things which do not represent Him, that are outside of your beliefs are outsiders to you and they should all be considered and treated as outsiders. Disallow outsiders inside of you.
Let the outsiders be on the outside so that doubt will die, mockery will be denied and above all, ridicule will not have a place inside of you. Jesus, despite the power in Him, when it was time to bring forth Jairus’ daughter back from death to life He disallowed outsiders. The first thing Jesus did was to encourage the family not to be afraid but believe by saying to them, “it is well.” Secondly, He told them that their daughter had only went to sleep and not unto death so that they should stop weeping. While Jesus was taking care of the inside (the family of Jairus), the outside was in operation. Luke 8: 53 described the outsides operation, “And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.”  The outsiders ridiculed Jesus thinking it would be impossible for Him to raise Jairus’ daughter back to life. Ridicule is from the outside; it is an agent of discouragement. As an agent of discouragement, ridicule will bring forth discouragement to stop exercising faith from having its place.
After having addressed the family with encouraging words, Jesus did not hesitate; He settled the outside when, “…He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Little girl, arise,’ Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat.” (Luke 8:54-55) Jesus disallowed the surrounding people (the outsiders) from denying the miracle for Jairus’ daughter. Just as Jesus put all agents of mockery and ridicule out in the case of Jairus’ daughter, so He will do on your behalf.

Prayer for today: Ask God to uphold you in His way so that your own faith will not fail.