FAITH CAPSULE: Do not allow outsiders inside and neither should you inhabit any outsider.
Luke 8: 49-56
Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is our all in all. 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. All things that do not represent you, that are not the things of God, that are outside of your beliefs are outsiders to you and they should all be considered and treated as outsiders. Do not allow outsiders inside and neither should you inhabit any outsider. Let the outsiders be on the outside and by denying outsiders, doubt will die, mockery will be denied and above all, ridicule will not locate you. Jesus, with all the power in Him, in His attempt to bring forth Jairus’ daughter back from death to life, made some moves before He did.
The first thing that Jesus did was to encourage the family not to be afraid but believe with a positive statement saying, “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. The first and second moves were to address the family from the inside because when the inside was settled, then the outside could be dealt with by being put out on the outside. Jesus did not address the outside until He had taken care of the inside. While Jesus was taking care of the inside, the outside was in operation. Luke 8: 53, “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, which would cause the loss of faith. Jesus did not hesitate; He needed to settle the outside since the inside had been addressed. The Bible records in Luke 8:54-55, “…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.” Jesus did not allow the surrounding people or the outsiders to deny 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. This New Year, all that belongs unto you will return to you and your testimony will glorify God.
Prayer for today: Ask God to uphold you in His way so that your faith will not fail.