Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #205. Faith Over Fear: Jesus’ Miracles Teach Us As Christian Moms to Trust a God Who Has Power Over Physical AND Spiritual Death | Mark 4-5 + Matthew 10

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#205. Faith Over Fear: Jesus’ Miracles Teach Us As Christian Moms to Trust a God Who Has Power Over Physical AND Spiritual Death | Mark 4-5 + Matthew 10 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  I'm Stephanie Hickox, today we'll continue to marvel over the miracles that Jesus performed in the Gospels, particularly focusing on two stories of healing that elevate the importance of our faith We'll also look at the reality that before the
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  miracle, often our faith looks like foolishness.
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  But Hebrews tells us it's impossible to please God without faith You know, I can't think of a single moment in scripture when God told someone that their prayer request or their hope was too big for Him we don't
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  have any record of him saying, Chill out, buddy.
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  That's a pretty big ask."
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  Instead, Jesus told people that their faith had made them well But we can't ignore that to have a big ask, we have to have a big problem And thankfully, we serve a God with unending power Both stories we'll
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  look at today involve people who were in situations that you and I would probably never want to happen to our families.
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  And this reminds us that in all circumstances, God can be glorified Because Matthew, Mark, and Luke are synoptic gospels, they include many similar healings.
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  Instead of studying several of these miracles three times, I'm selecting just a few circumstances or narratives to focus on for our time and today I've chosen the healing of Jairus' daughter and the healing, of the woman with the
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  issue of blood.
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  For obvious reasons, This may be an episode you wouldn't want all ages of children to listen to Hopefully studying stories like this in scripture remind us that when we find ourselves in difficulties we can walk in faith and
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  be confident that we might be exactly where the Lord wants us at that moment Let's begin our reading in Mark chapter 5, beginning in verse 21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
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  a great crowd gathered about Him, and He was beside the sea.
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  Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name.
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  And seeing Him, he fell at His feet, and implored Him earnestly saying, My little daughter is at the point of death.
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  Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.'
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  And He went with him."
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  And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
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  And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years And she had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse.
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  She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his garment.
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  For she said, If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.
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  And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
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  And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, Who touched my garments?"
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  And the disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'"
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  And he looked around to see who had done it.
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  But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
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  And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well.
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  Go in peace and be healed of your disease."
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  While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, Your daughter is dead.
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  Why trouble the teacher any further?"
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  But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not fear, only believe.
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  And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James.
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  They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
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  And when he had entered, he said to them, Why are you making a commotion and weeping?
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  The child is not dead, but sleeping."
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  And they laughed at him.
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  But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in Where the child was, taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha cumi," which means, Little
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  girl, I say to you, arise."
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  And immediately the little girl got up and began walking, for she was twelve years of age, and they were immediately overcome with amazement.
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  And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat Let's begin with the woman that had been bleeding for 12 years.
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  You may have noticed that that's precisely how old the little girl in our story is This woman has given all that she has to have doctors heal her Instead of experiencing any improvement All of their attempts made her
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  worse I can relate to this a little bit.
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  Before we knew that my husband had MS, we had gone to many natural doctors and tried supplement upon supplement parasite cleanses and vitamins and different diet protocols just to get to the root of the symptoms he was experiencing.
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  In hindsight We think that his brain damage was actually allowed to get worse Because we didn't know that he needed much stronger medication to stop his immune system from attacking itself.
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  I'm not saying that's the case with everyone, but I remember when he was diagnosed, just repenting and feeling discouraged about all of the money that we had spent to try to make him better but there's an element to
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  this woman's story that I can't relate to at all When a woman in the Old Testament was bleeding, she was considered unclean and wasn't allowed to touch others.
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  Think about the social impact of her infirmity MacArthur writes, "This woman's affliction not only was serious physically, but also left her permanently unclean for ceremonial reasons.
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  This meant she would have been shunned by everyone, including her own family, and excluded from both synagogue and temple."
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  She's affected on every level physically, relationally, spiritually, certainly emotionally and just thinking about the process of doing her laundry is enough to make you tired, isn't it?
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  When scripture records that she had faith if she touched the fringe of Jesus' garments it's quite possibly referring to the tassels that God commanded Moses to create in Numbers 15 The Lord said to Moses, Speak to the people
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  of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.
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  And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.
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  So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God."
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  This tassel was a reminder of God's presence and His laws and she had faith that God would heal her if she could touch one I don't like to brag, but I do love biblical humor.
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  I think one of the wittiest jokes I ever told was once I was at a wedding, and my friends and I were sitting at a table, and someone who knew the bride really well came over to us and
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  said, Pray for the bride.
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  She just got her cycle."
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  And I said, Quick, somebody get a tassel from Jesus's cloak."
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  Of course, I was just being silly and referring to this story.
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  But I don't think I need to explain to you how inconvenient bleeding is, Even dealing with it one week a month can be pretty frustrating.
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  But this woman was dealing with it for 12 years straight.
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  To put it in perspective, think back to your life 12 years ago That's a long time Instead of her touch making Jesus unclean, the reverse happens.
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  Jesus makes her completely clean.
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  She's healed immediately, and I think only a woman can understand what that would feel like the flow ceased immediately She's understandably terrified when Jesus calls her out in front of the crowd.
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  But instead of shaming her, He honors and elevates her faith.
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  this is the only person that Jesus ever calls daughter and when he declares that her faith has made her well It could also be translated, "Your faith has made you whole."
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  And it's the same Greek word that we often use for salvation or being saved it seems as though Jesus is saying she's restored physically and spiritually because she understands who Jesus is After all this woman's suffering, I love
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  that she's being elevated for eternity through God's word But we can't deny that God allowed her to have this affliction to start off with.
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  It doesn't seem to be the result of anything that she did, but it was an opportunity for God to be glorified and to show His power through her Simultaneously, Jairus was probably having an internal battle thinking, Okay, Jesus
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  can heal her.
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  that means he can probably heal my daughter."
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  And yet he's probably battling such urgency to get Jesus to his daughter before she dies it seems Jairus probably saw when Jesus healed the demon-possessed man in the synagogue earlier in the Gospels.
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  He has great faith and he believes God.
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  When Jesus walks through the door and says, "Don't fear, she's only sleeping," The word translated laughed Is ridiculed in some translations and literally could be laughed him to scorn or were laughing in his face This isn't a little
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  snicker.
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  It's like they're in hysterical laughter over this Every commentary I read and every pastor I've ever heard speak about this says that Jesus was speaking about death in spiritual terms, that it's a metaphor.
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  He knew it was a temporary situation because he knew he would wake her.
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  But I wonder if there was another reason.
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  At the end of the story, he strictly tells them to not tell what happened And I wonder if when he came in and said, Don't worry, she's only sleeping" If it was so that there was a limitation, so
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  that this testimony didn't spread as much I'm not sure, but it makes sense to me.
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  And when Jesus tenderly raises this little girl He remembers her physical needs as he so consistently does, and he asks them to get her something to eat This is the first time in Mark's gospel That Jesus specifically pulls
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  out Peter, James, and John to witness something we don't know why they were part of his inner circle, But it's true that they were often given special privileges and perhaps training at his side As I think about these
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  stories, I wonder why I'm ever afraid for my kids' health or for my health I think the reality is that I've had friends who have lost their children to cancer or tragic accidents.
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  I've lost family members without being able to say goodbye I've experienced more sickness in my own family and even in my life than I wish were real but just as this little girl's death was temporary And Jesus spoke
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  to the metaphor of sleep.
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  You and I can be reminded That our time on this earth is temporary.
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  We can live in light of eternity.
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  We can serve a God who tenderly heals.
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  A God who sees through to the faith of a woman that others had cast off And who cares, about parents that love their child so dearly?
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  This is a Savior I'm honored to serve, And even when He allows trials, we can be confident and his ability to turn all things for good Heavenly Father, I pray for protection for ourselves for our spouses, for our
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  children But more so I pray for peace, that you would free us from anxiety, and that we would be mothers that care more about our children's spiritual state than their physical wellness.
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  We know that you are a God that cares about our bodies But we ask for you to help us be diligent to our spiritual responsibilities, especially when the feeding and caring for our families is urgent and constant.
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  Lord, help us to be wise with our finances To not be wasteful or foolish as we seek out solutions I pray that we would have deep faith in your power and come to you first Before we try the
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  next Health craze or fad?
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  I also pray for healing, particularly for moms that are struggling with migraines hormonal issues struggling to sleep And those battling cancer.
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  And I lift up the children of these sweet moms, whether it's breathing issues digestive struggles skin concerns or serious food allergies We pray for you to move mightily in each situation Ultimately, we praise you, Jesus, that you are
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  the Savior that has made us whole it's in your name we pray.
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  Amen