Jesus is more than enough

If you have just enough faith to get to Him, you'll find that Jesus is more than enough -- Risky Faith --

Risks … the possibility that something bad or unpleasant (such as an injury or a loss) will happen.  I think at one point in each of our lives we all take a risk or two along the way.  I can think back on some of the risks, some I can’t talk about freely but others are right there … risk of rejection upon proposal of marriage, risk of the unknown when taking on foster children, coming out of the military, etc.

What about you; you know when you’ve done something or you are getting ready to do something risky.  

Risk; Do you sit back and “be safe” or do you just go for it?  In some aspects there’s even risk in trusting God. Letting go, surrendering all to follow and entrust everything to an invisible God.  Taking risks causes us to be vulnerable and uncomfortable; if it were so easy, everyone would be following Christ.  But when we take that risk and we allow ourselves to be vulnerable we find the reward in following Him.  I can’t promise you that every risk taken in God will feel good, because there’s going to be times where we don’t quite understand why this or that happens, but what I can guarantee is that He will always be there when we need Him and that if we stay by His side every step of the way; what happens at the end, will be worth it all. It’s when we get to Him that we have revealed to us that strong, perfect peace deposited within each of us by the Father.  It is a peace wrapped in faith. We discover things not only about ourselves but more so about the God we serve and that He's more than willing to free us from what holds us down, because when you have just enough faith to get to Him you’ll find that Jesus is more than enough.

So let's jump into the text and find out what taking a risk can produce, so please turn to Mark 5

GOD: ^{Mark 5: 25} And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

Jesus is on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter.  There’s something quite significant in this account because it is written about in three of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. So let’s find out who this woman is. We don’t have a significant contribution to tell us how old she is but from the text we can gather that she is old enough to be a wife but she’s not elderly either. So you could probably say she’s an average woman.  She could represent any of us.  While we are all special in the eyes of God when you look at each of us walking this earth, there isn’t much that separates us from each other.  We do know though that she has this thing going on with her blood for 12 years and she has been looking for a cure in all the wrong places.  She probably has lived half her life with this issue, but it doesn't matter.  Even in doing what she's doing she's risking ridicule and shame because she's a woman in this Jewish society with a blood problem.  Because of her condition, this woman was continuously unclean. She could not go to the temple to worship. She could not touch anyone or they would be unclean for the rest of the day. If she sat in a chair, it was unclean for the rest of the day, etc. So she was basically cut off from normal fellowship with others and with God; but she doesn't care Jesus is in the neighborhood and she's going to get hers.  Wouldn't you? While doctors and medical care are good and right, sometimes we’ve got to stop seeking man’s answers to our circumstances and allow God to move in our lives. Because when you have just enough faith to get to Him you’ll find that Jesus is more than enough  …

So how do we know that He’s more than enough, well let’s keep going through the text and see.

²⁷ She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well."

So this woman has had enough of ridicule and disowning; she’s at a breaking point in her life.  Yet in the back of her mind she has this hope and her hope is kindled ever the more each time she hears about Jesus.  Something about that Name that stirs up hope for the hopeless.  Sometimes God allows us to get to the very end of ourselves so that we can begin to see Him.  And this is exactly where this woman is.  She’s done all she knows to do, she’s spent all of her money and has nothing left, but she has just enough hope because she has heard about Jesus.  Glory, I’m so glad that one day when I was spent, when I was at the end of me, when I didn’t think I could go on; someone told me about Jesus.  Someone told this woman about Jesus in fact I’d almost like to think that somehow she was around when Jesus had returned from freeing the demoniac; you know that she was around when she heard the leader of the synagogue for the healing of his daughter; being from this region you know she’s heard how Jesus healed a paralytic, a man with a shriveled hand, large crowds of disease, freed folks from demons, raise a centurion’s servant and even raising a widow’s son from the dead.  She’d probably heard about how others may have been healed by simply touching Jesus. In fact she probably has been going over the phrase "if I touch; I will be" over and over again. In fact she had enough faith to be the one doing the touching; she didn’t even need His touch … It had to be the driving force that pushed her out into the streets. She was an outcast, probably divorced because of the issue of blood; she had all the other baggage that went with it, but she didn’t care … I think in order to be healed you’ve got to be ok with revealing your weakness and be vulnerable. She was breaking all the social taboos, she even interrupted Jesus as He was on His way to heal the daughter of a very influential man. But that’s the other thing about Jesus.  He is no respecter of persons; no matter how you feel, just get to Jesus; no matter what is wrong with you, just get to Jesus; no matter what you are dealing with, just get to Jesus .... if we can find that we have just enough faith to get to Him, we’ll find that Jesus is more than enough.

And that’s exactly what this woman did … she touched Him

 ²⁹And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" ³¹ And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?' "

Are you serious? I can just imagine the disciples at this point.  Throng of people; whole lotta folks around Him. So, she gets to where He is and somehow touches the hem and immediately He knows it.  Why, because the essence of who He is has been affected by the faith of someone in the midst of huge adversity and when it happens Jesus wants to know who it is.  The disciples are struggling to figure out what Jesus means because of all the commotion and folks around.  When you walk in the Spirit you will know things and that’s what Jesus is doing here.  He knew in His spirit both her need and her touch.  It wasn’t just anyone who touched Jesus that received healing. I mean if you were anywhere close to Jesus on this day you couldn’t help but touch Him. But if you have just enough faith to get to Him you’ll find that Jesus is more than enough  …

³² And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³ 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. ³⁴ And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

How many of us know that when Jesus asks a question, He doesn’t need an answer from us.  He already knows the answer, but He asks so that there can be some ownership, so there can be confirmation in verbalization and perhaps in a moment of Red Sea proportions the throngs of people probably not wanting anything to happen to them, separate and perhaps point the finger.  See even those who don't understand Jesus for who He is, don't even understand what He can do for them. Those that were unintentionally touching Him weren’t being healed, but this woman who purposed in her heart to get to the Man of God and touch Him for the specific reason of healing caused the stir.  So here goes Jesus going against everything customary to the Jewish culture and not only that but taking time away from getting to Jarius' daughter to heal her.  So as she has already been healed by her faith Jesus does something ever so quickly because the enemy loves to steal the blessings that we don't grasp firmly too, so Jesus confirms the healing and reminds the woman that it was her faith in not only what He could do but who He was.  Superstition said that power was in the robe of a great man, priest, rabbi, etc. Her belief was that touching the fabric would make her well. In fact, when she did touch His garment, she was healed. Because when you have just enough faith to get to Him you’ll find that Jesus is more than enough  …

What is that thing that has been plaguing you for so long that you just wish it would go away.  Something you may not like but you’ve grown comfortable with but you keep saying to yourself that you still want to get close to God.  In order to touch His garment you’ve got to get close.  You’ve got to press in, you’ve got to bump up against some things in your life that will try to keep you back, hold you down … remind you of who you are but whatever it takes just get to Jesus.

We’ve got to get to Jesus. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, we’ve just got to get to Jesus.  If we can just get close enough we can be made whole.  If we have just enough faith to get to Him we will find that Jesus is more than enough.

Quite some time ....

Well just the other day I was over at some dear friends home and their youngest son made mention of finding this blog.  I chuckled and thought WOW, I haven't posted anything in quite some time and that I needed to get back on the site.  So here I am.

Thanks Riley ... Another thing that hadn't quite noticed was that my daughter Yvonne had been peeping this blog, so she too has been an encouragement to me about blogging again (as well as Lysa and Deborah) ... thanks ladies.

Just as the blog is entitled it has never rang more true.  God is truly up to something and I haven't take the opportunity to share ... in the next few posts to appear on this will be some of what He's given me that I've shared with other but I need to post them on this site ... He led me to do this sometime ago, and I'm sorry that I've dropped the ball and have been OBE ... I will purpose to stay updated on this so keep your prayers flowing this way.

Buckle up and hold on ... there's more to come.

Domestic Violence????

With the world in an uproar over the Ray Rice debacle, I'd thought I'd take a moment to express a thought or two.  Don't get me wrong, what Ray Rice did doesn't belong in the NFL, in the world in general.  There is no room for this kind of thing today, yesterday or even tomorrow.  Here's where I'm trying to figure some things out ... folks are in an uproar over what happened. They are saying that Ray Rice deserves everything he's got coming to him.

But wait a minute; isn't his wife entitled to how she should be treated? Shouldn't be allowed to do what she will with her body? Shouldn't she be allowed to make a choice? I wonder how many of those folks clamoring for Ray Rice's head don't have a problem when the domestic violence is committed every day in abortion clinics?

At least the young lady is alive (this time) but at least she's alive. Meanwhile millions of babies are killed senselessly every day and not a peep from TMZ or any other media outlet about this outrage.

How twisted a society we have become? On one hand we say it is a woman's right to choose to kill a baby on the other hand it isn't her choice to be knocked out by someone who "loves" her without said person losing his job?

Oh come quickly Lord Jesus.

Adversity can perfect our faith

June 2004; I was given the privilege to be the narrator during the 60^th Anniversary of the D-Day event at Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France. While there I had received word that my father who was about 70 at the time was working at the church, had fallen and was in a coma with brain swelling and things were not looking good for him to survive. I ask my mom if she wanted me to come home. Well she said to wait and see how things were going to transpire. Well I did the only thing I knew to do; hit the beach. So on the sands of Normandy beach I’m CRYING out to God. It wasn’t some mamby pamby little prayer; I wasn’t ready to lose my dad. Sure he was in his 70s and I’ve got a family of my own, but I just wasn’t ready to let my dad go and I’m crying out to God as loud as I could as if it would make a difference to Him or not whether He heard me because of the volume of my voice.

What about you, have you ever faced a crisis in your life that you didn’t care who saw or who heard. The only thing in your thought pattern was that you needed God to move yesterday and if He didn’t move it was going to be all over with so you had to get to Him, you needed Him to know; to understand your plight and when you did get to Him it didn’t matter what it looked like all you know is that you needed.

Often times it is in the middle of our adversity when we have revealed to us that strong, perfect peace deposited within each of us by the Father. It is a peace surrounded by faith. We discover things not only about ourselves but more so about the God we serve and that He’s more than willing to raise those dead things, those things that have fallen asleep in our lives to bring glory to His Name. Because sometimes …

It is in adversity where we perfect our faith.

So let's jump into the text if you'd join me and let's turn to Mark 5

^{Mark 5:22} Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³ and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴ And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.^[1]

Jairus is the leader of the local synagogue, perhaps even the one in Capernaum. We don’t have any indication of how he felt about Jesus but if he was like any of the other leaders in the church of that day most of them didn’t take to kindly to Jesus. But now that his daughter is dying and he is desperate, He comes to Jesus. I wonder if it was difficult for him to kneel before Jesus? We can only speculate, but I don’t even know if he really knew that Jesus was the Messiah—but what He did know is that He could heal people and might be able to heal his daughter. ^[2]Jarius isn’t just a some random guy, he’s got some clout in the synagogue. Sometimes, ok religion isn’t enough y’all. We can dress it up and put perfume on it but if isn’t breathing it isn’t living and far too often many have relied on religion to get them through various types of trials and have discovered that the only answer to a true trial is the manifest presence of Jesus. Have you ever been there? Ever have too much month at the end of your money and you needed a miracle? Ever faced sickness or known someone facing sickness to the point of death that if Jesus didn’t do something nothing was going to get done? It’s in these moments where we’ve got to buckle up, hold on, trust and believe because

It is in adversity where we perfect our faith.

²⁵ And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and who had

suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather

grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and

touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹And

immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

³⁰ And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in

the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the

crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³² And he looked around to see

who had done it. ³³ 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. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith

has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” ^[3]

 

I’m only going to stay here for a quick moment because there’s more to this portion of the passage than meets the eye, so you’re going to have come back to get, in the words of the once great radio announcer Paul Harvey; the “rest of the story.”

Throng of people; whole lotta folks …pushing and pressing in on Jesus most of them unintentionally but we have presented to us a woman with an issue of blood that for 12 years has been looking for a cure in all the wrong places. She’s heard stories of this great Man who heals and has been dreaming of the day when it will be her turn. So today is the day; she’s been rejected time and time again; for the age that most women lived too, she probably has lived half her life with this issue, but it doesn’t matter. Even in doing what she’s doing she’s risking ridicule and shame because she’s a woman in this Jewish society with a blood problem. Because of her condition, this woman was continuously unclean according to Lev 15:25-31. She could not go to the temple to worship. She could not touch anyone or they would be unclean for the rest of the day. If she sat in a chair, it was unclean for the rest of the day, etc. So she was basically cut off from normal fellowship with others and with God; but she doesn’t care Jesus is in the neighborhood and she’s going to get hers. Wouldn’t you? So she gets to where He is and somehow touches the hem and immediately He knows it. Why because the essence of who He is has been affected by the faith of someone in the midst of huge adversity and when it happens Jesus wants to know who it is. The disciples are struggling to figure out what Jesus means because of all the commotion and folks around. But perhaps in a moment of Red Sea proportions the throngs of people probably not wanting anything to happen to them perhaps point the finger. See even those who don’t understand Jesus for who He is, don’t even understand what He can do for them. So here goes Jesus going against everything customary and not only that but taking time away from getting to Jarius’ daughter to heal her. So as she has already been healed by her faith Jesus does something ever so quickly because the enemy loves to steal the blessings that we don’t grasp firmly too, so Jesus confirms the healing and reminds the woman that it was her faith in not only what He could do but who He was. Superstition said that power was in the robe of a great man, priest, rabbi, etc. Her belief was that touching the fabric would make her well. In fact, when she did touch His garment, she was healed.

It is in adversity where we perfect our faith.

Something else for us to walk away with in this woman’s healing was also an example of faith being perfected through adversity. It was also a demonstration of the fact that God is no respecter of person’s. Sure Jarius was an influential, even rich man, but Jesus who has no issue with anything or anyone took a moment to heal someone who was less than second class but had just as much faith, if not more than Jarius. I also think it was an opportunity to test Jarius’ faith and even increase in the words that Jesus spoke to the woman about it being her faith versus superstition and man driven ideals that healed her. But in the midst of the healing of one we find the opposite has just taken place.

³⁵ While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is

dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the

ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷ And he allowed no one to follow him except

Peter and James and John the brother of James.

So during this whole process I can imagine Jarius’ thoughts. He’s probably trying to look the part of a concerned clergy; but the other side of the coin is he’s a human being, and his daughter is dying. Probably thinking are you serious Jesus come on, let’s go … and in the midst of all this someone comes from his home and gives him the report. Have you recently received some bad news; something contrary to what you know to be true or want to believe to be true? So I ask you whose report you are going to believe? Perhaps Jesus knowing that Jarius’ isn’t on rock solid ground in the faith of who He is department reassures that all that he has seen thus far and what he has asked for himself is right and true. And so that there wouldn’t be any further negative vibe flowing Jesus doesn’t allow any unbelief follow them as they continue to the home. So even though Jesus has given him reassurance Jarius’ adversity level has just increased again but hold on just one minute because…

It is in adversity where we perfect our faith.

And I don’t know if the adversity can get any harder as he prepares to walk into his home where his“dead” daughter lay.

³⁸ They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people

weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a

commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰ And they laughed at him. 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. ⁴¹Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little

girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴² And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve

years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³ And he strictly charged them

that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. ^[4]

 

So here we have a house full of folks wailing and crying for the girl has died. Some of these people may not have even known who she was, but because bodies began to decompose so quickly during these times they had professional mourners at the ready to assist the family in this process. Booting these folks out wasn’t in a polite manner it was rather decisive and firm and referred to all those who assembled purely to make noise or having sympathy for the family; rather Jesus wanted only the mother and father and his disciples present in the room. He then speaks in Aramaic which would have been the language Spokane in that region. This is significant because it was widely known that the magicians would speak something unintelligible but Jesus wanted those with ears to hear what He said. And now this dead girl rises and walks. If she wasn’t dead I don’t think there would have been the amount of amazement surrounding the circumstance and just to confirm the total restoration of the girl, Jesus calls for something to eat for her. A confirmation to those who “knew” she was dead that she is now alive and a cause to change their perspective on who He was. Jesus didn’t fix Jarius’ situation he freed his daughter from the grips of death, he freed Jarius and all those around from the traditions of religion. And continue to perfect the faith of Jarius in his adversity.

So what about you? Is there something in your life that needs resurrecting and you aren’t quite sure, but yet you know where to go and who has the answers? However, there’s a bit of trepidation in the midst of that understanding. I’ve come to tell you today be not afraid, only believe because it’s in our adversity where our faith is perfected.

As our faith is perfected we’ve got to remove those things even those people in our lives that have nothing to offer. They only want to make noise and sympathize with our failures. They’d rather mourn it, bury it and get on with it instead of holding out hope. The report of the doctors for my family on my dad weren’t good. He wasn’t going to make it and we should start preparing what to do afterwards. But it was in this adversity and crying out on the beaches of Normandy of my need for God to intervene for my dad. Does that mean it turns out the way we want things to turn out all the time? No there are going to be times when loved ones pass away but are we still going to not be afraid and only believe? Or are we simply going to trust that the Sovereign God of the universe knows what He’s doing. Perfected faith doesn’t mean we get what we want; it just means our hope is something bigger than we are. And we will find that our faith can be made perfect through adversity.

---

^[1]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 5:21–24.

^[2]Hampton Keathley IV, “The Raising of Jairus’Daughter.”

^[3]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 5:25–34.^[4]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 5:35–43.

Brokeness ... where we find God

Romans 2:1-5  Therefore you have no excuse, o man, every one of you who judges.  For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.  We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.  Do you suppose, o man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

The judgment of God, is that something we give much thought too? We know that God is love and that He loves us very much … so much so that He sent His only Son (JOHN 3:16) … That is pretty comforting, isn’t it? God is a loving, compassionate and merciful God who sacrificed His Son on the cross at Calvary as a substitute sin offering for me for you, for all of mankind. God loves us more than we can possibly imagine. The depth of His love is limitless. Anywhere you turn to Christian television or radio and hear a sermon you won’t have to go far to find out about His love.  However, coupled with that love is the God who is also holy, righteous and just. He is perfect in His sense of justice. Nothing escapes His notice and we being His creation can push His patience to the end. One of the adjectives sometimes used to describe God is “longsuffering”; that word does not mean limitless. We see situations in the Bible where God’s patience was finally exhausted.

The first instance in the Bible where we see God’s patience exhausted is in the Genesis account of Noah. God’s creation actually grieved Him to the point of God wanting to hit reset save for Noah and his family. Genesis 6:5-8 Sodom and Gomorrah is another example … These accounts provide us with another view of God’s being many times we do not want to address. I know that I’d much rather talk about His patience and His willingness to forgive or those times where He stayed His hand in rendering judgment. But I wonder by our over focusing on those attributes of God, do we somehow forget or even deny the idea of accountability thinking that God will somehow look past the way you or I have lived our lives.

No not for a moment … but what is there that we can do about it?  I mean we don’t live that bad do we?  There’s always someone living in a manner that I would never think to do. I mean let’s think about it; let’s go back to Romans but I want to go to chapter 1 and start in verse 18 – 25 … here we see the argument that many make if only I could do what I wanted and we see here in this passage that God has allowed just that … VERSE 24 a society to do what they want because why let’s go to VERSE 28 – 32.

It’s happening around us, it’s happening in the church come on … think about it, the church is the place we should be able to come and have victory but what happens when you hear about the stuff in the mega churches, the mini churches, the local churches right here in these walls … a place where we come in and we talk about “new life," "new creation," "the power of God," "healing," "wisdom," "miracles," "the power of prayer," ...why are we so weak? Why do so many "good Christian people," turn out to be just like everyone else? Divorced. Depressed. Broken. Messed up. Full of pain and secrets. Addicted, needy and phony. I thought we were different. Aren’t we supposed to be different? So what do we do with that?

ROMANS 5: 8 …

Christ died for me even when I was in my mess … even though He knew I would reject Him, even though He knew I would disappoint Him, be disobedient, even after coming to the knowledge of who He was I’d still be prone to wander but it is because of His love for me and the fact that there is nothing I did to earn it and there’s nothing I can do about it which cause me to be a broken man.  I stand before you today a broken man …

Brokenness … what comes to mind when you think of brokenness? 

Webster’s defines it in various ways … ie. violently separated into parts : shattered
damaged or altered by breaking: as

having undergone or been subjected to fracture <a broken leg>

being interrupted, or full of obstacles

violated by transgression <a broken promise>

discontinuous, interrupted

 

Brokenness. This is where God wants us to be. If you have pain in your life, could it be God working brokenness? Have the circumstance you face have your full attention? Don’t run, hide, grow, angry, or bitter, give up and in to Him. You’ll be glad you did.

Brokenness hurts, it doesn’t feel good, but until we are broken … at the end of ourselves and our self reliance there is nothing God can do for us because it has to be His way; it can’t be my way or a combination of His way and mine; complete and total surrender … I must recognize God for who He is …

 

Job did in Job 42:5

Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:1-5

Paul did in Romans

The good news is that there is a way to escape the righteous judgment of God. That escape is the free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross at Calvary. No matter what anyone else may tell you, there is no other way to escape the terrible judgment of a Holy God except to realize my brokenness and humble myself at the feet of Jesus. You cannot be good enough; you cannot be contrite enough; you cannot be “religious” enough. Thank goodness this is the case because there is no other way that I could get there myself. But I know that I will have Someone standing beside me Who will be able to testify that the price of my entry into the presence of God has already been paid – it was paid almost two millennia ago on a hill outside of Jerusalem. My God paid my price. He did it not because I deserved it but because I didn’t. He died for me and paid that awful price because He knew that I couldn’t. He will do the same for you if you will just let Him.