Breakthrough

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters

“I know a breakthrough is coming. By faith I see a miracle coming. My God is able!” – Elevation Worship

Giving up and being afraid are the easiest things we do. It’s easy to claim the ordinary as what is, but are you willing to reach for the extraordinary and grasp hold of God’s promises?

 

Jesus pressed through the crowd with Jairus to reach his home where his daughter lay dying. As He skirted another group of admirers, a woman who had a bleed for 12 years stepped close to touch the fringe of Jesus’ cloak; and was healed! “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. “Daughter,” Jesus said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:40-48)

 

Wow! What faith she had that Jesus was able to heal her! But to have waited 12 years for that healing… most of us can’t wait 5 minutes for the microwave to heat up our meals! How many others would have given in to their circumstances and allowed it to become who they are; but not her… with the purpose of being healed, she ‘deliberately’ touched Jesus.

God has promised to provide our every need and just as important, He has said His grace is sufficient for our weakness, for when I am weak for Christ’s sake, then I am made strong. It’s the timing that always seems to get us though; we want everything to operate on our schedule. But God, being absolute perfection, knows when His healing will provide the best for us and show His glory the brightest, revealing the truth to the crowds. Sure Jesus could have healed her while lying in some obscure apartment watching Netflix, but notice how He picked her out of the crowd and elevated her testimony for the greatest impact of the Gospel…

Can you trust Jesus for more than just making you feel better? Are you willing to let Him use you and your circumstances to reach others with the Gospel? How powerful it must have been for this quiet young woman, who was trying to go unnoticed, to be used of God this way? How comforting it must have been to have heard Jesus say, “Go in peace.” Her faith in Jesus’ ability to heal not only stopped her bleed but put her at peace with God; to no longer have to strive for acceptance through the law. Wow! Jesus not only healed her physically but spiritually as well.

Meanwhile, a servant of Jairus’ runs up with the news of his daughter’s death, telling him Jesus is no longer needed. Imagine his surprise when the child awoke at Jesus’ command?

Upon hearing the news, Jesus turned to Jairus and said, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.” (Luke 8:50) Notice how Jesus emphasized fear; isn’t it true that it’s our fears that hinder our faith, causing us to give up? The fear of the unknown, fear of not getting my own way, fear of what others think, the fear of change or loss…? But is not the end of all these fears a loneliness and despair for having placed our hope in man’s ways? God’s presence is an open door to all His promises fulfilled in Jesus. You walk through that door today, trusting in Him, and you will know a healing like no other. When you get through, don’t look at yourself or anyone/anything else; look to Jesus the author and perfector of your faith, entrusting your life into His nail-scarred hands. It is here you will know the extraordinary life of His sufficient grace, a place where breakthroughs and miracles are coming. A place where not just physical healing is available, but a renewed life in Christ is lived.

 

Choose wisely…

 

 “Jesus replied, ‘What is impossible with man is possible with God.’” Luke 18:27

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him, the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:20-21

 

Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church. He is the author of two devotional books, “From a Chair by the Window.” And “#PrayerWinsThe Day”.

---

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:11-12