OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
DATE: TUESDAY JULY 5TH, 2022.
THEME: REMOVE FAITH KILLERS
MEMORISE:
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
Mark 5:36
READ: Mark 5:23 -43
23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
MESSAGE
Something very interesting happened between Jesus and Jairus in the Bible reading for today, When someone came from Jairus’ house to tell him that his daughter was dead, Jesus did not allow Jairus to respond; He told him specifically, “Don’t be afraid, only believe”. We see that everything He did before He woke the girl up from death was to remove faith killers. He knew that if Jairus had allowed fear to creep in when he was told that his daughter was dead, the miracle would not happen. He saw that all the people in the house that were crying were faithless and if Jairus and his wife looked at them, they would kill their faith. Jesus thus sent them all out before He could perform the miracle. It could be that the reason you have not gotten that miracle from God yet is that you have so many faith killers around you. Believe me honestly, if you keep hanging around these faith killers, they will hinder you from reaching your goals. You therefore have to remove them from your life.
Go away from places and people whose conversations kill your faith. If you keep listening to them, they will eventually hinder you from achieving your goal. If all that the people around you keep talking about is how things are bad and cannot be better, you had better change location. Move to a place where you will hear people telling you that things will be better, where they will tell you that your goals are achievable, where you will stop hearing, “No, it is not possible”, but start hearing “Yes, it is possible”.
I for one have always had big dreams, dreams that seem impossible when people hear them. Whenever someone laughs at my dreams, I tell them, “You just watch and see”, then I take a step back from the fellow so that they don’t kill my faith. Eventually when the dreams begin to come to pass, it will now be my turn to laugh. I have always said it: if people don’t laugh at your dreams, then they are not big enough. It is when your dream is so big that it is not possible to achieve it without the help of God that you have just started dreaming. Don’t mind those who have tried to kill your dreams in the past. Ignore them, put your faith in God and watch Him make your dreams come to pass.
KEY POINT
Stay away from people whose words and actions can kill your faith.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 91-94
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE
HYMN12: MY FAITH LOOKS TO THEE
1 My faith looks up to thee,
thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine.
Now hear me while I pray;
take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day
be wholly thine!
2 May thy rich grace impart
strength to my fainting heart;
my zeal inspire!
As thou hast died for me,
oh, may my love to thee
pure, warm, and changeless be,
a living fire!
3 While life's dark maze I tread,
and griefs around me spread,
be thou my guide.
Bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow's tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from thee aside.
4 When ends life's transient dream,
when death's cold, sullen stream
shall o'er me roll,
blest Savior, then, in love,
fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above,
a ransomed soul!
