WATCH TODAY’S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE.
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
Mark 5:35–37 NIV
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.
CONSIDER
These five words capture the two core messages which together make up the essential Gospel message of Jesus.
“Don’t be afraid; only believe.”
In the second half of today’s entry (for those willing to watch or listen), Chris Tomlin and I discuss some of the particulars of this extremely consequential fifth chapter of Mark. In light of that, permit me a personal story today to get us started.
Twenty-one years ago my sister Missie was pregnant with her second child. Her first child arrived several years earlier and after a long delay, finally the second was on the way. It had been a difficult pregnancy with all sorts of complications, some of them life-threatening both to the mother and the baby.
I will never forget the night Missie called me all those years ago. She was frantic and in tears. It was getting pretty late term in the pregnancy, and owing to the high-risk nature of the pregnancy and the foreboding signs she was experiencing in her body, Missie had become convinced she was losing the baby. She asked me to pray.
The Holy Spirit immediately brought Mark 5:36 to mind.
“Don’t be afraid; only believe.”
I began to pray this word—which is to speak it in the power of the Spirit straight into the soul of my sister—and even into the life of this unborn child. I sensed the Lord was winging it directly into her heart and mind and womb. From my vantage point, it was like Jesus was there on the call, speaking those words himself—through agency of my voice. In the midst of his presence, faith began to rise and fear diminished.
I am pleased to say one week from tomorrow, some twenty-one years later, I will be officiating the wedding of Missie’s second child—Eliza Susan.
“Don’t be afraid; only believe.”
This is a word Jesus authorizes all of his followers to speak on his behalf directly into the hearts and minds of anyone struggling in situations of fear and anxiety.
“Don’t be afraid; only believe.”
I commend it to you today.
And some of you reading are undoubtedly needing to hear these words of Jesus spoken directly into the chaotic storm you are facing just now. Open your heart and your mind to receive the gift of his word right now:
“Don’t be afraid; only believe.”
PRAY
Lord Jesus, you deliver us from sin and evil and death by a word. You calm the wind and the waves and deliver us from fear by a word. You restored and raise up the gift of faith in you by a word. We hear you saying, “Don’t be afraid; only believe.” And I renounce the spirit of fear. And I renounce the spirit of death. And I receive the gift of your faith in our nothing-is-to0-difficult-for-God reality. Come, Holy Spirit, and let mountain-moving faith arise. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.
JOURNAL
So what’s the situation you are facing right now into which this word is now working? Journal that out a bit. Ask Jesus this question, “What do you want me to know about this situation and what you are doing in the midst of it?” Now write by faith. How might you carry this word with Jesus into the chaos and fear and anxiety being carried by people you love these days?
SING
Today, we will sing “He Has Done Great Things” with our friend Chris Tomlin. If you are read only, we suggest “Be Still, My Soul” (hymn 346) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
P.S. LAST CHANCE TO SNAG YOUR AWAKENING SHIRT
This is it! On Monday, October 6th, we’ll be placing orders for the awesome Awakening shirts. It’s not too late to order yours (and one or two for a friend). You can order them here!
John David (J. D.) Walt Jr. is the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed and the pastor of the Gillett Methodist Church in Gillett, Arkansas.
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5 Responses
This past Sunday on my way to church after working a 24 hour shift on a rescue squad I was hit head on by a lady who was having a medical emergency and passed out. She was also headed to church. Remarkably we both survived after both our cars flipped. She has broken ribs and did have a collapsed lung, me the force was so great it broke my sternum. I should still be able to preach Sunday, but the rescue squad is out until I heal or they put a plate in my chest. I find out Monday. I’ve taken more pain medicine since Sunday than I have in the rest of my life combined. This devotion this morning and the music following reminded me of whom I put my trust and what He is capable of. Thank you for strengthening my faith this morning
In the NIV version of the English Bible the translators quote Jesus as saying: “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” (Mark 5:36) We’ve all have had a lot of people tell us to not be afraid and to exhort us to believe. But how do we do it?
It helps me if I say the same thing in different words. I prefer to say: “Ignore fear. Rely on Jesus.”
“Don’t be afraid,” tells me that I have to shut down or turn off fear. That’s very hard to do. For me it’s much easier to ignore fear’s tormenting noise — to act like it doesn’t exist — than it is to completely eliminate all my fear. Boldly quoting peace and hope filled Scriptures — in my mind and/or with my voice — helps me refuse to think about fear.
“Just believe,” tells me that belief is simple and I should be able to easily do it. However, in real life I’ve never found that to be the case. Belief for me is complicated and difficult. It’s much more than just making a verbal or written “confession of faith.” It easy to say I believe yet often it’s far more difficult than I can express with words to truly, totally, and sincerely believe.
“Just believe,” tells me that belief is an easy action. It’s something that I should just do and get it over with. But belief isn’t a one-step deal. It’s a lifetime process. Belief isn’t just the verbal acknowledgement of some claims or principles. Genuine faith is to rely and depend on those claims or principles, moment by moment, in your daily life.
You can simplify your life and amplify your faith right now. Ignore fear by constantly thinking about and celebrating how God is working all things together for your good. (Romans 8:28) Rely on the living Jesus by laying aside your own self-focused efforts. Begin to listen to and be directly and literally led from within, throughout each day, by the person of God the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14) — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
Our adversary, the devil has fences around the fields we are to sow the seeds of awakening in. How do we breach these fences that hinder? Prayer. Fervent, effectual prayers of righteous men and women.
Would be sowers are powerless without prayer.
Our adversary the devil has put up fences around both the sowing fields and the fields of harvest.
How do we tear down these fences?
With prayer. Fervent prayer.
Prayerless sowers are powerless sowers.
Praise the holy name of Jesus, only believe. Amen