When Someone Steals Your Miracle Part 2

All of us are struggling with something in this life. In a world with seemingly infinite possibilities, there are seemingly an infinite number of ways that we can become buried in sickness, trials, or even attacks from the enemy. But Dr. Timothy is here today to encourage us! He wants us to remember that we have a loving Father in Heaven, a God who sent His Son into our broken world. Jesus knows our needs, and we can believe in His provision!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to Truth for Transformation with Dr. Timothy Brown. You're about to hear a message from God's Word filled with biblical wisdom, practical insights, and life-changing truths. A message designed to inspire your faith and give encouragement.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

I don't know what keeps you up at night. I don't know what causes tears to fall down from your eyes. I don't know who you think is stolen your miracle or who has hurt you. But I just want to repeat the words of Jesus. Do not be afraid of believe. So here's your next step, if you will. I want you to pray about what's really bothering you and ask Jesus to give you the faith to believe in him.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

All of us are struggling with something in this life. In a world with seemingly infinite possibilities, there are a seemingly infinite number of ways that we can become buried in sickness, trials, or even attacks from the enemy. But Dr. Timothy is here today to encourage us. He wants us to remember that we have a loving Father in heaven, a God who sent his son into our broken world. Jesus knows our needs, and we can believe in his provision. Prepare your heart, open your mind, and get ready to embark on a journey of faith with Dr. Timothy in the book of Luke, chapter 8, as he continues his message when someone steals your miracle.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

While he was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house and said to him, Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher. Can you imagine being that father that Jesus was going to heal your daughter? But this other unnamed lady that you don't know, a lady in the crowd, takes the miracle, and now your daughter is dead. I want you just to let that soak in. Like what happens when it appears that someone has taken your miracle? Alright, read on. We're in verse 50. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him saying, Do not be afraid, only believe, and she will be made well. I just want to pause there before we read the rest of the passage. This is someone's word for today from the Lord. Don't be afraid, only believe. You are fearful of so many things. And I'm just believing in my heart that someone listening is afraid. Everyone's gotten front of you. Others have gotten the promotion, others have gotten the relationship, others have got the advancement, but not you. And our Lord and Savior would speak to you today. Don't be afraid. Only believe. Let that soak in. Alright, read on. We are in verse 51. Only believe and shall be made well. When he came into the house, he permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John. Of course, the inner circle he allows to go in. And the father and the mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her, but he said, Do not weep. She's not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed him, knowing that she was dead. So you see twice that Jesus is misunderstood. Peter's like, What are you thinking? Who touched you? Peter didn't get it. And now these professional mourners, who many of them were paid to cry to support the family, mourn with those who mourn, they're laughing at Jesus. But look who gets the last laugh. Verse 54. But he put them all outside. He took her by the hand and said and called, saying, Little girl, arise. Little girl. Then her spirit returned. And she arose, there's that word, say it with me, immediately. Say it with me, immediately. And he commanded that she should be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished that she astonished. And he charged them to tell no one what happened. May God bless his word. So today I want to give you six things to remember. When it appears that someone has stolen your miracle, and I quote, quote unquote, stole because no one can take what God has for you. Alright, if you're taking notes, number one, first thing to remember, don't let the crowds keep you from your miracle. In verse 40 and in verse 42, we see the multitudes all around Jesus. And it would be so easy when you have a need to think that you're just another face in the crowd. And I just want to reach through into your living room, into your car, wherever you're listening from, and just say, God sees you. Even though there's a crowd, he sees you as you're the only one. He sees you and he sees the crowd. And I just love reading this text that the madness of the multitudes shouldn't keep you from connecting with Jesus. Don't let the crowds crowd out Jesus. Realize that even if you're like one of eight billion people on planet Earth, he sees you. He knows you. And he loves you. So when you think that someone has taken or stolen your miracle, don't let the crowds crowd out Jesus in your life. Keep your eyes focused on him. Alright, that brings us to the second thing to remember. Don't let your pride keep you from your miracle. In verse 41, we're introduced to Jairus, the synagogue ruler. And something to know about a synagogue ruler, he had a place of prominence in the Jewish community. And Jairus was a man that he had at least heard about Jesus' miracles because he has faith. And he's a church leader, and even though he's high, he humbles himself before the Lord. And I just want to encourage you, some of you are this close. I mean, you're you're like you're like this close to the miracle, but pride is keeping you. And only when you bow low before our high and lifted up King Jesus, can you humble yourself and experience this miracle? So Jairus humbles himself. And James 4, verse 6, it says this, but he gives more grace. Therefore, God resists the proud, but what? He gives grace to the humble. We see Jairus, even though he's this really prominent figure, he humbles himself because he knows only Jesus can heal. Only Jesus. So whenever you get low before Jesus in the midst of your great misery, only then can he lift you high in his great mercy. So in your misery, bow low before Jesus, and he will lift you high in his great mercy. Alright, third truth. Go after Jesus with a sense of urgency. We are in verse 41 and following. Notice that Jairus, he fell down, that's the humility, at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house. He had the sense of urgency because he had a 12-year-old daughter. This was his only daughter. My daughters are different ages. I have a 14-year-old, a 12-year-old, and I have a five-year-old, and I have three boys as well. But I'm just going to put myself into imagine if I had just one child, one daughter, and she was going to die. I would do anything humanly possible as a parent to see her healed. I would do whatever it took. I would give my life if need be to see my daughter whole. And this is Jairus. He wanted his daughter to be healed. 12 years old is far too young to die. So he threw himself at Jesus' feet. So if you want God to move in a special way, have a sense of urgency. Jesus told us to ask, seek, and knock. Have the sense of urgency of like having reckless abandonment. You're going to go after the Lord with everything you've got. You're going to go after him because faith moves mountains. And if you have faith, you don't give up when the going gets stuffed. You keep pressing in. Alright. Number four, believe that God rewards bold faith. So this is build upon this urgency. But look at the faith. We're going to see in verses 43 through 48, there's a woman, unnamed woman. And notice she has an issue of blood. We're in verse 43. And the Bible says that she had spent all of her savings. Every time she went to a doctor, instead of getting better, she got worse. And so we're going to see, like in this passage, Luke, who's a brilliant doctor, contrasts these two figures. If you're taking notes, look at this contrast. She was unknown. We don't even know her name. Jairus is the leader of the synagogue, and this woman, because she has an issue with blood, most likely she doesn't even get to go to the synagogue. She's considered unclean. Now, this is interesting, the number of twelve. Jairus' daughter was how old? Yeah, twelve years old. This woman had been suffering for how long? Twelve years. Is there a connection there? Stay tuned. So this woman had a desperate hemorrhage for twelve years. She spent everything she had, and then she did the unthinkable. I want you to notice the verse that she came from behind, where in verse 44, touch the border of his garment or the hem of his garment. Now, in the Greek, it's kind of fascinating, the word language. It's the idea, not of a casual contact. In the original Greek, it's the idea of grabbing hold, clinging to, fastening to. This was not a polite touch. This was deliberate, determined faith. That she deliberately saw Jesus, reached out, and touched. What part of Jesus' garment did she touch? Go and put in the comment section. The border, right? Why did she touch the border? And this is something that is fascinating. That the border of his garment. What's up with this? This was not, this was not like some kind of magic. This wasn't superstition. This was theology in motion. Now, I listened to a little clip by Pastor Josh Howarton. He pastors a church in Dallas, so shout out to this. He brought up an interesting point from Malachi. I want to read you this verse. Malachi 4, this is the last chapter of the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi. This was prophesying of Jesus to come. Listen to this verse. This is gonna make you excited once you get here. Malachi 4, 2. Write it down. Look up it later. It says that when the Messiah came, the son of righteousness, listen to this, this is the verse from Malachi. The son of righteousness would rise with healing in his wings. So keep in mind this chapter prophesizes the Messiah. And Malachi 4.2 says, the son of righteousness would rise with healing in his wings. Okay. You're like, big deal, wings. Let me give you the Hebrew word for wings. You may want to write this down. It's K-A-N-A-P-H. Kanaf. Can you say Kanaf? Alright? This word can mean wings, like the wings of a bird, but also get this, it can mean the edge or the corners of a garment. Alright, let's tie this together. Malachi prophesies that when the Messiah comes, there would be healing at the wings, the corner of his garment. This unknown woman, why does she go for his garment? We don't know, but there's a likelihood, there's a chance that she knew Malachi 4-2. That if I could just get to the wings of his garment, if I could just get to the border of his garment, if he is the Messiah, there's healing in his wings.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

You've been listening to Pastor Timothy Brown. We'll be right back with the message, but first we'd like to share some exciting news with you. We're releasing Dr. Timothy's new book called Go After Jesus. This book is the French approach to discipleship and focuses on your identity in Christ as the launching pad for Christian growth. In Go After Jesus, Pastor Timothy paints the picture of the six identities for every follower of Christ. You are a speaker, a disciple, a friend, a fisherman, a warrior, and a lover. We're currently offering two free chapters of this book as a digital download. To get your free chapters, go to Dr. Timothy's website at drtimothybrawn.org. Now let's get back to the rest of the message with Pastor Timothy.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

So this lady reaches out and she touches him and she's healed instantly. She was willing to do whatever it took to get better. Twelve years of bleeding, 12 years of being called unclean, 12 years of being hidden, 12 years of like, man, I'm such in pain. This is such disappointment. The doctors can't help me. So she wasn't just reaching for a rabbi, she was reaching for the Messiah, the one prophesied in Malachi 4.2, who has healing in his wings. If I can just touch the hem of his garment, I shall be made well. That's a good time to say amen. Wow. So when you read the Old Testament and it builds to the New Testament, all you can just say is God's word is good. And at Radiant Church, we believe all 66 books of the Bible. And we just love how one verse builds upon the other, and it's just beautiful. So she reached for him and she was healed. And so she touched his garment. This was not magic, this was not superstition. This was her finding a release point for her faith. I'm going to release my faith into him. And I just want to encourage you today, no matter what you're going through, just remember this. Write this down. Take note of this. God rewards bold faith. So she reaches out, she touches him, and she's healed. And that brings us to the fifth thing to remember. Don't let your circumstances circumvent your faith. So what am I mean? Well, we're back to Jairus. Who cuts in on his miracle? This unnamed woman cuts in, gets his miracle. And verse 49 says, While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler of the synagogue's house said to him, Your daughter is dead. Let those words soak in for a moment. Your daughter is dead. So, Jesus, I did all this work, and you helped her, but not me. I'm the synagogue ruler. I've been serving you all my life. And you helped out this woman who can't even go to church. And it's so easy for us to think that. I'm not saying Jairus thought that, we're not sure, but you can imagine he was discouraged. You can imagine he wanted to give up. And so when this happens, his breakthrough just broke down. And it there's only two options in this situation. So I want to speak to someone right now. You're going through something, there's two options. You can walk by sight, what you see, or you can walk by faith. And what Jairus chooses to do, I just want to implore you to choose to do. Walk by faith. No one can take what God has for you. If someone got the job promotion ahead of you, don't sweat it. God's got something else for you. If, ladies, if someone took that guy that you had your eye on, he wasn't the one for you. If he's already married and taken, God has something for you that no one can take from you. So let's read on. The story just continues. And that brings us to our final point. Do not be afraid, only believe. I want you to say it with me. Do not be afraid, only and believe. Alright, I can't hear you. Do not be afraid, only believe. But Jesus in verse 50, when he heard it, he said, Do not be afraid, only believe. And what we're going to see in the rest of this passage, I just want to highlight what Jesus did in tragedy. He didn't dwell on the bad news. He didn't get discouraged by the bad news. He didn't let fear overwhelm him. Jesus spoke faith in the midst of this problem. Jesus spoke promise when others were speaking problems. She's dead. Jesus said she's not dead. She's just asleep. So I would encourage you. Really, you can focus on the good or the bad in your life. All of us have good and bad. It's what you focus on. Jesus focused on what God was going to do, not what had happened. And I just want to reach out to you and just say, listen, I believe God's best for you. And if you will just keep following Jesus, even when it seems like someone has taken from you what God has for you, remember this. Nobody can steal what God has for you. And that's today's big idea. Write it down. Nobody can steal what God has for you. Do not be afraid, only believe. The rest of the story, Jairus' daughter is raised from the dead. All is well. The lady that had the issue of blood is now healed. Jairus' 12-year-old daughter is now healed. And that brings up a question. I want you to write this down in your notes. Why the number 12? Okay. The daughter is how old? 12 years old. The woman has been bleeding for how long? 12 years. And see, I don't want to make much of a number because you can go too far in numerology. I just want to use this as an application, an illustration, if you will. But when you look at 12, 12 is a number that appears a lot in the Bible. I just wrote down a few things. We have the 12 sons of Jacob, you know, the 12 tribes of Israel. We have Jesus who amazed the scholars when he was how old? 12 years old. Jesus had how many apostles? 12. The heavenly Jerusalem is going to have 12 gates guarded by 12 angels. The city, the new Jerusalem, is going to be 12,000 stadia, which is about 1,500 miles cubed. We have how many months in her year in her calendar? 12 months, right? So 12 often represents God's kingdom, God's covenant, God's government. So just a devotional thought. Like I said, I don't want to make too much of the number, but I think Luke brings it into for a reason. That the woman with the issue of blood and the daughter that had been healed, think about this. Whenever the daughter was born, the woman with the issue of blood had started to die. And that whenever the daughter reached 12 years of age, Jesus steps in to the 12-year-old that's about to die and the woman that has been dying for 12 years, and he heals them. And here's the devotional principle we can bring. When God's perfect government comes into your life, the kingdom of God, he brings healing into places that are broken. This is God's redemptive story. And so I just want to close with a personal application. I don't know what you're struggling with right now, but our precious Lord and Savior knows. I don't know what keeps you up at night. I don't know what causes tears to fall down from your eyes. I don't know who you think has stolen your miracle or who has hurt you. But I just want to repeat the words of Jesus. So here's your next step, if you will. I want you to pray about what's really bothering you and ask Jesus to give you the faith to believe in him, not in your circumstances, not in the person that took or hurt, but believe in him. And the second action step is to reach out to someone that you know is hurting this week and give them the same message of faith. Maybe you send them this message, say, don't be afraid, just believe. God is not finished with you yet. So I just want to encourage you that when someone seems to butt in, take your miracle, steal from you, whatever God has for you. Remember that he can restore anything the enemy has taken from you. The Bible says that he will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten away. And by the way, he doesn't always restore this side of eternity. Sometimes it's when you see him face to face, and all of a sudden he makes you brand new. All of a sudden your faith becomes sight. All of a sudden, he wipes those tears away from your eyes, and all of a sudden you're with him in perfect paradise forever. That's much greater than what you thought you lost. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm just so amazed at your word. And Father, I know that you're speaking to a precious son or daughter right now, that life's been hard. A lot has been stolen from them, so they they think. But help them to be reassured that God's delays are not his denials. And whatever the enemy seemed to take from them, you can restore better and greater than what they lost. So, Jesus, here's my prayer for every brother and sister listening that you would restore that which was lost or broken, and that God they would believe you for greater things. They would not Fear they would just believe that you would bring healing and restoration. As the believers pray, if you're at home today and you don't know Jesus, just look up for a second. Jesus loves you more than you ever know. And the Bible says that he gave his life so that the world could receive forgiveness, but you have to receive it. So if you don't have a relationship with Jesus, what's keeping you from that? He's made the way. He died on the cross. He rose again the third day. So if you've never asked Jesus to forgive you, to be your Lord and Savior, will you give me the privilege of leading you in a prayer? Let's pray. Just to say, Jesus, I need you. I want you in my life. I realize that this message had so much significance to me. I realize I've not given my life to you. So, Jesus, will you take my life? Will you forgive me of all my sins? I ask for your forgiveness. And Jesus, I do believe that you died and rose again so that I could have new life in me. So, Jesus, I choose to follow you. Tell him that I choose to follow you from this day forward. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

You've been listening to Truth for Transformation with Dr. Timothy Brown. We hope that this program is a blessing to you as you follow Jesus in a world that is lost in sin. We haven't been left alone in this world without a guide because we have the Word of God to give us the answers for how to navigate the fallen world. Dr. Timothy has spent years studying God's Word, and this program is one of the ways that we are able to pass that wisdom along to anyone who has ears to hear. If you would like to learn more about the Ministry of Truth for Transformation, you can give us a call at 828-684-6780. Again, that phone number is 828-684-6780. You can also visit us online at drtimothybrown.org where you'll be able to find more teachings from Dr. Timothy on every book of the Bible. While you're there, you will also find our gift tab. Our ministry wouldn't be possible without the generosity of our audience. So if you feel led to support the mission of truth for transformation, you can do so at that tab. Finally, feel free to find us on social media by searching for Dr. Timothy Brown Ministries on your favorite platforms and drop a comment to let us know where you're joining us from. It's amazing to see how God's word is being spread through social media, even in these dark times. Well, we hope you'll join us again for another edition of Truth for Transformation!