But God

So, God is good and gracious.

Thank you all for your continued generosity in this area.

Let's go ahead and get our Bibles out.

If you need a Bible, raise your hand.

The ushers will get those to you.

Let's hold it up and all make this declaration of our faith together.

Ready, go.

This is my Bible.

It is my primary source of spiritual nourishment.

I will read it every day and become all that God wants me to be.

My mind will be renewed.

My life will be transformed.

I will become fully surrendered to Christ.

Therefore, I will hide his word in my heart so I can be all God has destined me to be.

Amen.

If you would kindly remain standing in honor of the word of God, we're going to the Gospel of Mark, the fifth chapter.

One of my absolute favorite Bible stories in all of the Bible, Mark chapter 5, verse 22, it says, And behold, and I'll just stop there because a lot of times we could read past that and wonder, well, why does it say it's kind of like it's just King James language?

Mark 5:22

It's not.

It literally means something amazing is about to happen.

And what's really amazing is what happens in the very next line.

It says, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, uh, came, and when he saw him, he fell at his feet and he begged him earnestly, saying, My little daughter lies at the point of death.

Come and lay your hands on her that she may be healed and she will live.

And the reason why this is a behold, check this out, is because the rulers of the synagogue were at odds with Jesus.

And so this was amazing that this man who is at odds with Jesus, who is the ruler of the synagogue, comes and he falls at the feet of Jesus.

And we're going to see why he does that in just a moment.

And it says, and so the woman and so Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed him and thronged him.

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years and had suffered many things from many physicians.

She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.

And when she heard about Jesus, she came behind him in the crowd and touched his garment, for she said, If only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made well.

And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him, turned around the crowd and said, Who touched my clothes?

But his disciples said to him, You see the multitude thronging you, and you say, Who touched me?

By the way, if you ever are asked a question by Jesus, I promise you he doesn't want you to give him an answer.

Because he's not looking for information from you.

When Jesus asked a question, it's more of an alert to you that he's trying to get something into your head and something into your heart.

It's for your benefit, not his.

And Jesus, immediately knowing that in himself power had gone out, turned around the crowd, said, Who touched my clothes?

His disciples said, You see the multitude thronging you, and you say, Who touched me?

And he looked around to see her who had done this thing.

But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, told him the whole truth.

And he said to our daughter, Your faith has made you well.

Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.

And while he was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, Your daughter's dead.

Why trouble the teacher any further?

And as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be afraid, only believe.

Today we're closing or coming to a close one more week in our series, Lions and Giants and Bears, but God.

And today I want to focus on the lions.

I don't want to focus on the giants.

I don't want to focus on the bears.

I want to focus in or zero in on the part of the series that I believe changes everything, and that's the butt God.

And throughout this series, we have seen it over and over again.

Daniel was in a den of hungry lions, but God shut the mouths of the lions.

Goliath was taunting Israel, but God guided the stone so David could defeat Goliath.

The lion and the bear came against David, and but God shut the mouth of the lion, shut the mouth of the bear and delivered.

Every one of these stories became a testimony to those two little words, but God.

They're two of the biggest little words in the Bible.

But is a transition.

Everything on the back side of the sentence is going one way, and everything that happens on the other side of the sentence goes the other way.

And when God is the word after but, how many of you know you are in for the greatest turnaround of your life?

And so I want to focus on how you and I can experience those but God moments in our lives when all hope seems to be gone.

Let's pray.

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, would you speak to us like only you can?

We surrender our hearts to you in Jesus' name.

And everybody said, You may be seated.

Well, as we come to the text, we find, as we saw, a ruler of the synagogue, Jairus, who's in desperate need of a miracle.

His only little girl, 12 years old, she lies at the point of death.

And this is what a desperate daddy does goes to Jesus.

He's the ruler of the synagogue.

He risks it all.

He risks his reputation, his standing, his job.

He finds Jesus.

He falls at the feet of Jesus, and in desperation, he says, She's at the point of death, Jesus.

Come now.

And you can hear it.

He's like, Hurry up, Jesus.

You gotta come quickly, Jesus.

I need you to get there right now.

She's at the point of death.

It's a time-sensitive miracle.

Every minute matters, every step counts.

If Jesus doesn't get to his house fast, it's over.

But notice as desperate as the moment is, there's still hope.

And the reason why there's still hope is because she's at the point of death, but she hasn't died yet.

She's still got life, she's still breathing, her heart is still beating.

The doctors may have run out of answers, but she's still alive.

And as long as she's still alive, Jaris has hope.

And we know how this works, don't we?

As long as there's breath in our body, there's hope.

As long as the marriage is still in the house, there's hope.

As long as the business doors are still open, there's hope.

As long as they're at the point of, but not past the point of, there's still hope.

And Jesus goes with him.

And as Jesus is going with him, word comes from Jariz's house that no parent should ever hear.

Your little daughter is dead.

Don't trouble the master any further.

She's dead, it's over, it's too late.

Sickness leaves room for hope, but death steals all hope.

In one sentence, all natural hope is gone.

There's nothing another doctor can do, nothing money can do, nothing influence can do, nothing time can do.

Have you ever been there before?

Where the word comes and hope dies?

The doctor says, There's nothing more we can do to help you.

The spouse says, I'm done, and the divorce papers get signed.

The bank says the house is gone.

The boss says, We're letting you go.

The report comes back and the word is final.

Life has a way of sending messengers from the house who say it's dead.

Why trouble the master any further?

Why keep praying?

Why keep believing?

Why keep coming to church?

It's over.

But I love what happens next.

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, Don't be afraid, only believe.

Jesus hears the same report as Jairus.

And before Jairus can even respond, Jesus speaks.

And the reason why this is powerful is because how many of you know when all hope is gone, the devil tends to speak, right?

We tend to hear the voice of the enemy.

But I want to declare to you that he's not the only one who talks in hopeless situations.

When all hope is gone, we hear Jesus.

He speaks to us in our pain, he speaks to us in the middle of our problems, he speaks to us in our crisis.

God speaks too.

We have to listen to the voice that gives us hope.

And Jesus is saying to Jaris, Jaris, all natural hope is gone, but I'm still here.

Natural hope has a shelf life, but I'm the author of life.

Natural hope dies when the report comes, but I'm greater, I'm stronger than all of that.

And the Bible is full of butt-God stories, isn't it?

You remember the story of Joseph, he's thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, lied on, locked up, and is and he said this to his brothers.

He says, You meant this for evil against me.

How many of you know?

You don't have to worry about what people mean evil against you.

And I just declare something.

Don't ever lose your sleep about stuff like that.

If you are following God, if you are following the word of God, if you are surrendered to the word of God, it does not matter what people, don't even waste your time, don't waste your energy, don't lose your sleep.

You know why?

Because there's always a buck God.

You meant this for evil, but God meant it for my God.

Amen.

There's always a buck God in the middle of your situation.

The psalmist said this: My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

The apostle Paul said, We were dead in our trespasses in sin, walking according to the course of this world.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love, which he loved us with, even while we were sinners, he died for us.

Then of course they crucified Jesus.

They laid him in the garden grave, in the borrowed tomb.

But the apostle Paul or Acts chapter 13, verse 30 says, But God raised him from the dead.

Acts 13:30

I don't know who needs to hear this today, but I want to encourage you.

Whatever your moment is, whatever your situation is, whatever situation looks hope, hopeless.

The diagnosis is real, but God.

The dead is real, but God.

The divorce papers might be real, but God.

The prodigal's really gone, but God.

The addiction is real, but God.

The loved one passing away is real, but God, there is always a but God in our lives.

It's when God enters our story at a sentence where all hope is gone and changes everything.

And what I love about this story is it teaches us how can you and I position ourselves to experience those but God moments in life.

And I want to give you a few of these.

Number one, and I think this is so plain but so powerful.

How many of you know that sometimes the brilliant things are the obvious things?

Right?

I used to teach science class here in our school, and uh I had this funny way of complimenting the kids.

They would raise their hand and be all excited about an answer and give the right answer, and I'd say, you have a wonderful comprehension of the obvious.

And so, how many know sometimes the brilliant things are the simple things?

And here's what God showed me about this.

He said, We must believe if we're gonna hear it, have a butt God mo, we must believe God wants to help.

Do you know how many people struggle with the fact that God wants to help?

How many people struggle with, am I worthy?

You know, have I done enough?

Can does God want to intervene in my life?

But look closely at who is asking for help.

J.

Iris is the ruler of the synagogue.

His job was to make sure that the synagogue ran right, that people operated with the right etiquette in the house of God.

But Jesus has this track record of upsetting the synagogue etiquette.

Have you ever noticed that about Jesus?

He walks into the synagogue, he heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, and the religious leaders they went out and they plotted how they might destroy him.

He stood up uninvited in the synagogue in Nazareth, and he read from the scroll of Isaiah, and he said, Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

And they tried to throw him off of a cliff for it.

He healed a woman that was bent over with an infirmity for 18 years, and because of that, they said one of the Pharisees, There are six days that you can come and get healed, but don't do it on the Sabbath.

They got mad at him.

Jesus is always upsetting the synagogue rulers, the synagogue leaders.

He's they're they're questioning him, they're testing him, they're accusing him, they're plotting against him.

And Jairus is one of these rulers.

If anybody had reason to think, Jesus isn't gonna help me.

I'm part of the crowd that's been fighting him.

That's who Jairus was.

He was he was one of them.

He's not exactly the kind of person that you would think God would want to help.

But desperation has a way of humbling us, doesn't it?

He swallows his pride, he pushed past his peers, he falls down at Jesus' feet in front of everybody and begs him earnestly.

And what does Jesus do?

Five of the most beautiful words in the Bible.

So Jesus went with him.

No lecture, no, I remember what your colleagues did to me, no making him grovel, no proud probation period, no committee meeting.

He just went because why?

Jesus wants to help.

He wants to help us.

And some of you are here and you're thinking, does God really want to help me?

Does God really want to get involved in this?

If it concerns you, God wants to help.

Matter of fact, listen to the scripture, one of my favorites, Psalm 121, verse number one.

I will lift up my eyes to the hills.

From whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord who made the heaven and the earth.

And I love that because it says, My help comes from Him who is not limited.

He made the heavens and the earth.

It's one thing if your help is coming from somebody who can't, but I don't even know our help is coming from the guy who made the heavens and the earth.

God wants to help.

And when all hope is gone, one of the things the devil tells us is saying, No, God wants you to just suffer.

God wants you, you've messed up too much, you've been along too a way to a way too long, you're on the wrong side of it.

You only pray when you need something.

I know sometimes what what makes the voice of the enemy stick is that sometimes it has some truth in it.

You know when we hear things like, well, you only pray when you need something, there's there's a part of that like kind of got me.

But here's the thing about kind of got me.

How many of you know God wants to help anyway?

God wants to help anyway.

God wants to help.

God loves us so, so much that He wants to help anyway.

God is our refuge and strength, the Bible says, a very present help in time of trouble.

And here's what I love about this scripture: uh Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16.

Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy.

Stop.

Do you know when you and I need mercy?

When we've done something wrong.

Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy.

What do you mean?

So if I've done something wrong, I could still go boldly?

That doesn't seem right, Pastor.

If I've done something wrong, I should be able to go, I should go sheepishly.

God is saying, listen, even when you need mercy, even when you don't deserve it, come boldly and you will find grace, favor to help in time of need.

Can I declare to you, God wants to heal you, God wants to deliver you, God wants to bless you, God wants to restore you, God wants to forgive you, God wants to pull you out.

He's a good God.

We need to believe if we're gonna have butt God moments, that God wants to help.

But then number two, we've got to believe that God can be touched.

There's some people that think, well, you know, God can't be touched.

There are whole religions that are built around it.

That the only way you could touch God is you have to go through a man in order to touch God, that God, you can't touch God for yourself.

Whole religions built around this.

And I can see Jairus.

Can you picture the scene with me?

Jairus is they're all moving expeditiously.

And Jairis is using his influence in order to clear the crowd.

Can you see him there?

There he is right there.

He's move aside, move aside, move aside, get out of the way.

You know, he's using his influence in order to clear a path so that Jesus could get to his house fast.

A great multitude is thronging him, pressing him on every side, and suddenly Jesus stops.

Who touched my clothes?

The disciples can't believe it.

They said, Jesus, what do you mean?

Everybody's bumping into you and touching you.

It's amazing how long people can walk with Jesus and still not follow Jesus.

They still can't feel his flow.

You know?

It's amazing to me, like you've been married a long time.

You the long you get married, you start completing each other's thoughts.

You know exactly what was in their mind, you know what's in their heart, you know, you start thinking more alike.

Because when you walk with somebody, you you you start having their mind.

But it's amazing to me how long people can walk with Jesus and still not flow with the way that Jesus thinks, still not surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, still have their own rules, still have their own special exemptions, still have their own little protocols and all of these kind of things.

And the disciples, they're walking with Jesus and they don't even get what Jesus is saying.

They don't realize that Jesus isn't talking about an ordinary touch here, he's talking about a different kind of touch.

Because let me tell you something you could bump Jesus or you can touch Jesus, and it's not the same thing.

And a lot of people, their relationship with God is like a bumping into Jesus, you know, he's kind of there when he needs to be there, and he's kind of in the way, and so and they're they're kind of all around Jesus, but they never do really draw out the power of God in their lives, they never do really touch Jesus.

But when she heard about Jesus, she came behind him in the crowd, she touched his garment.

And Jesus says, Who touched me?

And I wish I could tell you her name, but I can't.

She's simply defined as the woman with the issue of blood.

Have you ever had an issue so long that it has defined you?

That you start losing sight of who you are, that you are a child of God, that you're a son of God, that you're a daughter of God, that you're the head and not the tail, that you are the apple of God's eye, but you have an issue for so long and all of a sudden you become consumed with your issue.

You know what God told me to tell you?

You can get over your issue.

You can get over your issue, you can overcome your issue.

You don't have to live with that issue for the rest of your life.

And the number one way you get over the issue is you get over it right up here.

Because what controls your mind controls your life.

Some of you need a renewal of your mind.

You need to begin to see yourself through the eyes of God that you are a child of Almighty God.

And so she's given up a lot.

She's been defined by her problems.

She had money, she doesn't have any more because she spent it all on the physicians.

She had relationship and family, but but now she hasn't been able to be around them.

She's unclean.

She had kids, she can't touch her kids.

If she had a husband, she can't touch her husband, can't even live in the same room with them, ostracized by society, can't even be out, not supposed to be out in this situation.

And all of the original language actually says her suffering was so bad that it was like she was at the point of a nervous breakdown.

If anybody's situation was hopeless, if anybody thought God can't be touched, it would be her.

But that's why she's in the Bible.

Because God wants us to know that no matter how far we may be, no matter what we've done in our lives, no matter what we think disqualifies us or doesn't disqualify, God can be touched.

And I love this because listen to what Hebrews says, and I read it before, but I'll read it again.

Is it we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was at all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Touching infirmities and high priest all in the same sentence?

Do you know that doesn't go?

There were rules for that.

If you were infirmed, you couldn't touch a high priest.

Because if you touched the high priest, you made the high priest unclean.

But notice what the scripture says here that our high priest can be, not doesn't want to be, but can be touched with the feelings of our infirmity.

You know what this tells me?

Jesus broke the rules of touch.

And so if you're here today, maybe you're full of sin.

I want you to know, God, you can still touch God.

If you're here today, maybe you're full of for shame, you can still touch God.

Whatever your situation is, God said, I welcome your touch.

And here's the great thing about when we touch God, he always touches us better, doesn't he?

He always touches us back with so much more.

Think about this.

She touched him with pain, he touched her back with power.

She touched him with sickness, he touched her back with healing.

He she touched him with problems, he touched her back with answers.

Can I tell you there is a divine exchange that takes place when you and I get a touch from God?

When God touches you, everything in your life changes.

God can be touched.

But here's the thing I really want you to see.

It's one to believe that God can be touched.

It's a whole nother thing to determine that you're going to touch God.

Because there's a lot of people, yeah, God can be touched, and you know, if God wants to touch me, then it'll just touch me.

And people just sit there passively in their Christian existence, just waiting for a touch from God, waiting for a touch from God.

But I believe that there's a part that we play.

And that is we have to have a determination to touch Jesus no matter how hopeless it seems.

It's amazing to me.

I talk to people who all the time, as you know.

And one thing that amazes me is when stuff is going bad in people's lives, they resort to sin.

Like they'll say, Yeah, Pastor, this was just going so bad, and so I got drunk.

Or this was just going so bad, and so I smoked weed.

And so my marriage was just going so bad, so I committed adultery.

And I'm like, I don't follow.

I don't understand why what we do is we resort to falling away from Jesus or thinking that we'll just respond by doing something that's going to separate us further from Jesus.

I think what God wants us to have is a heart that says, I am more determined now.

I'm pressing in, I'm coming through the crowd, I'm gonna touch the Ham.

There's nothing that's gonna Keep me away from Jesus.

You gotta have some want to in your life.

There's a lot of people that have preferred to and not of people that want to.

And can I tell you, preferred to never get you anything?

How many of you know that a lot of guys in this room we would prefer to have a 32-inch waste in a six-pack?

Maybe a 12-pack, right?

But here's the thing: a lot of people don't want to.

Because you know what that takes?

Do you know the kind of discipline that that takes?

And here's what I determined.

I'm just I'm cool with a one-pack.

I mean a one pack, I'm just cool with it.

And the reason why I'm cool with it is I want some cake sometimes, I want some pasta sometimes, I want some life sometimes.

I'm okay with that kind of stuff.

But if you really want it, then you have to pay a price.

And this woman, she was willing to pay a price because she didn't just prefer it, she really wanted it.

Think of everything that's standing in the way of her and Jesus.

First, there's a huge crowd.

A lot of people would be like, oh, this is not for me.

You know, the obstacle means God doesn't want me to have it.

There are two types of closed doors.

There's the door that God has closed in your life.

How do I know if it's the door that God has closed?

Because God has told me right here in my Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit said, That's not for you.

And and sadly enough, those are the doors we try to push open.

Those are the doors that we beat on.

Those are the doors that we try to kick down.

Those are the doors that we keep trying.

It's like when Israel wanted a king.

God said, I don't want you to have a king.

I'm your king.

I'm gonna send you judges.

No, we need a king.

Every other nation is a king, every other nation is a king.

So God gave them what they wanted.

But it wasn't because God wanted them to walk through that open door, it's because they wanted to kick through the open door.

But then there are doors that the enemy creates as obstacles in our life.

And the sad thing about those doors is we walk away from them.

And the reason why we walk away from them is because we're not being guided by the Holy Spirit.

We don't move based upon open and closed doors.

We move based upon the unction of the Holy Spirit and the word of Almighty God.

And if God said it, you crawl through the crowd if you need to.

You get kicked on, stepped on, whatever the case may be, lied about, talked about.

It doesn't matter because if God said so, you've got to do it.

This is this woman.

She wants it, she doesn't just prefer it.

There's a trick, though, to staying determined.

There's ways, principles that God has given us so that our faith could keep pushing us toward the touch from Jesus.

And the first one is this, and it's in the story.

What do we say?

What comes out of our mouth?

Did you notice in her story?

She said, if I might just touch the hem of his garment, I shall be made whole.

Do you know what James tells us?

James tells us that our mouth is like the rudder of a ship.

That it's the steering wheel of our life, that it controls the direction that we go in.

And what you say and say and say and say and say and say and say eventually programs your thinking.

And when your thinking is programmed in a certain way, your actions, your life follows your thoughts.

And so what comes out of your mouth is essential to you empowering your faith.

And so notice what she did.

She kept saying, the original language says she didn't say once, she kept saying.

So every time there was adversity, she would say, Okay, they kicked me, but if only I touched the hem of his garment, I shall be made whole.

There's a crowd, but if only I touched the hem of his garment, I shall be made whole.

The doctors can't do anything for me, but if only I touch the hem of his garment, I shall be made.

As she's making her way toward Jesus, she is being empowered.

Her mouth is steering her life through all the obstacles, through the crowd, through the kicks, through the lies, through the bad circumstances.

What are you saying when you go through a situation?

It's gonna determine whether your faith can endure until you touch Jesus.

But the second thing is what we hold on to.

Notice she wasn't just saying anything.

She was saying, if I could just touch the hem of his garment.

And a lot of people will read that and say, well, that just means she just wants to get any piece of Jesus she can.

And don't get me wrong, touching any piece of Jesus is wonderful.

Amen.

Right?

It's not like you know his pinky has more power than his toe.

I mean, the the hole of Jesus is powerful.

But why did she say the hem and not the finger or not the pinky or not the shoulder or not the face or not the back or not the leg or not the arm?

Why did she say the hem?

Because I believe she knew something about Jesus.

She knew from wherever she picked it up from, along the line that there was a promise in the Bible, Micah chapter 4, verse number 2, and it says this the Son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.

Micah 4 · chapter mention

And rabbis, of which Jesus was one of them, wore these prayer shawls known as telefs.

And tilefs had these little things on the bottom tassels that were known as wings.

And so, somewhere along the line, she picked up a word about what the Messiah would be like.

That when the true Messiah comes, he will have healing in his tassels, healing in his wings, because those wings to a Jewish rabbi represented the word of God.

She knew that the word of God had power.

How many of you know that the same word of God that worked for her can work for you?

It's what you hold on to.

What word are you holding on to?

Not a word from a man, not a word from your own mind, a word from the word of God that you renew your mind with as you hold on to that word in your heart.

And when the Bible talks about holding on to the word, it said, now faith is the substance of things hoped for.

You know what the word substance in that verse means?

It literally describes a junkyard dog who stands by their bone and growls if you tie if you come close.

Here's what faith is faith is getting a word from God, and then and then so Jamel, come here a second.

Come here a second.

Just come right here.

Jamel, Jamel is a tough big guy, right?

He could whoop me if we had a real fight, so that's why I'm not messing with you, bro.

Okay, you know, I'm your pastor.

Treat me with a little grace here, okay?

So so let's say that let's say this is my word right here.

And let's say a big guy like Jamel comes and tries to steal my word.

Look, I'm using the stage.

See that?

See how I used everything to my advantage right there.

I knew he's bigger, stronger, so I pulled him over the stage.

Thank you, Jamel.

What it means, what it means to hold on to the word is to get a word from God and guard that thing like a junkyard dog would guard their bone.

Don't let anything come and take that thing.

Don't let anything come and snatch that thing.

If you gotta fight, if you gotta tear somebody up, you gotta tear, you gotta protect the word of God in your heart.

She was holding on to that.

What's your word?

If you're sick by his stripes, I'm healed.

If you're going through something or you're under attack, no weapon formed against me shall prosper.

If you're going through something you don't understand, all things work together for the good for those that love God and are called according to his purpose.

If you're feeling alone, the word is, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

If your marriage is in trouble, the word is what God has joined together.

Let no man put asunder.

What is your word?

Hold on to your word.

It empowers your faith until you touch Jesus.

But the third thing, and this is important, it's what she heard.

Can I just be honest with you?

Some of you, your faith is shipwrecked because your ears are garbage cans.

You're allowing too much trash in your ears.

You think that your ears are open for everybody's opinion, everybody's situation, everybody's whatever the faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

And you got to be careful what you allow in your ears.

Because the verse says, verse number 27, this is the spark that that lit the whole flame, that lit the whole butt God in her life.

It said, but when she heard about Jesus, but when she heard about Jesus, but when she heard about Jesus, she came in the press of the crowd behind him and touched his garment.

But here's what the original language says it doesn't say when she heard about Jesus, it said when she heard about the Jesus.

When she heard, see, there is a version of Jesus that will destroy your faith.

The Jesus that don't want to help you, the Jesus that heals selectively, the Jesus that doesn't care about the way that you live your life, the Jesus that lets you set your own rules, the Jesus that wants to see you suffer.

There is a version of Jesus that will destroy your faith.

But what version of Jesus did she hear that caused faith to arise in our heart?

This is the man who's opening blind eyes, this is the man who's unstopping deaf ears.

This is the man who's walking, this is the Jesus, this is the one, this is the God.

What about doing good, healing all those who are pressed of the devil?

This is the God who is no respecter of persons, this is the Son of righteousness that shall arise with healing in his wings.

What version of God are you hearing about in your life?

You've got to listen to the right things.

You've got to listen to the right people.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

And somebody says, Pastor, you know, I'm just tired though.

I don't have 12 years of fight in me.

Nobody has 12 years of fighting them.

Nobody.

Most people in this room don't have 12 months of fighting them.

Can we just be real?

But you know what biblical endurance is?

It's not when you fight in your own strength.

It's when God touches your tired.

It's when God supernaturally does something for you.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, he says this.

He says in James chapter 1, verse number 3, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

James 1 · chapter mention

And the word produces is a Greek word that describes a chemical reaction, an explosion of some sort.

And so faith that locks in on Jesus, faith that says, I'm going to follow Jesus, causes a chemical reaction, an explosion that produces, that transforms into this thing that is far more different than our patience.

It's called endurance.

Endurance is when.

Something kicks in as you press in.

Come on, something kicks in as you press in.

And when you press into God, God touches your tired.

That was this woman.

God touched her tired.

How else do you explain this woman looking for a cure 12 years after she's found no cure?

How else do you explain her being in a city far from home, seeking out another physician when all have failed her?

How else do you explain her fighting through the crowd to reach Jesus when Jesus was moved away, moving away from her?

She had something supernatural.

We need to have endurance.

Endurance that says, I am going to touch Jesus.

It's not just that Jesus wants me, but I am doing whatever I have to do.

I'm going to stay in worship as long as it takes.

Some people are like, God, I got five minutes.

Five minutes, and I just need you to touch me in the next five minutes.

And God's like, okay, we're on that kind of relationship.

Like, why do you have five minutes?

Well, you know, get up early.

Well, I like to sleep in, but you don't really want to touch from God.

What you do is you prefer it, but you don't really want it.

Well, uh, God, I need a word from you, but you don't crack your Bible.

God's like, dig in.

Keep digging in.

Get in my presence and stay in my presence until you get a word from me.

Be like, be like Mary.

Martha, Martha, you are troubled and worried about many things.

But Mary has done that one thing that is needful.

She sat at my feet long enough to get a word.

That's what this woman had.

This woman was pressing in until she got a word from Jesus.

But number four, number four, if we're gonna get a butt muck God moment, we must believe delays are more divine than they are denials.

Most people, when when the answer doesn't come on our timetable, we think God is denying us.

Let's be honest, from Jairus' point of view, this woman was a problem.

She was an unwelcomed interruption and a time-sensitive miracle.

His daughter is dying by the minute, and Jesus has stopped in the middle of the road for a testimony service.

And she doesn't give a quick two-minute church testimony.

She's one of those people that you regret giving the mic to.

I used to go to a very little church growing up.

50 people.

And the pastor loved to have testimony service.

I hated testimony service.

Not because I didn't mind hearing the testimonies, but I knew if certain people got the mic, that service is going to be long.

Certain people they got the mic and it was like their moment.

They want to tell you from Genesis to Revelation.

They ain't tell you nothing about their testimony.

They just want to tell you everything that they know.

They just keep going on and on and on and on and on and on and on.

She was one of those people, this lady, you don't, you wish you didn't give her the mic.

One of those people, you know, that you you try to walk away from when you see them.

Because you know that you can't just say hello to them, right?

You say hello to them, and before you know it, you there glazed over 30 minutes later.

They're telling you everything, it's not just one time, it's every single week.

It's like, can I say hello to the other people too?

Can I this, you know, just sorry, this is this people.

The Bible said she came to Jesus, she told Jesus the whole truth.

The whole truth.

She's like, Jesus, you're never gonna believe this.

Way back 12 years ago, it just started one day out of the blue.

I think it was a Sunday afternoon, about 2.38 in the afternoon.

And at 2.38 in the afternoon, I felt something funny.

I went in the bathroom, and sure enough, I had my period out of nowhere, Jesus.

And I thought, well, it's just gonna end really soon.

And I talked to my husband about it, and he just, you know, said, he grunted at me, you know, you know how men are, Jesus.

He just told me, don't worry about it.

And, you know, I didn't worry about it at first, but then it lasted two, three weeks.

And so I went to the doctor.

You know, the doctor in our hometown, he has he has an office in a red building and it's got gray stripes on the bottom of it.

And and this doctor, his name was his name was Dr.

Dr.

Phil.

And so I so I went into Dr.

Phil's office, and when I got into Dr.

Phil's office, you know, the reception area was real nice.

They had a gray rug and it had some magazines that were out there, Jesus.

And you know, the lady behind the reception desk, she wasn't really that kind to me or anything like that.

And she asked me my insurance.

I forgot my insurance card, and so there was a big to-do about that, Jesus.

And then finally, after she told me to sit there and wait, and I waited 20 minutes for somebody to come and call me, and then after 20 minutes, somebody came and called me, and it wasn't even the doctor, it was the nurse.

And I went into the area, you know, I went into the room, and the nurse did all of her things on me.

The first thing she did was check my blood pressure, and my blood pressure, it was all right, Jesus.

It wasn't great, Jesus, but it was all right.

It's like 125 over 82, and so that's pretty good, Jesus.

And you know, then after they checked my blood pressure, next thing they did, you know, is they they listened to my heart a little bit and they told me to breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in.

They did that like six times, Jesus.

And I breathe in and breathe real good, and everything was fine so on and so on.

And then don't you hate what they did next, Jesus?

They told me to wear one of those robes with a slit in the back.

And I hate wearing those robes with the slit in the back because it's so crazy to wear those robes with the slit in the back, Jesus.

And then after all that, then they told me, okay, the doctor will be in shortly.

And I don't know what their version of shortly is, Jesus, but my version of shortly is that the doctor would be in in like five minutes.

But their version of shortly was it took the doctor 30 minutes to get in.

And then when the doctor finally came in in 30 minutes, the doctor only spent two minutes with me, Jesus.

And then they built my insurance company like$700 for the two minutes that the doctor said.

And then I did all these tests, Jesus.

And you know what?

After all that, they couldn't help me.

So you know what I did, Jesus?

I went to another doctor.

And this doctor's name was Dr.

Oz.

And Dr.

Oz, I thought Dr.

Oz, I thought Dr.

Oz would know everything, because Dr.

Oz knows everything, Jesus.

And his office was a little nicer, it was in a little nicer place, and I was in Saks Fifth Avenue and New York City, and Dr.

Oz's office, and on and on and on and on and on.

And you know what Jairis is doing?

Jairis is going, short version, please.

How many of you know that sometimes you just need the short version?

And finally, though, she says, but then Jesus, I heard about you.

And that's when Jesus, I believe, it's not in the Bible, stopped and looked at Jairus.

He said, pay attention to what she's about to say.

And then I heard of you.

I heard that you were opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, walking on water, raising people from the dead again.

And I remembered way back from Sunday school when I used to go to temple.

Jaris is the ruler of the synagogue.

And the Sunday school teacher told us that the Son of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.

And Jesus, I just knew that if you were really not just any Jesus, because there's all sorts of Jesus out there, but the Greek says the Jesus.

I knew if you were the Jesus, the one who does not have any human limitation, the one who is not in imitation, the one who has the power of God.

God manifests in the flesh.

I knew that the sign that it was really you is that you would have healing in your wings.

And Jesus is looking at on the inside, he's going, Go ahead, girl, testify.

Go ahead, girl, tell him, tell him everything, tell him the whole story because he needs to hear everything that you're about to say.

And here's the reason why.

Because Jesus knew the girl would die before he got there.

It wasn't news to Jesus.

Jairus thought he's got to hurry quick, but Jairus didn't understand he don't gotta hurry quick.

His power is not diminished by time, his power is not diminished by space.

He can do it anyway.

He knew the beginning and from the beginning.

He knew that even if he hurried there, word would come from the house that the child was dead.

And so what he did was he allowed for an interruption, not as a delay, but as development, so that Jairus could hear everything that he was gonna need to follow the direction of Jesus when the word came that said she was dead, and Jesus turned around and said, Don't be afraid, only believe.

Because how could he do that unless his faith was built up?

And so she said everything that he needed to hear.

Delays are not denials, they are divine setups, and they're so setups that all of the details are amazing.

Think of it, she's in a city, she's not even looking for Jesus.

She wasn't there looking for Jesus, it just so happened that she ran into Jesus, right time, right place.

She was there looking for a doctor, and she heard about Jesus.

But notice how everything sets up.

She was had the issue of blood how many years?

How old was the girl who was dying?

Coincidence?

God ordained appointment.

God wants to set up your situation because listen, this will bless you.

For every child of God, you need to realize there are always two things happening in your life at the same time.

There's what there's what happens for you and what happens through you.

And there are too many people, it's called infantile Christianity, that are only serving God for a for me experience.

And so all they ever focus on is what God can do for me, for me, for me, for me.

All their prayers are for me, for me, for me.

Nothing wrong with wanting God to do things for you, because if God be for us, who can be against us?

He will withhold no good thing from his children.

I'm all for God wanting to do things for you, but it's low level Christianity because I found that God will automatically do things.

For me, if I'm willing to allow God to do things through me.

She was there for a for me experience.

And God did do it for her.

He healed her.

But God wanted to use her for a through me experience.

He wanted to use her story in order to empower somebody else.

The biggest question that you can be asking yourself is not, God, what can you do for me?

But God, what can you do through me?

God, what can you do through this pain?

God, what can you do through this problem?

God, what can you do through this circumstance?

God, what can you do through this blessing?

God, what can you do through my business?

God, what can you do through my marriage?

God, what can you do through my occupation?

Because I'll tell you what, when you begin to ask what God can do through you, wait till you see what God does for you.

He will blow your mind.

Number five, number five, and we got to bring this to a close.

Number five.

In order to experience a book God moment, we must sow the right seed so God can meet our need.

There's something in the story that's easy to miss.

Because most people want investment-free Christianity.

Look at all the amens I got on that one.

Nobody said nothing.

Everything else, you loud amens.

Investment-free Christianity just there.

Some people want investment-free marriages.

Some people want investment-free health.

Everybody wants what they want, but most people want it investment free.

And there's no such thing as return without investment.

There's no such thing as harvest without seed.

You can't have one.

The Bible says as long as the earth is, there will always be seed time and harvest.

And so Jairis needs a big miracle.

So Jairis has to sow a small seed.

No.

Jairis needs a big miracle.

So Jairis has to sow a big seed.

Because whatever you sow, that shall you also reap.

Investment free Christianity or small seed Christianity.

Small sacrifice Christianity.

We want big returns with little investment.

We want lots of God without giving him all of us.

How many of you know that's not what Christianity looks like?

That's not how Christianity works.

It's never worked like that.

Wasn't meant to work like that.

And so here is a time-sensitive situation.

And she is out in public, and this is an offense that was punishable by capital punishment.

And the one who had the power to enforce the capital punishment for her being out in public, being unclean, was the ruler of the synagogue who was Jairus.

So the one who had the power to punish her was Jairis, and she was interrupting his time-sensitive miracle.

And the seed that he had to sow in the minute was a seed that would allow her to live power restraint so he can watch Jesus raise his little girl from the dead.

Big seed, big miracle.

Here's my question for you What seed is God asking you to sow?

Maybe it's a seed of mercy.

Maybe it's a seed of forgiveness.

Maybe it's a seed of kindness.

If it's financial, where you have a financial lead, I guarantee you God is asking you to sow a financial seed.

Because whatever you sow, that shall you also reap.

What seed is God asking you to sow in the moment?

Believe God is never trying to take something from you.

God is always trying to give something to you.

But lastly, today, in order to experience a but God moment, we must trust God to do what we can't.

Listen to the text.

And he permitted no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

Stop, stop.

There's a lot of this in this text.

Sometimes you've got to make your circle smaller.

I feel the Holy Ghost on this one.

Because some of you all think life is about making your circle bigger.

But I'll tell you what, the higher up you go, the smaller your circle has to become.

And the smaller your circle has to become is because not everybody can think on the level of what God is asking you to do.

And so if you allow anybody into your circle, you infect the mindset and the vision of your circle.

And when you infect the vision of your circle, what you get is division.

And whenever there is division, there is every evil work.

And so Jesus understood that if he was gonna do some big things, he had to shrink the circle in the moment of the big things, which meant nobody can come except Peter, James, and John.

Even though the other disciples were with him for about as long as Peter, James, and John, he understood that Peter, James, and John could handle the moment, and not everybody else could.

If you don't know this about me, I'm not interested in making friends.

I love people.

I'm not interested in repelling people.

I am not interested in making friends.

Here's what I'm interested in doing: what God asked me to do.

And Jesus was on a mission.

You need to be on a mission when it comes to what God has asked you to do.

And the mission is what you protect more than any other thing in life.

And he permitted no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

And he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and saw a tumult and those who weeped and wailed loudly.

And he came and he said to them, Why make this commotion and weep?

The child's not dead but sleeping.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

Was the child dead?

Was the child dead?

Yes.

Why did Jesus say she was sleeping?

Jesus is one of those kind of preachers, one of those kind of preachers that says stuff that's not really true.

One of those preachers that kind of tells you to speak stuff into existence.

See, there are some people that are so spiritually ignorant that when they're criticizing other preachers, they're criticizing the lips of the man of God, Jesus Himself, who taught the principle.

Jesus said, Call those things which be not as though they were.

It is not denying reality, it is commanding that whatever is lines up with the word of God, which is the highest truth.

And they ridiculed him.

A lot of people fall back because of ridicule.

If you want to do anything significant for God, put your big boy pants on.

Put your big girl pants on.

And get ready because you can never get everybody to agree with you at the same time.

Your objective is not agreement with people.

Your objective is agreement with God.

If God be for us, who can be against us?

Now watch this.

And when he had put them all outside.

Wait a second.

Jesus threw people out the house?

Are you wait, wait, let me read that again.

I thought Jesus was more courteous than that.

I thought Jesus was more kind than that.

I'm telling you, you gotta watch who's in your room when you're about to have God do something unusual in your life.

If you don't protect your room, if you don't protect your environment, you are asking for ministry and miracles to be stalled in your life.

And he took the father and the mother of the child and those who were with him, and he entered where the child was lying.

And he takes Peter, James, and John.

Peter Rock, James means replacer, and John means grace.

Why?

Because he was walking into the room with a mission, and that was to replace the law with grace.

The law said a rabbi cannot touch something dead, but grace came into the room and raised the dead.

If you want to see God, turn your situation around.

You gotta watch your room.

Then he took the child by the hand and he said to her, Taleth, Taletha Kumai, which is translated, little girl arise.

And immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was 12 years of age, and they were overcome with great amazement.

Notice what he says, Talitha Kumai.

Aramaic, it means little girl arise.

But how many of you know there was a Hebrew synagogue ruler in the room?

And when he heard Talitha Kumai, he heard something totally different.

Because a Taleth was what they wrapped a dead body in.

Look at the dead body.

Look at this right here.

You know what those are?

Those are wings.

That's the wings.

Those are the tassels on the bottom of the tile.

Jairus walks into the room.

He has just seen a miracle because a woman reached out and touched the tassels, touched the wings, and Jesus walks into the room.

He says, Talith Akumai, which means little girl wrapped in healing wings, arise.

The same word that he got, the same word that he saw in the delay was the exact word that he needed in the time of the miracle.

I'm telling you, God is here to turn your life around.

God is here to turn your story around.

But here's what I really want you to see.

And it's the last thing.

Trust God to do what we can.

Jairus, he's at the point where all he can do is follow Jesus.

He cannot raise his daughter from the dead, all he can do is believe.

He cannot do anything but get Jesus to his house.

He can restrain his power.

He can show mercy, but he cannot raise the dead.

He could obey the words of Jesus when he said, Do not be afraid, only believe, but he couldn't perform the miracle.

The final we must is we must trust God to do what we can't.

Faith is not you doing God's part, faith is you doing your part.

Believing, pressing, speaking, holding on, sowing, honoring God with your life, and trusting God to do what you can.

You can pray, but only God can perform.

You can plant in water, but only God can give the increase.

You can touch the hem of his garment, but only God can release the power.

You can believe, but only God can raise the dead.

And maybe your marriage is on its final legs, but God.

Maybe your health is just keeps getting worse, worse, but God.

Maybe the dream is dying, but God.

Maybe the prodigal child is away from hope, but God.

Maybe it's your joy that's been stolen, your peace that's been stolen, your hope that's been stolen, your fire for God.

Always remember that no matter what your situation is, God is stronger, God is greater, God is willing, God is able.

There's always a but God moment in your life.

And what this takes, this takes a surrender from you.

Well, I think God is looking for, but I know God is looking for.

He said, I'm gonna go, synagogue ruler.

I'm gonna go out in public and I'm gonna fall at the feet and worship the one who we're fighting against.

You know what that is?

That's humility.

Humility is not you take a compliment well.

There's a lot of people who take compliments well but refuse to surrender to the word of God, refuse to walk in obedience, continue to do the things that they know are wrong, continue to violate scripture, continue to make up their own rules, continue to figure out why it's okay for them to disobey in this area and that obey.

You know what that is?

That's pride.

Humility is when we say, God, I surrender to you, I surrender to your ways.

Listen to this, even when we don't see it, even when I never required my kids to only obey me if they agreed with me.

They obey me because I'm their dad.

And because I know better than them.

I obey God because He's my dad, and He knows better than me, even if I don't see it, even if I don't agree with it, even if I think there's a different way.

I trust that God's ways are best, and so I fall at the feet of Jesus.

And what God is saying to each and every one of you is surrender, fall at the feet of Jesus and watch him turn your situation around.

And there's this song we sung at the beginning of the service.

Is the worship team here?

It's about the woman with the alabaster box.

I didn't preach on her, maybe I should have, but I didn't.

She was at a place in her life where she's losing everything, full of shame.

She came one day and she fell at the feet of Jesus.

She broke her alabaster box, she surrendered to him.

And that alabaster box was her life, it's what she used for her livelihood.

She was a prostitute.

She said, I'm breaking it.

I'm not doing this no more.

I'm surrendering.

She poured out the oil on Jesus.

She poured out her best on it.

Srender, it was sacrifice, it was God, here it is, and God changed her life.

Here's what I believe.

I believe that that wasn't only the change in her life, that was the seed for when Lazarus was raised from the dead because Lazarus was her brother.

And when you read the story of the account of Lazarus, it makes reference of, and Mary was there, the same Mary that broke her alabaster box.

See, you never know what your surrender to God in this moment can do with you in the future moment.

God not only wants to give you butt now today, He wants to give you butt God tomorrow.

Can you say amen?

Would you stand and sing this with us?