Category: Upside Up

Mark 5

37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. 43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.

Don’t you find it strange that Jesus says, “she’s only asleep?” The professional mourners that one would hire in that time and that culture have already arrived and they are doing their thing. In other words, they are convinced she is not just mostly dead, she’s completely dead. But Jesus kicks out everyone except the mother, father, and his closest disciples.

Jesus holds her by the hand and says a term of endearment, “Little girl, get up!” His words and actions are not only powerful, but they are also loving. It’s what a mother would say to her child on a sunny morning. Honey, it’s time to get up. And she does! Jesus is face to faceT with death, but if He has your hand death itself is nothing but sleep to Him. Such is His power and authority. But we only get to enter into the Upside Up and experience this through faith.

In times of crises in our lives, may we hear Jesus saying to us through the Holy Spirit, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

 May we enter into God’s healing presence through faith. One thing is certain. The crowd was excluded from the room because of their lack of faith and they missed out on witnessing this amazing miracle – the first person in Jesus’ ministry raised from the dead – which is a foreshadow of the cross and His power and victory over sin and death itself. . [P. Cory Ricks, Upside UP Fall College Conference, 2018].

Today let’s pray as we enter into God’s very presence in prayer and worship in faith! Worship with the song (click here) ‘Raised to Life’.

-GK

Psalm 103
¹ Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Salvation is connected with the healing of the whole person. The emphasis is on the spiritual healing of being forgiven and reconciled with God. This connection is also often made by Jesus as he often both forgives the person’s sin and physically heals them. From this spiritual healing flows the beginning of wholeness in all areas of our lives that will come to fruition in all its fullness in the new creation where there will be no more sin, death, pain or tears.

Today, look to the Lord. Trust in the One who took our place. Look to the one who carries our burdens and took the guilt of our sin and shame away. As we look to what Jesus did on the cross, may the bitter areas of our lives become sweet. May the broken areas become whole. May the hurt give way to greater and greater healing. Today, may we meet the God who heals. By His wounds we are healed. [P. Cory Ricks, Upside UP Fall College Conference, 2018].

-GK

Isaiah 53:4-6 (NLT) Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

Our rebellion has to do with our outright, knowingly and deliberately going against God, His word, His will, and His plan for our lives. And the result is that sin mars everything that we do. There are very real consequences of this broken relationship with God. We wish for more than we are able to achieve, so that the “good life” is always eluding us, we long to be truly happy but we are constantly weighed down by sorrow in whatever form it may come, disappointments, grieving a loss, tragedy, whatever. But he made our burdens his own. Jesus acted as our substitute on the cross. He did not merely suffer as a result of our sins, but he suffers in our place as well. He took our place. He did not suffer for his own sins or failings. No, he took our sins, our weaknesses, our moral failures, and our greatest need upon himself on the cross.

All of this brings about our healing. Verse 5 is literally translated : in his wounds it is healed to us. Jesus has brought about through his suffering what we cannot bring about ourselves. Isaiah uses healing in a total sense. It is the healing of the whole person, restoring fulness and bringing about completeness to that which was broken. [P. Cory Ricks, Upside UP Fall College Conference, 2018].

Today, let’s pray and receive and live into this complete healing that Jesus has made possible for us. Also, spend time in worship with the song (click here) ‘Anthem’.

-GK