Day 10 of Questions for Mark. Here we go.

“What obstacles do Jairus and the woman face as they come to Jesus, and what motivates them to press forward?”

Since I have heard the woman with the issue of blood covered so many times more than Jairus, let me focus on him for this study.

Mark 5:22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,

Imagine if you would that you have been with a church for a long time. You are well known, well respected, gained a position and have been used by God to serve there with earnest faith.

Now imagine being asked to leave.

If that doesn’t sound right or fair to you then you just might understand the risk Jairus was taking in this telling. It is not like Jesus was calling Jairus out of the synagogue to worship Him aside from the Jewish faith. Jesus wanted him to worship Him in that faith.

I was talking to my accountability partner just yesterday about some of these issues of worship and what it might look like from both points of view. There is the outsider and then the insider. I’ve been to churches were I was not allowed communion because I wasn’t one of them. An examination of faith is sometimes made to determine acceptability.

Ever been to a church with two doors? One for them and the other door for visitors. Sounds silly but can you imagine a two door church, one for whites and one for “others”? That is offensive to me and according to the scriptures offensive to God.

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Day 9 of our Questions for Mark bible study and here is the devotional question of the day.

“What situations in your life are causing you to fear? Talk with Jesus about how you can choose faith over fear.”

Mark 5:15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

Fear takes on many forms. Which form of fear are we talking about here? Only Jesus can look into the hearts of man and know for certain which fear is there. For the next few seconds try and put yourselves in their position and ask yourself what you might fear. That is all we really can know is how fear might affect us. Take this little piece of advice from a combat veteran, fear isn’t always what you think it will be for you.

Do you have something settled in your mind? Maybe you see a couple of issues. Good. It is always helpful to see another’s point of view about fear. It was only during this study that this thought occurred to me, having never heard it taught in this way.

Here it is; “What is this Jesus going to cost me?”

Two thousand pigs ran into the sea and drowned. It matters not if it were one man’s pigs or the whole region’s pigs, it cost somebody something. Sadly this is one of the realities of salvation. Not everyone is going to be happy for you in your salvation.

Those individuals who see change in you and begin to fear how that might affect their lives could be business partners, co-workers, spouses, children, neighbors, friends and let us not forget your dealer. A dealer does not have to be a drug dealer, but sometimes is just that. A dealer is someone who uses you for his own selfish gains and takes unfair advantage of your weaknesses.