Living Water Vineyard Church

09/11/2026

Living Water, maybe the best way to end this week is simply this:

Don’t settle for looking like love.

Become love.

Be honest about where you are, and then take another step toward Jesus.

God already knows you.

He loves you.

And He’s transforming you.

So love the person in front of you.

Forgive the person who hurt you.

Encourage somebody who needs it.

If you tell somebody you’ll pray for them—

pray for them.

If you see somebody who needs help—

don’t just hope somebody helps them.

Be that somebody.

And when your words and your life get a little out of sync—

CLAP!

Sync it back up.

Come back to Jesus.

Because following Jesus was never supposed to be about looking the part.

It’s about becoming like Him.

LET’S PRAY

Father, thank You that we never have to pretend with You.

You know us completely, and You love us completely.

Forgive us for the times we’ve been more concerned about looking like Christians than actually following Jesus.

Holy Spirit, show us where our words and our lives have gotten out of sync.

Make our faith real.

Make our love real.

Make our forgiveness real.

Jesus, we don’t want to simply look like You.

We want to become like You.

So today, put somebody in front of us that we can love—

not just with words,

but with actions and in truth.

Help us love everybody, always—

one person,

one decision,

one act of love at a time.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend, Living Water family.

And thanks for letting your pastor disappear into the mountains for a couple of days! 😂

I’m back in cell-phone range.

So today—

love the person in front of you.

Let your actions match your words.

And lose the wax. ❤️

09/08/2026

09/07/2026

LIVING WATER VINEYARD DEVOTION

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2026

CREEPY PEOPLE

LOVE EVERYBODY, ALWAYS

John 13:34–35

“As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Good morning, Living Water family!

I hope everybody had a wonderful three-day weekend.

And thank you to everyone who came out yesterday. What a beautiful morning—and what a joy celebrating five baptisms!

I never get tired of watching someone go down into that water and come back up declaring:

“I belong to Jesus!”

But remember, that person’s journey probably didn’t begin at the baptismal tank.

Somebody prayed. Somebody invited. Somebody encouraged. Somebody showed them Jesus.

One life touched another life.

And that fits perfectly with what I want to talk about this week.

I’ve been reading Bob Goff’s book Love Everybody, Always. The first chapter has a title that made me laugh:

“Creepy People.”

Before you start making your list of creepy people, remember:

You might be on somebody else’s list!

I’m pretty sure I’m on a few!

HAVE YOU EVER MET JESUS?

Bob tells about being in high school when someone asked him:

“Have you ever met Jesus?”

Relatively few people throughout history physically met Jesus.

But Bob makes this beautiful point:

If we want to get closer to Jesus, maybe we need to get closer to the people He created.

And not just people who look like us, believe like us, think like us or vote like us.

Because it’s easy to love lovable people.

What about the difficult ones?

That made me think about Judas.

JESUS WASHED JUDAS’S FEET

John 13 tells us Jesus knew Judas was going to betray Him.

Jesus knew.

And yet He got up from the table, wrapped a towel around His waist, poured water into a basin and washed His disciples’ feet.

Judas was still in the room.

Think about that.

The hands that would soon be pierced with nails washed the feet of the man who would betray Him.

Jesus wasn’t naive.

But Jesus didn’t allow Judas’s behavior to determine Jesus’ character.

Judas chose betrayal.
Jesus still chose love.

That reminds me of something that happened to me several years ago.

“I DON’T BELIEVE WHAT YOU BELIEVE”

We were doing outdoor church in a neighborhood nicknamed “Beirut.”

We’d feed people, help people, pray and talk about Jesus.

There was a wonderful Christian woman who lived there. She was British and had the greatest accent.

I loved seeing her. We talked about Jesus. We believed the same things.

She was easy for me to love.

One day she asked if her husband could come.

He was from the Middle East and was Muslim.

He came out and almost immediately told me:

“I don’t believe what you believe.”

But he appreciated what we were doing and wanted to help.

And I’m going to tell you the truth:

It bothered me.

I thought:

What are people going to think? Here’s a Muslim man helping with our Christian outreach.

At first, I basically ignored him.

Then I felt like the Lord asked me:

“Bob, do you only love lovable people?”

Ouch.

So I started talking to him.

Not preaching at him.

Talking to him.

I asked about his family, where he grew up, his brothers and sisters, how he met his wife.

And something started happening.

Not necessarily in him.

In me.

I stopped seeing a Muslim.

I started seeing a man.

A husband who loved his wife.

A man with a story.

A person created in the image of God.

GRACE AND TRUTH

Loving everybody doesn’t mean agreeing with everybody.

This man and I didn’t believe the same things.

I believed Jesus is the Son of God. He didn’t.

But John 1 describes Jesus as:

“full of grace and truth.”

Not grace without truth.

Not truth without grace.

Grace AND truth.

I could disagree with what this man believed without distancing myself from the man.

So I started praying for him, blessing him and listening.

Eventually he began asking questions about Jesus.

I remember him saying:

“Wow, I never knew that about Jesus.”

And eventually…

he gave his life to Jesus!

We baptized him!

Today he’s traveling throughout the Middle East preaching the gospel!

…

No.

None of that happened!

I wish I could give you that ending!

Eventually his wife moved away, and I never saw either of them again.

And isn’t that how we sometimes think?

“God, I did what You told me to do. Where’s my ending?”

But Jesus never said:

“Love people if it works.”

He said:

Love people.

Maybe that man wasn’t simply somebody God put in my life for me to teach.

Maybe he was one of my teachers.

I wanted him to learn something about Jesus.

Jesus used him to teach me something about Jesus.

Sometimes the person we think God put in our lives so we can change them is actually the person God uses to change us.

I LOVE BEING NUMBER 21!

There’s something called the Engel Scale, which gives us a picture of someone’s journey toward faith.

I’ve heard it described this way over the years: sometimes it can take something like 21 touches before someone is ready to say yes to Jesus.

Now listen:

I love being number 21!

I love asking:

“Would you like to give your life to Jesus?”

And hearing:

“Yes!”

I love praying with them.

I love baptizing them.

But there can’t be a number 21 unless somebody was willing to be number one.

Somebody was number two.

Somebody was number three.

Somebody invited them.

Somebody listened.

Somebody prayed.

Somebody showed them kindness.

Then somebody gets to be number 21 and thinks:

“Wow! Look what I did!”

No!

Twenty people may have been planting and watering before you ever showed up.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6:

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”

So I’m okay with being number one.

I’m okay with number ten.

And I love being number 21.

I don’t know what number I was for that man.

But maybe I was a touch.

My job isn’t to save anybody.

Jesus saves people.

My job is to love people, tell them about Jesus and faithfully represent Him.

TODAY’S ACTIVATION

So today, don’t go looking for 21 people.

Look for one.

Ask the Holy Spirit:

“Who is difficult for me to love?”

Maybe it’s someone who irritates you.

Someone you disagree with.

A neighbor, coworker or family member.

Maybe somebody you’ve already put into a category.

Don’t try to fix them today.

Pray for them.

Bless them.

Listen to their story.

Send the text.

Buy the coffee.

And don’t worry whether you’re number one, number ten or number 21.

Just be faithful with your touch.

Maybe today you move somebody one step closer to Jesus.

And maybe Jesus uses them to move you one step closer to becoming like Him.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank You for loving us before we were easy to love.

Holy Spirit, bring someone to our mind whom we’ve avoided, judged or struggled to love.

Give us discernment without judgment.

Give us truth with grace.

Teach us to pray, bless and do good.

And whether we’re number one, number ten or number 21 in someone’s journey, help us be faithful with our touch.

Make us more like Jesus.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

And one more thing, Living Water family—if you weren’t able to be with us yesterday, or maybe you’d like to watch the service again, I’m including the YouTube link below.

What an incredible morning—we celebrated FIVE people getting baptized! ❤️🙌🌊

God is changing lives right in front of us, and it is so exciting to watch! If you missed it, I’d encourage you to take some time and watch the service.

Have an amazing Monday!

Just love the person Jesus puts in front of you.

Love everybody. Always.

https://www.youtube.com/live/LjbZzSdkOJ8?si=AWsyNRuaengUWha3

09/05/2026

LIVING WATER VINEYARD DEVOTION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2026

DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?

John 5:5–9

“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’

‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’

Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”

Good morning, Living Water family!

Have you ever put on a jacket you haven’t worn since last year, reached into the pocket, and found money you completely forgot was there?

That happened to me last year.

I reached into the pocket of an old jacket…

And there was a $20 bill!

Come on!

That’s a good day! 😂

I wasn’t looking for it.

I wasn’t expecting it.

It was just this completely unexpected little gift.

I have a friend who calls moments like that “a kiss from heaven.”

And honestly, that’s what I hope today’s devotion feels like for you.

A little unexpected gift.

Because I know I normally don’t send out a devotion on Saturday.

Yesterday was supposed to be the end of our week talking about miracles.

But I just couldn’t end it there.

There was one more story I wanted to tell you.

Because maybe someone listening today has been praying about something for a very long time.

And somewhere along the way, disappointment has started replacing expectation.

That’s where we find a man in John chapter 5.

He’s lying beside a pool in Jerusalem called Bethesda.

John tells us that sick people gathered there—the blind, the lame and the paralyzed.

And this particular man had been disabled for thirty-eight years.

Think about that.

Thirty-eight years of living with the same condition.

Thirty-eight years of watching other people do what he couldn’t do.

Thirty-eight years of waiting for something to change.

And then one day…

Jesus walks into his waiting.

I love that.

The man wasn’t looking for Jesus.

Jesus came looking for him.

John says:

“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time…”

Jesus knew.

He knew how long this man had suffered.

And then Jesus asks him one of the strangest questions in the Bible:

“Do you want to get well?”

Wait a minute.

Jesus!

The man has been unable to walk for thirty-eight years!

Of course he wants to get well!

But I wonder if Jesus was getting at something deeper.

Because disappointment can do something to hope.

You can still love God.

You can still worship.

You can still believe that God does miracles.

But after enough disappointment, you can stop believing that anything will change for you.

And that brings me to a woman named Delia Knox.

Delia was a gospel singer and worship leader.

On Christmas Day in 1987, the vehicle she was riding in was struck by a drunk driver.

Delia was left paralyzed from the waist down.

And for the next twenty-two and a half years, she lived in a wheelchair.

But Delia didn’t walk away from God.

She continued singing.

She continued ministering.

She continued worshiping Jesus.

And through the years, people prayed for her healing.

Again.

And again.

And again.

But nothing happened.

In fact, eventually Delia began avoiding healing services.

She had been pulled out of her wheelchair before.

People had tried to get her to walk.

She had fallen.

She had been disappointed.

And she didn’t want to go through that anymore.

I think some of us understand that.

Sometimes we’re not afraid God can’t do something.

We’re afraid to hope again because we don’t want to be disappointed again.

But in August 2010, Delia and her husband attended a revival meeting in Mobile, Alabama.

Evangelist Nathan Morris was ministering that night.

And during the meeting, he began praying for Delia.

Then something happened.

After more than twenty-two years…

Delia began feeling sensation in her legs.

And then came the moment.

Would she try again?

Would she risk hoping again?

With help, Delia stood.

At first, she stumbled back down.

And you can imagine the thoughts that must have gone through her mind.

But they prayed again.

She stood again.

And then…

She began taking steps.

After twenty-two and a half years in a wheelchair, Delia Knox began walking across that church.

Her strength didn’t return perfectly all at once.

She continued gaining strength over the following weeks.

But three weeks later, Delia walked in front of her own congregation.

When I heard her story, I immediately thought about the man at Bethesda.

Jesus looked at him and said:

“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

Thirty-eight years of sickness.

And suddenly Jesus was standing in front of him.

Here’s what I want us to understand this morning.

The length of the wait does not determine the limits of God’s power.

Maybe you’ve prayed for healing.

Maybe you’ve prayed for your marriage.

Maybe you’ve prayed for one of your children.

Maybe you’ve been asking God to set you free from something that has held you for years.

And nothing seems to have changed.

I’m not going to tell you I understand why some people are healed and others aren’t.

I don’t.

We’ve prayed for people we deeply love and haven’t seen the healing we desperately wanted.

And I never want someone who is still sick to hear a message like this and think:

“Maybe I just didn’t have enough faith.”

No.

That is not the message.

Delia herself prayed for more than twenty-two years.

The man at Bethesda had been there thirty-eight.

Here’s the message:

Don’t let what hasn’t happened yet determine what you believe Jesus can still do.

We live in the tension of the Kingdom.

Jesus has come.

His Kingdom is here.

We see people healed.

We see people set free.

We see miracles.

And yet we’re still waiting for the day when His Kingdom comes in its fullness and there will be no more sickness, pain or death.

Until then…

We keep praying.

We keep asking.

We keep loving people.

And we keep making room for Jesus to surprise us.

There’s something Delia said afterward that I absolutely love.

She said:

“The miracle is the journey. It’s not the moment.”

Because Delia had discovered something during those twenty-two years.

Jesus had been with her in the wheelchair too.

And maybe that’s the word for somebody this morning.

Jesus sees you.

John tells us that Jesus saw this man and knew he had been in that condition for a long time.

He knew his story.

And friend…

He knows yours.

He knows how long you’ve been waiting.

He knows how many prayers you’ve prayed.

He knows where you’ve been disappointed.

And maybe today Jesus is simply inviting you to hope again.

Not to pretend.

Not to manufacture faith.

Not to deny what you’re going through.

Just to open your heart again and say:

“Jesus, I still believe You can.”

Let’s pray.

Jesus,

Thank You that You see us.

You see every person listening today.

You see the places where we’ve been waiting.

You see our disappointment.

And You see the places where we’ve almost stopped hoping.

Holy Spirit, awaken hope in us again.

For everyone who needs healing today, we ask for Your Kingdom to come.

Pain, go.

Bodies, be restored.

Strength, return.

Disease, leave.

In the name of Jesus.

And Lord, for those who are still waiting, surround them with Your presence.

Remind them that they are not forgotten.

Give us courage to keep praying.

Give us compassion to stand with one another.

And give us faith to keep making room for You to move.

Come, Holy Spirit.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Living Water, I’m going to put a short video below of Delia Knox telling her story.

Take a few minutes today and watch it.

And maybe as you watch her rise from that wheelchair, whisper this little prayer:

“Jesus, help me hope again.”

And maybe this Saturday devotion was simply that unexpected $20 bill in your jacket pocket. 😂

Just a little “kiss from heaven” reminding you:

Jesus sees you.

Jesus hasn’t forgotten you.

And your story isn’t over.

Have a wonderful Saturday, Living Water family.

Keep praying. Keep hoping. And keep making room for Jesus to surprise you.

https://youtu.be/jKHMc_Orn5I

09/04/2026

LIVING WATER VINEYARD DEVOTION

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2026

I WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE

John 9:1–3

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’

Jesus said, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned…but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”

Good morning, Living Water family!

All week we’ve been talking about miracles.

And as we finish the week, I want to take you to one of my favorite miracle stories in the Bible.

John chapter 9.

Jesus and His disciples encounter a man who had been blind from birth.

Think about that.

He had never seen a sunrise.

He had never seen the color of the sky.

He had never looked into the faces of his parents.

And when the disciples see him, they ask Jesus:

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

There was a common belief that suffering like this must somehow be connected to someone’s sin.

But Jesus completely changes the conversation:

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned.”

I love this.

The disciples saw a theological problem.

Jesus saw a person.

They wanted an explanation.

Jesus wanted an encounter.

They were discussing why the man was blind.

Jesus was getting ready to open his eyes!

Jesus makes mud, puts it on the man’s eyes and tells him:

“Go…wash in the Pool of Siloam.”

And John gives us one of the simplest descriptions of a miracle anywhere in Scripture:

“So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”

He left blind.

He came back seeing.

And that brings me to an incredible testimony I came across this week.

JAMES DRAIN

His name is James Drain.

James grew up around church and knew about Jesus as a child.

But as he got older, he drifted away.

Then life became incredibly difficult.

In 2015, James was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Over time, his eyesight deteriorated dramatically.

By 2019, he could no longer drive. Eventually, James says he had no vision in his left eye and severely impaired vision in his right.

His health deteriorated.

His marriage fell apart.

His family life unraveled.

James reached a place where he said:

“I had given up.”

He described himself as:

“Fading away.”

That phrase really struck me.

Because sometimes blindness isn’t only about our eyes.

Sometimes life becomes so painful that we lose our ability to see hope.

But God wasn’t finished with James.

One day a friend showed up at his house and told him:

“Get in the car. You’re coming to church.”

So James went.

And there he encountered Christians whose relationship with Jesus was real.

Because James couldn’t read the Bible himself, people began reading Scripture to him and discipling him.

Slowly, the Jesus James had known about as a child became real to him again.

Eventually James decided:

I want to be baptized.

And Living Water, I love this because we are doing baptisms this weekend!

On August 14, 2023, James stepped into the baptismal waters at Grace Apostolic Church in Michigan.

But here’s what I don’t want you to miss.

James wasn’t getting baptized so God would heal his eyes.

He wasn’t bargaining with God.

He simply wanted to give Jesus everything.

His prayer was essentially:

“Jesus, everything is Yours.”

Then they lowered him beneath the water.

James says he felt tremendous heat and something like electricity moving through his body.

And when he came back up—

something began happening.

Light.

Shapes.

Faces.

His vision began clearing.

And eventually James says he could see something he hadn’t been able to see clearly in years:

his daughter’s face.

Can you imagine that moment?

And when I heard his story, I immediately thought about John 9:

“He went and washed, and came home seeing.”

WHAT REALLY HAPPENS IN BAPTISM?

Especially as we prepare for baptisms this weekend, I want us to remember how powerful baptism really is.

Romans 6 says:

“Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

And then Paul says:

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death…”

Buried.

Baptism is almost like a funeral service for the old life.

The old me goes down.

My sin.

My rebellion.

My old identity.

Buried with Christ.

But thank God baptism doesn’t end underneath the water!

Paul continues:

“…just as Christ was raised from the dead…we too may live a new life.”

You go down identifying with His death.

You come up identifying with His resurrection.

Death.

Burial.

Resurrection.

Baptism isn’t magic water.

Jesus saves us.

We are saved by grace through faith.

But baptism matters.

Jesus commanded it.

The apostles practiced it.

It is a defining moment of repentance, faith, surrender and identification with Jesus.

It’s saying:

The old life is buried.

Jesus, everything is Yours.

And this weekend, when people step into the baptismal waters at Living Water Vineyard, let’s pray with expectation.

Not because we can tell God what He has to do.

But because Jesus Christ is alive!

ONE THING I KNOW

Later in John 9, people begin interrogating the man Jesus healed.

They question him.

They argue with him.

They want explanations.

Finally, he basically says:

I don’t have all the answers.

But there’s one thing nobody can take away from me:

“One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Living Water, that’s still what Jesus does.

He opens blind eyes.

He forgives sin.

He restores broken lives.

He brings dead things back to life.

And He invites us to leave the old life behind and walk in the new.

So maybe the question today isn’t only:

Do I believe Jesus still performs miracles?

Maybe the question is:

Have I completely surrendered my life to Him?

Because maybe the greatest prayer we could pray today is the same prayer James prayed:

Jesus, everything is Yours.

My past is Yours.

My future is Yours.

My family is Yours.

My body is Yours.

My dreams are Yours.

My disappointments are Yours.

My whole life is Yours.

And Living Water, let’s never stop asking.

Jesus, open blind eyes.

Heal sick bodies.

Restore broken hearts.

Bring prodigals home.

Set people free.

And let our lives become living testimonies that Jesus Christ is still alive and still doing miracles today.

LET’S PRAY

Jesus, thank You that You are still the One who opens blind eyes.

Thank You that when others see a problem, You see a person You love.

Today we surrender ourselves completely to You.

The old life belongs in the grave.

We want to walk in the newness of life You purchased for us.

And Lord, as we prepare for baptisms this weekend, let them be more than ceremonies.

Let them be moments of surrender, obedience, freedom and new life.

And we ask You boldly:

Heal the sick.

Open blind eyes.

Restore broken bodies.

Restore broken hearts.

Bring prodigals home.

Set people free.

And let the world see that Jesus Christ is alive!

Everything we are is Yours.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

⸻

ONE MORE THING…

Would you like to actually see the moment James comes up out of the baptismal water and realizes he can see?

I’ve included the short YouTube video below.

Watch his reaction.

It’s an incredible moment.

👇 WATCH JAMES’ BAPTISM & HEALING HERE
https://youtu.be/eOsCxnUSSsE

09/02/2026

LIVING WATER VINEYARD DEVOTION

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2026

WHEN GOD SAYS, “GET UP”

Mark 5:41–42

“He took the child by the hand, and said to her, ‘Talitha cumi!’ which means, being interpreted, ‘Girl, I tell you, get up!’ Immediately the girl rose up and walked.”

Good morning, Living Water family!

All week we’ve been talking about miracles.

Monday we talked about what miracles actually are.

They aren’t magic tricks.

They are signs that the Kingdom of God is breaking into this broken world.

Yesterday we asked:

Do miracles still happen?

Today I want to take you into one of my favorite chapters in the Bible when it comes to miracles.

Mark chapter 5.

At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus encounters a man tormented by demons.

Jesus sets him free.

Then a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years reaches out and touches Jesus’ clothes.

She’s healed.

But right in the middle of that story, a man named Jairus comes looking for Jesus.

His twelve-year-old daughter is dying.

Jairus falls at Jesus’ feet and begs Him:

“My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live.”

So Jesus goes with him.

But while they’re on the way, people arrive from Jairus’ house with the news every parent fears:

“Your daughter is dead.”

And then they add:

“Why bother the Teacher any more?”

In other words:

It’s over.

Jesus could have helped while she was sick.

But now she’s dead.

It’s too late.

But Jesus looks at Jairus and says:

“Don’t be afraid, only believe.”

Jesus continues to the house.

He walks into the room where this little girl’s body is lying.

He takes her by the hand.

And says:

“Talitha cumi.”

“Little girl, I tell you, get up!”

And immediately—

she gets up.

She starts walking around the room.

Can you imagine her father’s face?

A few moments earlier he had been told:

Your daughter is dead.

Now she’s walking around the house.

And I want you to hold onto those two words:

GET UP.

Because almost 2,000 years later, another woman would say she heard words remarkably similar to those.

Her name was Barbara.

As a teenager, Barbara began experiencing serious health problems.

Eventually she was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis.

Over the next sixteen years, her body deteriorated terribly.

She lost much of her eyesight.

She required oxygen and a feeding tube.

Her hands and feet became contracted.

And by 1981, Barbara had not walked in seven years.

Eventually her family was told there was nothing more medicine could do.

Barbara entered hospice.

Humanly speaking—

it was over.

But somebody contacted a Christian radio program in Chicago and asked people to pray.

Hundreds did.

Around 450 Christians wrote letters telling Barbara they were praying for her.

Then came Pentecost Sunday, 1981.

Barbara was lying in bed while her aunt read some of those letters to her.

And suddenly Barbara said she heard a voice.

Nobody else heard it.

But Barbara said the message was unmistakable:

“My child, get up and walk.”

Does that sound familiar?

“Little girl, I tell you, get up.”

Barbara believed God had just told her to do something she had been physically incapable of doing for seven years.

And then—

Barbara got out of bed.

She removed her oxygen.

And she stood.

Her legs supported her.

Her eyesight returned.

Her breathing changed.

Her contracted hands and feet released.

Her father walked into the room and saw the daughter they had been preparing to bury—

standing.

He grabbed her.

And father and daughter began dancing around the room.

I love that picture.

They had been preparing for her funeral.

And now—

they were dancing.

That evening Barbara went to church.

Most of the congregation knew she was dying.

When she walked into the church, people could hardly believe what they were seeing.

Eventually the congregation began singing:

Amazing Grace.

The next day Barbara went to see her doctor.

After examining her, he told her what had happened was medically inexplicable.

And this wasn’t simply a temporary improvement.

Years passed without a recurrence of the disease.

Church, I don’t tell you this story because I believe every miracle story I hear.

We should investigate.

We should ask questions.

We don’t need to exaggerate anything God does.

God doesn’t need our help making a miracle look impressive.

But neither should we decide beforehand that miracles can’t happen.

Because we follow Jesus.

And you can’t read very far into His story without encountering the supernatural.

Mark shows us a Jesus who sets captives free.

A Jesus who heals disease.

And a Jesus who walks into a room where everybody else says:

“It’s over.”

Takes a dead girl by the hand—

and says:

“Get up.”

And church, that’s why we still pray.

Not because everybody we pray for gets healed.

They don’t.

And that’s one of the mysteries we live with.

We don’t blame sick people.

We don’t tell them they didn’t have enough faith.

We don’t manufacture testimonies.

We love people whether they’re healed or not.

But we keep praying.

Because Hebrews 13:8 says:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

And sometimes—

the future Kingdom breaks into the present.

Every time Jesus opened blind eyes, it was a preview of a day when blindness will be gone.

Every time Jesus healed disease, it pointed toward a day when sickness will be gone.

Every time Jesus raised the dead, it pointed toward a day when death itself will be gone.

Revelation 21:4 says:

“He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more.”

Church—

that’s where history is headed.

Complete restoration.

No hospitals.

No hospice.

No cancer.

No MS.

No funerals.

No death.

Until that day, we live between the Kingdom that has already come—

and the Kingdom that is still coming.

And sometimes we get a glimpse of what’s coming.

Sometimes Jesus walks into an impossible situation.

And sometimes—

He says, “Get up.”

ACTIVATION

So here’s my question this morning:

Who have you stopped praying for because the situation seems impossible?

Maybe you’ve prayed before.

Maybe nothing changed.

Maybe you’ve become afraid to hope again.

Maybe it’s cancer.

Chronic pain.

A neurological condition.

Or maybe it isn’t physical.

Maybe it’s a marriage.

A child who has walked away from God.

An addiction.

A broken relationship.

Something that looks absolutely dead.

I love what Jesus said to Jairus when everyone else was telling him it was over:

“Don’t be afraid. Only believe.”

Today—

let’s ask again.

Father,

we believe You are the same God today.

Jesus, You opened blind eyes.

You healed broken bodies.

You set captives free.

You even raised the dead.

And so today we bring You the situations that look impossible.

The people we’ve prayed for before.

The circumstances where we’ve almost stopped hoping.

Lord, when disappointment has caused us to stop asking—

give us courage to pray again.

Your Kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Where there is sickness—

bring healing.

Where there is pain—

bring relief.

Where there is bondage—

bring freedom.

Where something appears hopeless—

bring hope.

Jesus, would You once again do what only You can do?

Let Your Kingdom break in.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO HEAR HER STORY…

If you’d like to hear Barbara tell her incredible story of healing in her own words, I’ve included the video below. It’s powerful to actually hear her describe what happened that day.
https://youtu.be/TQs4zzfOAHc