Bleeding? Dead? Christ heals!

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Welcome back to the Iron Saints Podcast with your host, Dan Willis.

Good morning, saints. I hope everybody is doing well. We are back at it again today. I hope all of you had an amazing day. Yesterday, we walked through the, uh, Jesus doing the storm last Friday, and then yesterday we walked through Jesus confronting Legion. And kind of broke down what that looks like—the power of Christ—and how we're seeing that there are many lessons here that are kind of grouped together on the power of Christ. And today we're going to get kind of the final lesson before we move into Luke nine. So if you guys missed those episodes, feel free to go back and check them out. They're they're available wherever you might be listening to this. Just a quick ask of you guys: wherever you're listening to this, guys, we're starting to see more and more men come alongside and listen. The more that you guys are able to you know just give a thumbs up, a comment, or a review even, I know. That takes a little bit more time, but if you'd be willing to do that, it's a huge help in getting the podcast into the search engines and helping it actually get out to more men. So huge thank you to all of you for listening. That alone is enough. But anybody who's willing to do just that little bit more to help this grow into something slightly larger, I greatly appreciate you for that. So let's get down to it though. Luke nine. Verse 40 is where we are starting today. So as always, guys, I will be reading from the ESV. I encourage you to follow along in whatever translation or paraphrase you prefer, but, uh, hey, I'm a fan of the ESV, so that's what I read from. Uh, don't feel pressured if you don't have a Bible handy, you don't have a Bible app handy, uh, you're commuting, you're driving, whatever it may be. I do read the passage every day, so that isn't an issue. But for those of you that have a Bible handy, I'm always going to encourage you to Grab hands-on with the word. So without further ado. Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. There came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue, and falling at Jesus's feet, he implored him to come to his home, for he had only one daughter about 12 years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him, and there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and just touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, who was it that touched me? When all denied it, Peter said, Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you. But Jesus said, someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me. And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and, falling down before him, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him. And now she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher anymore. But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well. And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter, John, and James, and the father and mother of the child. All were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping. And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand, he called, saying, child, arise! And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given to her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened. All right. Our power of Jesus sandwich here is finally at its end. Uh, we, we started off with Jesus calming the storm and showing that he had authority over all the world, right? He controlled the storms, the waters, the waves, and he does this with almost laughing ease to the astonishment of his apostles who are present. Then we see yesterday, we see him facing and confronting spiritual warfare as he walks into a man who has not one demon but legion of demons, and the demons recognize Christ immediately and the threat to their existence, and Christ casts them out. But in the casting out of those demons, people were amazed but also fearful, and it drove the masses from him. So we've seen, we've seen the, the apostles, those closest to him, astonished, but clearly they didn't leave him. They continued to walk with him. We've seen him confront demons and devils with power and authority, and that frightened the masses but drew the few. And to those who it drew, they, they shared the gospel that much the more for the work that he had done. Now we've got this story here with actually 2 healings in one little one little piece, and it's showing that, you know, Christ has control over the environment. He has control over the creation, right? He has control over the demons and the devils, but he also has control over the flesh. And we're seeing that here where his power and his control is so mighty that all it took was the touching of his robe. To heal a lifelong ailment, and I mean that's no small ailment. Constantly discharging blood, constantly bleeding out of your body. We as men can probably not imagine that, but for those of us who have wives or daughters, I know that that would break my heart to have to watch them go through that pain every single day of their life without hope of reprieve, and no medicine, no doctor could help or cure it. My own wife has has. Ailing pains that have been around for years and years and years and years, and it breaks my heart to watch her suffer through that. But at the same time, there is hope that faith can be healing. Faith can be so healing because Jesus has that power and authority over the flesh. We also see him have a father who comes to him begging and pleading for the life of his daughter. Now, for me, that story always kind of hits home, and here I am all kind of teary-eyed, but we lost a daughter several years back. And I know all too well this heart's cry for, Lord, please save my daughter. But when news came of your daughter is dead, I also know what that feels like. It doesn't really give us his response because Jesus doesn't give him time to respond. But the feeling in a father's heart at that news, it's just crippling. It just breaks you and rips your heart right in half. Um, but Jesus doesn't even give him time to blink. And he says, no, don't fear. Just believe. Have that faith. She will be well. And even death can't hold this little girl. It, it's really, it, it didn't take some amazing speech. It didn't take some magical incantation. It didn't take some, some special dance or action. It didn't take a group of men. It took 2 words. 2 words. All he had to say was, child, arise. And life flowed back into this little girl. Truly, truly amazing the power that he has. Now, I don't know for you guys if you are in a state of needing healing. Many of us are. Many men push through. Many men have, um, if not physical ailments, mental ailments. Um, and this should be of comfort to us. It really should. You can go in faith with your pains. You can go in faith with your, your hurts. And he will take them. He will heal them. And maybe not, maybe not immediately. There are instances in Scripture where we see Paul face the thorn in his flesh his whole life, but his heart is healed. His flesh may still suffer slightly, but his, his soul sings joy for knowing Christ. If you guys happen to be one of the few men out there that don't have physical or mental ailments, What a blessing that is, but I'm sure, you know, people around you that do. So I would challenge you today. Hopefully, as I've been talking about people that are in pain, either yourself or those that, you know, somebody has come to mind. And so I would greatly encourage you today to reach out and just ask them how they're doing. If it's yourself, take that time, take some time away, make yourself a coffee, just go away from everybody and everything and ask yourself how you're doing. And lift it up to the Lord. Be honest. If you're frustrated, if you're angry, if you're hurt, if you're upset, if you're whatever it may be, bring those emotions to him and lift up your, lift up your ailment. There's no promise of immediate healing from on high, but there's a promise of a really deep relationship with Christ if you're constantly bringing it to him. For those that you know that may be in need of healing, reach out to them. Just somebody recognizing the pain can be a huge, huge thing. But asking if you can pray for them as well can go a long way. Okay, that's it for today, guys. We are going to pray now. As always, guys, when I pray for you guys, it's requests that come from the community. Those requests are requests that I lift up either anonymously or under a pseudonym at the request of the men. I'm never looking to expose the men that have asked for prayer, but I do want to pray for a group of men that have asked for prayer. So we're going to do that today. If you guys do have prayer requests wherever you happen to be listening to this, you can definitely mention it as well. All the social media links for the program are in the description down below. So feel free to send me prayer requests if you do have them. Reach out on Facebook, reach out on Twitter, reach out on, on YouTube, any of those. platforms, Spotify, and let me know where you guys are at and what you need prayer for, and I would be happy to do that. Lord, thank you for this community of men that is ever growing. It is truly a blessing, Lord, that you have sent our way, and I am so inspired by what work could be done across this world with something as simple as 15 minutes. Of the men of faith sitting down and reading your word and praying. I would like to lift up one of the saints to you, Lord. He has come through a lifetime of pain and addiction and violence and suffering. And through it all, Lord, through that darkness, through that pain, he's found you. And he's asking, Lord, though he's new and he's excited, he doesn't want to lose what he's found. So I pray that you draw near to him. Pray that you come to know him better, Lord. I truly pray that you would be in his days and in his walk and help him to continue forward in his sanctification with you, Lord. What a joyful experience that can be. Lord, I want to lift up my own congregation to you. We are currently seeking a new pastor. You know the ups and downs of our congregation. You know my heart's desire in that. You know the congregation's heart's desire in that. And you know your desire in that, Lord. And I'm excited for you to bring forth a man that could preach to our congregation and bring us your word. But I just pray that that would happen quickly. Lord, if I could lift up a young man whose family has made the bold decision to Adopt some wonderful kids from foster care. This is obviously coming with challenges for the family. It always would come with some challenges to move from a broken home to a God-fearing home. It's never going to be easy, but I pray that you encourage both the father and the mother and the children that there is a new place. This is a new life. It is safe. It is a sanctuary. Um, I pray for those who have reached out to their loved ones that are bold and that they seek to evangelize, Lord, that those who do not Christ— do not know Christ in their own families, they, they do not pause or hesitate to share you and share their word with them. I pray that they would not only be bold and courageous in doing that, they would also be compassionate and kind. I pray that you would be doing a work in those people's hearts to bring them all together as a family under Christ. Lord, I would ask for you to keep your healing hand on one of the saints' pregnant wife. She is high risk of pregnancy and ill from possible food poisoning. The saint works hard on the road to provide, and he's not home to take care of his wife right now, and that can be so hard. Thankfully, her mother is close by and can provide help, but I do pray for Both the wife and the husband, that the husband would be strong and be able to do what he has to do to get home. And I pray for the wife that she would have a safe delivery, that your hand would be on the life of both the child and the wife, Lord. I lift up another saint's wife who has been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. This, along with her arthritis, makes it very, very difficult for her to go through her day to day. So I do pray, Lord. Lord, that you would place that healing hand on her. All it takes is a touch. Um, I would lift up all these prayers to you, Lord, and all the prayers that are unspoken and unheard. You hear our hearts, you hear our minds, you know, you know what is necessary. Thank you for these blessings. Thank you for your healing. In your name. Have an amazing day out there, guys, and I will be back tomorrow with another episode. See you then.

Thank you for listening to the Iron Saints Podcast. If you are looking to share your prayer requests, check the description for social media or email to contact the show. Blessings on you all until next time.