This morning, I was studying Luke 8 and refreshing my mind about all of the miracles and healing that Jesus performed during his ministry as a young 30-something.  One of the things that stuck out to me was that all of those that were healed had faith in knowing that God (through Jesus) would heal them.  Jesus indicated to them that their faith healed them.  It made me think about my belief system and whether I truly had faith in knowing that God would fix whatever situation that I was going through.  Sometimes we believe, but we really don’t believe. We hope, but we don’t trust.  It gave me an even deeper understanding that in everything faith, you know that “substance of things hoped for” and that “evidence of things you can’t see”, should be at the core of our belief system.   I am talking real faith, like the preached you to say, “when you know that you know that you know.” 

The other thing in the end of Luke 8 that stuck out to me was the fact that Jesus instructed the parents of the young woman that he had brought back to life that “they should tell no man what was done.”  When I read the footnote it explained that “further publicity at this time concerning a raising from the dead would have been counterproductive in Jesus’ ministry.”   If Jesus had been the type of person that was concerned about fame, he could have easily used this publicity to draw more attention to himself instead of his ministry.  It reminded me to ensure that any time we receive publicity for the work that we are doing, to be thankful, but don’t spend too much time celebrating in the publicity and to double down on the work. The work that God has sent you to do should be the focal point.   Celebrate later. Work now.