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Audible TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Ezra 2–3; Luke 8 One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This...
Key Takeaways
- Fear will not have the last word because Jesus steps into our deepest places of pain, despair, and grief with a word of hope.
- In Ezra chapters 2 and 3, the returning exiles rebuild the altar and lay the temple foundation, where joyful shouts and weeping mingle together to reflect the honest reality of life.
- When Jairus receives the devastating news that his daughter has died, Jesus directly counters despair by saying, 'Don't be afraid. Just have faith.'
- Jesus meets us in our private valleys and quiet fears, taking us by the hand to speak life into our circumstances.
- Our losses, diagnoses, failures, and even death do not get the final word because the One who is Resurrection and Life speaks over our lives.
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- TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Ezra 2–3; Luke 8
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One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus’ kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved.
TODAY’S EPISODE
Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible. Today is September 25th, and our readings are Ezra 2–3 and Luke 8.
Ezra brings us into the story of a people coming home.
After years of exile, families return to Jerusalem. They rebuild the altar and begin laying the foundation of the temple.
And when that foundation is laid, something remarkable happens.
Some people shout for joy.
Others weep.
The sounds mingle together until no one can distinguish the shouting from the weeping.
Maybe that's an honest picture of life.
Joy and sorrow often occupy the same space.
Hope and grief can live together.
Then Luke 8 brings us several stories of people encountering Jesus in places of fear and desperation.
A storm threatens to overwhelm the disciples.
A man tormented and isolated among the tombs is restored.
A woman who has suffered for twelve years reaches through a crowd just to touch Jesus.
And Jairus comes pleading for the life of his daughter.
Then, while Jesus is still on the way, the news arrives:
“Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”
But Jesus has another word.
“Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
Today we are reminded that fear, despair, suffering, and even death do not get to speak the final word.
Jesus does.
TODAY’S DEVOTION
Fear Will Not Have the Last Word
“Why trouble the teacher?”
That's essentially what Jairus is told.
“Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”
Those are words of despair.
Words of hopelessness.
Words that say the story is over.
Jairus had reached out in faith.
He had come looking for Jesus because his little girl was dying.
He believed Jesus could help.
And Jesus was coming.
But then there was a delay.
Another person needed Jesus.
A woman who had been suffering for twelve years reached out through the crowd and touched him.
Jesus stopped.
He saw her.
He spoke with her.
And all the while, Jairus was waiting.
I wonder what that waiting felt like.
Every second mattered.
And then the message arrived.
Too late.
Your daughter is dead.
Don't bother Jesus anymore.
Fear and despair always want to have the last word.
They tell us:
It's over.
There's no hope.
Don't bother praying.
Don't bother hoping.
Don't bother reaching for Jesus.
Nothing can change now.
But Jesus hears the message too.
And he turns toward Jairus and says:
“Don't be afraid. Just have faith.”
Jesus does not deny what has happened.
He doesn't pretend death isn't real.
He simply refuses to let death have the final word.
And then something beautiful happens.
Jesus enters the house.
But he doesn't turn this family's grief into a public spectacle.
He brings Peter, James, and John with him, along with the girl's father and mother.
And there, in that quiet and deeply personal place of grief, Jesus comes close.
I love that.
Because some pain is very private.
There are valleys in our lives that very few people ever see.
There are fears we carry quietly.
Losses we don't know how to explain.
Places where we wonder whether hope is even possible anymore.
And Jesus enters those places.
He comes near.
He takes the little girl by the hand.
And he says:
“My child, get up!”
Life speaks into death.
Hope speaks into despair.
Jesus has the final word.
Maybe that's what you need to remember today.
Your circumstances do not get the final word.
Your fear does not get the final word.
Your loss does not get the final word.
Your diagnosis does not get the final word.
Your failure does not get the final word.
Even death does not get the final word.
Jesus does.
Ezra gives us a picture of people standing among ruins and laying a new foundation.
Some are shouting.
Some are weeping.
And somehow both responses belong.
Maybe that's where you are today.
You can grieve what has been lost and still believe that something new can rise.
You can weep and hope at the same time.
You can stand among the ruins and listen for the voice of Jesus.
“Don't be afraid.”
“Just have faith.”
“My child, get up.”
The hope we have is not that we will avoid every valley.
The hope is that Jesus meets us there.
He takes us by the hand.
And the One who is Resurrection and Life will have the final word.
That's the prayer I have for my own soul.
That's the prayer I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, and my son.
And that's the prayer I have for you.
May we meet Jesus in the valley.
May we trust him when fear and despair surround us.
And may we receive from him the hope of resurrection.
May it be so.
TODAY'S PRAYERS:
Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.
Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
And now Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. And where there is sadness, Joy. Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life. Amen
And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray...
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ. Amen.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What Bible passages are covered in the September 25th episode of Daily Radio Bible?
This episode covers Ezra chapters 2 through 3 and Luke chapter 8, focusing on the return of the exiles to Jerusalem and Jesus' encounters with fear and desperation.
What is the main message of the devotional 'Fear Will Not Have the Last Word'?
The main message is that no matter what circumstances, grief, or fear you face, Jesus has the final word and brings the hope of resurrection.
How does Jesus respond to Jairus when he hears his daughter has died?
Jesus refuses to let despair win, turning to Jairus and telling him not to be afraid, but simply to have faith.
