Acts 22-28: What Are You Waiting For?

“Then he said: ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’  - Acts 22:14-16 NIV

These words of Ananias to Paul after he had been struck blind on the road to Damascus could have been spoken to any of us.  God has chosen us to know his will and to see the truth in his Son.  At some point in our lives, all of us who believe, were struck blind and suddenly, the scales rolled off of our eyes and we could see.  It may have been in a church service, it may have been in prayer with a friend, it may have been walking in solitary,or  it may have been reading a book on our sofa, but we all received our sight.  What are we waiting for?  God has called all of us to be witnesses of what we have seen.  We don't need an Ananias to tell us to get up.  We just need to get on with whatever God called us to do.  With the boldness and determination of Paul, we should be witnesses to what we have seen and heard.

2010 Post - Acts 22-28:   The Power of God to Salvation

Acts 18-21: Why Stoop?

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor- Acts 18:13-17 NIV

The world has always tried to imitate the gospel.  It would overpower it at all cost if possible.  That becomes obvious if one looks at the holidays Christians once celebrated.  Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter have all been adopted by the world.  But the life, the reason to celebrate disappears once it becomes nothing more than a day off work and a reason to spend money.  Perhaps it is time for Christians to stop the celebration:  to stop the decorating, splurging and satiation of all of our senses.  Perhaps it is time for us to stop the giving of gifts to others, when it is the gift that we received that is important.  I don't know what the answer is, all I know that all of this excess makes me tired.  It's become ugly and tawdry.  It doesn't speak of Christ at all.  The world can never invoke the name of Jesus or it's power.  When we have that power, why do we have to stoop to the world's standards?

2010 Post - Acts 18-21:  On to Jerusalem

Acts 14-17: In Him

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’  - Acts 17:24-28 NIV

It's a difficult concept to grasp, that God does not need us.  He doesn't need our actions or our deeds.  Instead it is we who need him.  We need him for our daily provision, we need him for the very life we breathe.  It's only our conceit that thinks that we have to be the one who does all the work, the one who creates something, discovers something, leads people to the light.  Whether we confess it or not, it is only 'in him we live and move and have our being.'

2010 Post - Acts 14-17:  Preaching the Good News

Acts 9-13: Sight for the Blind

Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
    Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. - Acts 9:18-22 NIV

Reading these verses, one realizes that it is always the same story.  Those who are touched by the Lord Jesus Christ, those who were blinded, but who have regained their sight, can have no response but to share the good news.  The more havoc we raised before the scales fall off, the more bold is our proclamation.  Those walking in darkness have seen a great light.  That was the promise of the prophets and is the reality of the Savior's touch.  Through the generations and even today, the gospel continues to be proclaimed and the change that the gospel makes in a person's life is as baffling today as it was in Paul's time.  It is the only source of sight for the blind.

2010 Post - Acts 9-13:  One Who Breathed Murderous Threats

Acts 6-8: Seeing Heaven

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. - Acts 7:55-60 NIV

I just fiished reading the book "Heaven is for Real"  about a small boy who falls gravely ill and afterwards reports what he saw while he was in heaven.  One of the amazing things about the book is not what he saw, but the zeal he possessed in wanting to be sure that everyone who died knew Jesus.  He knew that people would not glimpse what he saw when they died unless they had accepted him. 

Stephen saw the same thing.  He saw heaven and Jesus a the right hand of God.  That was enough for him.  'Don't hold this against them,' he asked of the Lord.  Stephen had glimpsed eternity and as such, nothing on earth, not even the method by which he died could be measured against what waited for him and no one, no matter how wicked, should not experience God's mercy and what waits for them if they will accept it.

2010 Post - Acts 6-8:  Someone's Got To Do It

Acts 1-5: Come Ye Thankful People Come

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. - Acts 2:42-47 NIV

It's Thanksgiving Day, 2011 and because I have gotten behind on my reading, I have jumped ahead to where I should have been by this time.  Looking for an appropriate passage to relate to Thanksgiving day, I am struck by the contrast between those early Christ followers and Christians today.

We really don't share today and we certainly don't hold anything in common.  There's a distinction between what is ours and what is the Lord's today that did not exist in the early days of the church.  Thankfully, we still have at least one day that we come together, family and friends, to break bread together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God. 

2010 Post - Acts 1-5:  What is this Power?

John 3-4: Such a Hard Thing

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16 KJV

These words of Jesus to Nicodems, the first verse that many of us memorized in Sunday School, contain the truth in a form so simple that we sometimes fail to grasp the enormity of what Jesus was saying about God, about God's kingdom, about Jesus and even life itself. 

'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit', Jesus told Nicodemus, 'he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. - John 3:5-7 KJV

There is a world we cannot see, but we know is there. It lurks right next to us all of the time.  Sometimes we catch a glimpse, sometimes it's hard to even imagine, but that does not change it's existence. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. - John 3:8 KJV
 
The most amazing thing about this spiritual world, this kingdom of God, this realm of the divine creator is that we have been issued an invitation, we have been invited in.  It's like stepping through the back of the wardrobe door into Narnia.  All we have to do is believe.  Believe and the world, this earthly existence pales.  Believe and there is more to life than we ever imagined.  Believe and we are invited into the eternal world of the great I Am and his Son.  Is that such a hard thing to do?
 

2010 Post - John 3-4:  A Prophet Without Honor

John 1-2: The Word and the Light

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  - John 1:1-14 KJC

I was only a child when I memorized these verses and they still speak to me best in the language of the King James version of the Bible.  In the beginning was the Word.  In the beginning, the very beginning, when there was no form to the earth, there was the word.  "Let there be light."  Suddenly there was light.  The light and the word cannot be separated. The banal is punctuated with glimpses of searing acuity.  In the midst of the mundane, we can still behold the word, the light, the glory, the word become flesh, full of grace and truth.

2010 Post - John 1-2:  As Man As Received

Luke 22-24: What is Life?

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ - Luke 24:1-7 NIV

Why look for the living among the dead?  The angels at the tomb asked the women this question and it remains the question of the day.  Why do we look for life where there is none.  Why do we trust in material possessions, inanimate objects for life when they can provide nothing but momentary pleasure.  We approach Black Friday and there is a reason why it is 'black' aside from that of the retailers who hope to finally profit from the sales.  It is black because all the material things we camp out or stay up for all night are nothing.  It is just stuff, destined eventually for an overflowing landfill.  Why are we looking for life among the dead, at the expense of true life?  Even those among us who are believers must ask ourselves the question, 'What is life?'

.2010 Post - Luke 22-24:  What Things?

Luke 20-21: Giving our of Poverty

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” - Luke 21:1-4 NIV

What does it mean to give out of poverty?  Living in one of the wealthiest nations that has ever existed, that's a difficult concept to grasp.  Does it mean giving when we have nothing to give?  Does it mean giving when we are too tired, too fragile, too sick, too depressed, too disappointed or perhaps too selfish?  Does it mean giving when we don't like, let alone love, the person, the neighbor, the co-worker?  Does it mean giving when we have already given too much?  Does it mean giving that which we love and need most?  Certainly, and even more.  The Son knew what the Father had given.  That's the measuring stick by which all of our giving is measured.

2010 Post - Luke 20-21:  Guard Your Heart

Luke 17-19: A Sinful Tax Collector

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’     “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
   “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  - Luke 17: 9-14 NIV

I have to remind myself of this over and over again.  It is not what I do, it is not all of my good deeds that redeem me.  My only redemption, my only worth, comes at the foot of the cross.  It is at the foot of the cross where I fall and confess that I am a sinner, that I am not worthy, that I will never be worthy.  It is at the foot of the cross, where the drops of blood fall on me that I am made new, washed clean, made white as snow.  My confidence is no in my own righteousness, in my tithing and giving, in my abstinence from sin.  I am nothing but a sinful tax collector.  My confidence is solely in God's mercy.  That is all I need.  We can't exalt ourselves, only his forgiveness.

2010 Post - Luke 17-19:  Will He Find Faith?

Luke 13-15: Would it Make a Difference?

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. - Luke 15:22-24 NIV

How different our churches would look if we welcomed sinners, the broken and the lost, in the same way that the prodigal son's father did. What if we went out into the highways and byways, into the bars and strip clubs, tattoo parlors and drug dens offering the good news that their sins didn't matter?  What if we went into the gay nightclubs and laid hands on those suffering from aids and prayed for their healing?  What if we had a feast to celebrate when they were healed?  Would it make a difference in their lives?  Would it make a difference in ours?  Would it change the world?  Would it matter to God?

2010 Post - Luke 13-15:  A Great Chasm

Luke 10-12: The Lamp of the Body

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” . - Luke 11:34-35  NIV

Years ago when I was in India, I met an Indian woman who had married an American missionary and as such had spent a great deal of time in the United States.  I have never forgotten her saying that while she still had an Indian heart, she now had American eyes.  By that she meant that she was attracted to all of the material things that she saw longed to possess when she was in the States.  During that time, I was surrounded by children in the orphanage where we stayed who owned nothing, not a single toy, but were happy and content in ways that the most wealthy in the United States would envy. 

If ever there was a time when mankind is in need of good eyes, it is now.  Many of us face the prospect of losing everything we have by these challenging economic times, but it's all in the eye of the beholder.  He that loves his life will lose it.  He that loses his life, well, he's the one that will find it. 

2010 Post - Luke 10-12:  Hold On Lightly

Luke 8-9: Another Kingdom

Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
   They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.)
   But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. - Luke 8:12-17 NIV

I used to think that this story was as simple as an illustration of Jesus' miraculous power, but it is more than that.  It is a contrast between our tendency to look to resolving problems with our own resources:  our might, our power, our wealth, our knowledge and going to the actual source to solve those problems instead.  Scientists now think there may be a parallel universe that has dimensions we cannot begin to imagine.  How they finally came to that conclusion when Jesus spoke of that parallel universe, the Kingdom of God, years ago.  There is the material world and there is the greater, far reaching spiritual world which contains more power than anything we can call up in this physical realm. 

Jesus told his disciples '“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”   It's also possible that no one who looks at just this physical world will ever experience the power of the Kingdom of God. 

2010 Post - Luke 8-9:  The Transfiguration

Luke 6-7: Go in Peace

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  - Luke 7:44-59 NIV

For me, this truth remains; I have been forgiven much, so I must love much.  I have to hold that close to my heart.  Just like the beggars and blind men, the poor and the prostitutes, the crazy wild, the dead and those that mourn for them, my life has not been the same since I was touched by the master's hand.  Nothing will ever be the same, and my response cannot be what it was before.  I have no choice but to love as I am loved.  I fail miserably at times, but I keep trying.  Otherwise, despite my faith, I will not have the peace that Jesus promised.

2010 Post - Luke 6-7:  Radical Response to a Fractured Society

Luke 3-5: The Axe is at the Foot of the Tree

  “A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
   make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
   every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
   the rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’”
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”  Luke 3:4-7 NIV

Sometimes everything has to be leveled, the valleys filled in and the crooked made straight.  Sometimes our preconceived ideas of our own goodness need to be re-evaluated.  What does it mean to produce fruit?  Does it mean to fill up our barns, to fill up our churches?  Does it mean to grow big and fat and wealthy?  John knew that Jesus was coming and that the people, even those who belonged to God because they were of the lineage of Abraham, were not ready.  Note to self:  'Et tu?'

2010 Post - Luke 3-5:  Ministry Begins with Temptation

Luke 1-2: Is it possible?

We tend to think of Jesus' birth as a solitary event:  Mary and Joseph, alone, in a stable, the babe in a manger.  Oh, there were shepherds and a star who came to see the child, but his birth was a solitary event.

It was not.  Christ's birth was surrounded by people and the miraculous.  Zechariah, the old priest, suddenly is mute and everyone wonders what happened.  After year of a barren marriage, his wife, Elizabeth becomes pregnant.  How the neighbors must have talked.  And her relative, the young girl Mary, she becomes pregnant as well, and is not even married.  Joseph, her betrothed, swears it isn't his, but he stays with her anyway. Simeon, the old man, waiting for the consolation of Israel, has his wish fulfilled and Anna, who at eighty-four had been constant in the temple since her husband died after only seven years of marriage realized that her prayers for the redemption of Jerusalem had been answered.

Is it possible that the same hand of God is moving among us right now, that there are people hearing from angels and becoming mute or having their mouths opened?  Are there faithful men waiting for the Messiah and old women praying and fasting for the redemption of the world?  Just as in Jesus' day, they were looking for the coming of the Messiah, but his coming turned out to be different from what they had imagined.  Are the events falling into place now that will lead up to the Messiah's return?  Will it be different than all of our predictions and imaginations?  Is it possible ?

2010 Post - Luke 1-2:  The Light Has Come

Mark 15-16 To Be Like Jesus

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”- Mark 15:38-39 NIV

What was it about the way that Jesus died that made it obvious that he was the Son of God?  Even before he rose from the dead, the centurion who had been standing in front of the cross saw something he had never seen before.  Was it a look of suffering, was it a moment of glory, was it the weight of all of our sins? 

Years ago, during a quiet time, I asked the Lord what it meant to be like Jesus.  I wanted, as many of us do, to be like him.  What flashed in my mind was the image of Jesus carrying the cross up a steep hill, bent over, bruised and broken, being followed by taunting crowds and stinging whips.  That wasn't the image I wanted to see.  I wanted to be the one healing the sick and feeding the multitudes, not the one being crucified. 

Very few of those following Jesus recognized that he was the Son of God during the years of his ministry.  It was his death that made it obvious who he was.  Something we need to consider if we truly want to be like him.

2010 Post - Mark 15-16:  Crucified Rejected and Alone

Mark 13-14: Be Ready

 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.  It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
    “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” - Mark 13:32-37 NIV

For centuries, there have been those who would predict the end of the world and countless numbers of others who paid attention to their predictions.  That flies in the face of what Jesus said.  Not even the angels in heaven or the son himself know the hour.  Signs?  The signs are everywhere, but we forget that God's time is not our time.  Haven't you noticed that when you pray for something.  It seems that you pray forever, that the answer never comes.  Then one day, the answer is there and along with it is all of the reason for the wait and anticipation...God's perfect timing.  It becomes obvious that there was never another time when the answer could have come; all of the preceding events had to fall into place before the perfect answer.  The Son is coming back.  That we know and that it may be soon many of us can sense.  But the day or the hour?  Only God knows when that will be.  But we can know that one day the father will say to the son, 'it is time.'  It is time to go get the bride.  We don't have to know when it will be, we just have to be ready.   

2010 Post - Mark 13-14:  Preparing for the End

Mark 11-12: It is Marvelous in Our Eyes

 “‘The stone the builders rejected
   has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
   and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”  - Mark 12:10-11 NIV
I love these words.  Whenever I think that I am unable to adequately defend the gospel, whenever I face opposition to my belief that I can't refute with eloquent words, I remember that it is all part of God's plan.  His plan included rejection.  His plan included his own son being despised, betrayed, brutalized and forsaken.  His own son faced total rejection and it was the Lord's hand that orchestrated it from humble beginning to humiliating end. 

This is the gate of the LORD
   through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
   you have become my salvation.
The stone the builders rejected
   has become the capstone;
the LORD has done this,
   and it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
   let us rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:20-24 NIV

This life of rejection is the gate by which we enter in.  It is marvelous in our eyes.

2010 Post - Mark 11-12:  The Widow's Mite

Mark 9-10: Everything is Possible

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.”But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.  - Mark 9:22-27 NIV

'If you can?' was Jesus' question to the man who the disciples unable to cast a demon out of a his son. It was not to question the man's ability.  It was to repeat the question the man has asked Jesus.  "If you can, would you heal my son?"  A question that many of us secretly ask every day and then we wonder why our prayers are not answered.  Jesus' reply reveals the truth about him and about ourselves.  "Everything is possible for him who believes."  It echos another of Jesus' sentiments.  "You have not because you believe not."  Perhaps we need to stop phrasing our petitions as a question and phrase them as a statement instead.  Jesus already said everything is possible for him who believes.  We need to announce that to the heavens.

2010 Post - Mark 9-10:  Who's the Greatest?

Mark 7-8: Not a Life Worth Saving

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”  - Mark 8:34-38 NIV

I've been thinking a lot about this lately; about the choices we make here based on this life, on what we see surrounding us and how different our choices would be if we saw our final destination.  What do we really gain in the seventy or eighty years we spend on this earth.  From my perspective, more at the end of the spectrum than at the beginning, we gain nothing in the way of material possessions or position that really matters.  You'd think we would be standing on the rooftops, yelling to everyone to stop it:  stop all the fighting, stop all the jockeying for position, stop all the hoarding.  It doesn't matter. Instead we're fighting one way or another to preserve the status quo, to preserve this life that it is impossible to preserve.  If all we're concentrating on is saving our life, we're doomed to losing it.

2010 Post - Mark 7-8:  Who Do You Say I Am

Mark 4-6: This Little Light of Mine

He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
    “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”  - Mark 4:21-25 NIV

There was no way for Jesus to hide who he was.  No matter how many times he told those he touched not to tell anyone who had healed them, the word spread, and the crows followed, looking for something that they could not get from their priests, their government officials or their doctors.  For the disciples, and even those of us today who follow after him, it's often not quite so obvious who we are.  For one, we don't have the the faith that Jesus did.  We do not know the Father as well.  Then there is the hesitation:  we don't want to send the wrong message, we don't want to embarrass the gospel, we don't want to embarrass ourselves.  I think of myself and how much easier it is to be a witness in a foreign, third world, country where no one knows me, than it is here at home where I might be recognized. 

'This little light of mine', we used to sing, ' I'm gonna let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? No!  I'm gonna let it shine.'

'Whatever is hidden', Jesus said, 'is meant to be disclosed and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.'

2010 Post - Mark 4-6:  A Prophet Without Honor

Mark 1-3: The Lonely Places

As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. - Mark 1:45

Jesus  led a quiet, solitary life up until the time he was baptised by John the Baptist.  All of  a sudden the Spirit of God descended on him and God's voice came from heaven saying , "You are my Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Jesus would never lead a quiet life of solitude and contemplation again.  Immediately he is taken to the desert to be tempted and then the opportunities for miracles and healing enveloped him.  There was no mistaking that he was someone with power.  The disciples and the people gathered around him and followed him constantly, even to the lonely places.  He could not stop his reputation from spreading like wildfire, even though he knew the ultimate end of his crescendoing ministry.

When we seek God, when we truly go after his Spirit, if we truly want to have his full power in our lives, we need to be mindful that it may force us into the lonely places.  The works that accompany God's Spirit will draw others to us,  both the needy and those wanting to kill anything that might hint of the gospel's power. Not even the lonely places will be a refuge if you're truly trying to follow God.
  

2010 Post - Mark 1-3:  The Lord of the Sabbath