2.28.13

Mark 9:50 Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?  You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other. 

 

My Thoughts

I cooked pinto beans just a couple of nights ago.  They seem to take a lot of salt before you began to taste the salt in the beans and I like to taste the salt in my pinto beans.  When I got to this verse I stopped and thought about salting those beans..then salting them some more and a little more.  Then when I put them on my plate I salted them yet again.  After all when I added the cornbread to the beans I had diluted the taste of the salt.

 

God's word is our salt!  When there is no salt in our lives it takes a bit of salt before we begin to taste that salt...before other sees the salt in us.  It takes a while to sink in to become a part of us.  We need to add enough salt for it to be tasted, to be seen. Enough to effect our lives.  And as we add in the things of this world, we need to salt those things with more of God's word.  We have to add in more so the salt in our lives does not become diluted with the things of the world. 

 

When we find ourselves not living in peace among each other, we have lost some of our slat... it is our red flag that we need to get busy salting our lives with God's word.  God's word will change us... it will make us better people... it will make us stronger, more confident, loving, peaceful, and on the list goes on and on and on... but we have to keep adding in the salt... because no matter what we do the world will keep adding in other things. 

 

I heard this on the show Monday Mornings the other night... I won't get all the words just right...  In every man there are two dogs. One is bad, one is good. The one you feed the most will become the strongest.  The world is going to feed us no matter what is going on.  We have to get busy feeding the good, with God word so that when we go out into that great big world touched by so much bad, the good shines through. 

2.27.13

Mark 9:1-7 Jesus went on to say, "I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!

 

Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the med watched, Jesus' appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking to Jesus.

 

Peter exclaimed, "Rabbi, its wonderful for us to be here! Let's make three shelters as memorials -- one for you, one for moses, and one for Elijah." He said this because he didn't really know what else to say for they were all terrified.

 

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him." Suddenly when they looked around, moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.

 

My Thoughts

Peter, James and John were standing with greatness...they were standing with three men who had been to heaven, who had lived in heaven... Three men who had all the answers.  They were getting to listen in on a conversation of such power and wisdom.  But Peter couldn't keep his mouth shut!!  Is it any wonder that God came down and said, "This is my dearly loved son. Listen to Him."

 

I wonder how much we miss out on because we don't keep our mouths shut?   How often do we sit down to pray, the we talk and talk and talk... never listening.  How often do we interrupt God when He is giving us the answer in our quite moments.  How often should our prayer be a minute of talking and and hour of listening.  Yet we go about praying and talking...then we go on our way before we ever take time to listen. 

 

What words of wisdom did these three men miss out on?  We will never know... in Peters haste to speak he stopped the conversation.  A conversation between three men who had lived on this earth and been in the presence of God. Oh what knowledge they must have had! 

2.26.13

Mark 8:22-25 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him.  Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village.  Then, spitting on the man's eyes, he laid his hands on him and and asked, "Can you see anything now?"

The man looked around. "Yes," he said, "I see people but I can't see them very clearly.  They look like trees walking around."

Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, and his eyes were opened.  His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.

 

My Thoughts

This was a blind man...seeing people that looked like trees walking around was in itself a blessing!!  The man could have left his answer at just yes... but if he had  he would have missed out on the faces of his loved ones and friends... His life would have been better...but still not as productive as it could be with complete sight.  He was completely honest with Jesus, he told him the details.  When he did his sight was completely restored. 

 

How much do we miss out on because we don't tell Jesus everything? How much do we miss out on when we don't see the whole picture clearly and we stop at that?  How much do we miss out on because we are not completely honest with Jesus, telling him every one of our feelings?   How much do we miss out on because we say, "I understand this"...but then we don't say, "But I don't understand this?"

 

I don't give Jesus my all when I don't tell Him everything!  I pray often through out my day.  Little prayers here and little prayers there... I have got to learn to talk to Jesus, talk to him... all day every day!  Telling him every detail. Then like the blind man I can be completely restored, not partly restored!

 

 

2.5.13

Mark 7: 5-29 Right away a woman who had heard about Jesus came and feel at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by and evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.  Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, Jesus told her, "First I should feed the children--my own family, the Jews.  It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs."

She replied, "That's true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children's plates."

"Good answer!" he said.  "Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter." And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

 

My Thoughts

Did you gasp when you read this??  Did you think Jesus was being so unkind?  Did you think that Jesus was telling this woman she was no more important than dog?  The first time I read it I did, then the next time I read it... I was still heart broken it really bothered me... last year when I read it I knew that there was something in there that I just didn't understand, my Jesus was, after all a loving Jesus. This time I had my ahh-haa moment!!  Love when that happens!!

 

Jesus didn't think less of this woman... but the people did they saw her as a nobody.  This woman may have even see herself as a nobody.  This fact made this moment a perfect teaching moment. The Pharisee and the Religious leaders went around complaining about all that Jesus was doing...they were so busy complaining that they couldn't stop and notice the blessings of Jesus.  They were so busy being jealous that they did not accept the blessings Jesus offered them because it might be less then somebody else got. 

 

This woman could have walked away mad...but she didn't she pretty much said, "Jesus anything that you give me, no matter how small, even if it is a crumb, will be enough!! I would be glad just to have a crumb from your table!"  When she accepted what Jesus offered her, she got all that she needed.  If she had gotten mad and walked away, her daughter would not have been freed from the demon that possessed her.  That woman got what she needed. It didn't matter to her what Jesus did for anybody else, or how much Jesus did for anybody else, Jesus did enough for her!!  She choose to take a crumb if that was all she could have, she know that a crumb from Jesus was enough. 

 

How often do we miss out on the blessings of Jesus because we are too busy feeling sorry for ourselves?  Because we think we deserve more?  How often do we walk away with nothing when Jesus is offering us all that we need?  How often do we think the offer is a crumb when in fact is more than enough? 

 

God tells us that when we love Him, He will supply all of our needs!!  How often do we miss out on God's blessings because we don't take what we have now and feel blessed, send up thank yous. How often do we go out and demand more and get ourselves into trouble...when God gave us enough all along?  How often does our jealousy of what we think God has given others get in the way of us enjoying the blessings, that are more than enough, that God gave us today. 

 

We need to learn from this lady... she took what Jesus offered. When she got home Jesus had given her just what she needed.  I imagine that she was shouting praises from the roof top!!  Her little girl was her's again!!!  I believe that even though we don't know the rest of the story...that her faith, her thankfulness, her total trust in Jesus' gift being enough, enriched her life beyond riches!!

2.24.13

Mark 7:6-8 Jesus replied, "You hypocrites! Isiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. For their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.' For you ignore God's law and substitute your own traditions.

 

My Thoughts

We have to be so careful that we don't take on man made ideas and twist  of God's word as the truth, the way to act.  That we don't use what man says is acceptable... what our neighbor says is acceptable. What our friends say is acceptable.  We have to look to God's word, we have to pray and listen careful to the Holy Spirit and choose what God says is acceptable. It is so easy to accept what people say... If they can put things in a way that make our actions seem ok the we can go about feeling ok.  Feeling ok does not make our actions ok.  Others actions don't make our actions ok. How people treat us does not give us the license to mistreat them.  We must act on what God tells us, what Jesus taught people while He walked here on this earth.  We must turn to God and ask Him what is acceptable...then when that seems too hard to do...we must ask for His grace to make us strong enough to be the people that He ask us to be. 

 

How often do we turn to people when we don't want to hear what God will tell us?  We have to be so careful of this... we have to, even when it is hard, especially when it is hard,  to do what God would have us do. When we choose God's way our lives grow in amazing ways! 

2.23.13

Mark 6:52b-52 They (the disciples) were totally amazed, for they still didn't understand the significance of the miracles of the loaves (and the fish).  Their hearts were too hard to take it in.

 

My Thoughts

I read this and remembered when I first started reading my One Year Bible.  For weeks it was like reading a foreign language.  But my son had given me this Bible and I was determined to read it every day.  Then I would come to a passage that I recognized... it would be like water in the middle of the desert, a relief.  Little did I know that my effort and my determination would make my heart soften.  Slowly, but surely, I began to understand a little more...then a little more... then a little more. With each little bit of understanding my heart became a little softer, able to take in more of what God had to tell me!! 

 

I could feel guilty over having a hard heart... making my heart a little harder in the process.  But as I wrote these words in my notebook today I stopped to think... These men had been with Jesus for a while now...they had witnessed many miracles... at this point they had even been sent out to perform miracles and preach on their own.  They had actually walked with Jesus, in person. They had touched him, physically touched him.  They had even just seen him walk on water.  Yet their hearts were still hard... too hard to take it in.  But Jesus still called them his disciples!!  Why? Because they were learning and growing... their hearts were getting softer all the time. One day they would look back on the miracle of the loaves and totally understand it. Their willingness to follow Jesus, their willingness to listen and learn was softening their hearts for a later understanding. 

 

Each day, each week, each year as I keep reading and seeking after God, trusting in what Jesus taught, my heart gets softer, I gain more and more understanding.  I am always amazed when I pick up my Bible and "get" something new from the same words I read last year and the year before that, and the year before that.  My willingness andmy determination will soften my heart... it will just take time.  I have until my death to keep learning and growing in God. God promised me and you in His word that he would grow us until the day Jesus comes back (Philippians 1:6). 

 

In Matthew Jesus talks of of the disciples being in Heaven with him... They believed in Jesus, they loved Him, they learned from Him. Their hearts were changing and getting softer by the day.  If we seek after Jesus, if we long to understand...then understanding will come to us, our hearts will get softer. It is our job to seek to understand...then the rest will come.

2.22.13

Mark 6:4-6 Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family." And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any miracles among them, except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And he was amazed at their unbelief.

 

My Thoughts

We have all seen a person that has lived a truly horrific life of sin trust in God and be so changed in a instant... so truly changed. Changed so much that we could be jealous of the change... their ability to so trust in God, and in the fact that God gave them so much. 

 

How often do we miss out on all that God has to offer us because we limited our belief to what we hear? What we have heard all of our lives.  How often do we limit our belief on what we are taught when we are only being taught part of the Bible? How often are we so close that we don't see it all?

 

That is why it is so important for us to read our Bibles for ourselves.  There might be a promise in there that we need, that we can ask for, that we have never heard about before.   How many promises do we miss out on that are important to our lives?  So often we are taught in Sunday School or in the pulpit what has been important to our teachers and our preachers because they teach what they know, they teach about what has effected them. And that is all wonderful, and from them we can learn so much.  But there is so much to learn that we can't learn it all from others.. we have to take time to learn for ourselves too.

 

I just missed out on so much that God has for me before I started reading my Bible daily.  Each time I pick it up I learn more and more and more.  I get more and more amazed at how alive those words on those pages become.  And now when I hear my teachers talk and my pastor preach...those words mean more to me because I have read them...I can connect better with what they are saying... I can question them when I see it differently. 

 

When I take time to read my Bible I can better discern the truth of God word when Satin tries to twist those words around to confuse me. 

 

When I take time to read my Bible I can truly know who Jesus is... instead of trusting on my preconceived notion of who Jesus is. 

 

The people closest to Jesus decided who Jesus was based on the fact that they knew His family...His family based Jesus on who they were not on who He was.... they didn't take time to really know who Jesus was.  To be able to believe, to be able to receive all that Jesus has for us... we have to truly know Jesus for ourselves.  When we do that ... oh the things Jesus can do in our lives!!!