Pleading

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

PLEADING

Mark 5:21-24

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24 So Jesus went with him.

NIV

This is faith in action. Although we are supposed to intercede for the needs of others, and this story is somewhat about a father interceding for the life of his daughter, it is also a story about the needs of Jairus. This was his little girl who was the apple of his eye. What dad does not love his daughter so much he would not plead for her life. Even in those days when having a son was everything, passing the family name on, being the first born son to inherit all the father has, this father was pleading for his daughter. He was even one of the synagogue rulers who was supposed to be against this Jesus who was upsetting their way of life, yet he was pleading for his daughter. What father would sit idle while his daughter was dying? How could he just do nothing? Surely whatever kind of doctors there were in those days had tried some form of cure, but it was no helping, she was still dying. Maybe Jesus was his last hope, his last chance to try to save his little daughter. Jarius had to love his little girl with all his heart to take the chance of losing his reputation as a leader to go and plead with Jesus. Do we plead with Jesus for our needs? Do we ask to be saved from an illness leading to death? Sure we offer prayer requests for our aunts friend who has a daughter whose son is sick, but do we come to Jesus pleading for our own needs? Jarius did not want to lose his little girl, he was pleading Jesus as much for himself as he was asking for his little girl to be healed, so she would not die. How much do we plead with Jesus for our own needs? Do we just casually ask, or do we fall at the feet of Jesus and greatly implore, exhorting, invoking, pleading for him to help us? It is obvious although he may not have every met Jesus before, he had heard about him and had such faith that Jesus could heal his little girl; he put that faith in action and fell at the feet of Jesus. Maybe we need more falling at the feet of Jesus. Maybe there should be more time spent at the altar, then worshipping in music. Maybe there should be more time spent on our knees then on our sits. We see the results of the kind of faith Jarius put to action, Jesus went with him. Maybe if we put our faith into action, falling at the feet of Jesus, pleading for our need, he come with us, he will heal. Are we too sophisticated to plead? Are we too reserved to fall at his feet? Are we too afraid of what others would think, if we actually fell at the feet of Jesus and pleaded for him to meet our need? If we want Jesus to come, plead. 

Go Tell It

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

GO TELL IT

Mark 5:18-20

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."  20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

NIV

Surely it would have been better if Jesus would have let the man become a groupie and follow after him. At least that is what would have seemed to be the right thing to do. We are told or called to follow Jesus, so why wasn’t this man allowed to follow? Why was it better for the man to return home to his family and tell them all that Jesus had done for them? The answer to that question seems almost too clear. It would seem so many of us believers have a tendency to hang around the church, that is the body of Christ, not the building, although maybe the building is included. Maybe more of us need to go back home to our families and tell them of all the Lord did for us and how he has had mercy on us. Of course none of us have been so isolated from our families because of being demon-possessed as this poor fella had been, but maybe in some sense because of our faith we have isolated ourselves from family, old friends, neighbors, and co-workers. It is true that some of them may not actually want to be around us, but then that might be because we preach at them instead of telling them all the Lord has done for us and how he has shown us so much mercy. When Jesus said that would be his witnesses that is exactly what a witness does, tell what we saw, heard, or experienced. That is what Jesus was telling this man to do. Sure we need to follow Jesus, but maybe we should not become such a groupie, hiding within the walls of our church so to speak, that we lose contact with all others that need to hear about what Jesus has done for us. Maybe we think they will just magically appear in church someday, if we all just hang out there, building it bigger and better so they will notice it as they drive by. Maybe if we build it to look like it is not a church, they will come in by themselves and ask us about Jesus. But the point here seems to lead us in the direction of going somewhere else, to the people and telling them about what Jesus has done for us. We simply need to go tell it.

Pleading Jesus to Leave

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

PLEADING JESUS TO LEAVE

Mark 5:14-17

14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man — and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

NIV

Why did the people plead Jesus to leave their region? Was he disturbing their economy? Were they afraid he would send other demons into other herds of pigs that would drown, or maybe a herd of sheep that would run off the cliff? This could cost them a whole lot of money and that simply would not do. Maybe they wanted Jesus to leave because they were afraid he would find some demons in them they did not want exposed. Maybe they just were not ready to accept such a supernatural event in their area and just wanted to be left alone to live their lives as they have been doing. What we do know for sure is they did not want anything to do with Jesus, they pleaded for him to leave their region. When Jesus shows up things simply change, as in this case a man was restored to a whole condition and a whole herd of pigs were dead. Did Jesus cause the death of the pigs? Not likely, as it was the demons who asked to be allowed to go into the pigs, of course, Jesus allowed it. Two thousand pigs is a lot of money to somebody and surely they must have been upset about losing so much, but a man’s life was saved. Wasn’t that worth it? It would appear it was not, as the people pleaded for Jesus to leave them alone. They could deal with one demon possessed man hanging around, but to lose so much may have been more then they wanted to give up. Can we relate to them in any way? When Jesus shows up in our area, in our life, are we willing to allow him full access in every area of our life? Are we willing to let him heal us or change us even if it costs something on our part? Is there any area in our life we plead Jesus to leave from? Surely we are not actually possessed by a legend of demons, but maybe we simply have some habits we would rather hang on to. Maybe we like to gossip, maybe we like to be critical, or judgmental, maybe we enjoy thinking more of ourselves then we should, or maybe we enjoy being impatient, jealous, envious or selfish. Maybe we have some other kind of habit we don’t even want to admit is a habit and we would rather Jesus just leave that area alone. Why did they plead Jesus to leave?

Death to Evil

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

DEATH TO EVIL

Mark 5:6-13

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" 8 For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"  9 Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. 11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13 He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

NIV

Here is the rest of the story about Jesus having the power over all things, including the evil within this man. Does it really matter who these evil spirits, who call themselves legend because there were many, come from? Again some think them the fallen angels, some think them the offspring of angels and woman, some don’t think anything, not commenting about the origin of these things. What we know for sure is that when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of Knowledge of good and evil mankind would forever have evil within, our hearts would be deceitfully wicked, ever inclination of the thoughts of our heart are evil all the time even from childhood. If we disagree and think that we are pure and holy people based on the condition of our heart, we are absolutely only fooling ourselves. If we think we have checked off all the do’s and overcome all the don’ts we are deceiving ourselves and proving God right when he said our hearts are deceitfully wicked. Even if we know that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God, and shout it at the top of our voice, we have evil within. But Jesus can have the power over that evil, Jesus can cast that evil out and cleanse us from everything which works to harm and destroy us. There is no human power that can rid us of any sort of evil, but Jesus can, and he will, if we only allow him to. As this man was freed from the many evil spirits who were within him because of the power and authority of Jesus, we too can be free from evil. But first we have to come to Jesus, we have to admit any evil that is within and permit Jesus to cast it out, to order it to leave and to send it to the bottom of the lake, there dead, to no longer be. We will forever have the knowledge of good and evil. We will forever know what evil is and what effects it can have in our lives. We will forever be tempted by evil, which is the nature of the beast, to tempt us, continually. But we do not have to entertain that evil. We do not have to invite it back in. When Jesus sets us free we are free indeed. But we cannot make the mistake that we are free because of any our own abilities, our own efforts, our own power for that are entertaining evil. Let Jesus do the work. Let Jesus send evil to its death. 

Meeting Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

MEETING JESUS

Mark 5:1-5

5:1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.   2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

NIV

This is but the beginning of a narrative between Jesus and this man described here. We should include the complete story but it might be good for us to stop here briefly and look at this man, because of the great detail in describing his condition. First of all why did this man who had an evil spirit come out to meet Jesus? We would think that evil spirits would not want anything to do with Jesus. If they know who Jesus is, and by the rest of the story we see they do. Why would they want to encounter Jesus? We know from other scripture that evil spirits are not those angels who left heaven, for scripture tells us God is keeping them chained in darkness until the Day of Judgment, that only Lucifer has been seen to earth and roams around, so who are these evil spirits and how do they know Jesus? Much discussion has been written about angels and demons. Some say that account in Genesis about the sons of God who married daughters of men were angels and the offspring created were the evil spirits, yet it is also said that angels and people cannot reproduce because of being completely different beings. There is so much controversy or should we say opposing views that neither may be the truth. Does it really matter? The point here is the evil within this man was so strong, no one could restrain him. We will see what happens to this evil within the man in the rest of the story, but for now we should consider just how strong evil within can be. We should also note the teaching regarding whether believers can have an evil spirit within because the Spirit of God and an evil spirit cannot coexist within the same person. Once again so much has been said by so many who profess the knowledge, professors, theologians and scholars who fall on both sides of the discussion, that is it hard to determine if any of them have the truth. But again to this point, evil within is so very strong. If we believe Christians cannot entertain evil, then we are surely wrong, for we know our hearts are deceitfully wicked, or evil. If we could not ever entertain evil, well then we would be perfect as Christ is, and we know that simply is not true. Sin in any form is considered evil, and therefore we must admit we entertain evil, and we must know how strong of a grip it can have on us. Yes we will see that Jesus send legend into the pigs and they run off the cliff, thus freeing the man. We will see the strength and power of Christ over evil. But we must know evil does not want to leave the area. Evil can have a great deal of strength and power over us, if we allow it, it we do not give all authority in our lives to Jesus. Do we try to hide some areas of our life from Jesus? Do we actually not mind having some evil exist within us? Do we allow some evil not matter how small to have authority over us? Can we ever be totally free from all evil, even if we give all authority to Jesus? We must know temptation is not evil, but it is when we entertain that temptation it takes root and when it is fully grown it becomes sin, evil within. Temptations come in many forms, we must be vigilant and not entertain evil, for it will overpower us breaking any restraints we try, by human effort, to contain it. If we allow it to have its way, it can harm us, as cutting ourselves with stones. We must be honest with ourselves and come out to meet Jesus.

Ask Anything

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

ASK ANYTHING

Mark 4:35-41

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."  36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"  41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

NIV

If there was ever any question about Jesus being there during the creation of all things, this should dispel any doubts and answer that question. But that is not the only truth we can find in the exchange between Jesus and his disciples. From a very personal experience of seeing the faith of a child riding on the way to a county fair during a heavy rain storm asking Jesus to calm the storm and arriving at the fair in the sunshine, it is clear Jesus has the power over the wind and the waves. The thought that comes to mind is, do we have that kind of faith? Do we have prayer requests out of a sense of doing the traditional thing? Do we have prayer requests for our friend’s aunt who has a brother whose wife’s sister has something that needs healing because we are afraid to ask for something close enough for all to see because we really have doubts about healing? Do we simply not ask, because we simply have no faith? Are we afraid to ask because we do not believe Jesus will do what we ask? Have we bought into the human attitude about providing for ourselves using that non-scriptural quote, “God helps those who help themselves”? Have we not seen with our own eyes various miracles? Do we still have no faith? Did Jesus stop doing miracles after he ascended? Were all the miracles just for the sake of developing the faith of his disciples, or proving he was actually the Son of God, a divine being, a part of the trinity, there at creation? Could all those miracles be for the purpose of developing our faith? Do we need to see more in order to believe? Again from a very personal experience God did perform an incredible miracle beyond all human reason, beyond all physical scientific reality, in order to grab my attention bringing this person to faith. We need to continue to believe beyond a shadow of doubt. Do we have any storms in our life that need to be calmed? All we have to do is ask, Jesus said, “Ask anything”.

Explained

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

EXPLAINED

Mark 4:33-34

33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

NIV

Isn't that much just like Jesus? Everything he says he explains in detail to those who follow him, but to those who do not know him as their Lord and Savior he speaks in parables. If we have the Holy Spirit we do understand the truth of scripture. We know what Jesus means in all the parables because as we saw before he gave us the key to understanding. Those we have not yet received that key, who have not yet received him, simply cannot understand all the truth of the scripture. Some of them look at us as if we are foolish for having faith in Jesus Christ. Some of them think we are foolish for believing God actually created the earth and every kind of plant, bird, fish, mammal, and then finally man his own image. They cannot understand truth because they are blinded by their own human understanding. Jesus has always said that he who has an ear, let him hear. Because we are his own disciples he has explained everything to us. We have that ear, and we can hear. Those of the world only hear parables, words they cannot quite grasp the real meaning of, so they think of us as weak minded, because we disagree with their human based thinking by believing Jesus. We know the truth, Jesus has explained it all to us. 

Giving Shade

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

GIVING SHADE

Mark 4:30-32

30 Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." 

NIV

We might see this as us and our faith starting out same, so very small and it growing into monster like faith, so large and overwhelming that other can take refuge in our faith. Maybe that is it, but is that describing the Kingdom of God? Maybe it is about the church, which started with a very small seed, just one and twenty in some upper room and now the church has grown worldwide having a great influence on all societies. But is that really describing the Kingdom of God? It could be both, but it seems that it does not appear to be either. The Church surely has become larger, and has branched out all over the world, but although many of the branches seem to have grown from the same seed they appear to have a different appearance, almost a different tree altogether. The Kingdom of God surely does not resemble that nor does that resemble the Kingdom of God. But if we are the Kingdom of God, us people, not churches, and when we first receive the Good News, being that good soil, and that so very same seed it planted within us, it is supposed to grow, and grow and grow into a very large, huge, humongous faith. As so many other places we the people of God are referred to as a tree planted by the stream of water that brings forth our fruit in season, our leaf will not wither and what so ever we do will prosper. So here we are a great tree of faith, bearing much fruit which is only good to those birds that perch in our shade. That is our fruit is only good for others to come along and enjoy it. True we gain much benefit from having the seed planted within us and we enjoy so much being a part of the Kingdom of God, but our purpose for growing is not go us, but for those who can find shade in our branches. We should be spreading out our branches so others can find the Good News within us. This is the Kingdom of God, starting out with so few, so small, but growing branch by branch, twig by twig, leaf by leaf until we are a great tree giving even more shade for others to perch in, bearing much fruit so others can eat an enjoy the fruit of our lives as we are rooted in Christ. In addition, a great truth here is that we must grow, we cannot stay as we are, a tree never stops getting bigger, unless it is uprooted, then it dies. As long as we have our roots firmly planted in Christ we should continue to grow spiritually, our faith, our attitudes, our behaviors, our lives should continually expand ever touching others, giving them shade to perch in and fruit to enjoy.

Ready for Harvest

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

READY FOR HARVEST

Mark 4:26-29

26 He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain — first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." 

NIV

We could see this parable in two ways. But we must know that it is about the Kingdom of God for that is what Jesus said it was about. First we could consider that we are the farmer, sowing the seed, the good news among mankind, and bringing in the harvest of those who accept that seed and allow it to grow in them, but that is just a little speculation. What appears to be the meaning is that Jesus is the farmer and we are that good soil he mentioned before. Now surely Jesus does not sleep and get up night and day, but that is representative of time passing, and the farmer patently waiting for the plant to grow into a mature crop. When we first accepted the Good News into our heart and mind we were as that good soil with a new seed. The Word of God needs to grow in us, it needs to become a full grown crop in us. Now we could say as when the crop is ripe Christ will harvest us and take us home to be with him. So then we could say that if we have not been harvested by Christ, if we have not been taken home to heaven, than we must not be ripe, or for that matter, even full grown. Maybe that is what some among us are taken home at such a young human age, for they may well have become full grown, ripe and ready for the harvest. We must conclude because we are still here, that we have more growing to do. If we are that good soil and accepted the seed, then we just have not produced the desired crop yet. Could this crop be like the fruit, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control? Could it simple be the life we live, the manner in which we conduct ourselves? Could it be how we follow Jesus, our thoughts and attitudes about others? It appears it is all of that and maybe even more. But the point is the result of growth is the harvest. We are not here just to be good soil producing a great crop. We are here to be harvested. The life of the plant is not for the plant but for the farmer. The only purpose of the plant is to bring a benefit to the farmer. We need to be harvested, thus we need to produce a full mature crop in our life and become ripe ready for the harvest.

Use it or Lose it

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

USE IT OR LOSE IT

Mark 4:24-25

24 "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." 

NIV

Here we find what may be called a warning against hearing the truth and not doing anything with it. What good does it do to attend the highest level of learning in a particular field such as medicine, receive a degree and license to practice, and then find a job building houses? Here Jesus is telling us that when we hear his teaching we need to make improvements in our life based on that teaching. If we merely attend church once a week and sit and listen to sermon for twenty minutes then continue to live in the same manner as we have for the past week, we have gained nothing, in fact we have lost something. In all reality if all we ever learn about him or his teaching is within twenty minutes a week we already are losing. But no matter how little of how much time we spend listening and learning we must use that which we have learned. The more we learn the more we are required to apply that learning in our lives. WE must continue to improve our condition. When the doctor becomes degreed and licensed he still has to continue to improve his knowledge and skills as a physician, keeping up on the latest information, technics and procedures in order to be and effective practitioner. We too must continue to learn and apply that learning to improve our effectiveness as a practitioner of the gospel. If we ever think we have learned enough we are sadly mistaken. If we ever think we do not need to improve in our life we are very sadly mistaken. If we have condensed our life into a check list of do’s and don’ts we have missed out completely. We need to continue to hear on a daily basis, we need consider carefully what we hear and make those adjustments in our life to improve. Will we ever gain perfection? Absolutely not, but that cannot be an excuse not to improve. We cannot excuse ourselves based on our humanity. We need to continue to improve, or at least make every effort to do so, striving to apply what we hear, what we read, what we learn and understand with the help of the Holy Spirit. When we confuse or profess that we can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives us strength it is not about the things in this world, but it is about improving our lives in the Kingdom of God. When need to use it or lose it. 

The Shining

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

THE SHINING

Mark 4:21-23

21 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? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

NIV

We know what Jesus means by this because we have all the other accounts of his saying this but it is recorded slightly different. But the nevertheless we should pay attention. Jesus is surely shining brightly telling the truth to all, showing what the gospel message is all about. He is bringing to light the wrong religious patterns of the Pharisees, He is bringing to light the sin which is in each person, He is shining the light of truth in every situation he encounters. The light exposes anything that is hidden in the dark. If we think we can hide anything from Jesus we are only fooling ourselves. In the same manner Jesus is also telling us that because we have the Spirit, that he has poured out his Spirit into them, into us, that we are now the light of the world and that we must not hide it under the bed. We have an obligation, no a privilege to shine our light on things that at hidden. Surely we should not get into a judgmental attitude thinking we are light and others are in the dark hiding their sin, and we need to yell at them, judge them, and tell them how horrible their sin is. But we should shine with the love of Jesus, with the truth of Jesus, living rightly and simply telling the wonderful news of the free gift of God. This good news with do the exposing within the hearts of men, it is not up to us to judge them, or to expose them. This good news will show them within themselves, it will reveal inwardly into the darkness of their hearts, as it did, and still does in our hearts. All people, including us, try to conceal bad behavior, and deeds, bad attitudes, but the truth will always bring those things out into the open. We should let our light shine both in our lives and for the lives of others who still need to see this light as we do. Living our faith out loud out in the open, not being silent, but being forthright about what we believe. We need to stand tall, on a stand, shining the light of truth, not just in words but in our life as well, by the way we live, not in the shadow of the check lists, but in the way we live out our faith. We need to shine. 

The Key

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

THE KEY

Mark 4:13-20

13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop — thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." 

NIV

The explanation of the parable as plain and simple as it can be is want we are faced with here. Since we have already examined the truth of this parable during the narrative of the parable, mainly due to us understanding it, we really need not seek more or a different truth in the explanation. However there is the question which Jesus asks. How are we to understand any parable? He is giving us the key to understanding what the Kingdom of God is like. If we are to be citizens of the Kingdom of God rather than of this world then it would make perfect sense we should know how our country runs.  When we were children we were supposed to learn how this country we currently reside in operates, it form of government, it type of economy, and its social structure. Now that we are children of God and citizens of His Kingdom we should learn how it operates, it form of government, it type of economy and it social structure. Jesus teaches all of that within many parables he tells. If we understand the key then we can learn all we must know about how we are to live within His kingdom. Of course we have a lot of help from some of the Apostles in further explanations that seem to be greater detail, but the fact remains all the truth we need to know about the Kingdom of God is in the words of Jesus. It is true that some of our behaviors need more attention, but if we what to know about where we live, listen to Jesus. Yes we still live in the world, but we are not supposed to live of, or like the world. We are supposed to live as if we are already living in the Kingdom of God, which in fact we are, because Jesus said the kingdom is already here. So we need the key to understand about our world, the place of our citizenship, the place of our rebirth place, the place of our inheritance. Understanding this parable gives us that key which opens the door to our mind, our soul, our spirit.

The Secret

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

THE SECRET

Mark 4:9-12

9 Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" 

NIV

This is a somewhat difficult passage although it should be quite easy. There is no question about not being able to understand parables. Those who refuse to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior are left outside of the understanding, but not by the will of God, but rather by their own choice. As we will see when Jesus explains this parable, it is a key to understanding all parables, but let us first understand that Jesus is not keeping people from understanding the Kingdom of God, but simply saying that unless people turn from their wicked ways and seek forgiveness of their sins they will never understand the truth about the Kingdom of God. We have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God. We should grasp the importance of that, understanding the privilege we have. We can see and perceive, we can hear and understand. There is no mystery to us about the Kingdom of God, we know the truth. Now it might be that there are people who say they are believers, or we should use the word Christians, but they still do not see and perceive or hear and understand. Would we be able to say they have not really turned? Surely Jesus did not mean for only those few that were with him in those days to be the only ones with the knowledge of the secret. Surely all this was recorded so that we too might know and understand. Surely anyone who turns and seeks forgiveness from their sin will be given the key to understanding these parables and seeing the truth about the Kingdom of God. Why is there so much confusion? Why do people have so many different opinions about the Kingdom of God? Is it they simply do not really see and perceive? What is keeping them from perceiving? They claim to know Jesus but they do not understand or they are miss-understanding what the Word says. We all think what we think is right yet surely with so many different rights, someone has to be wrong. Do some people merely accept what a supposed scholar or theologian says is the right way to understand, simply because they said it was the right way? We all have the Spirit dwelling within us who leads us into all truth, so why is some truth different than other truth? Jesus has said we have been given the secret. The question is then who is “we”.

Multipy

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

MULIPLY

Mark 4:1-8

4:1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." 

NIV

We always claim to be that good soil because we are still believers while so many have fallen away, because of one of the reasons Jesus explained in this parable. The question we have to ask ourselves is whether or not we really are that good soil, in the sense have we produced a crop multiplying thirty, sixty or even a hundred times? Are we multiplying at all? We can look at this in two ways. First we could consider ourselves the soil in the sense that after the Word of God is planted in us do we produce many believers from that seed within us. Second we could see this as being the soil in which the Word of God is planted in us and we must grow into the full plant producing much fruit. Either way we still have to ask ourselves if we have not been choked by all the denominational doctrines, the manmade rules and regulations and the traditions of the past. Have we allowed these things to steal from us, scorch or strangle us from either bringing others into the Kingdom of God or from being the child of God that he intends us to be, bearing much fruit? If we think being a Christian is all about following all the rules, checking off our list of do’s and don’ts, then we surely have been choked by all the thorns. If all we do is attend church on Sunday morning thinking we are Christians then the sun has surely scorch us because we truly have no real roots in the Word of God, we are just shallow in our faith. If we say we are the good soil but live pretty much the in the same fashion as the world does, living on human effort, maybe the world came by and ate up all the seed that was planted in us. If we are the good soil then something has to show it. We have to produce a good crop, we have to either produce a lot of other believers, and that is not the job of the pastor/church thing, but our task, or we have to grow and produce much fruit which again is for the purpose of others coming along and plucking from us to enjoy. Either way we have to produce, we have to grow, we have to multiply. That would mean we cannot simply be the same every day, we cannot just be soil laying there being just like we have always been, we must multiply.

The Will of the Father

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

THE WILL OF THE FATHER

Mark 3:31-35

31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." 33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." 

NIV

Was Jesus disrespecting his own mother? This is the conclusion of the narrative regarding everyone, including his family, thinking he was out of his mind and they were coming to take charge of him. His mother was concerned about her son. But now that she is here along with her other sons, Jesus takes the occasion to teach another truth. Surely he was not trying to be disrespectful to his mother; we know he loved her dearly as on the cross he made sure she would be cared for by John. This lesson is about his relationship with all of us that are doing the will of God. With God being the Father all of us are his children. We are all brothers and sister of Jesus, co-heirs to the estate of the Father. It is true that Jesus is the firstborn and due all of the inheritance as his birthright. But as we are told in the letter to the Romans that Jesus is the firstborn of many brothers, which is everyone who does the will of the Father. So then we must conclude in order to be considered a brother of Christ we must do the will of the Father. This is where we all get into trouble as we must come to terms with what is the will of the Father. It may be too many Christians are concerned about that check lists of do’s and don’ts as being the will of the Father. It may be that many Christians are thinking their area of service is doing the will of the Father. But neither of those, nor do any other human activity qualify us to be brothers and sisters of Christ. If he was the firstborn of many, then we must be born into the family of God in order to be a member of that family. Jesus, himself, said that we must be born again. That and that alone is what qualify us to be called brothers and sisters of Jesus. The will of the Father is that we are born again into his family becoming joint-heirs with Jesus, inheriting all the Father has. Jesus was also making sure his mother and earthly bothers heard this so that they too might be saved from perishing. His message is clear, and without confusion. In order to enter the Kingdom of God we must be born again. That is doing the will of the Father.

No Division

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

NO DIVISION

Mark 3:22-30

22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."

23 So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. 28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." 

30 He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."

NIV

This is rest of the narrative regarding everyone thinking Jesus is out of his mind plus this accusation he is the prince of demons. This is so inflammatory and Jesus cannot let this kind of statement go unanswered. But he goes beyond the singular response of being called the prince of demons. Yet there is so much truth in this concept that a house divided cannot stand that we should consider it first. Could the reason the church universal is not as effective in the world as it could be, be because it is divided? Is all the perceived or maybe actual infighting between denominations seen as being divided and therefore cannot take its full stand in the culture of today? Maybe this is even related to the statement Jesus includes about blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Although Jesus is God, or one of the three aspects of God, at this point he is also fully man, human and the power he displays in healing and driving out demons is due to the Holy Spirit, at least which is what appears he is saying as it relates to this accusation. Refusing to accept the ability and power of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of Jesus is unforgiveable. Could we make that leap to our lives today? Could we say that if we refuse to accept the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, refusing his ability and power in our lives is in fact blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and is thus unforgivable? If we refuse to accept his gifts, saying they are not for today, would fall into that category, wouldn’t it? Is that in a sense saying we do not believe the Holy Spirit is presence today in the world? Maybe we accept his work as far as convicting men of sin, but we are unwilling to go the distant regarding all his gifts and his power in our lives. Would that sort of be like a house divided? We believe some things, but not other things seem to fit the definition of divided. That surely fits when we talk about denominational beliefs, but is may also fit when we talk about our personal beliefs. Could the lesson for us today be all about being united both denominationally and personally? Could it be we must believe all of the truths in the Bible? Could the Holy Spirit want to be using us to heal and drive out demons today or doing some many other things we have not even come close to doing? Do we believe or not? Do we partially believe or fully accept all that God wants to do in our lives? We cannot be divided on this. There should be no division.

Out of Our Mind

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

OUT OF OUR MIND

Mark 3:20-21

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

NIV

This is but the beginning of a rather long narrative in which Jesus ends up telling everyone a parable and a divided house that cannot stand, but we must take this is bits and pieces in order to examine the whole. Jesus is getting such a reputation by now that people just won’t even give him a chance to grab a hot meal. He has been traveling around the local region preaching the Word of God, teaching people about the truth of Gospel message, about salvation through faith in God and he has been healing all sorts of people and driving out demons from others. Crowds are following him every moment of the day. His family, which would be Mary and Joseph, if he is still alive, since we really never hear about him anymore, and Jesus’s brothers have come to take charge of him because they are thinking he is out of his mind. Have we ever been accused of being out of our minds because of so many people following after us? Of course not, but what does our family think of our faith? Are we considered a little of a nut job? Do they think we are out of our minds because we trust Jesus? He said he came to divide families, in the sense that those who follow him will not be loved by those who refuse to follow him. If we are living as Jesus tells us we should then there are going to be family members who should think we are crazy. But if we tell them we are Christians and live the same way they do then they will just consider us a hypocrite. Wouldn’t it be better to be considered crazy, out of our minds, than a hypocrite? Maybe we need to be a little more crazy, living more like Jesus, telling everyone, preaching the gospel, being more forceful about making sure we don’t miss anyone, not giving up because they don’t want to hear it. But most of all if we lived completely sold out for Jesus that would surely cause them to think us out of our mind. 

Follow and Go

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

FOLLOW AND GO

Mark 3:13-19

13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve — designating them apostles-that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

NIV

Jesus picks the twelve who he will pour his truth into for the expressed purpose of having them caring on with the Gospel after he is resurrected to the right hand of the Father. Why did Jesus pick these twelve men? Was there anything special about them? Surely we know some of them better than other, such as Peter, Matthew, Thomas, Andrew and of course Judas. But they all were called out and appointed as ambassadors of the Gospel, officially a commissioner of Christ (with miraculous powers). That does make then quite different than any of us. It was only those twelve who were called to be Apostles. But we all have still been called to be ambassadors of Christ. We do not have our citizenship in this world, but in the Kingdom of God and we represent of King in this foreign land we now reside in. But does that mean we should not be able to exhibit miraculous powers? Have we not been given the gifts of the Spirit which in every sense are miraculous, in fact, one of them is the gift of miracles. There are those among us who would teach those powers stopped with the Apostles, but the fact remains the gifts are forever, well at least until the end comes. Have we just taken some of the scripture to heart and left other parts untouched? Do we only pay attention to the sections we want to and forfeit the rest? Sure this is about the history or the events of the life of Christ and some of his activities, but it is also about showing us Jesus and his call on our lives as well. Does he pick certain ones to do certain things? It would appear so and we still see that today. Some have surely been called into special tasks such as those who are called to shepherd the flock. Pastors are far more then preachers of the Gospel. Anyone can learn to preach if they put their minds to it. They merely have to go to some Bible school sit through all the classes, learn all the technics of proper sermon principles then put out there resume and look to be hired by some church, but to shepherd God’s people takes a calling and an empowering of the Spirit. Yet we all have been called to preach the Gospel in a sense. We have been called to be his witnesses, to testify to what happened in our lives. We have all been called by Jesus to follow him. We all have been told to go. So we follow and we go.

Pushing Forward

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

PUSHING FORWARD

Mark 3:7-12

7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

NIV

We are still not clear as to who these evil spirits are who know who Jesus is. From other scripture we found the Angels who left heaven have been kept chained up in darkness until the judgment day, and the Greek does not help in that the word for spirit can be applied to the disposition of the human heart as well as to some supernatural being of some sort either angelic or demonic, but the lesson for us today in not in these evil spirits but rather in the crowd pushing forward to touch him. Sometimes it is a wonder why we do not see crowds pushing forward today in order to touch Jesus. Sure he is not in the flesh, and sure many people are not being healed, and sure we don’t see a whole lot in any evil spirits being cast out, but Jesus is just as real today as he was in the flesh. True we need a little more, well a lot more faith then those people did, but nevertheless all those types of experiences are available today. People can be healed; people can be delivered from evil spirits if only they would push forward to touch Jesus. But we are way too cool for that kind of behavior; we are far too sophisticated to push our way forward toward Jesus. Maybe we are afraid we won’t actually be healed. Maybe we really do not believe Jesus heals today. We do have testimonies of his healing power, but maybe we try to explain it in some medical sense, like Jesus uses the doctors. We do have actual physical miraculous healings yet we hang back and do not push forward to touch Jesus. Is it time for a revival? Do we need some kind of supernatural healing service for us to start our push forward? Heck we don’t even have the crowds yet, there is no need to push because there is plenty of room near Jesus. Maybe the reason there are no crowds is not enough people have heard all that he is doing. Maybe it is time for revival after all, a revival of our hearts and our faith so Jesus can start doing all that healing and casting out of evil spirits and then crowds will hear and come and then people will have to start pushing forward in order to touch Jesus. Maybe it is time for a revival. Maybe we need to start pushing forward. 

Good or Evil

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

GOOD OR EVIL

Mark 3:1-6

3:1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."  4 Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

NIV

In this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees we are shown all about the rules and regulations getting in the way of true faith in God. Jesus was trying to bring them along in the path of true righteousness, but their stubborn belief in the law was far too ingrained for them to see the truth. This was not about the man and his need to be healed, but about the Pharisees and their need to understand. So often we allow our denominational doctrines, dogmas, rules and regulations, our lists of do’s and Don’ts, our perceived or learned notions of the truth to stand in the way of us truly getting what Jesus teaches about faith. These people were living by so many rules, especially rules about the Sabbath they could not see the true love of God at work. Do we come to church on Sunday for the expressed purpose of doing good or evil? Maybe we do not intent to do evil, but by simply attending church for our own benefit, to fulfill some need in our life, to be seen by others as a good Christian, “See I am here in church” attitude, or some other self-fulfilling purpose might be on the side of evil rather than good. Could we say that by doing good on Sunday we attend church to serve the needs of others? That would not mean we are involved in some “Ministry” but that we talk to others, we encourage them, we allow them the share any needs, we pray with them, we show genuine concern and compassion toward others, we love them, and not just our little cliché but those who we may have never ever taken the time to ask their name. This may well be the truth between doing evil and doing good on the Sabbath. The Pharisee were all about themselves and not about others, except trying the control them.  Jesus was about others, even on the Sabbath. If we are going to follow Jesus, than we need to be about others even on Sunday in church. We cannot afford to simply pass by each other on the foyer not even acknowledging the other is there. Sure we may not be able to bosom buddies with everyone, but we surely should not be strangers and if we don’t know their names, the truth is we are strangers and that is not good. But then of course there are some we do know their names, but carry around a little bad attitude about, and that surely is doing evil on the Sabbath. Is it not better to heal on the Sabbath? Good or evil, which shall we do?