Monthly Archives: July 2016

Just stay away from the fence (Mark 7:6-16) July 31, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Thessalonians 4-5

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 7:6-16
Jesus: Isaiah prophesied wisely about your religious pretensions when he wrote,

These people honor Me with words off their lips;
meanwhile their hearts are far from Me.
Their worship is empty, void of true devotion.
They teach a human commandment, memorized and practiced by rote.
When you cling blindly to your own traditions such as washing utensils and cups, you completely miss God’s command. Then, indeed, you have perfected setting aside God’s commands for the sake of your tradition. Moses gave you God’s commandment: “Honor your father and your mother.” And also, “If you curse your father or your mother, you will be put to death.” But you say to your aged parents, “I’ve decided that the support you were expecting from me will now be the holy offering set aside for God.” After that he is not allowed to do anything for his parents. Do you think God wants you to honor your traditions that you have passed down? This is only one of many places where you are blind. (to the crowd that had gathered) Listen, all of you, to this teaching. I want you to understand. There is nothing outside someone that can corrupt him. Only the things that come out of a person can corrupt him. All who have ears to hear, let them listen.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We get so hung up in good rules that help us maintain a healthy, good, righteous life, one that keeps us away from those dens of iniquity that would tempt us and easily cause us to fall, that we forget what God really calls us to do. What God really wants from us is a change of heart. He wants to transform us from the inside out. It’s the repentance that turns us away from the world and toward Him that He longs for in us. Not obedience to a set of rules. That’s what the scribes and Pharisees couldn’t understand when Jesus spoke.

The rulers had memorized, adhered to, and enforced their rules for so long, they forgot why they were given to them in the first place. God gave Moses the law, not to become a burden and limit their enjoyment of life, but to show them the boundaries that would keep them in His will where they would enjoy the good things He had created for them.

Think about the fences a rancher places around his pastures. Those fences are to protect his cattle. He knows the kinds of grass and water and feed he puts within the limits of those fences. There are no poisons within those boundaries. No wells or springs that will cause the cattle to fall ill. No weeds or grasses that will hurt them. No unknown vegetation that will make them weak or injury them in any way. The rancher travels back and forth across the pasture often to make sure it is free from everything except the best kind of feed for his cattle to make sure they are healthy and well fed.

That’s what God’s laws are like. They are the boundaries beyond which poisons exist that will pollute, weaken, and destroy our soul. They are the fences God erects to make sure we understand the limits to which we cannot cross and expect to remain spiritually whole and clean and pure in relationship with the creator.

Too often, though, we live at the fence line, just like a lot of cattle you see as you drive by those ranches. They poke their heads through trying to reach those grasses just outside the fence thinking they must taste better than the grass the rancher sowed just for them that fills the entire pasture behind them. Like those cattle we try to poke our head through the fences of God’s laws. We try to test the fence, push it past what He says is the limit. We try to tell God what His rules should be instead of just living within the great pasture He provides for us.

Are the rules important? Sure. They keep us from the poisons outside the fence. But when we let the rules become our god. We’ve gone too far. When we live at the fence, we miss the special food God prepares for His children in the middle of His pasture. Just like the rancher doesn’t put the best grass seed at the fence line, neither does God. He wants us to come close to Him, in the middle of His kingdom. He invites us into His home, and that’s not at the fence.

The Pharisees focused on rules. Jesus focused on our heart. The Pharisees focused on the fence line. Jesus focused on God’s home. The Pharisees focused on what we should not do. Jesus focused on what we should do. The Pharisees’ lives were full of negatives. Jesus’ life was full of positives. So why is it so many people want to follow the way of the rule watchers instead of life giver? Why do so many flock to the list keeper instead of the One who frees us from the list and gives us the pasture to get our fill?

Yes, rules are important, but when you live in the center of the pasture, you never have to worry about getting your head caught in the fence in the first place. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Don’t you see? (Mark 6:50) July 30, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – John 1-2

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 6:50
Jesus (immediately calling out): Don’t be frightened. Do you see? It is I.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

So, today we have another familiar story. Jesus sends His disciples across the Sea of Galilee in a boat while He stays to prayer for a while. Then in the middle of the night as the disciples are battling yet another storm that comes up on the sea, Jesus leaves His place of prayer and decides to join His team. They are already afraid because of the storm, and Jesus figures the fastest way to get to the other side is to take a shortcut across the water.

The disciples look through the spray of the waves and the rain and see a figure in the mist. It looks like Jesus, but no one can walk on the water, so it must be a ghost. They do what most people do when they are afraid. They cower below the boat rail and pretend that if they can’t see the apparition , the the apparition can’t see them. That works, right? It’s like soldiers. Every soldier, including me, complains about digging a foxhole. You need a backhoe to dig one deep enough to really do the job right. That is unless the enemy is firing at you, then you can dig one with a spoon about twice as big as you really need it and about twice as fast as you think you can. If bullets are coming my way, I want them way over my head. To be honest with you, I don’t particularly want to poke my head up to see the whites of the enemies’ eyes, either.

So the disciples did what any of us would do when faced with something scary. They curled up in a ball and made themselves as small as they could in the hope they couldn’t be seen. Find the next guy, not me. None stood tall and leaned over the rail with their chest puffed out daring whatever or whoever that was out there to come on in. None were ready to take on this water-walker. They were afraid.

That’s why I like the words Mark records for us. “Don’t be frightened. Do you see? It is I.” Do you see? No, I’ve got my head buried under the blanket. I’m trying to be invisible to whatever you are. I’m trying not to be seen so how can I see? Do you see? I’m trying my best to keep my eyes closed as tight as I can get them so maybe that thing out on the water will go away. Do you see? What do you think I’m made of? I’m flesh and blood, I don’t know what you are. You can walk on water. I’m scared to death!

When I read those words of Jesus and thought about the natural response we have to fear, it dawned on me that we are just like those disciples in the boat. To many times, Jesus heads our way and we can see Him. But we are afraid of what’s next. We are afraid of what He might say, what He might do, what He might demand. We are afraid so we don’t look up. We let Satan blind us and we shut our eyes, cover our heads with a blanket, cower in the bottom of the boat. We hide thinking if we can’t see Jesus, then maybe He can’t see us either. We’re afraid of Him.

But Jesus says, “Don’t be frightened. Do you see?” Can you exercise just enough faith to open your eyes and see Me? Can you poke your head up above the rail just enough to recognize Me and see that I can do miraculous things in your life if you’ll let Me? Will you take the blanket off your head and see that I can help you, that I can calm the storms in your life, that I can bring peace to your troubled heart?

Satan wants us to keep our eyes closed. Oh, he’ll tell us that we are wise, just like he told Adam and Eve. They learned otherwise. He’ll tell us the One out there on the water is something to be feared, something other worldly, something impossible to exist. But if we will just sneak a glimpse of the Man who beckons us, we will find we don’t need to be frightened.

We will see Him walk out of the mist that the world tries to cloud Him in and we will recognize Him for who He is. We will see that Jesus is the Son of the living God. We will see that He can forgive our sins, fill us with His Spirit, and enable us to live the life He calls us to live. We will see the fog roll away and know that Jesus wants to do incredible things for and through us if we will just poke our heads above the railing. Or if we brave enough, like Peter to step out of the boat, we can be part of some wondrous water walking experiences of God’s hand at work all around us.

Don’t be frightened. Don’t you see? It is Jesus.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Grass tells us about God (Mark 6:37-40) July 29, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ezekiel 43-48

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 6:37-40
Jesus: Why don’t you give them something to eat?
Disciples (looking at Him): What? It would cost a fortune to buy bread for these people!
Jesus: Does anyone have any bread? Go and see.
Disciples (returning from the crowd): There are five pieces of flatbread and two fish, if that makes any difference.
Jesus: Listen, tell them to gather in smaller groups and sit on that green patch of grass.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The three synoptic gospels all tell this story, but once again there are some subtle differences in the details each one gives. We might assume Matthew was present as an eye witness to the event as one of the twelve Apostles. We’re not so sure about Mark and Luke. Luke tells us he researched his letters, both his gospel and his history of the beginnings of the church, Acts, from eye witnesses. We can assume Mark was either present at the feeding of this host of people or also spoke to eye witnesses since his telling of the event is so similar, but not exactly like that of Matthew and Luke.

We know about the crowd that followed Jesus to hear Him speak. We know they are some distance from any town of any size that could provide enough food for the number of people gathered there. We know no one really expected to stay as long as they did or more people would have brought food with them. We know it is late enough in the day people are starting to get hungry. We know the disciples want to send them away because they are afraid of what hungry people might do to them.

Jesus asks the disciples that obvious question, “Does anyone have any bread?” Duh! Before you send everyone home, see if there is enough food that we might share. Maybe these folks didn’t come unprepared. Perhaps they heard about His ministries in other places and knew He would stick around as long as people came to Him and that could be a while. Maybe a bunch of people brought a picnic lunch or supper in a basket and had enough to share. “Just go look and see.”

They came up with five small flatbread and two fish, if that makes any difference. That much could start a riot among hungry mouths, but not much more. Five tortillas and two sardines would give each person just enough to know they had a crumb of something in their hand if they spread it around, but they probably wouldn’t be able to recognize what it was. The morsel would be two small to tell whether it was meat or bread or potato or dried grass or a grain of sand on their palm. Not much to ease any hunger pangs they might have. Nope, the headlines read “Riot on Judean Hillside Over Five Flatbread and Two Fish”.

Here’s what I like about Mark’s version, though. After the disciples brought back the five flatbread and two fish, Jesus had them arrange them in smaller groups and sit on a patch of green grass nearby.

Now why would that interest me? Why would I think that’s important in this story? What would cause me pick out that detail or what would make Mark or the person who might have related this story to him pick out that particular detail to add to the scene as it unfolded?

First, I think it’s important to note that God is a God of order, not chaos. Before Jesus blessed and broke the boys small lunch to feed that crowd, He had the disciples add some order to the assembly. "Gather them into smaller groups. It’s hard to minister to a throng, but not so hard to minister to an organized group. When people are orderly and organized instead of driven into chaos, things just work better.

Second, in smaller groups, people are more apt to talk, discuss, learn from each other and even from an instructor. That’s why Sunday School and small group studies are so important. There is accountability in small groups that doesn’t happen among the masses. Worshiping in a mega-church is fine as long as you also engage in the small group studies and activities the mega-church offers to provide for your spiritual growth. If all you do is attend their worship service, not enough, sorry. But the same is true if you attend a small church. The worship service alone is not enough to help you grow. We all need those small group settings for accountability and to push us toward deeper understanding of God and His will.

Third, God cares about our needs and our comforts also. Jesus met the people’s need by feeding them. But He also cared about their comfort and instead of having them sit where they were, He told His disciples to move them to a grassy place nearby. He moved His pulpit to a more comfortable place for dinner. He cared about both their needs and their wants. He cares about the same for us. He didn’t provide couches and sofas, so He didn’t get extravagant with them, but He did give them grass to sit on.

One small detail in a story focused on the incredible miracle of Jesus multiplying a small boy’s lunch to feed thousands. But that detail tells us a lot about who God is and how He cares for you and me. Think about that today as you look at the grass outside your window.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

It’s more than just rest (Mark 6:31) July 28, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 13

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 6:31
Jesus (to the disciples): Let us go out into the wilderness for a while and rest ourselves.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The fourth commandment is an interesting one. It tells us to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. It tells us to do all our labor during the first six days of the week and to rest from our labor on the seventh day. When God gave Moses and the Israelites that command, they worked hard just to survive. Tilling the land, harvesting crops, preparing meals, protecting themselves from wild animals and marauding enemies, these men and women worked from before sunrise until after sunset at hard labor to survive. It’s not the same as what we think of as hard work today.

Even in our “hard labor” jobs, we have tools and mechanical aids that lighten the load significantly compared to what those Israelites used to eke out their existence. You’ll remember it was later in Israel’s history that the Philistines took away their metal tools, so they didn’t even have those to plow the land. Not like our tractors and combines and robotic factories today. No nail guns or power saws or machines to tamp and mix cement for construction. These folks worked hard.

God commanded them to rest from their labor on the seventh day. The interesting thing about that ancient Hebrew word for labor, though, it’s also used for serve, service to God, worship. The Israelites considered their everyday labor a means of worship. A way to serve God through the use of their hands every day. For six days they were to give their hard labor of service to God in a physical way, then on the sixth day, God commanded them to rest, set it apart, make it different, keep it holy.

We don’t do the kind of physical labor people did in Jesus’ day. I’m not sure we could keep up with them today. I’m not sure we could keep up with our grandparents in terms of physical labor on a day to day basis. We’ve gotten pretty soft as the generations have passed along. We think eight hour days are too long, even though a lot of us spend too much of that time stealing from our employers by checking our Facebook, Tweeting our friends, Instagramming with our social circle. Recent surveys tell us the average worker really actually works less than five hours of that eight they get paid for every day.

We think we need our four weeks of vacation and sick leave if we’re just tired of working. We figure fathers need paternity leave since mothers get maternity leave. We really don’t work like our ancestors did and I don’t think they complained nearly as much as we do about wages, time off, unfair working conditions, and all the other things we seem to complain about today.

Still, the commandment is valid. In our weakened condition, we still get overwhelmed by the stress and strain of the world just as our ancestors did. We don’t have to work as hard to survive anymore. God has allowed us to use our mental capacity to invent tools and equipment to ease the physical burdens of life. But we still suffer through the same temptations, emotions, and evil our ancestors did. In fact, we probably face more evil because we have more leisure time on our hands.

The question becomes, what do we do with that leisure time and what do we do when we rest from our labor? Now few people work six days a week at their jobs. 40 hours is the standard and most people have the whole weekend free. But what do you do with it? Do you honor it and make it holy? Do you remember, like the Israelites that your labor, whatever it might be, is service to God, and then your rest is a time to remember Him and should be made holy, set apart, different?

God didn’t need rest from the labor He expended to create the universe. He spoke and light appeared. He spoke and water separated the firmaments. He spoke and the sea stopped at the coastlines. He spoke and all the vegetation and animals in the world came into being. Then He made man in His image. God just said the words and things happened. God spoke. He didn’t need rest from what He did. But He commands us to honor the Sabbath because we need rest.

We need a Sabbath to stop from our self-imposed busy-ness and remember Him. We need a Sabbath to do something different from our every day labor to give our physical bodies and our minds a chance to recover from the labor we gave to Him the other six days of the week. We need a Sabbath. That’s why God commands us to remember it, use it, honor it, set it apart and make it different and holy.

How are you doing with that fourth commandment these days? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

It’s tough at home (Mark 6:4) July 27, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 87-89

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 6:4
Jesus (seeing this): A prophet can find honor anywhere except in his hometown, among his own people, and in his own household.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Do you really want to test your faith? Do you really want to know if what you’ve found in Christ is real and can stand up to the test of the world and the ridicule of those you ran around with as an enemy of God and His kingdom? Then live Christ in front of your family. Day in and day out live the life God wants you to live. Share what God puts on your mind. Do the tasks He calls you to do. Love the way He wants you to love within your family.

When you live your life in front of your family, they know if you are real. You can’t put on a façade in front of them, at least not very long. They know your past. They know your habits. They know the things you’ve started and quit. They know the resolutions you’ve made through the years and failed in keeping. They know the buttons to push to get you riled up and send your emotions flaring. Your family knows you better than anyone else.

When Jesus came back to His hometown to share the message that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, He shared it in the synagogue where He grew up as a boy. The rabbi and the elders in around the facility probably told Him and His brothers more than once that they needed to stop running on the property when they were growing up. The scribes sitting around the synagogue remembered Him sitting in their classes just learning the scriptures. Yes, He had an uncanning interest and skill in learning them, but Jesus was still just a kid in the class and played and sang and rough-housed with all the other boys. The scribes watched Him grow up around them.

The people of Nazareth watched Jesus in His father’s carpenter shop. He cut wood, hauled scraps, sanded rough planks, delivered finished products to customers. He learned His father’s trade and became a carpenter Himself. Somewhere along the line, Jesus’ father died and Jesus took up His father’s work to provide for the rest of the family. But everyone in the town knew Him. It was a small town and there were few secrets. They all even knew that Jesus was too old for Mary and Joseph to have been married when He was conceived.

Everyone knew everything about Jesus. So now, He was preaching in their synagogue. This illegitimate son of Mary and Joseph that grew up in their village. How could He talk to them about the scriptures? How could this carpenter school them in how God thinks we should live and act? What makes this laborer think He can challenge the teachings of the scribes and interpret the scriptures better than the rabbis who studied in Jerusalem?

It was tough for Jesus, the thirty-year-old man, the Son of God, to be heard in the town where His mother raised Him as a toddler, a teenager, and a young adult. Those older adults, those scribes and rabbis just couldn’t see past the teenager that grew up in their town. They couldn’t see the wisdom and knowledge Jesus gained over those last twenty years because they didn’t want to consider that He really was the Son of God. Why would God live in Nazareth? Surely He would live in Jerusalem and learn in the Temple if He were to come in the form of man, right? Jesus couldn’t be the Son of God. They watched Him grow up in their town. They knew nothing good came out of Nazareth…because they lived there.

Doesn’t say much for what their chamber of commerce put on their city advertisements, does it?

So what does that tell us about living for Him in our own homes? What do we learn from this short exchange in which Jesus declares that prophets receive honor everywhere except in their own hometown? I think He tells us we still need to witness to our lost family members, but expect them to question your faith. Don’t be surprised when they ridicule your newfound relationship with God. Don’t be surprised when they don’t believe you have been changed by the power of God’s Spirit living in you.

Like those living in Nazareth, family and close friends that have known you all your life, will always be the most skeptical of your changed life in Christ. They have seen you try those fad diets, New Year’s resolutions, organization trials, exercise programs, and all those other things that lasted a month or two before you fell into your old habits. They will think the same of your life in Christ. And even when the see the change over time, they will not recognize the change because they will test it over months and years to see if it sticks and by then they will put blinders on and forget the old you. Satan will put a veil over their eyes and try to hide the truth from them. It is hard to share the gospel with family. Not impossible, but hard.

What are we to do? Keep doing exactly what Jesus did. He still taught in the synagogue even though many didn’t listen. He still healed even though many didn’t come to Him. He performed a few miracles even though many didn’t believe and limited the usefulness of God living in their town. Jesus still did exactly what His Father asked Him to do. And that’s what Jesus expects us to do. Listen to Him and carry out His will, even in our families.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

He will help you (Mark 5:36-43) July 26, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Kings 16-20

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 5:36-43
Jesus overheard their words. Then He turned to look at Jairus.
Jesus: It’s all right. Don’t be afraid; just believe.
Jesus asked everyone but Peter, James, and John (James’s brother) to remain outside when they reached Jairus’s home. Inside the synagogue leader’s house, the mourning had already begun; the weeping and wailing carried out into the street.
Jesus and His three disciples went inside.
Jesus: Why are you making all this sorrowful noise? The child isn’t dead. She’s just sleeping.
The mourners laughed a horrible, bitter laugh and went back to their wailing. Jesus cleared the house so that only His three disciples, Jairus, and Jairus’s wife were left inside with Him. They all went to where the child lay. Then He took the child’s hand.
Jesus: Little girl, it’s time to wake up.
Immediately the 12-year-old girl opened her eyes, arose, and began to walk. Her parents could not believe their eyes.
Jesus (to the parents): Don’t tell anybody what you’ve just seen. Why don’t you give her something to eat? I know she is hungry.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

When I read the story of Jarius’ daughter being raised from the dead today, once again, something caught my attention that had never caught my attention before. I’ve read this story many times and I’ve read the words and as I focused on these words, I even remembered the words, but they never really caught my attention and caused me to question why they were there. The words are quite innocuous. I’ve never thought much about them before. Here they are – “…the 12-year-old girl…”.

What’s important to Mark that he would point out that the person Jesus raised in Jarius’ household was a 12-year-old girl? First of all, Jarius was not a Jew. He was a friend to the Jews, but not a Jew. It was unusual for a Jew to visit his house or for him to ask the assistance of a Jewish teacher. So that’s the first unusual part of the story. Jesus goes into the house of this Gentile to do something for him. But it still begs the question about this particular detail.

We could think about the fact that children and the elderly then and now are the throw-aways of society. Women had a lot of children because many didn’t make it to adulthood. But this young girl had reach the age of twelve, the age at which as a Jew she would have participated in her bat mitzvah. She passed the age at which her parents were no longer held accountable for her transgressions of the law but she was now fully responsible for upholding the law or bearing the punishment for failing to do so.

We could think about the importance of this young daughter to Jarius and his wife. As a 12-year-old, she was about the age for marriage at that time. To lose her at that age was both an emotional and a financial blow to Jarius and his family. Perhaps she had already been pledged to someone in the community. If the dowry had been paid and Jarius and his wife had already spent it, they could be in serious financial trouble. The grooms father would want repayment.

We could think about the twelve years of life this young lady brought to the family through the years. She was fully vetted as an active member of the family. She brought them joy, laughter, anxious moments, pain, excitement, every emotion imaginable, and now she brought them extraordinary sorrow. They knew she would soon make her own family in her own household, but she would always be a part of their home, too. But now her short life was gone almost before it could start.

So why did Mark point out this small detail? This point about Jesus going to heal a 12-year-old girl? Children were the throw-aways of society, then and now. If you were going to discard someone, it would be one of those two groups. Second, the child was a she, not a he. Women held little or no standing in the societies of Jesus’ day. The feminist movement was unheard of. Today’s Shariah laws concerning women would have been considered left-wing liberalism in those days. Women had no rights. Life was harsh. Third, with all these cultural things weighing against any hope for this young life, we see that if no one else does, Jesus cares. He goes out of His way to meet the need of this young lady and her family, even to the point of reminding them that after not eating for the time she lay in state while the professional mourners wailed by her side, she would be hungry. Her parents should hurry and fix her something to eat.

What’s the point? If Jesus cares about such an insignificant person in the society of His day, certainly, He also cares about you. He will help you when you call on Him. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

He feels our touch (Mark 5:30-34) July 25, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Leviticus 19-21

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 5:30-34
Jesus: Who just touched My robe?
His disciples broke the uneasy silence.
Disciples: Jesus, the crowd is so thick that everyone is touching You. Why do You ask, “Who touched Me?”
But Jesus waited. His gaze swept across the crowd to see who had done it. At last, the woman—knowing He was talking about her—pushed forward and dropped to her knees. She was shaking with fear and amazement.
Woman: I touched You.
Then she told Him the reason why. Jesus listened to her story.
Jesus: Daughter, you are well because you dared to believe. Go in peace, and stay well.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

This is another one of those stories that the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all record. I’ve used the story to talk about the determination of the woman who sought Jesus in that great throng of people that crowded around Him as He tried to walk through the street. Everyone wanted to get close to Him and this woman, in her weakened condition, had to push through all those people. She had to jostle her way through what could probably look like Times Square on New Years’ Eve on a smaller scale.

It took a lot of determination to push through that throng to get to Jesus and touch His cloak. She probably got a lot of those dirty looks you’ve seen in the grocery store when someone tries to cut in line. She probably got pushed around and maybe even knocked down a few times as she tried to squeeze through a tiny opening between two people only to find it close with someone’s elbow in her ribs. It took a lot of tenacity and determination for her to get to the Master. But I don’t want to talk about her determination.

I’ve also talked about her faith in the past. To think, this woman had enough faith that just the touch of the Master’s cloak was enough to heal her. She knew that all she needed to do was get close enough to get a finger on the hem of His garment and all would be well. That simple touch would do what all the physicians she had seen could not do. It would cost her no money, she just needed to believe. But I don’t want to talk about this woman’s faith as great as it was.

What struck me today as I read this story again was that in that whole throng of people pushing and shoving and jostling Him around as He made His way through the city streets, Jesus felt the brush of a single hand against the cloth or the tassles at the very bottom of His cloak. That’s pretty extraordinary to me. I don’t know anyone that can do that. I’m not sure I know very many people, if any, that can discern when someone touches the hem of their cloak or coat hanging on them when no one else is touching them. Just a touch by a passerby as you walk down the street is almost indiscernable. But now try to figure out a new touch among the dozens of hands and bodies that are pressed against you…Wow!

That’s important to this story. It tells me that God knows what I’m doing when no one else does. It tells me my prayers and my desires and my hurts and my questions are not lost in the cacophony of the crowd around me. Even in the noise of the world that seems to drown out my voice to others, God hears. The world may not care about what happens to me and in fact, might press me down in their rush to move along the street of life, but God cares. He won’t let me get lost in the crowd. He knows my touch among the throng of people that crowd around and might try to still my voice.

That’s one of the things I like most about this story. God hears me, even when others don’t. He listens, even when others try to crowd me out. He responds to my touch, even though it is so brief and so gentle that most would never notice a touch has been made. The story tells me God really cares about us individually. He picks us out of the crowd and meets us where we are and meets our specific individual need, not what the roar of the crowd suggests.

It’s easy to get caught up in the crowd. You’ve probably been in some of those at some sports event. The team scores and the crowd goes wild and you get caught up in the excitement. Or picture the crowd as it leaves the stadium. If you want to turn left from the center of the crowd moving forward, it’s an almost impossible task. You get caught up in the crowd and the ushers, the guards, those that try to keep order among the throng of people keep everyone moving in that same direction. One person trying to go the other way is quickly turned around to move along with the crowd. But not with Jesus. He takes us where we need to go. He does what we need, not what the crowd needs. He cares for us just that much. With Him, we are not one in a crowd, we are one. Singularly important to Him in His kingdom.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Live where you are (Mark 5:19) July 24, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Thessalonians 1-3

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 5:19
Jesus: Stay here; I want you to go back home to your own people and let them see what the Lord has done—how He has had mercy on you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

“I want you to go back home to your own people.” The newly freed man didn’t expect that. He probably didn’t want it, either. Like most of us, the man probably wanted to accompany Jesus on His mission journey through the other towns of Galilee and Judea spreading the good news that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But that wasn’t the mission Jesus gave him. Jesus told him to go home and talk to his family. The people that knew him best.

That’s tough work! Let me give you a sample from the secular side of the world. In my last assignment, I was the Chief of Staff of the Army Medical Department Center and School. That sounds like a fancy title, but not a lot of people know what it really means to be a Chief of Staff or what the Army Medical Department Center and School is all about. But looking back at the job, it was a pretty important position.

The Center and School is the place where the Army trained all its enlisted medical specialties and conducted all its leadership training. It is also the place where the doctrine, techniques, tactics, and procedures for medical support in combat and deployed situations is developed and codified for the Army and for much of the Joint medical support around the world. It is the largest allied health training facility in the world, with 3600 staff and faculty graduating more than 40,000 students a year in over 350 different course and 200 medical specialties and sub-specialties. All of the specialties and sub-specialties that can be accredited in civilian schools are accredited by those same boards and institutions to ensure the quality of training and subsequent medical support for our service members is the same or better than their civilian counterparts.

Now that sounds like a fairly impressive organization, right? And the Chief of Staff, my last position in the Army, orchestrates the staff, the department decoratorates, to make sure all of those activities happen the way they are supposed to. For me, it meant pretty long days for three years with back to back meetings all day long from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm almost every day. Thousands of pages of material to read and edit, hundreds of emails every day, and directing all that work to the right staff agencies for action and answers. Fun most days, exciting, exhausting, too.

When I went into a meeting, one of my favorite coffee cups would already be sitting at my seat at the table with steaming coffee. A copy of the briefing slides would be at my place with my favorite brand of pen and paper next to it. Everything ready to go so I when I came into the room for the meeting, I didn’t have to worry about anything but focusing on the meeting I was about to attend. My presence was announced when I walked into the conference room and people stood at attention. Sounds pretty important, doesn’t it?

But when I went home, I wasn’t Colonel Agee anymore. I was dad, Dick, son. No one at home really knew or understood what I did every day when I put on my uniform and went to that building down the street. They knew I did something important because of all the people that recognized me whenever we went anywhere on the installation. They knew Chief of Staff of the Army Medical Department Center and School must be a fairly decent position because my picture was on the wall of half the buildings at Fort Sam Houston and a lot of the policies on the bulletin boards held my signature at the bottom of the page. But they didn’t really think much about it because I was just dad or son or Dick. I took out the trash, helped with dishes, sometimes swept or vacuumed floors, and sometimes folded laundry. I was just a member of the family.

I share that to explain the difficulty in sharing with family sometimes the news of who you are or how you have changed. Frankly, I still wanted to be just dad and son and Dick at home. I was glad to shed Colonel when I walked through the doors at home. But if I wanted to tell them what I did and explain the position I held near the end of my career, I’m not sure most of my family would have understood or accepted the power I wielded as Chief of Staff. I grew up with my brothers and sisters. They knew me. My parents knew the trouble I caused them and all my shortfalls. It would be hard for them to accept the thought that with just a few words dozens or even hundreds of people would do what I asked. They would have a hard time believing I could influence how medical structures operated on battlefields around the world. I was just dad or Dick or son.

The man freed from his demon possession would have a tough time ahead. Jesus wanted him to witness to those who knew him best. He was to show the change in him. He was to share the message and not just talk about it, but live it every day in front of those who knew him best. This changed man was to prove himself to those who did not trust him, those who threw him into the street and chained him up in the cemeteries because he had been a danger to the community. His task would be his toughest assignment. But that’s sometimes what Jesus calls us to do. Live the life He calls us to, just where we are, the toughest place to live. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Names mean something (Mark 5:7-9) July 23, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 23-24

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 5:7-9
Jesus: Come out of that man, you wicked spirit!
Unclean Spirit (shouting): What’s this all about, Jesus, Son of the Most High? In the name of God, I beg You—don’t torture me!
Jesus: What is your name?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

As with several of the parallel incidents in the gospels, the writers give us just a little different account of the happenings around a particular event. It’s not unlike any eye-witness account you might hear in a court of law if you sit as a juror in a trial. If every witness told the same story about an event in exactly the same way with exactly the same words, the opposing attorney would scream that the witnesses had been rehearsed. No one sees an event exactly the same way another person sees it.

Because of our individual backgrounds, we always see events through our lens. We subconsciously pick out the things that are most important to us. Consequently, we each see every event just a little different than the person sitting right next to us who observes the same event. So we should not be surprised that the gospels shed a little different light on each of these encounters.

Back to the story and two things I’d like us to see from Mark’s observation of Jesus’ command to the man possessed by many demons.

Jesus commands the demon to come out of the man. And the demon replies, “…In the name of God, I beg you…” Did you notice that? The demons serve Satan. They devote their lives to the powers of darkness. That give their all to the enemy of God. They do everything they can to thwart the plans God has for His kingdom and our salvation. They want to capture our soul and turn us to wickedness and away from God and His holiness. These demons want to lead us on the world’s path toward eternal destruction and join them in Satan’s hell.

Yet, when Jesus confronts these demons with the command to leave this tortured man, the demons cry out, “In the name of God…” They know where the real power lies. They understand their boss, Satan has no real authority. He has no real power. He cannot defeat the creator of the universe. His strength cannot match that of the Almighty’s. He knows it and he is very afraid when Jesus comes near.

The demon expects great pain, severe punishment because of who he is and what he’s done when Jesus comes near. The demon is now in the presence of God and expects judgment when he encounters His Son in the flesh. He assumes his eternal punishment will begin right then since Jesus has come from heaven and touched His feet to this planet. The demon assumes time has ended for him. “I beg you – don’t torture me.”

The demon’s response when Jesus came near tells me that when Jesus lives in us, we do not need to fear the evil of this world. Evil cowers in the presence of Christ. If we live by the Spirit as Paul describes it, and let God’s spirit consume us, teach us how to live, and guide our steps each day, we do not need to fear what Satan may put in our path. He will flee in the presence of God. He can not stand in the power and presence of God.

The second thing about this encounter is what we learn about the importance of names. The demon called out God’s name when it saw Jesus. The demon understood that even the mention of His name meant power over him. Then Jesus asked the demon its name. That probably seems strange to us. Why would Jesus ask the demon its name? What’s so important about knowing the demon’s name?

Throughout the Old and New Testaments and on through much of history until just a few years ago in our country, names were important. They meant something. People chose a child’s name carefully because subconsciously a child grew into the meaning of their name as they came to understand what it meant. Think of some of those characters of the Old Testament and see how they lived up to their names: Abraham – father of many; Jacob – deceiver; David – beloved; Elijah – my God is YAHWEH; Job – persecuted. Names are important.

I sorrowed when my school teacher daughter told me about the names of the children in her first class as a teacher – Chaos, Clinique, Shithead, Abcde. Names with horrible or no meaning strapped to children whose parents helped them live up to those standards because they held them to no standards as six and seven year old kids. It makes me wonder sometimes what parents are thinking when they label their children or what God thinks when He pens their name in the books that He will open on judgment day. How much do we live up to the name we are given by our parents?

Legion bowed at the name of Jesus. We will too. If Jesus lives in you, we should live up to His name. It meant something then and it means just as much in the evil times in which we live. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

He is in control (Mark 4:39-40) July 22, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ezekiel 37-42

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 4:39-40
He got up, shouted words into the wind, and commanded the waves.
Jesus: That’s enough! Be still!
And immediately the wind died down to nothing, the waves stopped.
Jesus: How can you be so afraid? After all you’ve seen, where is your faith?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The headlines in the news for the last several months seem a little scary to many people. Vacation plans to Europe cancelled. Vacation plans to America cancelled. Our State Department issuing warnings about travel and violence in various countries around the world and the need to exercise caution when traveling. Three countries now issuing warning about entering our country and exercising caution with our law enforcement. There is a lot of fear in the world.

Gun sales are at an all time high. People who would never consider purchasing a weapon because they had always felt safe in their homes, now own weapons and keep them loaded by their beds because of the fear of invasion that runs rampant across our land.

The headlines across our news papers and social media seem to want to spark racial tension and civil war. As the headlines work to grab people’s attention to the rest of the article, the headlines exaggerate what the rest of the article will share in facts, but we read the headlines and it incites hatred, anger, fear, protest, revolt, emotions that cause us to rise up against each other, often in violence.

Fear is the terrorists’ greatest weapon and they are using it well around the world. Terrorism has touched the shores of every continent and invaded the shores of our nation. And many in our nation fear for their safety because of the recent events that claimed the lives of so many people snuffed out without warning. One of the difficulties in dealing with the terrorists we face today is their willingness to die for their cause. When someone values their own life, they will stop the violence short of sacrificing themselves, but when they disregard their own life and are willing to use themselves as the device for destruction, it is very difficult to stop them. Just what we’ve seen in incidents like those in Orlando, Paris, and Nice.

We fear the things we cannot control. Whether it is terrorism, cancer, heart attacks, communicable diseases, storms, we fear these things we cannot control. That’s what was happening with these seasoned sailors. They got caught in the middle of a storm that rose up on the Sea of Galillee while transporting Jesus from one shore to the other. The winds came out of the north whipping up the waves and producing the kind of violent storms that sometimes plagued the area.

They didn’t expect it. They didn’t think the storm would come in like it did. They knew how to read the weather and this storm wasn’t predicted. But it came just the same. And they couldn’t control its effects on their small vessel. If it continued, the vessel would surely sink. They were afraid. But Jesus was with them. And that makes all the difference in the world.

He controls things we cannot. He controls the results of the storm. In fact, He should the disciples and those in all those other boats that traveled with them that He controlled the storm itself. With just a word the winds stopped, the waves calmed, the rain ceased. The storm obeyed His voice.

So what do we learn from all of this? I think it tells us that despite all the evil around us, we do not need to be afraid. Yes, there are terrorists that want to kill innocent people to advance their cause. We can’t control them, but God can and we don’t need to be afraid. He will either protect us from our enemy or use us in those moments to advance His plans for His world. He is still in control. Not the terrorist. We don’t need to be afraid. Do I understand why He allows all those things to happen? No, except perhaps He is still delaying the outpouring of His wrath in the hope that just one more will ask for His forgiveness and join the ranks of the redeemed in His kingdom.

We can be like Paul as he wrote in prison, which is better to live or die? If we live we get to continue to do God’s work, see more people won to Him, help to grow His kingdom, experience His mercy and grace here. If we die, we are ushered into His presence where we can rejoice with Him forever. So why should we fear the circumstance we face but cannot control. Things we cannot control will continue to happen all around us. But if Jesus is with us, we don’t need to be afraid. He is still in control of all things and still knows what is best for us. His actions and His timing is perfect. We may not understand it right now, but He is God and we can trust Him.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.