Category Archives: devotional

God’s truth always (Mark 8:33) August 9, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Chronicles 1-4

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:33
Jesus (seeing His disciples surrounding them): Get behind Me, you tempter! You’re thinking only of human things, not of the things God has planned.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Just think, Peter tells Jesus He is the Messiah, the One who would rescue them from the oppression and bondage sin brought on the world. He proclaimed Jesus is the Son of the Living God. But when Jesus tells the group of disciples gathered around Him the events that would unfold concerning His arrest, beating, torture, and death, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him. Can you imagine the nerve it takes to rebuke the person you just called the Son of God? Do you realize how bold you must be to believe Jesus is God and then tell Him what He said is not just wrong but to rebuke Him because He said it?

Think of that word, rebuke. It means to criticize sharply or to speak to someone in an angry and critical way. That’s what Peter did to Jesus right after He told Him he believed Him to be the Messiah, the Son of God, the Liberating King, the Anointed One. The unmitigated gall! How could Peter possibly think he could contradict the One He just proclaimed to be the Son of God? It just doesn’t make much sense, does it? At least he scripture says he took Him aside instead of making the rebuke in front of all the other disciples.

“Hey, Jesus, come over here a minute. We need to talk. I need to tell you a couple of things before you go any further with this line of discussion. You know you’re God, right? You can’t be talking about death and torture and sacrifice if you want to draw a crowd. You need to get a little more upbeat and get back on track with the healing and feeding multitudes. This gloom and doom talk isn’t going to get you very far in the ratings. I think you need to tone it down a little. Understand?”

Did Peter really know what he was doing? I’m not sure, but Jesus saw through the devil’s scheme to use one of His friends to detour Him on His journey to Jerusalem and the task He was to accomplish for us. Jesus knew Satan was putting words in Peter’s mouth to try to distract Him and keep Him from His mission, the salvation of humankind.

It would have been easy to listen to Peter and tone down the message. Talk about peace and prosperity and comfort for all God’s children. But that wasn’t God’s truth for those who remain on this side of eternity. This world is corrupted because of the fall of Adam. We all have that selfish seed of sin in us that must be dealt with and until we let God work on that problem in us, we are subject to the same fate as Satan and his minions of evil. All our thoughts are continuously drawn toward evil because of that self-centeredness that lives in us.

Jesus saw it in Peter, “You’re only thinking of human things, not the things God has planned.” That message is still true for too many of us. Paul tells us the same thing in Roman 7 and 8. We don’t do the things we want to do and we do the things we don’t want to do because we live in the flesh and stay centered in the flesh instead of living by the Spirit. If we will give ourselves over to the Spirit of God and just determine to say “yes” to His commands at every turn, we will find our lives very different than that of those trapped by the world’s decrees.

The tempter tells us our goals should satisfy our deepest desires. God says our goals should accomplish His will and His plans. The tempter says store up treasures here on earth. God says treasures on earth will pass away, you can’t take them with you when you die. So store up treasures in heaven where they cannot be corrupted. The tempter says you are more important than anything else. God said to Moses and to us, “I AM.” Everything else is created by Him, how can anything be more important than its Creator?

It’s easy in the din of the world, with it’s glitter and excitement and all the enticements that promise to satisfy that deep longing that each of us have within us to follow the world’s voice. But the world’s voice is poisonous. It’s the siren of mythology that leads you to certain doom when you follow her song. It is tempting to take that easy road. It’s tempting to avoid the temporary ridicule of the world, the short term pain and suffering the world doles out to God’s followers. It’s tempting to listen to the soothing sounds of the deceiver.

But that path leads to our destruction. Jesus knew His mission and His destiny on the cross. He knew this world is only a temporary stopping place on our eternal journey. He knew if we listen to the voice of the world we would miss the opportunity to live with Him eternally. He shows us with this encounter with Peter how subtle Satan can be. We must be on our guard against the wiles of the tempter. Be discerning in listening to the voices around you. Listen for that still small voice of God’s Spirit in you and follow His truth always. 

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.

Who do you say He is? (Mark 8/27-30) August 8, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Leviticus 25-27

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:27-30
Jesus: Who do the people say that I am?
They told Him about the great speculation concerning His identity.
Disciples: Some of them say You are John the Baptist, others say Elijah, while others say one of the prophets of old.
Jesus (pressing the question): And who do you say that I am?
Peter: You are God’s Anointed, the Liberating King.
Jesus: Don’t tell anyone. It is not yet time.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We talked about this conversation between Jesus and His disciples as it was recorded in Matthew. Then, I shared some thoughts about the two important questions Jesus asked, “Who do the people say that I am?” And, “Who do you say that I am?” I shared that getting the answer to this question right is the most important thing in your life, because it determines how you spend eternity. Either you believe Jesus is the Son of the living God as He says He is, or you do not. But He alone is the only avenue to heaven. So failure to believe in Him writes your destiny to eternal separation from the Father according to God’s word.

Today, though, I want to talk about that descriptive sentence in the middle of the discourse and the end of the discourse. How do these two things fit together and why?

First, let’s think about Mark’s summation of what was probably a much longer discussion between Jesus and His disciples. “They [Jesus’ disciples] told Him about the great speculation concerning His identity.”

Jesus had been around the block a little while at this point. His reputation was well known throughout the country. People flocked to hear Him and see Him. Think about the scenes we’ve discussed the last few days. The feeding of 5,000 men plus all the women and children gathered to hear Him in a remote area of Galilee. Then on the other side of the Sea of Galilee He preaches to and feeds another group of 4,000 that stayed and listened to Him for three days in another area, again so remote no food could be purchased for the crowd.

Wherever Jesus went from this point crowds always pressed against Him. It was difficult for Him to get away for some alone time with His Father except in the dead of night after everyone else went to sleep. Thousands heard His words. Thousands saw His miracles. Thousands witnesses this man who did things no other man could do. Things that look a lot the events of the opening chapter of Genesis. Making something out of nothing. Using dirt to make new eyes. Touching withered arms and recreating them. Who could do such things except God? The Creator Who spoke worlds into existence is the only One capable of such things, and yet this man also did these same things in front of them.

But these crowds lived in a pagan world. The Romans occupied Judea and the Greeks before the Romans. This small strip of land which the Jews called their homeland had not been theirs to rule since the Babylonians whisked them away in the sixth century BC. I mention that because even the most orthodox Jews found themselves influenced by the thoughts and writings and presence of these pagan nations. Their idols could be found in stores in the region. The representation of their gods littered the streets. Their greetings and salutations resounded with praise and exultation to their false deities. The Jews could not get away from their influence.

So some in the crowd, as the Israelites that fell down to Baal and other pagan gods before them, toyed with these pagan symbols and worried that Jehovah might not be by Himself but might be like Zeus with a pantheon of lesser gods to serve Him. So who was Jesus? Was He one of Zeus’ servants? Was He like of the mythical legends they had heard about from the Greeks, like Hercules, an earthly child born of a pagan god? Is that why Jesus could do these things?

Perhaps if you put yourself into the pagan world of Rome or Greece and remember the myths that ran through their religion, you might begin to understand the speculation that occurred. You might begin to see why some people in the crowd questioned who this Jesus really was. If you believed in a pantheon of gods, He could be just one more and so was no big deal except He decided to spend some time on earth instead of Mount Olympus.

But now move forward 2,000 years, Who do you say that Jesus is? Do you believe He is the Son of the Living God? Do you know there is only one God represented in three personalities, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and that Jesus is one of those personalities, part of the triune Godhead? Do you know that He is God incarnate, come to live along side us for those 33 years to share our troubles and sorrows and temptations? Do you know He came to give His life as the penalty for your sins and mine so that we would not have to pay with our life? Do you know Jesus, the God/Man, loves us enough to do that for us?

Today, there is still great speculation about Jesus’ identity. Some say He was just a great prophet. Some say He was a great teacher. Some say He was a rebel and a radical leader. Some say He was a marvelous rabbi, but twisted the scriptures in unusual ways. Some say He is the one and only Son of God, our perfect sacrifice, waiting to return to take His followers home to be with Him forever.

Who do you say that Jesus is?

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.

Clearer than trees (Mark 8:23-26) August 7, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Thessalonians

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:23-26
Jesus: What do you see?
Blind Man (opening his eyes): I see people, but they look like trees—walking trees.
Jesus touched his eyes again; and when the man looked up, he could see everything clearly.
Jesus sent him away to his house.
Jesus (to the healed man): Don’t go into town yet. [And don’t tell anybody in town what happened here.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Have you ever thought about why Jesus had to touch this man twice? What was it about this encounter that required Him to work in the man’s life two times instead of just once? In almost every other occasion we see Jesus speaking to someone or touching someone or doing something and the word says immediately the person is healed. So what is it about this encounter that is different? Why the second touch before this man could see clearly?

Was Jesus off His game that day? I don’t think so. Was this man worse than others Jesus’ had seen? Probably not. Did the man have some strange disease Jesus didn’t know about and that’s why it took a double dose of His cure? I doubt it. Jesus is God incarnate. He can do all things. This was just another simple case of healing. So why the difference?

Let me give you my thought that will run contrary to what some of you might think, but here it is anyway. You can choose to agree or disagree as you see fit, but I think there are also a lot of people who will agree with me. So here it is.

I think Jesus uses this event to teach us what Paul will later tell us about salvation and sanctification. Some say they are the same thing. I do not. I believe they are two separate, distinct actions that take place in the life of the repentant follower of Jesus. Can they happen simultaneously? They can, but I think, as illustrated by Jesus’ encounter with this blind man, they don’t have to, and the more we seem to progress in this world the farther apart these to events seem to happen in people’s lives. I’ll explain why later.

The two events, salvation and sanctification, are separate and distinct. Salvation is forgiveness of our sins. We are made right with God. He forgives the past. He pays the penalty we should pay and covers the debt we owe with His own blood. He redeems our life with His own. We belong to Him because He has purchased us with the price of His blood on the cross. Forgiveness for the past, that’s salvation, a distinct immediate action that happens when we in true repentance ask Jesus to forgive. He does and we are saved from death, eternal damnation, eternal separation from God.

Sanctification is also a separate and distinct event in the life of the follower of Christ. Can it happen at the same moment of salvation? Yes. Does it always? No. Does it often? I’m not so sure it does and here’s why, particularly in our world today. Sanctification means the setting apart of something for a sacred purpose. To make holy. That means we commit ourselves completely, totally to God. Everything we have, everything we are, everything we gain is His. Nothing held back. He hold 100% stock in us. He is the CEO and president of the company called me. He is the chairman and the board of directors of the company. I can vote, but my vote doesn’t count. He’s in charge. Period. I’m set apart, set aside, given up to Him.

And here’s why I think that setting apart seldom happens when we are forgiven of our sins at the time of our salvation. At age six, I knew what sin was. I knew I needed to ask forgiveness from God if I did bad things. And I would go the altar and ask for His forgiveness. I know He forgave me for those sins. Was that salvation? Yes. Was that sanctification? No. As a six-year old, I had no concept of what it meant to give my life completely, wholly to God. Was God still guiding me and helping me? Sure. When I asked Him to forgive my sins at 8 or 10 or 12 did that mean I was confused about salvation or sanctification? No, but I still didn’t understand what total commitment of life meant.

At eighteen, I got tired of the roller coaster life Paul describes in Romans 7, I do what I don’t want to do and what I want to do I don’t do. What a miserable life. Who can rescue me from this up and down, in and out battle? Thank God, there is one who can, Jesus, who gives us His Spirit to live in us and help us live by the Spirit instead of living by the flesh! I committed myself to Him fully, completely, totally at an altar on a rainy Sunday night in March of 1973. That was sanctification. God had given all of Himself to me, but that night I gave all of myself to Him. I am set apart for Him. His instrument. His tool to use any way He wants. That’s sanctification.

Can it happen at the same time? It can. But more often, I think we must come to an understanding of what it means to commit ourselves completely to Him. Like the blind man in this encounter with Jesus, when our sins are forgiven, we see His kingdom and His truth around us more clearly, but when we give ourselves completely to Him, His word opens up in ways that make His will and His love crystal clear. Instead of seeing people like trees, we see every detail. Commit to Him, you won’t be sorry. 

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.

Beware the yeast and leaven (Mark 8:15-21) August 6, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – John 3-4

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:15-19
Jesus: Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about and discussed it among themselves.
Some Disciples: What?
Other Disciples: He’s saying this because we have run out of bread.
Jesus (overhearing them): Why are you focusing on bread? Don’t you see yet? Don’t you understand? You have eyes—why don’t you see? You have ears—why don’t you hear? Are you so hard-hearted?
Don’t you remember when I broke the five rounds of flatbread among the 5,000? Tell Me, how many baskets of scraps were left over?
Disciples: Twelve.
Jesus: And how many were left when I fed the 4,000 with seven rounds?
Disciples: Seven.
Jesus: And still you don’t understand?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Yeast and leaven. It spreads through the dough so quickly and thoroughly. In baking, it is such wonderful stuff. It makes tiny little air pockets in the dough so it makes it puff up and makes bread and cakes light and fluffy. Whoever discovered you could use leavening agents in baking did a great service for the world because it makes baked goods taste so good. But then again, maybe it was also part of our downfall since we have a tendency to eat too much of those tasty treats and it adds to the obesity of our generation. I digress, back to the story.

The disciples thought Jesus was talking about bread. He wasn’t. He was thinking about His recent encounter with those snakes, the Pharisees. He was thinking about they way they refused to listen and believe God even when they saw the evidence right in front of them of His hand at work. They wanted one more sign, one more proof, one more miracle, one more something. They were never satisfied because they wanted to be the center of attention, not God.

That’s want Jesus was talking about with the disciples that day. The Pharisees’ brand of religion put this selfish thought upper most in everyone’s mind. Put my way first. Put my rules first. Put my thoughts above everything else. It doesn’t matter what God wants. My way is more important. Self takes precedence. So when the Pharisees encountered Jesus and He challenged their structure and their way of life. They couldn’t handle it. When He disagreed with their emphasis on the petty things of life that they held as most important, they called Him an instrument of Satan.

The biggest problem, though, is Jesus saw their philosophy and their influence had the same influence in the world as yeast or leaven in bread. Once it gets into action, it is so difficult to stop it. It spreads and is hard to stop. People pick p on it and spread it and share it because Satan pulls this veil over our eyes. We like Adam and all of his offspring after him have this selfish seed in us that wants to believe Satan instead of God. We want to satisfy this selfish drive instead of giving ourselves to the God who made us.

And Herod was just as bad. His problem was not just hiding behind a religious veil saying he was a Jewish king, but then living the life of a Roman. He indulged in all the vices of the pagan world around him, but said he lived as one of God’s chosen people. The duel citizenship he thought he could live only showed how far away from God he really was. Yet many followed him thinking it was okay to live his same lifestyle since he was king.

Do we do the same thing today? Does the story fit us in this generation? I’m afraid so. Whether we want to talk about the Hollywood celebrities so many emulate, or the sports figures that pocket millions in salary but find themselves on the wrong side of the law, or politicians that think themselves above the law, or any number of other segments that we tend to focus on, there are those that spread leaven in our society. They plant seeds of evil, lifestyles that run contrary to the life God wants us to live. Yet we flock to them thinking it’s okay to follow their pattern of life. It’s not.

Look around, though, and you’ll find people wearing the same style clothes, styling their hair the same, using their same speech patterns. We fall into the trap of letting these leavening agents of sin slip into our lives, sometimes without even thinking about it. Jesus warns us, “Beware of the yeast, the leaven.” I don’t think He would use the terms Pharisee or Herod today. But instead He would point to those figures of authority we tend to blindly follow that will lead us to our destruction if we are not carefully discerning whether they are following God or self.

How can we tell? Know God’s word. If they act in a way that is not in concert with His word, beware. God does not contradict Himself. Beware the yeast and leaven. It spreads before you know it.

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.

We don’t need signs (Mark 8:12) August 5, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Daniel 1-6

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:12
Jesus (sighing with disappointment): Why does this generation ask for a sign before they will believe? Believe Me when I say that you will not see one.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The Pharisees must have all been born and raised in Missouri. We know that state’s nickname as “the show me state” because of Missourian’s tendency to ask for evidence to support every statement. They want to statements followed up with verifiable facts before they believe it. “Show me.” The Pharisees would fit right in. This encounter with Jesus teaches us that about them. He had just fed thousands of people. He showed up on the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee after no boat was available to transport Him there. He healed every illness and disease they were unable to heal. He spoke about the scripture with an authority and understanding they could not match. And still they come to Jesus with this demand, “Give us some sign so we know your teaching is from God.”

Really? This guy is doing things that no one can dispute. What other sign do you need than feeding 4,000 people from one lunch? Who can do that? What other sign do you need than people watching Him climb up the hill to pray while all the boats leave the shore and then He shows up on the other side of the Sea of Galilee in the morning with all the people in those boats telling you about their experience with the storm and their seeing Him walking on the water in the early morning hours? What other sign do you need that watching hundreds of lame, deaf, blind, diseased, deformed, sick, healed of their various maladies with just a spoken word or a touch of His hand?

These guys are even worse than Missourians. We would probably call them nut jobs needing more evidence than what they had already seen and heard to this point. And it seems Jesus feels the same way. You get no more signs. His actions speak for themselves. The healing, the teaching, the feeding, the compassion, the preaching, the love He pours out all around Him is enough to show He is who He says He is and no other sign is necessary.

It wasn’t enough for the Pharisees. They still rejected Him. Why? Because they just didn’t want to believe that God would visit us from heaven. They couldn’t believe He would correct their thinking about the law He had given Moses and they had been interpreting for Him through the centuries. Surely they were right and God in the flesh was wrong. They just couldn’t believe they needed to adjust their way of thinking.

But then…

What about us? Do we need a sign to believe that Jesus is who He says He is? Do we ask Him to do one more thing before we believe? Do ask for one more miracle or one more piece of evidence. Do we need one more fact before we can give our life to Him? What one more would it take? That was Jesus point with the Pharisees. They were not going to believe no matter what He did. So what about you? Does it matter what sign you see? If you’re waiting for a sign, it really doesn’t matter what that sign is, you still won’t believe, because you’ll ask for one more.

You’re answer when you see it will be, “Well, maybe that was a fluke. Well, it might not have been God. It was probably going to happen anyway.” And you’ll ask for one more sign. Just like the Pharisees. You see, it’s not about signs, it’s about faith. Do you believe He is the Son of God, able to forgive your sins or not? It’s really that simple a question. And when you believe He can and ask Him to, He will and He does. It’s just that easy.

But He doesn’t deal in signs. He doesn’t deal in hocus-pocus. He doesn’t make deals. He works in issues of faith. You believe or you don’t. You love Him or you don’t. You obey His word or you don’t. You live for Him or you don’t. It’s pretty black and white. No signs. No flashes in the sky. No banner headlines. No great visions or spirits rising from the grave. Just faith in Him. That’s the deal.

He still cares. He shows us that by what He did for those who were with Him for those three days without food. He fed them all until they were full. Probably some of those in that crowd hadn’t eaten until they were full in a while. But they did that day with baskets of food left over. Jesus cares. He showed it to those crowds by sticking around and healing all those who came to Him for healing. He touched everyone of them and took away whatever was wrong with them. They didn’t ask for a sign, they just asked for help and believed He could do it.

That’s what He asks from us. Just believe. Just trust. Just know that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. He was there at creation, He loves us and cares about our needs. And when we meet Him with eyes of faith, we don’t need any signs, we know who He is without them.

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.

Three days without food (Mark 8:2-5) August 4, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 14-15

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:2-5
Jesus: These people have been with Me for three days without food. They’re hungry, and I am concerned for them. If I try to send them home now, they’ll faint along the way because many of them have come a long, long way to hear and see Me.
Disciples: Where can we find enough bread for these people in this desolate place?
Jesus: How much bread do we have left?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I like the stories of Jesus feeding the crowds. They are great examples of His ability to create something out of nothing. It shows His power as the Son of God, part of the triune Godhead. It demonstrates that He has the same creative power present at the beginning of all things. It gives us evidence that He is God incarnate when He takes the few loaves of bread and the few fish available and feeds thousands.

The stories also tell us of Jesus’ compassion for those to whom He ministers. He not only cares about their illnesses, their diseases, the demons that possess their bodies and minds, but He also cares about their simple everyday physical comforts. He cares about their hunger, their rest, their thirst. Jesus is interested in every aspect of our lives and the stories told by the gospel writers show us just how much God loves us in the events they share with us in the pages of the Bible.

This story of the feeding of the multitude is probably a familiar one, once again, but again I find a couple of words that are easy to miss if you don’t look for them. Just at the beginning of Jesus’ comments to His disciples He makes this observation, “These people have been with Me for three days without food… .” Did you catch that?

When is the last time you went without food for three days? I remember the last time I did, but it wasn’t because I meant to. I was sick and couldn’t eat. I was very ill, didn’t know what was wrong with me for a while, and couldn’t eat until the doctors figured out first, what it was, and second, if they needed to do surgery or not. Everything worked out okay, but those were a long three days without food.

Perhaps you’ve been on one of those, not on purpose kinds of three day fasts. Or maybe you’ve engaged in a purposeful three day fast. I must admit, It’s been a very long time since I’ve done that. Something I should probably do again if my health permits.

But let’s go back to Jesus’ words. “These people have been with Me for three days without food…” Later we’ll learn there were thousands that were fed. That’s thousands that joined in on that voluntary three day fast because they wanted to hear what Jesus had to say. They wanted to be part of His healing and teaching and preaching ministry. They didn’t want to miss a single word of what came out of His mouth. So they stuck around for three days without eating.

Now here’s a question for you, when is the last time you stuck around a church service for three days without food? In fact, when is the last time you stuck around a church service for three days? In fact, when is the last time you heard about any church service that lasted three days straight without a break? I still remember the two-week revivals that sometimes extended an extra two or three days because of what was happening in those services, but they stopped something during the night and everyone went home until service started the next night. Not many people came to those services hungry either.

But for Jesus’ ministry at this occasion, thousands stayed with Him without food for three days. Now that is a revival service. What would it take to have that kind of impact on a community again? How could we engage the hearts and minds of those around us to interest them enough to not only grab their attention and get them to come to listen, but then to keep them for three days because they’re afraid they might miss something if they left? What kind of service would you need to conduct to make people willing skip breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days because of the Spirit of God they feel all around them?

Good questions, aren’t they? We have a hard time getting people to stay long enough to miss the kickoff on television even though they could program their DVR so they don’t miss it and fast forward through commercials. We have a hard time getting people to commit to a prayer breakfast on a Saturday morning because they would have to mow the lawn later in the day or miss their favor tee-box time. We have a hard time getting people to listen to a sermon that’s more than 20 minutes long because that’s more than two television commercial breaks.

What does it take to get people to come and listen and stay? It starts with me and you begin so tuned into God and His will that we can’t help but pour out His love to everyone we see. When others really see Jesus in us, they will stick around just like those thousands that followed the Master 2,000 years ago. 

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 go through life deaf (Mark 7: 34) August 3, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 90-92

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 7:34
Jesus: Open up and let this man speak.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

A quick Google search about the number of people in the United States who are deaf gives a lot of different numbers depending on what you mean by deaf. If you think about disability, it can mean having difficulting hearing conversations on the telephone in an economy driven by the need to use telephones frequently. If you mean functionally deaf, the number is still pretty staggering and gets larger in the population of the elderly as you might expect. Here’s a fairly consistent number from the definitions used by the Gallaudet University in its research on the deaf population in the United States.

About 2 to 4 of every 1,000 people in the United States are “functionally deaf,” though more than half became deaf relatively late in life; fewer than 1 out of every 1,000 people in the United States became deaf before 18 years of age.

So for our purposes let’s use that lower number for the working population and children that are functionally deaf as we think about this encounter Jesus had as He approached the Decapolis. 2 out of every 1,000 in the United States means about 650,000 individuals below the age of 65 are functionally deaf. They can’t hear well enough to function in areas in which auditory clues are necessary. That’s a lot of people. 2 out of 1,000 doesn’t sound like many, but 650,000 is a lot. That’s a significant city, about the size of Baltimore, Maryland.

Now imagine you are deaf living in our sound driven world. No radio or television without the closed caption running at the bottom of the screen. No movie theaters. No sounds of cars or trains or planes. That might not be so bad. No birds. No music. Learning to talk with your hands and listen with your eyes. The warnings we get with our ears are non-existent for the deaf. It’s a world of silence. Communication is difficult. How do you begin to learn what something is without the sound of words from your parents and friends. The answer is sign language of course, but is a language not a lot of people know very well outside the deaf community. They are foreigners in their own land.

Such was the fate of the man Jesus met on the road that day. I’m not so sure there was an international sign language for the deaf back then. I’m not sure people made too many allowances for the disabled like we do today. Then if you weren’t productive in society, either your family provided for you or you died. It was that simple. There were no government programs to help. No special education avenues to give you special skills to help you if you needed it. You survived or you didn’t.

Jesus chose to help. He touched his ears, touched his tongue and the man heard and spoke clearly. Two things he had never done his entire life. Imagine what it must have been like for him. To hear words for the first time. To hear the crowd around him for the first time. To hear the sound of nature for the first time. To be able to speak so others could understand for the first time.

Jesus told him to keep quiet about his healing. Right! Like he could do that once he was able to talk. But how does all this relate to us?

Sometimes I think a lot of us are deaf without any physical hearing problems. We hear what we want to hear and block out everything else. We don’t want to hear the truth of God’s word so we close our ears to His message and instead listen to what the world has to say. We listen to the voices of that tell us fame and fortune are the goals we should set for ourselves instead of listening to God and the plans He has for us. Fame and fortune may be part of His plans, but don’t count on it. He not as interested in our fame, but in His name.

The world wants us to listen to its advertisements and buy into the idea that we are more important than anything else. We deserve to have it all. We are the center of the universe and everything revolves around our wants and desires. The world tells us it’s okay to satisfy our desires any way we choose. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt in the process as long as we get our way. It tells us the one with the most toys at the end wins.

Too often we like what the world says and we turn a deaf ear to God and what He tries to tell us. He tells us all those things the world sets as such high goals are just temporary. They don’t last. And they don’t satisfy very long. They might make you happy for a little while, but the happiness doesn’t last. What God promises is joy, not happiness. But joy can last eternally. The world promises a party. God promises life abundantly and eternally.

What does it take to hear God’s truth in a world driven by selfish motives and desires? Let Jesus touch your ears. Then He will touch your tongue and you can share His story with others as well. You don’t need to go through life deaf to the truth. Just let Him touch you. You’ll be amazed at the sounds you will hear when you do.

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.

We have more than crumbs (Mark 7:27-29) August 2, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Kings 21-25

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 7:27-29
Jesus (shaking His head): I must feed the children first. It would do no good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
Syrophoenician Woman: Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table may eat of the children’s crumbs.
Jesus (smiling and nodding): This is a wise saying. Go back home. Your daughter is free of the spirit that troubled her.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The Syrophoencian woman knew what she was talking about. My dogs love it when my grandkids visit. You see we make it a point not to feed the dogs from the table. They get dog food in their bowls and occasionally they get dog treats from us. We never feed them people food, though. Well, almost never. On rare occasion, we might slip them a piece of cheese if we’re fixing something in the kitchen, but it’s always separate from when and where we are eating.

It’s important to us to keep that habit with our dogs because we never wanted them to think they could eat our food or get into the habit of begging while we eat. We want them to know they will get plenty to eat, but it won’t be the same as our cuisine nor at the same time and place. That is unless the grandkids are visiting. Then all bets are off.

Why does that change things? Because my grandkids are still pretty messy when they eat. Food doesn’t always stay on the table. The dogs stay under the table when the grandkids eat because they know something will hit the floor and they will get there before my wife or I can get there. Then the dogs are not very discriminating either. Whatever falls goes into their bellies. And it’s not always pleasant later. Often, since they’re not use to eating our seasoned food, it upsets their stomach and I get to clean up after them from one or both ends. Needless to say, I’ll be much happier when the grandkids learn to eat with fewer crumbs hitting the floor.

But the Syrophoenician woman knew what she was talking about. Dogs will snap up whatever falls from the table with little or no discretion. If it was on the table they will eat it. We don’t give the children’s food to the dogs, but they get the crumbs that fall under the table, just like she says.

So what does that have to do with us today?

As I thought about her observation and Jesus’ words and how fortunate we are to have the volume of information we have today it made me stop and ask, how many of us refuse to even gather crumbs even though we have so much available to us? Most of us probably have not just one, but several Bibles in our homes, but do we read them consistently? Are the pages worn or do they sit pristine on the shelves gathering dust? Do we let God’s word speak to us, underline those special passages, and make notes in the margins? Or do we just let it sit on the table unread?

We have dozens of translations available to us today to help us understand His word better. We have commentaries and studies to help us dig deep into His word. We have sermons from a variety of great preachers both audio and written to give us insights into God’s word. We have books, video, audio, websites, incredible assets at our disposal to learn more about what God wants of us. But how much of it do we really use? If we are honest, probably not much. And as a society, we don’t use it at all. When most adults read less than one book a year after graduating, it’s no wonder we don’t know much about God’s word. We never read it.

Maybe you think it’s enough to just listen to a few scriptures the pastor reads when he begins his sermon on the Sundays you attend. It’s not. You see, most people go to worship services expecting to be fed, but never take a fork with them. Unless we are prepared to be fed by really getting into God’s word throughout the week, praying consistently, learning from Him, the worship service is just a time for entertainment. We won’t get much out of it spiritually. We might get a good feeling. Our emotions might be stirred by the music. But that’s not what God wants from us. He wants us to eat from His table. He wants us to devour His word. He wants us to go to His house of worship prepared for something spectacular to happen, but that only happens when we come prepared and expecting it.

Crumbs. That’s all the woman expected. That’s all she asked for. That’s all she wanted. She knew it would be enough. But Jesus gives us so much more when we put a little faith in Him. She used a wise saying to help us today understand just how much is available to us. We have much more than crumbs to help us know who Jesus is. All we have to do is believe it. He does the rest from there. 

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.

Inside out (Mark 7:18-23) August 1, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Leviticus 22-24

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 7:18-23
Jesus: Do you mean you don’t understand this one either? Whatever goes into people from outside can’t defile them because it doesn’t go into their hearts. Outside things go through their guts and back out, thus making all foods pure. No, it’s what comes from within that corrupts. It’s what grows out of the hearts of people that leads to corruption: evil thoughts, immoral sex, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wicked acts, treachery, sensuality, jealousy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All of these come from within, and these are the sins that truly corrupt a person.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Did you notice the list of things Jesus points out that makes us corrupt? What a list! But not one of them has to do with the things we seem to point out most of the time when we want to point out the bad in society. Did you notice? That person doesn’t attend the right social events. This one doesn’t wear the right clothes. That one doesn’t belong to the right clubs. He doesn’t support right to choose. She doesn’t agree with the LGBT movement.

And then we really start getting picky in the church. He doesn’t sing the right kind of songs. She wears her skirts too short. He wears shorts to church. His sermons are too long. She spends too much time with that guy. He’s too friendly with gay people. She has friends that have had abortions. He’s divorced. She’s in her forties and not married. He doesn’t like the color of the carpet we picked. She picked the paint and I don’t like it. She wears too much makeup.

We think the stupidest things make us righteous or unrighteous. The Pharisees thought it was their rules and rituals that made them righteous. If they could just do all the right things, they would be all right with God. If they washed properly, ate the right food, prayed the right prayers, gave the right offerings, did the right things, everything would be alright.

But Jesus saw through their hypocracy. He saw their hearts. He saw their devotion was not to God but to themselves. They were more interested in obeying their rules than in obeying God. And He called them on it. So when His disciples asked about His comments, He explained Himself. It’s not the rules that make someone good or evil, it starts with a wicked thought.

If you’ll recall Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from Matthew, He talks about the fact that murder starts with the thought of hating your brother. Adultery starts with a lustful thought. Those evil thoughts are the spart of evil actions and those evil actions are sin. James tells us the same thing in his letter to the churches. Corruption starts from the seed of a thought that we hang on to and let germinate in our mind until we let it become not just a thought but an action with our body.

Jesus then talks about some things all of us agree with right away. Everyone would give a resounding amen to those evil things – murder, theft, wicked acts, treachery. But you know, our society starts chipping away at what’s right and what’s wrong with some of those others. Some have even become common place today. Find a television program that doesn’t promote sensuality today. Not too many are there? Pride? Is that a sin? We say it is, but we often hide it as ambition rather than pride, don’t we?

But Jesus didn’t mince words when He laid out His list of evils as He shared with His disciples – evil thoughts, immoral sex, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wicked acts, treachery, sensuality, jealousy, slander, pride, and foolishness. Did He really say foolishness? Yep. That’s evil? It can be. Proverbs warns against foolishness a lot. Foolishness wastes effort, resources, hurts people carelessly. It’s not the same as having fun and enjoying life. Foolishness is the opposite of wisdom and harms God’s creation. So, yes, foolishness is evil.

We like to skip over those things that society says is okay, but they’re not. Sex outside of marriage is not okay despite what the world may say. Adultery is not okay regardless of who else might engage in it. Greed is not healthy for society or for the individuals that engage in it. Jealousy hurts not only the one who is jealous but it taints every relationship that person has. Slander creates distrust across society and is worse that theft because things can be replaced, but reputations can be destroyed forever. Pride sets us up for a mighty fall because it always puff us up falsely. Foolishness causes us to do things that just lead us into trouble unnecessarily. Yet all these things the world often thinks are okay. None of these are condemned the way Jesus condemns them .

So who will we listen to, the world or Jesus? If we want to live eternally, the answer better be Jesus. After all, He’s the one who will stand as our judge at the end of time. It’s probably best to do what He says. 

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.

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.