Tag Archives: Mark

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 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 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 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.

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 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.