Tag Archives: miracle

At the Name of Jesus, April 19, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We like to read the stories in the Bible. We like to hear about the miracles and heroes rising up to defeat great armies. But that’s not what the Bible is about. When we stop and examine those stories, they tell us about God’s plan for humanity through those stories. What’s more important is how his plan unfolds through the lives of those who follow him and stay obedient to him. We learn by watching God’s power work through their weakness.

One such story comes from the early believers as Peter and John go to the temple to worship. But it’s not the miraculous event that should capture our attention, but Peter’s sermon that follows. Just to make sure we suit everyone, though, I will share the miraculous part of the story, too.

The time of prayer was about three o’clock in the afternoon, and Peter and John were going into the temple.A man who had been born lame was being carried to the temple door. Each day he was placed beside this door, known as the Beautiful Gate. He sat there and begged from the people who were going in.

The man saw Peter and John entering the temple, and he asked them for money.But they looked straight at him and said, “Look up at us!”

The man stared at them and thought he was going to get something.But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold! But I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, get up and start walking.”Peter then took him by the right hand and helped him up.

At once the man’s feet and ankles became strong,and he jumped up and started walking. He went with Peter and John into the temple, walking and jumping and praising God. Everyone saw him walking around and praising God.They knew that he was the beggar who had been lying beside the Beautiful Gate, and they were completely surprised. They could not imagine what had happened to the man.

While the man kept holding on to Peter and John, the whole crowd ran to them in amazement at the place known as Solomon’s Porch.Peter saw that a crowd had gathered, and he said:

Friends, why are you surprised at what has happened? Why are you staring at us? Do you think we have some power of our own? Do you think we were able to make this man walk because we are so religious? The God that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and our other ancestors worshiped has brought honor to his Servant Jesus. He is the one you betrayed. You turned against him when he was being tried by Pilate, even though Pilate wanted to set him free.

You rejected Jesus, who was holy and good. You asked for a murderer to be set free, and you killed the one who leads people to life. But God raised him from death, and all of us can tell you what he has done. You see this man, and you know him. He put his faith in the name of Jesus and was made strong. Faith in Jesus made this man completely well while everyone was watching.

My friends, I am sure that you and your leaders didn’t know what you were doing. But God had his prophets tell that his Messiah would suffer, and now he has kept that promise. So turn to God! Give up your sins, and you will be forgiven. Then that time will come when the Lord will give you fresh strength. He will send you Jesus, his chosen Messiah. But Jesus must stay in heaven until God makes all things new, just as his holy prophets promised long ago.

Moses said, “The Lord your God will choose one of your own people to be a prophet, just as he chose me. Listen to everything he tells you.No one who disobeys that prophet will be one of God’s people any longer.”

Samuel and all the other prophets who came later also spoke about what is now happening.You are really the ones God told his prophets to speak to. And you were given the promise that God made to your ancestors. He said to Abraham, “All nations on earth will be blessed because of someone from your family.”God sent his chosen Son to you first, because God wanted to bless you and make each one of you turn away from your sins. (Acts 3 CEV)

As we often see in scripture, Luke gives us a very brief synopsis of an event that his readers probably had heard before. Whether the name of the person to whom Luke writes, or an honorary title, which means “friend of God,” Theophilus was not ignorant of the incident. Luke confirmed the stories of Jesus and the early church through first-hand knowledge and many witnesses. This first recorded miracle after the coming of God’s spirit into the lives of Jesus’ followers is familiar.

Peter and John headed to the temple to worship. On their way, the saw, as usual the same lame beggar they saw every time they passed the entrance called the Beautiful Gate. He sat there day after day collecting alms as his only means of survival. Someone brought him to the place in the morning. He sat begging all day to collect the few coins those who took pity on him dropped into his hand, and his friends picked him up and took him home at night. That same ritual continued day after day without end.

When Peter and John stopped that morning and looked into the man’s eyes, though, something different happened. Peter and John had no money. They had nothing to offer except what God’s spirit in them prompted Peter to announce to the man – healing. But not just physical healing. If you read the verses carefully, you’ll find he was made whole, complete, healed in the sense of his body, mind, and spirit renewed and cleansed as the Jews would have understood healing. He could walk when he had never walked before, but his sins were forgiven. He became complete by God’s spirit living in him. God renewed him.

The miracle got people’s attention. Those coming and going around the gate and who saw the man who they recognized as the beggar from years of passing by him began to gather around to find out how this happened. Now Peter had an audience. And Peter, never one to be shy, began to preach. “Do you think we did this? Give honor to the one who really did it. He is healed by the name of Jesus. Oh, the one you betrayed. The one you turned against. The one you rejected. The one you killed and let a murder go free instead. But God raised him from the dead. Faith in Jesus made this man whole.

Peter goes on to excuse the leaders of their ignorance of what they did. Paul will later proclaim that if they had known what they were doing, they would not have crucified Jesus. He lays out how Jesus fulfills the role of the Messiah as prophesied in the scriptures. God kept his covenant promises even though we did not.

We broke creation through thinking we could be like God. God promised to fix it. But he chose to do so through the humans who broke it in the first place. The covenant with Abraham promised to bless all nations through him. It promised to multiply his family to an uncountable number. The God’s continued covenants with Israel and David told of a king who would rule the earth. Every nation and every person would bow to him. The Messiah would free them from exile. But their view of the Messiah then, didn’t match the Messiah Peter described. They lived in a broken world. One ruled by violence, physical power, so they expected their Messiah to rule with the same harsh character.

Jesus came in peace. God’s plan to make the world right didn’t include the violent overthrow of world empires. He already kept them in control. He created all things in the first place. Jesus, his Son, could calm storms with the sound of his voice. He could heal with the touch of his hand. He could drive demons out of people and into pigs on command. God didn’t need violence to subdue the nations of the world. He already ruled them. Instead, he came as a gentle shepherd. He allowed himself to be wounded, broken, insulted, humiliated, crucified to show the power of love.

In doing so, Jesus overcame humanity’s curse – death. He defeated death and the power we had given to idolatry. We made figures of wood and stone and invested our worship into these man-made figures instead of worshiping the God of creation. We still worship idols and cause untold pain in the world. Our idols today may not look like the figures of gold and stone from Peter’s day, but we worship money, power, sex, jobs, positions, fame, celebrity, sports, possessions, a host of idols that keep us chained to the curse Jesus defeated for our sake when we believe in him for redemption.

Jesus pronounced a new covenant with his disciples during his last meal with them. He had fulfilled the promises of the old, and he gave his disciples a new covenant that included all who believed in him for salvation. God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven would begin with his death on the cross. He was the King of all kings. All people of every nations were invited to come and kneel at the cross. All who believed in him as the Messiah could become members of this new covenant. All could find freedom from the powers that held them hostage to sin and death and decay eternally. They could find new life in him.

Peter’s sermon to those assembled that day echoed the new covenant. God spoke through the prophets to Israel. “But God had his prophets tell that his Messiah would suffer, and now he has kept that promise. So turn to God! Give up your sins, and you will be forgiven.”

The message hasn’t changed in 2000 years. It is as fresh and true today as it was for those Peter addressed in the temple court that day. Jesus still forgives. He still gives new life to those will believe. All it takes is trusting in him. Do it today.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Is it our problem when people are about to embarrass themselves? (John 2:4)

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Is it our problem when someone forgets or miscalculates or does something that will cause them embarrassment? Jesus asked that questions, and then answered it with actions instead of words.
Scripture
1. John 2:4
2. Jesus: Dear woman, is it our problem they miscalculated when buying wine and inviting guests? My time has not arrived.
Devotional
1. So what do you think about Jesus’ conversation with His mother?
  1. I would have been slapped silly or told “wait til your father gets home!”
  2. Feminists cringe at His language
  3. Have a hard time getting past the way Jesus addresses His mother
  4. Different day and time
  5. Jesus was an adult male in a male dominant society
  6. Mary addressed Him in public which was pretty taboo in His culture
  7. Gentle but reminded her of the culture, Dear woman!
2. Let’s get past the address between Jesus and Mary and look at the next piece
  1. Is it our problem they miscalculated?
  2. Is it our problem they ran out of wine?
  3. Is it our problem they can’t get their act together?
  4. Is it our problem they will embarrass themselves in front of all these guests?
  5. Reminiscent of Cain’s question to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Do I need to be responsible for him? Do I need to bail him out when he’s in trouble? Do I need to be accountable for his actions as well as my own?
3. You might think Jesus brushes her off with His comments to His mother, but she knows Him well.
  1. We know the rest of the story
  2. First miracle
  3. Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do
  4. She is confident He will take care of the wine problem
  5. She is confident He will keep the host from embarrassment
  6. She is confident He will take care of the needs He finds around Him
4. What lessons should we learn from Jesus’ encounter
  1. Don’t address your mother the way He did, that was a cultural difference your mother will probably not tolerate, nor should she in this country and this time
  2. Like Mary, we should be sensitive to the needs of those around us
  3. Like Mary, we should take those issues to Jesus whether we created the problem or not
  4. We can help others learn from their miscalculations, but we can also help and keep them from embarrassment, failure or worse
  5. Jesus shows us we are our brothers’ keepers
5. Go do something good for someone today
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

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 be a fig tree (Mark 11:14) August 28, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Timothy 1-2

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 11:14
Jesus: No one will ever eat fruit from your branches again.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

This is one of those stories you might remember, but if you’re like me, I always wondered a little why it was there. What is so important about this story that Mark would include it in His gospel and why would it come back to him as he recorded the events of Jesus life some thirty years later?

Jesus got up in the morning and started toward Jerusalem after spending the night in Bethany. Apparently, Mary and Martha were not the great hosts that morning they had been previously or Jesus and His disciples left earlier than they expected, because He didn’t eat anything before He left. He was hungry. So as He saw a fig tree in the distance, His salivary glands started acting up, His stomach started growling, and He started longing for some of those early figs from that tree.

When they got to the tree, though, there were no figs. Mark tells us an interesting fact about that tree, though. He says it was in full bloom and looked like it should have figs, but it wasn’t time for it to bear fruit yet. It bloomed too early. It had the right appearance from a distance, but when you got a close look at it, it just didn’t measure up to your expectations.

Jesus approaches the tree and sees no figs. Everything looks good, but no figs. He’s hungry. The tree was enticing. It made everyone even hungrier when they saw it. But no figs. Jesus does something recorded only one time in all the gospels. He uses His godly power to destroy. Jesus curses the tree and says it will never produce fruit again. We’ll see in just a few verses that in less than twenty-four hours, that tree will wither down to its roots. It will die a quick death that cannot be restored.

There is an important lesson in there for us as we watch Jesus’ actions with that tree. I think Jesus sent a clear message to His disciples and to us that day. I don’t think Jesus took action out of anger or spite. He could have easily touched the tree and figs would have grown as quickly as it withered. Remember Aaron’s rod when the other Israelite tribes questioned Moses and Aaron’s authority? In a single night, Aaron’s rod grew leaves, blossoms, and ripe almonds.

God can do miraculous things when He wants to. He did a miraculous thing with the fig tree. Just try to make a healthy tree in full bloom with its leaves spread out over the pathway wither to nothing in a single day. That is not an easy task. With all the pesticides, plant killers, poisons, acids, and all the concoctions we have today, I’m not so sure we can make a mature tree wither in twelve to sixteen hours. But Jesus did – by just talking to it.

So what’s the lesson?

The tree looked really good, but it didn’t have any fruit. It had all the markings of a healthy fig tree, but it didn’t do the job it was meant to do, produce figs. It had pretty leaves, a stout trunk, all the makings of exactly what you’d look for in a well producing tree. That’s why Jesus went to it in the first place. But when you got close to it, you saw it wasn’t what you thought it was. You saw through the sham of its appearance. You saw into the heart of the tree and the hypocrisy the tree represented in presenting itself as a producing fig tree but without fruit.

I think Jesus is telling us appearance doesn’t count. You can look good and sound good, but that’s not what He’s looking for in a life of faith. You can go to the right places and sing the right songs, but so what? You can pray long flowery prayers and even serve on church boards and teach Sunday School classes, but all those outward appearances don’t amount to anything in His book.

Jesus looks beneath the covers. He looks past the leaves and looks for the fruit. What am I talking about? Paul lists some of the fruit Jesus expects us to grow in Galatians chapter five. Remember those? Unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He expects to see those attributes blossoming in our lives. He expects to see more than just outward tapestry and habit. He wants to see our character transform as He takes control of our lives.

When He does, when He is Lord of our lives, you can’t help but see the fruit bloom. He guides us into areas that make that fruit evident to others around us. He puts us into situations that stretch us and fertilizes those parts of our lives so that our circumstance let Him transform our thinking into His thinking. He changes our character and let us bear His fruit. And what happens if we don’t? Just a word, and the fig tree withered where it stood. I don’t want to hear those words from Jesus when He comes, do you?

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.

What do you want from Me? (Mark 10:51-52) August 26, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Hosea 8-14

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 10:51-52
Jesus: What do you want from Me?
Bartimaeus: Teacher, I want to see.
Jesus: Your faith has made you whole. Go in peace.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Bartimaeus couldn’t see. He wanted more than anything to have his sight so he could see the beauty of the world around him. He wanted to enjoy sight, the sense we so often take for granted but those without it crave so much. Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus as He came through the streets of Jericho, Bartimaeus made a spectacle of himself, embarrassing the townspeople by his cries to the Master. They wanted to shut him up, but he cried out all the louder seeking for help from Jesus.

When everyone else tried to push Bartimaeus into the background, Jesus asked an important question. “What do you want from Me?” Have you ever thought about that question when you talk to Jesus? We don’t spend enough time thinking about His question to Bartimaeus and to us. We too often pray and just say words out of habit without thinking about what we are saying or what we want from Jesus.

It’s easy to just say a few words without thinking and go on about our daily business. We learn it as a kid saying grace at the dinner table or as a bedtime ritual. Unfortunately, many of us never grow out of that habit of rote prayer without thinking about what we say or mean when we speak to God. We just recite a few words and think everything is great. That’s a problem. It’s not that those prayers aren’t good. They are great examples of how to address God in praise and thanksgiving. They are marvelous examples of how to bring your thanks to Him and express your appreciation to Him for all He has done. But without stopping to let the words sink in, they are just words without meaning.

The same is true with every prayer. Even the prayer the Lord taught the disciples to prayer. But that model can be used as the basis for us to reach God and express our needs and desires to Him. It can be used to help us understand who He is and what He does for us each day. Jesus’ model prayer is a wonderful prayer, but how often do we stop and really let it sink into our heart before we express the words to God as a true heartfelt expression of our love for Him and a conversation with our creator and God.

So let’s go back to the question Jesus raised with Bartimaeus. “What do you want from Me?”

Bartimaeus gave Jesus what seems like a simple straight forward answer, “I want to see.” But is it so simple? Yes, Bartimaeus wanted his eyes to work and the light to pass through the lens to the retina and rods and cones on the back of his eye. He wanted his optic nerves to pass information to his brain and transform that information to an image he understood as a vision of the same world those with sight understood. He wanted physical sight. But I think Bartimaeus and Jesus understood his simple request as one with a deeper meaning than just seeing the physical world around them.

Bartimaeus earned his living as beggar. He barely squeaked by surviving on the pittance passersby put into his hands as they gave pity on this blind beggar. I think Bartimaeus wanted to see beyond the paltry existence of surviving day by day. Bartimaeus wanted to give up his life of relying on others and become a useful member of society. He wanted to see beyond what he had been and on to what he could become.

Bartimaeus lived on the streets of Jericho, knowing what was within arms length. He lived within his reach and knew nothing else. He could only imagine what lay beyond his limited reach. He heard stories of the great expanse beyond the small area he explored as he felt his way along from one place to another, but his world was limited to the length of his arms and measure of his stride. Bartimaeus wanted to see the possibilities beyond his limited world. He wanted to see the scope of God’s universe. He wanted to know the limitless expanse God created that extended well beyond the limits placed upon him by the absence of his sight.

Finally, I think more than anything else, Bartimaeus wanted to see Jesus Himself. Here stood the Son of the living God. Here was the one who could do what no other person could do. Here was One who some said could make new eyes out of dirt, make the lame walk, raise the dead to life, make the deaf hear and mute talk. Here was God incarnate. Bartimaeus wanted to see God.

So what about you? What do you want when you come to Jesus in prayer? Have you thought about it? Do you really know what you want when He asks, “What do you want of Me?” Has it occurred to you that He wants to grant your request? It is worth some time thinking about that question. What do you really want from God? When we ask in Jesus name, in alignment with His will, He says He will give it to us. But first we have to ask ourselves the question and then answer it, “What do you want from Me?”

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.

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 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.

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

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Leviticus 19-21

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

Today’s Devotional

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

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He will grieve for you (Mark 3:4-5) July 15, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ezekiel 31-36

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 3:4-5
Jesus: Do our laws tell us to do good or evil on the Sabbath? To save life, or to snuff it out?
They remained silent.
Jesus was furious as He looked out over the crowd, and He was grieved by their hard hearts.
Jesus (to the man with the withered hand): So be it. Stretch out your hand.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I wonder how often God gets furious with our silence. As we’ve watched the violence around the world and in our own country the last several days and weeks, I can’t imagine the pain and anger He feels at just how evil His greatest creation has become. How could we stoop so low as to kill each other over the color of our skin or the way we talk or the place we live? How could we get to the point that life means so little that we would kill innocent people because some idiot killed another person? When did it become okay to take vengeance on the innocents because of the guilt of wrongdoers?

God must be furious with us, don’t you think? We were created to love each other and worship Him. He is a God of love and peace and joy. We, in our drive to fill our selfish desires, have turned this world into one of hate and war and sorrow. How can we do that in light of all God does for us?

The answer is found in that word selfish. From the very beginning, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to satisfy instead of God. Everything else stemmed from that first fall. We want what we want at any cost and the cost has been high. Just look around and you see the price we pay every day. Broken homes, racial divide, nations warring against each other over 10 miles of land, civil war, war in the name of God. Would He approve of any of this? No. He is a God of love and peace and joy. But in our selfishness we want our way, not His and so we continue to see others the way we want to see them, instead of the way He sees them.

What do our religions do? They stand silent on the sidelines while all this is going on. All of us do it. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, all of them. We stand aside and let the faithful destroy the infidels because we want our way, not God’s. You see, God never told us to go and destroy those that don’t agree with us. He told us to go and make disciples.

But you don’t make disciples by coercion. You can’t turn someone into a follower by putting a gun to their head and forcing them to recite a creed. That’s not how it works. God doesn’t coerce people to come to Him. He only accepts volunteers. He only adopts those that come to Him with contrite hearts and are ready to turn from their selfishness and accept His way as the direction for their life.

Jesus was furious at their silence.

And He was grieved at their hard hearts. Why grieved? Because until we stop trying to justify our selfishness as just human or the way we are or the natural order of things, we will never come to repentance. We close our eyes to the truth God lays out in front of us and stubbornly hang on to what we want. That’s what those in the temple did that day in front of Jesus.

The Pharisees wanted their way. They wanted Jesus to obey their rules, not His. They wanted the people around Him to concede to the law as they interpreted it, not the way this man who some said came from God said it should be interpreted. The people gathered there didn’t want to disrupt the way things had always been. They were comfortable in their rituals and rules. They wanted their way.

So you can just see in your mind’s eye as they straightened their back, stiffened their necks, lowered their eyelids and glared at Jesus. Would He dare to cross them? Jesus grieved because He knew they could not find forgiveness until they allowed their hearts to feel the pain of their sin and understand the selfishness that must be turned toward God if they were to find peace.

Jesus grieved at their lack of understanding. He grieved at their failure to see that they could be freed from the guilt and pain if they would just repent. But instead they stood silent. How many today just stand on the side silent. Trying to ride the fence with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. It doesn’t work. We are either on God’s side or not. And when we are on His side, we can not stand silent. We must do His work to make disciples.

The silent majority helped get us into the mess we’re in today. The silent Christian is an oxymoron. There really is no such thing. When you really find Christ, you can not keep silent. Just listen to the man with the withered hand, the leper, those who chose to follow Him. None were silent despite the persecution, ridicule, humiliation, and even death they faced. No, if you are on His side, you won’t be silent. If you are, Jesus will grieve for you.

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.