Mark 11-13

Jesus is the donkey breaking, fig tree cursing, temple clearing, Elder baffling, Pharisee fooling, Sadducee dissing, scribe dissing, crowd teaching, future warning _____________.  It is difficult for those who saw him before His death to really grab hold of who he was and fill in the blank for themselves.  We see in Jesus that he is our Savior and Messiah, the forgiver of our sins and the giver of eternal life.  But those present before his Crucifixion didn't have it totally figured out until after the resurrection.  This is the same with people all around us.  We assume the message is easy to grasp because we believe and it is so clear.  But there are many still trying to figure out who Jesus is.  Our job is to help them see the whole picture.

One other note.  It occurred to me as I read about Jesus riding into Jerusalem that the donkey he rode on had never been ridden.  It would seem that this donkey would not have been very happy to have someone sitting on his back for the first time and would seek to throw off that weight.  But Jesus tamed that donkey (or so it would seem).  Maybe that is the real parable of this section.  But people are more difficult to tame than donkeys.

That's what I heard.  What about you?

Mark 8-10

In this section Jesus:

1. Has compassion on those who were with him 3 days without anything to eat,
2. Refuses to give a sign to Pharisees who were seeking one to test him,
3. Confused his disciples with talk about the leaven of the Pharisees,
4. Healed a blind man after leading him out of the village,
5. Asked his disciples who they thought he was,
6. Began talking about his death and resurrection (3 times),
7. Showed his glory to Peter, James and John,
8. Cast out a demon that his disciples could not cast out,
9. Taught his disciples that it is not about them, but about others first,
10. Taught about the importance of marriage and the importance of children,
11. Pushed the faith of a rich man,
12. And showed mercy to another blind man.

 What is the most clear message of today?  We have a tendency to think that God should do things in a certain way instead of trusting that God's way is the best way.  The Pharisees and the disciples (and even the crowds) always seem to try to steer Jesus in a particular way.  But Jesus would have none of that.  I wonder how often we attempt to steer Jesus to our way of thinking and doing?

That's what I am challenged by today.  What about you? 

Mark 6 and 7

I wonder how often we teach as doctrines the commands of men? (7:7)  The Pharisees were complaining that the disciples were not washing before dinner.  Even though that might be dirty and unsanitary (which was the purpose of the given code), it has nothing to do with a relationship with God.  Jesus focused on the inside, the inner life which needed to be clean first.  The outside responds to the inside.

Question: Do we label people as "unclean" because of sanitary issues?  Or what is worn?  Perhaps the amount of make-up worn or the car they drive.  If not these, perhaps we make doctrines out of other laws of men like, music or worship style or what we watch on TV or in the movies.  It is not that these things may give a clue to what is going on inside a person, but we must be careful not to make a doctrine out of it that separates the wheat from the weeds.  We can twist the scriptures and make them say anything we want them to say.  This has been done throughout history to decide who is acceptable to God and who is not. 

Let's honor God with our lips AND have hearts close to God. 

That's what I heard this morning.  What about you?

Mark 4 and 5

People react to the things that Jesus does in a variety of ways:

When he shows his power and authority (calming the sea, casting out demons, healing a woman) the response is fear.  Who wouldn't bow is fear at the display of a power that we cannot fully grasp? 

When he teaches by parables the response tends to be either confusion or a seeking to understand the depths of the teaching. I like that he explained these things to his disciples when they were alone.

When he talked about the impossible (the girl is not dead) people laughed at him.  When we speak about doing the impossible through Christ don't people scoff?

And when he raised the girl from death, those with him were amazed.  How often are we amazed at what God does in someone's life?

How do you respond to what Jesus does (and has done)?

That's what I read.  What about you?

Mark 1-3

It seems apparent to me that as Jesus bursts onto the scene everyone was trying to figure out what Jesus was all about.  They were trying to categorize him as to which "party" he belonged to.  Was he a "law guy (Pharisee)?"  Or maybe he was a man of the people.  Was he an extension of John the Baptist's ministry?  Perhaps a blasphemer, one who was speaker wrong things about God.  He could be a healer as the crowds were willing to crush him just to touch him.  Was he possessed by a demon since he cast out demons?

What we discover is that there is no category to fit Jesus into, try as we might.  As Jesus himself said, "No one puts new wine into old wineskins."  Instead of trying to put Jesus into our categories, we need to put ourselves into Jesus.  Then we will understand who He is and why He came!

That's what I heard.  What about you?

Matthew 26-28

We have read these words of the crucifixion and resurrection so often that we have to be careful we do not just skim over these words.This is not just the historical recreation of the events, but a picture of individuals who had to make a choice as to who Jesus really was:

1. Judas makes a decision of money over Jesus, which ultimately brought no joy, only remorse.
2. Peter proudly proclaimed his desire to follow Jesus no matter what, only to cower in fear under the pressure of those who began to accuse him.
3. Pilate bowed to the pressure of the crowd.
4. The guards saw the truth of not only the crucifixion ("this was the son of God") but the resurrection and took money to hide the truth.
5. Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary did their last duties of caring for a deceased Jesus, but didn't remember Jesus' promise of resurrection.

All of this happened before the resurrection.  The resurrection changed everything.  Although we don't see the totality of what that meant for each of these individuals, we do read that Jesus entrusted His mission to those who ran away, denied or didn't believe all that He said.  These early Christians were not naturally world changers by their talents, abilities or even faith.  They were people who got caught up in the story of Jesus, struggled with understanding what it all meant, and then most of them became part of this movement to turn the world toward Jesus.

Something changed.  Has that change happened in you?

Matthew 24-25

I will have to admit that end times stuff is not one of my favorite reads in the Bible.  Maybe because in 50 years (especially during the early 1970's) I have heard so many predictions and have seen so many timelines that I tense up as soon as someone even mentions that we might be in the last days.  BUT, Jesus does talk about what it will be like during those last days, and what our response to it should be.  That is where my thoughts are going today.

If I had to summarize the teaching of these two chapters it would be:

1. Watch - make sure you know what is going on around you
2. Be ready - never assume that we have lots of time to make sure we have connected with God through Jesus Christ.  Being ready doesn't mean to simply have a stock pile of food so that we can hide as Christians in persecution.
3. Get busy - It is wrong to sit back and wait for Jesus to come again.  We are to be a people who get our hands dirty using the things God has given to us and caring for the people around us.  I call Thursdays my "Matthew 25 Day" because this is the day that I try to do the parable of the sheep and the goats.  
4. Endure to the end.  Don't allow what is happening around you to make you quit. 

That is what comes to mind for me as I read this morning.  How do you respond to the end times talk in the Bible?

Matthew 21-23

"In Christ there is nothing I can do today to make you love me more, and nothing I have done that can make you love me less." 

Chapter 23 of Matthew gives us clear example of what we are talking about regarding the difference between religion and the gospel.  Jesus describes the religion practiced by the Pharisees as one which ties up heavy burdens which are hard to bear.  It is a religion which focus' on rules and laws but does not change the inside.  Although they may do and say all the laws, the remain dead and unclean on the inside. 

We have all seen this in Christians throughout our lives.  The focus on right clothing or music or following certain rules on the outside.  But they are still full of prejudice, anger, lust, gossip, self-righteousness, pride, etc.  We have probably also seen it in ourselves.  We try to practice the right things but do not see a change in the inner lives which we never can escape.  And we feel stuck, guilty, angry and want to give up.

Maybe that is because we are focused and following the second greatest commandment (love your neighbor as yourself), without following the first (Love God with all your heart soul and mind).  Love God first and foremost.  Don't just say you love God and move to the next thing.  Linger in God's love.  Breath in God's love.  Read about God's love.  Remind yourself of God's love.  Live in God's love.  Express God's love.  Sing about God's love.  Rejoice in God's love. 

And then see how much you have changed on the inside.  And you will be able to follow the second greatest command.

That's is what I heard this morning.  What about you?

Matthew 19-20

As Jesus talked with the rich young ruler in chapter 19 Jesus was asked what good deeds should be done in order to have eternal life.  The question is about doing, because Jesus' response is not about loving God or believing, but about living life correctly among other people.  We can tell the ruler still had a feeling that what he had done was not enough.  He was lacking something.  His own doing just didn't seem to give him a comfortable feel that he had really done enough to have eternal life.  So Jesus simply pushed him over the edge with an answer that was impossible for the man to live out.  Even if the man did that, would he feel he did enough?

Even though entrance into the Kingdom of God is a matter of believing not doing, without the doing is there really any believing?

That's what I hear this morning.  What about you? 

Matthew 17-18

I think the one thing that can distinguish a Christian in a crowd should be the idea of forgiveness.  Maybe because my expectations are so high I become easily disappointed, but I see so many long term Christians who have not grasped the importance of this very thing.  I know that when we are hurt, forgiveness is not the first thing that we think about, but it should be the one thing that comes up very quickly.  Why?  Because we as Christians should understand forgiveness more than anyone since we have already received forgiveness from God without cost to us!  Yet we want people to pay for theirs when we are sinned against.  That is why we should never wander to far from the basic message of the gospel and the story of our own coming to Christ.  Come on Christian - let forgiveness flow from you to others.  If you don't, the parable in Matthew 18:21-35 may have a message for you. 

that's what I am hearing this afternoon.  What about you?

Matthew 15-16

I find it interesting how my response to certain sayings of Jesus change as I age.  Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life would lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (16:24-25)

When I was a youth I could see myself on the front lines of the Kingdom of God's battles fighting the enemies of God, willing to give up my life for the Kingdom of God.  When I got married I would still do that, but I also had in my mind that I had to make sure my wife was taken care of.  When children came along I didn't think too much of this verse, but thought of raising my children into a relationship with God.  I had responsibilities and even the church responsibilities superseded denying myself, taking up my cross and following Jesus.  Trying to please people was more about surviving the church than following Jesus. (How sad is that?)

At 50, I am trying to grab hold of how this passage can be lived out in the practical details of life.  I am getting to the point where I should have been all along:  to give up anything for the sake of the Kingdom of God...even my life.  What does it profit a man to gain respect, be liked, keep his job, try not to hurt people's feelings, etc.....if he loses his soul?  It's not that I was ever in danger of losing my soul, but how many times did I choose those other things over following Jesus?  What do you choose over Jesus?

That's what I am thinking, what about you?

Matthew 13-14

These chapters read like "Jesus 101."  What does he do?  He teaches and he does miracles, and in between he prays (14:13, 23).  These particular stories (parables) have to do with the Kingdom of Heaven, what it is like and who is a part of it.  the parable of the sower may be the most well-known of the parables and after reading both the story and the explanation the question I have is: Can the soil of our hearts be changed?

The major miracles that Jesus does in chapter 14 come after times he spent alone.  The link of prayer to Jesus' ministry is strong and often forgotten in our busy, efficient lives.  I love going to a lonely place to pray, but it is more difficult in the winter, and honestly it is still difficult in great weather.  Maybe because the thought is always there of the need to be productive rather than pray.  Did you read what I just wrote?  Yes, that is a thought that appears for all of us at times.  We do not equate prayer with efficiency or high on the value list.  We can do quick prayers at meal time and while we drive.

But Jesus' life was different.  He went to a lonely place and spent TIME in prayer.  If the Son of God needed to do this, why do we think we can do without?

That's what I am thinking, what about you?

Matthew 10-12

There are so many different things in these 3 chapters:

• He sends his disciples out with power and tells them not be be afraid, even though persecution, the sword and arrest will come to them.  Francis Chan said that maybe the reason we don't think we hear from God (by the Holy Spirit) is because we are not in the situations the Bible describes in which we will be given words to say when we are hauled before governors and kings.  When was the last time we were hauled before non-believers and told to give an account of what you believe?  That's when God will speak to you!
• To the messengers from John the Baptist he says that the proof of the Kingdom of God is in what they have seen happening around them.  Do you see the evidence of the Kingdom of God around you?
• To the unrepentant cites he says to repent, there is nothing more you need to see, and there is no more information that you need. 
• To the weary and heavy burdened he says to come and and he will give them rest.
• To the legalistic pharisees he says to show mercy for that is what God desires.
• To the healed he says to not make him known, which seems odd doesn't it?
• To those who speak ill of what Jesus does he says that their accusation make no sense and that they will be able to tell by his fruit whether what he does is right.

There is so much more, but what I read let's me know that Jesus does speak specific things to many groups of people.  Mostly he says to do God's will, stop playing with religion and show people God's love and mercy.

That's what I see.  What do you see?

Mathew 8-9

As I read these chapters the word POWER comes to mind.  Jesus can do anything!   He heals, casts out demons, calms a storm and much more.  How could we ever doubt that Jesus is not able to do anything in our lives?  Here is the question that comes to my mind as I read 9:1-8: Which takes the most power, healing a paralytic, or forgiving sins?  The way in which we treat people makes me think that for most of us, it would be easier to heal someone's illness than forgive the sins they have committed against us.  And yet we don't have the power to heal but do possess the power to forgive.  The people who saw all that Jesus did were in awe of the miraculous and glorified God for the forgiveness. 

The power of forgiveness give glory to God.  We can forgive even if we cannot cast demons out of a person into pigs or calm a raging storm.  Although we should always pray for healing and ask God to do the miraculous, what we can do is forgive.  Who do you need to forgive today?

That's what I read, what did you read?

Matthew 5-7

This Sermon on the Mount is probably one of the most challenging passages to hear for all of us.  Jesus lays out a whole different way of thinking about following rules and laws, and reminds us that it is in the living out of Jesus' teaching that we have a solid foundation for our lives.  Believing and doing and intimately connected.  We cannot say we believe if we do not also live the life.  And it is a challenging life!

• In this section are the numerous "You have heard it said but I say to you..." statements,
• The idea of backward reciprocal thinking - Don't treat and react to people as they treat you, but as you would like them to act toward you, 
• The fruit of our lives indicates what tree we are connected with,
• Doing the will of God is more important than miracles and other "works" we may think are important,
• And, the idea that the foundation of our lives will be solid when we not just believe the right stuff and listen to many sermons and teachings, but actually do what God's word tells us to do.  

When we put all that teaching together I wonder if what Jesus is teaching is this:  Believing in Jesus includes obedience to God's Word and Will, but not with a legalistic understanding.  We must obey with an inner desire and will to not just obey the letter of the law, but to live the life of God from the inside out. 

What struck you about this reading for the day?  What was your favorite part?

Matthew 3-4

As I read these two chapters the thought came to me:  What do I have my eyes on?  It is a question that individuals were asked over and over again:

• When the religious leaders came to watch the baptisms of John he asked them what they had their eyes on, baptism or repentance?
• When Jesus came to be baptized by John and John tried to refuse, Jesus asked him if he had his eyes on who was greater or fulfilling God's purposes.
• When Satan tried to get Jesus to place his eyes on his own hunger Jesus responded that his eyes are on God's words.
• When Satan tried to get Jesus to place his eyes on the miraculous, Jesus responded that his eyes are on God's will and desires.
• When Satan tried to get Jesus to place his eyes on short cuts to his mission, Jesus responded by keeping his eyes on worshiping God.
• Simon, Andrew, James and John moved their eyes from mending their nets to following Jesus.

Where our eyes are focused influence how we respond to God.  That's just what I saw.  What did you see as you read these chapters?

Matthew 1-2

Didn't we just get done reading this during Christmas?  The great events of Jesus' birth are always an encouragement to us of God's miraculous provision, but I always seem to gravitate toward the people involved in the events.  We talk so much about Mary and Joseph and the wise men, but what about all of those people mentioned in the genealogies?  I think there are @45 individuals mentioned in these genealogies and each one of them represents the story of God working through a person to bring about His plan.  I know some of these individuals and what they did from the scriptures, but some of them are just names to me.  But God still used them.

How often do we feel insignificant, that we really don't matter to the overall picture of what God is doing?  We ask, "How can God use someone like me?"  Maybe most people will not see what you do in your faith life, but we can still be used by God to bring about God's purposes.  Don't sell yourself short.  God can use you, no matter if anyone hears about what you do or not.

What was your favorite part of the reading?