And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Mark 10:46-52

And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Mark 10:52

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Mark 10:46-52.  Excerpts from the commentary's third (of three) division (vv49-51):

• The title of the third division per the commentary is "Never Be Surprised at How the Most Undesirable Respond to Grace."
• The commentary first refers us to Job 42:5 where the text records starting in chapter 26 through 41 (1) Job's response (including his indignant response to God) to his friends whose counsel led Job down a wrong view of God, (2) Elihu's response/rebuke of Job and his friends, (3) Elihu extolling God's greatness and majesty, and (4) finally, God response to Job and his friends.  In Job 42:5 we are reminded that Job has a deeply personal encounter with God - just as Bartimaeus does in Mark.  
• "Jesus simply and quickly responds to the cry for grace and mercy from the blind beggar, 'Go your way...your faith has healed you.'  When Jesus refers to the man’s faith, Jesus is not saying that the man has earned anything....Bartimaeus did not have empty faith. No, Bartimaeus directed his faith to the only One who could heal, the only One who could save!" 
• It is noted and emphasized that Bartimaeus followed Jesus and it is implied he did so immediately upon his healing.  For anyone that has a deeply personal encounter with Jesus, this is the proper response!  He not only saw physically but spiritually his eyes were opened and most importantly his heart!
• "This is the last healing miracle in the Gospel of Mark. It began with His healing a blind man (8:22-26), and it closes with His healing a blind man (10:46-52). But then like Bartimaeus we were all blind until Jesus gave us sight. We were poor beggars until He saved us as our ransom. We brought to Him nothing but our weakness and need, and He graced us with His power and blessing. Praise God Jesus stopped and had time for Bartimaeus. Praise God Jesus had time for you and me!" 

If you don't know God or feel pain or hurt and need healing - I urge you to cry out to Jesus as Bartimaeus did to "Son of David [Jesus] have mercy on me!"  Confess your sins, have faith and He will hear your cry and save you! Romans 10:10. 

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My Prayer: Father God, thank You for hearing my cry to be saved and for saving me.  I am not deserving of such a gift - the greatest gift of all time. My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.

Malachi 3:6-10a

But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Malachi 3:8-10a

I return to my study of the last four books of the Old Testament, having already covered Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and most of Malachi.  My study leans on the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series volume which covers these books.  Given a long pause of my study in Malachi, I first review the commentary's introduction for this book and then read Malachi 3:6-10a which cover the first two divisions per the commentary for the text 3:6-12. Here are a few key excerpts from the commentary's introduction for Malachi:

• "Throughout Malachi we will see how God, as a loving Father, confronts, corrects, and challenges the people of Israel about straying from Him. No one is excluded."
• "Malachi is a call for Israel to return to God before the Messiah comes to earth, for it was written to a people who lived in expectation of Him, but who had not yet seen Him."
• To understand the audience for this book, "we can assume that the nation of Israel has returned from the Babylonian captivity by the time of this book’s writing. By addressing the book “to Israel” rather than “to Israel and Judah,” he is stating that there are no longer two separate kingdoms and that they have returned to their unified state."
• "As will be demonstrated, moral degradation was at an all-time high, with adultery, divorce, falsehood, fraud, and sorcery running rampant throughout the city; the source of much of the corruption was the priests themselves."
• "Malachi, like the prophets before him, looks forward to the Messiah’s coming. He prophesies about the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist, who will prepare the way for Jesus. In the same passage, he also predicts the coming of the Lord Christ Himself[.]
• "The prophecies and warnings that will be exposited in this book bear a special weight also because Malachi is the final canonical work of the OT before the coming of Christ. A 400-year silence from God will be broken by Gabriel’s prediction of John’s and Jesus’ birth in Luke[.]" 

Vv3:6-10a contains both an encouragement and a rebuke from God.  V6 shares an attribute of God and how He does not change - He is our Rock - and how this will save Israel from destruction despite their disobedience and sin.  The verse shares how the children of Jacob are not consumed - this is of course good news for Israel because God made promises to make Israel a great nation through Abraham, Jacob, David, and others (including Jeremiah) and when God makes promises He does not change His mind.  Incredible promises by God are made throughout scripture and believers can take comfort in knowing that all of God's promises find their "Yes" in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 1:20).  The text continues in v7 with God going back and forth with Israel in dialogue exploring how Israel can "get right" with God.  God shares how Israel can "return to [God]" which will in turn result in God returning to Israel.  This same reconciliation applies to everyone (since the Fall, all of humanity is broken and sinful - see Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8) and it requires confession of sin, request of forgiveness and belief and faith in Jesus as Savior (see Romans 10:10).  In v8, God then shares a response with Israel how they can return to Him by refraining from the sin of which they are guilty (one sin of many - God using His discretion to emphasize what He feels needs calling out).  Israel was not giving to God their tithes and God refers to this as "robbing" Him.  This of course is not just a sin of Israel, but of believers today who do not appropriately tithe.  This is a sensitive topic for most but an important one - see also Matthew 6:21.  Important words from God today!

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My Prayer: Father God, You are a God that makes promises that always come to pass!  Thank You for the incredible promises You make and how I can have peace that they always come to pass.  I am not deserving of the promises of salvation and blessing You make to me as well as other promises.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.     

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come[.]

 Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come[.] Ecclesiastes 12:1

I continue my study of Ecclesiastes using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book. My focus today is an unassisted review of the the second division of the text Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14, which is explored in the commentary chapter entitled Aging Is Meaningless without Jesus.  The commentary describes the second division as 12:1-7 with this division entitled Turn to God Now Before Aging Robs You.  Here, as the commentary's division title describes, Solomon encourages us to "remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come."  Evil days are described by Solomon, accompanied by vivid imagery, as death. Paul shares in Romans 10:9-10 that Jesus saves anyone that confesses His name as Lord and Savior and believes that Jesus was raised from the dead - this could happen at any point in anyone's life, including during a death bed confession.  Of course, when we are in our "youth" and of sound mind and body, we are able to pursue faith, serve, and and enjoy the blessings of faith with much more vigor.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are awesome God who loves me and who gives me faith - thank You Jesus for this amazing grace and gift - the greatest gift of all time.  I am not deserving of such a gift.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.     

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 4

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Hebrews 4:14

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. I maintain my focus Hebrews 4:14-16, as I move on to what the commentary describes as the first division "Holding Fast to Our Confession," which looks at Hebrews 4:14. The commentary starts by highlighting how the text describes Jesus as as a Great High Priest: "[a]s the great high priest, Jesus redefined the office because, even though he was tempted in every way as we are, he never sinned and he has passed through the heavens into the very throne room of God to be our mediator."  It then moves to highlight how our confession involves a confession of the historical Jesus, and one of faith to the gospel as written in God's Word. Our confession of the historical work of Jesus is shared as "not distant from our own experiences. Even though he has passed through the heavens as our great high priest, Jesus identifies with human beings in his own humanity."  The commentary's description of our confession of the gospel - using Romans 10:9 as an example, is that it is "not a sacred mantra or a kind of secret linguistic key. It is the very identity of the Christ we follow and the very heart of the confession we make. Christians believe and confess Jesus Christ as the resurrected Lord."  The commentary wraps by urging believers not to "abandon this confession [as Israel did in the wilderness], particularly in the face of temptation and trial." Hold fast!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God and You saved me - and I know this is not something written about in a book - but a divine and supernatural act of salvation that gives me life to the full now and for eternity in Heaven!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a blessing, nor any of the blessings You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.