And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.

Mark 6:1-5

And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. Mark 6:5-6

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 6:1-5, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary - which offers three divisions for this text. Excerpts from the commentary's third (of three) division (vv5-6): 

• The commentary's title for the second division is "When You Consider Jesus, Are You Guilty of Unbelief?"
• Noting that Jesus could have performed more miracles in His hometown, the commentary shares how these works reinforce faith of those who are healed, yet "[m]orally and spiritually He was constrained not to reveal His power in such an environment of rejection and unbelief."  We are referred to Hebrews 11:6 where the text shares how God works for those who belief and have faith in Him.     
• "Only twice in the Bible is Jesus said to be amazed. In Luke 7:9 He saw the faith of a Roman centurion who believed He could heal from a distance with just a word. And in Mark 6:6 He was amazed by the unbelief of those of His own hometown."  Those in Jesus' hometown seemed shocked that a man from their town, of such humble beginnings, could do what Jesus was doing - they should have known from scripture (Isaiah 55:8) how God's ways and thoughts are not our own.  Unfortunately, scripture describes how Israel as a nation failed to see Jesus was the One promised from Old Testament prophecies.    
• We are challenged to see and accept Jesus for who He really is and by the Gospel and what it offers. "Are we “scandalized” by the simplicity of His gospel? Are we offended by the unfairness of its message that says a child molester or even a serial rapist and murderer on death row can be made right with God by childlike faith in Jesus Christ? Or do we allow the biblical evidence to slay our biases and reshape our preconceived notions of who Jesus must be for us to accept Him and trust Him? Or again, have we become so familiar with Him, having been raised in church all our lives, that His words no longer convict, His miracles no longer astonish, and His death on the cross no longer strikes the chord of “Amazing Grace”?"

We should be wise to how there is a battle for our souls and Satan seeks to drag as many as possible into the lake of fire or eternal condemnation.  Consequently, we should not be lulled into comfort with the world but instead "be sober-minded and watchful" (1 Peter 5:8) for how Satan works. Believers should daily remind ourselves of how Jesus reached into the pit and saved us - loving and saving us while we were still an enemy and hostile to Him (Romans 5:8-10), how we are undeserving of such salvation, and how His mercies never come to an end are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).  God does amazing things every moment of every day and we should be "watchful" of how He works.  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Heavenly Father, You are an awesome God who loves me, saved me, and whose mercies never cease and are new every morning.  You never cease to amaze.  I am not deserving of how You love and save.  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. 

So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

Mark 5:1-20

So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. Mark  5:13

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 5:1-20, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary - which offers three divisions for this text. Excerpts from the commentary's second (of three) division (vv6-13): 

• The commentary's title for this division is "Jesus Conquers the Destructive."
• Emphasizing vv6-7, the commentary describes how the demonic man threw himself at Jesus's feet, "not [as] an act of worship, but an acknowledgement of authority."  
• "[The demons] knowledge of Jesus’ identity is superior to the disciples’ knowledge, at least at this point in their journey. The demon’s confession in 5:7 answers the disciples’ question in 4:41. The demoniac knows who Jesus is, and he knows his existence is at stake. His time has run out."
• "[The demonic man's] only hope was in a Liberator whose power and authority were greater than what now possessed him. That Liberator was Jesus Christ, the Son of God."
•  "In a microcosm of the battle between good and evil, Jesus gives a preview of the fate of Satan and his demons. The demons, through the voice of the man, keep begging Jesus not to send them out of the region. The tormentor is now the tormented as he contemplates his destiny." See also Luke 8:31 for more details on this account.  They begged and bargained with Jesus - see v12.
• As the man was cutting himself with stones, the commentary insists that Satan was so tormenting this man that he was driving the man to suicide. The commentary points to William Lane who shares that "[f]irst, Jesus recognized the time of the ultimate vanquishment of the demons had not yet come; his encounter and triumph over the demonic does not yet put an end to Satan’s power. It is the pledge and the symbol of that definitive triumph, but the time when that triumph will be fully realized is yet deferred. It must await the appointment of God. Therefore, Jesus allows the demons to continue their destructive work, but not upon a man. The second element is related to this: Jesus allowed the demons to enter the swine to indicate beyond question that their real purpose was the total destruction of their host."
• "The event demonstrates that God cares more for man, whom He created in His image and recreates in salvation, than He does for animals that do not bear His image."  

Jesus has total dominion and authority over everything in the universe, including Satan and evil.  Believers know and can take great comfort in knowing that Jesus has already defeated death and victory over Satan is assured - see also Revelation 20.  We also know that Jesus seeks to save as many as He can and tell us to "have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire" (Jude 22-23). The demon-possessed man was desperate for help but not beyond salvation.  If you feel beyond help, be encouraged!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves and saves!  Thank You for the comfort in knowing that victory over sin and death is already won and assured.  I am not deserving the salvation You give 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 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. 

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

Mark 4:35-41

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. Mark 4:35-37

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Mark 4:35-41, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary - which offers six divisions for this text. Excerpts from the commentary's introduction to the text (vv35-41) and the first (of six) division (vv35-37): 

• Main idea for vv35-41: "Jesus’ authority over the wind and the sea demonstrate His identity as God and as the One we can trust."
• We are referred to Psalm 107:23-32 for text elsewhere that highlights how God should be the source of our peace and refuge during the storms of life. 
• The commentary reminds us here in vv35-41 and elsewhere in Mark how Jesus not only has providence or dominion over nature but also demons (5:1-20), sickness (5:25-34), and even death (5:21-34, 35-43).  
• "God orchestrates an event in the lives of the apostles to increase their faith in the One they should already trust. Few stories have been more poorly applied than this one. It is not about Jesus’ getting you through the storms of life. He does that, of course, but this account is about the One who is the sovereign and all-powerful Lord. Demons rightly recognize Him as God (5:7), and we should fully trust Him." 
• The commentary's subtitle for this division: "God Is Working in the Circumstances of Our Lives."  
• "There is a crucial detail: it was Jesus who led them into the storm! This was not accidental. This did not catch God off guard. We should not be alarmed by surprises in our lives. They are divinely ordained moments whereby God is working in the everyday circumstances of our lives to reveal who He is, who we are, and who we need! Trials and tribulations, difficulties and desperate moments are when God does His greatest work in our lives. When He brings us to the end of ourselves, we are driven to Him and Him alone as Savior and Rescuer." 

Scripture is replete with trials and tribulations of various kinds - and they are of course all too familiar for all of us.  It is important for us to recognize what God is doing in these trials as these are by design from God for His will.  Romans 8:28 is key to remind us how God is always at work for good, how His ways and thoughts are a mystery (Isaiah 55:8), and how with God we will overcome whatever trial we experience - even death (John 16:33).   

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God that will never leave or forsake me, You are always at work for good, and with You I will overcome the world.  Thank You Jesus for these blessings and my salvation.  I am not deserving of such blessings and my salvation.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from such 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.

And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Mark 4:21-34

And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I continue a focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 4:21-34, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary - which offers three divisions for this text. Excerpts from the commentary's third (of three) divisions of the text (vv30-34): 

• The text includes the Parable of the Mustard Seed, which is an analogy also used in Matthew 17:20 where Jesus describes how faith as small as a mustard seed can "move mountains." Per the commentary here for vv30-32: "[a]t the beginning a small seed is sown. But soon the small seed explodes in growth. It produces something completely out of proportion to itself. Likewise, from small and meager beginnings, God’s kingdom will expand and grow for all to see. What began as the smallest becomes the greatest! Unlike His first coming, when Christ returns, all the world will see as He surpasses all the earth’s kingdoms in power, glory, and majesty. What an encouraging word for those who think they labor in vain, who endure rejection and persecution, and who may even experience martyrdom!"  
• While less clear, the commentary sees the reference to birds nesting in the shade of the mustard growth as "nations enter[ing] and enjoy[ing]" this rest - we are referred to Psalm 104:12, Ezekiel 17:23, 31:6, and Daniel 4:9-21 for additional scripture how branches represent faith and provide rest and refuge. "This is a parable of growth and grace, of joy and celebration." 
• Based on vv33-34, the commentary winds down with an application for us to draw near to Jesus: "For the tenth time in chapter 4, the importance of hearing is noted. “As they were able to understand” implies that the parables either enlighten or obscure, depending on one’s ability to hear and respond. He purposely chose this teaching method, knowing what would happen. However, to those who drew close to Jesus as His disciples, He explained everything. Only in close communion and connection to Jesus can one understand “the language about God” (Edwards, Mark, 146). Draw close to Jesus and you get more of Him and His Father; draw back from Jesus and you lose both Him and the Father (2 John 9)."  
• The commentary's conclusion for this chapter then points to end times and how the mustard seed of faith will be in full glory per Revelation 7:9-10.

For those of who often struggle seeing how our faith produces fruit or how prayers get answered, we should be encouraged by Mark 4:21-34.  I have seen with my own eyes how God worked in me. Yes, we all experience spiritual deserts and feel as if we are wandering in the wilderness - but we can be comforted in knowing that God never leaves or forsakes us, and just as He did for Israel as a cloud by day and fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22), He leads, directs and is working in all things for good (Romans 8:28) for those who love Him.  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of incredible grace and compassion, providing rest and refuge, never leaving or forsaking me, directing and leading me, and You are always at work for good.  Thank You Jesus for these blessings and of course for my salvation.  I am not deserving of such love and compassion and blessings.  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.

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Mark 4:21-34

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I continue a focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 4:21-34, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary - which offers three divisions for this text. Excerpts from the commentary's second (of three) divisions of the text (vv26-29): 

• "This is Mark’s only unique parable. Jesus crafts a second parable about sowing seeds. In the parable of the soils, the focus was on the necessity of sowing and the receptivity of the soils (vv3-8). Here the emphasis falls on the innate power of the seed. The Word of God has within it the power of its own success and triumph. Let the Word loose and watch it work. This parable is instructive concerning the nature of the kingdom in a comprehensive sense. It notes the kingdom’s sowing (v26), growing (vv27-28), and harvesting (v29). From beginning to end, the sovereignty of Christ and the power of the Word stand forth in absolute authority." 
• "The man is not important; the seed is the focus. The man is passive because the power for the seed to sprout and grow is not in him. The coming of the kingdom of God is not contingent or dependent on human activity. The seed of the gospel prospers and grows of itself. Once it is sown, a process is set in motion that cannot and will not be stopped, even though its growth is a total mystery to us. See also James 1:21."
• RE: the harvest, "[w]ho would have imagined that starting with only a group of 12 men, Christianity would grow to where it is today? But it won’t stop there. It will continue to grow until every people group on the planet is found in the kingdom. God will ensure this growth."  

Many may feel, myself included at times, that the seeds of God are not growing at all, whether this is our own faith or journey with God, or how God may not be responding to long-standing prayers such as for salvation for loved ones. Yet God is always at work, and as this commentary emphasizes, while God's plans and designs remain a mystery (see also Isaiah 55:8), we can rest in God's promises - of which there are many (see 2 Corinthians 1:20).  Among the many promises of God where we can rest is Romans 8:28 which shares that "for those who love God all things work together for good." This is a great promise indeed!  This post from DesiringGod.com looks at how farming is used in scripture (among other analogies) and how we are encouraged to have a "long view" on our own sanctification.    

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of incredible grace and compassion for me as You never stop working for me and You never leave or forsake me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of my salvation, nor how You bless in so many ways.  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. 

He called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Mark 3:22-30

He called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. Mark 3:23-27

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 3:23-27, which is the text for the second (of three) division of 3:22-30 per the commentary. Excerpts from the commentary for the second division:

•  "Jesus gives a parable. Satan is the “strong man,” and Jesus is the One breaking into his house, his realm, to bind and plunder. Satan is indeed a strong man in this world. His house is a house of horrors, filled with sin, sickness, death, demon possession, and all that is evil and wicked. His possessions are human beings, enslaved by all these evils. Demons are his agents who delight in carrying out his diabolical agenda. No one but Jesus can invade his realm and carry away his possessions. No one but Jesus is more powerful than this strongman."
• "Jesus’ point is that He has come, and He can and will bind Satan. This is what Jesus is doing and will do climactically at the cross."   

Believers can take great comfort that Jesus sets free - not just in this life but for eternity.  All are slave to something and all of humanity is slave to sin and condemned for eternity.  Yet Jesus came to set free those who believe in Him - for eternity.  These eternal benefits can be enjoyed now knowing that this life is not the end.  Additionally, we have Jesus in our hearts through the Holy Spirit and with His Word and this gives what we need to remain steadfast in our faith.  See also Matthew 7:24-27.  Build Your house on The Rock!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are the Rock that can never be shaken and I can place my faith in You because You lead me into green pastures and provide and of course save!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You save and how You have already defeated sin and death - 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 continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead 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. 

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Mark 3:7-21

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” Mark 3:20-21

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 3:20-21, which is the text for the third division (of three) per the commentary. Excerpts from the commentary's third division: 

• "Once more the crowds descend on Jesus with a selfish vengeance. It seems to never end. The house is so full of people He cannot find time or space to eat. The people are completely socially unaware; they care for no one but themselves. They will monopolize Jesus if they can, using Him only for His power to heal. They completely misunderstand that His true mission and agenda are to get to the cross and deal with their real need: their sin!"
• "Still today socially unaware people and people who lack a kingdom mind-set reflect the ancient crowd’s mistake. They often flock to big-name preachers and cling to them because they are popular. However, they completely miss the message these leaders preach, and they will smother them if given the chance."
• "This is the first mention of Jesus’ family. It does not reflect well on them. They hear that Jesus is swamped, apparently to the extent that He is unwilling even to care for His own physical needs. Thus, they decide to “restrain Him,” convinced “He’s out of His mind.” The word restrain means “to lay hold” and is used elsewhere of an “arrest.” The charge “He’s out of His mind” is shocking and disturbing. They understand neither who He is nor what He came to do. Perhaps they are genuinely concerned for Him. However, “in a culture in which honor and shame were critically important, there may also have been an attempt to prevent shame on the family caused by Jesus’ . . . behavior” (EBC, 745)."
• "From His family’s perspective, Jesus is a religious fanatic who is hurting the family name, and He is also a danger to Himself. He has to be stopped. He needs a straitjacket and padded cell."
•  The commentary offers a number of applications:  Know who you are and why you are here (3:10-12). Make time to get away. Take control of your schedule and calendar. If you don’t, others will (3:13). Surround yourself with others you can train, delegate to, and send out to do the work of ministry (3:13-19). Recognize that no matter how hard you try and how much you invest, some are going to disappoint you (3:19). Remember that ministry is a 24–7 calling that requires your constant attention and management (3:20). Understand that those closest to you may misunderstand you and even oppose you (3:21). Never forget: all that matters in life and ministry is that you please God and do His will (3:35)." 

Regardless of where we are, at home, at work, etc. we have a God-given mission and we may be distracted - yet we are encouraged to focus on this mission.  This calls for us to surround ourselves first and foremost with the Word such that we can remain in Him and bear fruit (John 15:4-10).  We will also equip and train (2 Timothy 3:16-17) ourselves and protect ourselves from sin and the prince of this age (Ephesians 6:10-19). We must also pray and practice other spiritual disciplines such as corporate worship.  Then we must surround ourselves with Godly brothers and sisters in Christ who support and encourage us - but also understand that these people will also from time to time let us down as they are human and broken as we are. Be alert and sober (1 Peter 5:8)!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who gives me Your Word, the Holy Spirit, the church, and brothers and sisters in Christ to support me in the role You give me as part of the Great Commission and in the church.  Thank You for my salvation and for these blessings that support and encourage me as part of my journey with You. I am not deserving of such blessings nor my salvation.  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.

The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Mark 3:1-6

The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Mark 3:6

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 3:6, which is the text for the third (of three) division per the commentary.  Excerpts from the commentary for the third division:

• "The Herodians show up here for the first time. They do not appear to be a distinct group or political party like the Pharisees and Sadducees. Instead they appear to be wealthy and influential supporters of the Herods and their dynastic rule. There are only three passing references to this group in the New Testament (see Mark 12:13; Matthew 22:16), and they appear each time in a surprising alliance with the Pharisees."
• The commentary shares a subtitle "The Enemy We Fear Most We Will Seek to Destroy."

For believers, we know that Satan is real, and that he exists to distract people from the saving power and eternal hope of Jesus.  1 Peter 5:8-9 is a vivid warning of Satan as a roaring lion seeking to devour.  The Prince of this Age - Satan - seeks to drag others into Hell where he will be for eternity after the end of times - see Revelation 20:10.  That is why Jude 22-23 seeks for us to "have mercy on those who doubt, saving them by snatching them from the fire."  We know that Jesus has already won the victory over sin and death so we can have peace - resting in our salvation. 

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, what an amazing God You are that You loved me while still an enemy and hostile to You and You saved me!  Thank You Jesus!  You defeated sin and death so that I could have life - now as a new creation and for eternity!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love.  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.  

"So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."

Mark 2:23-28

"So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 2:23-28, looking at the third of three divisions - v28.  Excerpts from the commentary for v28: 

• "Jesus once more puts Himself in the place of and with the authority of God. As the Lord of the Sabbath, He determines what is lawful and unlawful on the Sabbath day. He makes the call, and there is no higher authority."
• "The Pharisees relied on their own traditions for guidance, and in doing so, they missed the Lawgiver entirely. For Christians, He is our anchor of spiritual authority in all things.
• "In sum, “Jesus says . . .” settles all issues. As God, He is Lord of the Sabbath! We do not get to choose whether we will allow Him to be such. It is a fact, regardless of our permission." 

Believers must recognize that Jesus is Lord over all details in the universe (see Colossians 1:15-17), and He knows every hair on our heads (see Luke 12:7a). An excellent resource to better understand God's sovereignty is John Piper's book Providence - which shares how God reigns over nature, Satan and demons, kings and nations, life and death, sin, conversion, etc. - everything under the sun!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves and saves!  You reign over all the details of my life, over all creation, etc. and You are so good to me.  Thank You for my salvation and for the mercies that never end and are new every morning.  I am not deserving - 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. 

[H]e said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Mark 2:23-28

[H]e said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:25-27

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 2:23-28, looking at the second of three divisions, starting with vv25-27.  Excerpts from the commentary for vv25-27: 

• With regard to Jesus' reference to David in the text, the commentary shares that "God did not want them to starve. God was primarily concerned with caring for His servant David, the anointed king of Israel. Scripture nowhere condemns their actions."
• "The Sabbath was made to bless man, not man to bless the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man’s enjoyment, not man for the Sabbath’s significance. Jesus’ liberating vision of the Sabbath frees us from legalistic constraints instead of binding us with unbearable burdens."
• We are referred to Colossians 2:16-17 and the commentary shares: "[t]he Lord’s Day, indeed every day, is a blessing that lifts us up, not a burden that weighs us down."    

It's not just worship that is an expression of our love for God, obedience to God in all things is love of God and it's not burdensome.  Our obedience to God and our desire to please Him is a natural response to how much He loves us as He has not just sacrificed His life for us, but His rich blessings for us never stop flowing. See 1 John 5:3 where John writes "[f]or this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."  Ultimately, God wants us to offer our bodies - our lives - as a living sacrifice as our worship - see Romans 12:1.  In all that we do, do it all for the glory of God - 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves and who saves - You also pour out mercies without end every single morning, You are SO good!  Thank You Jesus!  You are worthy of all praise, honor, glory and worship!  I am not deserving of how You love and bless.  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. 

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

Mark 2:18-22

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. Mark 2:18-19

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on an unassisted review of Mark 2:18-22, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary.  Observations using the Sword Bible Study Method:

• What do we learn from the passage about God?: God does not want empty heartless ceremonial worship practices - He seeks us, for us to love and worship Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind and then to love others.  See Matthew 22:34-40. With Jesus, we have a new covenant based on His blood - Hebrews 9:15-28.  As such, the ceremonial law of the Old Testament no longer apply - Jesus keeps the moral law but the keeping of the law is a natural response of a heart condition that seeks to please Him. God thinks of believers as new creations - vv21-22 - therefore as long as we abide in Him, He will abide in us and bear fruit (see John 15:1-9) as He day by day makes us into more of His image. 
• What do we learn from the passage about people?: People have habits and grow comfortable with these habits, and often we feel as if it is very difficult to break these habits.  When we are challenged in our faith, as were the Pharisees, we should be humble and ask God to mold us into His image.  The example to follow here is Jesus who focused on humility, our heart condition and glorifying the Father vs external behaviors and earning our favor with God.  
• Is there anything from the passage God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey)?: We should avoid hypocrisy - a chief sin Jesus pointed out with the scribes and Jewish leaders of Jesus' day.  We should not believe that we can earn our favor with God through our own action - the focus should be on God getting the glory - we decrease, and God increases.      

In the text today, Jesus shared how the days will come when He is taken away from us (v20).  Jesus was taken away from His followers through His death on the cross, yet He leaves us with the Holy Spirit who lives on in our hearts and lives (Galatians 2:20).  Our daily reading and study of God's Word enables us to remain in Him and Him to remain in us.       

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of incredible grace and mercy for me - and You pour out Your mercies without end every morning.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You save and bless me daily with Your mercies.  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.

And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Mark 2:13-17

And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. Mark 2:15

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 2:15, which is the second division (Jesus Calls the Socially Undesirable to Fellowship with Him) of the text 2:13-17 per commentary.  Excerpts from the second division per commentary:

• "Now we find Jesus in Levi’s house, sharing a meal and having a good time. This is appropriate because the day of salvation should be a day of celebration (Luke 15:7,10,32)."
• "The term “sinners” may be a technical term for the common people who did not live by the rigid rules of the Pharisees. They were alienated and rejected. These are people who needed God’s grace and knew it. They were no doubt stunned that the famous young Rabbi would share table fellowship with them."
• "Jesus, in this event, tells us the Messiah calls and eats with sinners, extending forgiveness to all who would follow Him. The meal itself was something of a foreshadowing and anticipation of the great Messianic banquet at the end of the age (Revelation 19:9), when persons from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation who have experienced this scandalous grace, including the unlikely and the undesirable, will recline with King Jesus at a great banquet that will never end."  

Believers must understand that we all sin and are undeserving of the salvation that Jesus offers as He loved us despite how we are dead in our sin and enemies/hostile to Him - the wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23).  Jesus doesn't give us what we DO deserve but DOES give us what we don't deserve - salvation.  We should be just like those at Levi's house - amazed at God's grace.  We must believe just as Paul does that our former lives before Jesus were "rubbish" compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:8).  This surpassing worth of knowing Jesus must then compel us to share the gospel with others because we are literally bursting at the seams looking for ways to share Jesus - see Acts 4:20 where Peter, under arrest, shares that "we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, what an awesome God You are that You loved me first while still sinning and hostile to You.  You not only loved me, You saved me!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving.  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. 

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

 Mark 1:9-11

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1:9-11

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  This morning, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 1:9-11 - the first division of Mark 1:9-13 per my commentary. The commentary describes "seven truths" Jesus' baptism teaches us:

•  "Jesus’ baptism inaugurated His public ministry": His baptism in the wilderness fulfilled prophecy. "Why in the wilderness? God has often met with His people there. Recall the exodus, when God brought His children out of Egypt into the wilderness where He would give them His law, feed them, and lead them by cloud and fire. Again in Hosea 2:14-15 He promised His presence: “Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. . . . There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt."
• "Jesus’ baptism identified Him with sinful humanity.  In His baptism Jesus joins those who seek a baptism of repentance and who are confessing their sins. Jesus neither repents of sin nor confesses His sin because He had no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15). Still, He aligns Himself with those He came to save."
• "Jesus’ baptism associated Him with John’s ministry."
• "Jesus’ baptism demonstrated His approval by His Father. Immediately—an important word in Mark’s Gospel (here translated “as soon as”)—the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus through an opening in the sky. Jesus sees the heavens being “torn open.” The word occurs only one other time in Mark’s Gospel, when God the Father tears the temple curtain in two from top to bottom! At His baptism and at His crucifixion the Father intervenes supernaturally, eschatologically, declaring that Jesus is the Son of God. Isaiah 64:1 had predicted this: 'If only You would tear the heavens open and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence.'"
• "Jesus’ baptism revealed the Triune God. Adrian Rogers said, “The doctrine of the Trinity is not beyond logic and reason—just above it!” And as difficult as it can be to wrap our minds around the concept of a triune God, we clearly see all three persons of the Godhead at Jesus’ baptism."
• "Jesus’ baptism showed His total dependence on the Holy Spirit.  The presence of the Spirit on the Messiah was promised in Isaiah 42:1: “This is My Servant; I strengthen Him, this is My Chosen One; I delight in Him. I have put My Spirit on Him; He will bring justice to the nations.” The prophet elaborates on this promise in Isaiah 11:2: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Jesus is the fulfillment of these promises."
• "Jesus’ baptism declared the type of Messiah He would be.  Mark 1:11 is surely one of the most important verses in the Bible! It is echoed again at the transfiguration in Mark 9:7, along with the admonition for the disciples to “listen to Him.” It is a combination of three massively significant Old Testament texts. The phrase, “You are My Son” comes from Psalm 2:7, and in quoting this Davidic psalm, the Father announces, “You are the Messiah-King, the greater Son of David who will rule the nations.” In calling Christ “beloved,” we are reminded of the way Abraham saw Isaac, the son he was called to sacrifice (Genesis 22:2). It bears the weight of Christ being the “One and Only” Son of the Most High God. The third phrase, “I take delight in You,” comes from Isaiah 42:1, which is the first of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant songs. These passages climax in the great Isaiah 53 text where the Servant is crushed by God as He bears the sins of the world! This declaration of the Father’s love for His Son cannot be overstated and must not be overlooked. No prophet ever heard words like these! 

Building on the commentary's discussion regarding how the text reveals attributes of Jesus and how Jesus fulfilled prophecies of Jesus from the Old Testament, we should understand how Jesus is revealed not just in the Gospels, and not just in the New Testament, but in all of scripture - see 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  Jesus was there in the beginning (Genesis 1:2), He will defeat Satan for good during end times (Revelation), His Kingdom is eternal, and all of scripture points to Him.  John Piper's words here and here echo and complement what the commentary shares about Jesus in reference to how Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and how we are to see Jesus in all of scripture.  To truly know Jesus, we must read and study all of the Bible - to see Him as completely as we can on this side of Heaven.  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer:  Father God, Jesus, You are an awesome God who has always existed and who came earth to experience all that we as humanity experience.  All of scripture points to You.  Thank You Jesus for Your Word and how You reveal Yourself to me and speak to me through Your Word.  I am not deserving.  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 Word for me today and every day.

...[H]is name shall be called Wonderful...[.]

Isaiah 9:6

...[H]is name shall be called Wonderful...[.] Isaiah 9:6

This morning, I wrap my study of The Character of Jesus, focusing on chapter 26 (last chapter): The Greatness of Jesus where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:

• "He never wore a crown or held a scepter or threw round his shoulders a purple robe. He never held an office either in church or state. He did absolutely nothing in art, literature, science, philosophy, invention, statesmanship or war, the seven kingdoms in which the world's great men have won their crowns. And yet everybody calls Jesus great."
• "No informed man in any part of the world would to-day deny him that exalting adjective. Not only is he counted great, but in a large part of the world he is counted greatest — so great that no one else can be compared with him."
• "His greatness lies in the realm of personality, in the kingdom of character. His achievement was not wrought with paint or with chisel or with sword or with pen, but by the heavenly magic of a victorious will. There is nothing of him but his manhood." 
• "Jesus was great in his soul. The dimensions of his mind and his heart were colossal. His spirit was regal, august, sublime. How he looms above the heads of his contemporaries ! There were men of distinction in Palestine nineteen centuries ago. Jesus measured his strength with the greatest men of his land and generation. But how lacking these men were in insight the Gospels everywhere disclose. They fumbled cardinal questions and stumbled at points which were critical. They lost themselves in the mazes of problems which they could not see through or master. Jesus had eyes which saw to the core of every problem and to the center of every situation. He never missed the essential point or was misled by a subordinate issue. He stripped off the accidental from the soul of the essential, and no matter how tangled or complicated a matter was he seized the dominant principle and made all things plain."
• "Insight is a trait of greatness. Only great men see deep into things. It was his insight which made him formidable to the men who tried to trip and trap him with their questions. Again and again they tried it, but they never succeeded. He always outwitted their subtlety, and always discomfited them at their favorite game. Whenever they dashed at him with a question intended to roll him in the dust, he seized it, turned its point upon the man who asked it, and went on his way triumphant. Never did they get the advantage of him in a discussion or an argument. No more clever man ever lived. He beat his assailants into silence every time they attacked him."
• "His greatness comes out in his fellowship with his disciples. They were strong and able men, all of them, able later on to turn the world upside down; but they cut a sorry figure in the presence of the man they acknowledge to be their master. They are pitifully and incorrigibly stupid. They cannot understand some of the simplest things the Master says. He is so high above them that they cannot climb to where he is."
• "How great Jesus is can be told by the length and width and depth of his achievement. Greatness is measured by the effect which it produces."
• "If Jesus is to be judged by the effects which he produced and still produces, then his name is indeed Wonderful."
• "He has indeed something extraordinary within him who can so work upon the minds and hearts of men as to make them glad to give up their lives for him. There is only one greater thing than dying for another and that is living for another, living a life of obloquy and persecution, suffering all things for his sake. Here is the climax of power. Jesus changed men. He changed their habits and opinions and ambitions, he changed their tempers and dispositions and natures. He changed their hearts. They were never the same after they gave themselves up to him. God and man, the world and duty, were different to them after they had looked steadily into his face. Wherever he went he transformed human lives. He transfigured human faces by cleansing the fountains of the heart. This is greatness indeed."
• "More lives of Jesus have been written within the last fifty years than of any other historic character. More pages are printed about him every week than about any hundred of the world's greatest men. He exerts a power which is so phenomenal that many feel he must be more than man, linked in some way or other with the Eternal."
• "His greatness is full-orbed. He was complete, and in his completeness we find an explanation of his beauty. Men who stood nearest to him were charmed and swayed by his loveliness. He was full of grace and truth. He had a charm about him which wooed and fascinated. Children liked him, boys sang for him, publicans hung upon him. He had the heart of a child, the tenderness of a woman, the strength of a man. The three dimensions of his life were complete. He had eyes which looked along extended lines running into eternity; he had sympathies wide enough to cover humanity to its outermost edge; he had a purpose which included all lands and ages, his kingdom is to be universal and it shall have no end. He is at every point complete. His virtues are all full-statured, his graces are all in fullest bloom. You can no more add anything to him than you can add something to the sky. He pushed every good trait of human character to its utmost limit. His forgiveness was unbounded, his generosity was untiring, his patience was inexhaustible, his mercy was immeasurable, his courage was illimitable, his wisdom was unfathomable, his kindness was interminable, his faith removed mountains, his hope had no shadow in it, his love was infinite. And so it is impossible to go beyond him. We can never outgrow him. He will be always ahead of us." 

While I agree with the author's assessment that Jesus is great - this is a broad view.  I also - as do all believers - have a narrow view, and this is a personal view in the context of what Jesus has done for me, continues to do for me, and will do for me.  I was an enemy of Him, and He loved me first, inclining my ear and softening my heart to see Him as my Savior.  He then never wavered in His promise to do a work in me, to transform my heart and life, and to make me more like Him, even though there have been periods of willful disobedience.  On His mercies that are new and that He pours out every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23) and that never cease, Jesus demonstrates patience - for me on this count alone He is great.  Of all the things He is and does, He is great because He saves.  All stems from this.  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God and You are great in all things at all times.  Thank You for my salvation, that You loved me first while an enemy of You, and for the mercies that never cease and that are new every morning.  Thank You for Your patience and grace, and that You are with me always and You will never leave or forsake me.  I am not deserving of these blessings.  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. 

Which one of you convicts me of sin?

John 8:46

Which one of you convicts me of sin? John 8:46

I continue my study of The Character of Jesus.  For this morning, I focus on chapter 25 (second to last chapter): The Holiness of Jesus where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:

• "There is but one name in human history with which we can link that glorious name. What do we mean by holiness? We mean wholeness, full-orbed perfection. A holy man is a man without a fleck or flaw, a character without a blemish or a stain."
•  "[S]o far as we can discover there is nothing in Jesus' consciousness which indicates that he was guilty of any sin. There is no trace anywhere of regret, no indication anywhere of remorse. From first to last he is serene, jubilant, confident, free, so far as we can see, from that shadow which the consciousness of sin always casts."
• "There is no [sinless] exception in the whole list from Abraham down to the latest of the apostles. Every heart cries out in the language of the Psalmist: 'Have mercy upon me, O God, and blot out my transgressions,' 'Wash me from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for my sin is ever before me.'"
• "Other men, even the strongest, have asked others to pray for them — he never asked prayers of any man."
• "Not only did he hold himself immeasurably above the heads of all other men, but he forgave sins, he spoke as one having authority. No other man had ever exercised such a prerogative. Even the worst sinners when penitent at his feet received from him authoritative assurance of forgiveness. Moreover he was a man without a human ideal."
• "All good men have looked up to some man better than themselves; Jesus looked up to no man. He placed himself above Moses. He said, 'A greater than Solomon is here.' He said to men, 'Follow me, I am the ideal.' And at the same time he said, 'Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.'"
• "There was a reason why the baptism should be performed,—there was another element in baptism besides confession of sin. John was the beloved disciple, coming the nearest to the Master's heart. In the third chapter of his first letter he says this, 'He was manifested to take away our sin, and in him is no sin.' That was the impression which the Lord made upon him."
• "In the second chapter of [Peter's] first letter he says, 'He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." Now [the Apostles] were with Jesus. They ate with him, drank with him, slept with him, they saw him in all conditions and in all moods, and under varying circumstances. They saw him hungry, angry, stem, surprised, disappointed, amazed, yet they believed that in him there was no sin. The writer to the Hebrews in the fourth chapter reminds his readers that while Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, yet he was without sin."
• "Here, then, we have reached the crowning characteristic of Jesus. It is this which differentiates him from all other men who have ever lived. Every other man has known the pang of remorse, every other man has cried for pardon."
• "It is this sinlessness which gives Jesus his power. You cannot understand the New Testament unless you acknowledge that he was holy. His life was one of suffering, persecution, ending in a horrible death, but yet the New Testament is a joyous book. There is no gloom in it because there was no gloom in him. His soul was radiant. Nothing creates gloom in this world but sin."
• "All the things which we count terrible are insignificant and have no power to cast a shadow. There is only one thing which makes the spirit droop, and that is sin. His sinlessness explains his joyfulness."
• "The reason we are drawn to him is not because of his courage, his sympathy, his patience, or his brotherliness; it is because we feel instinctively that he is far above us, a man without a sin. It is this which gives the Christian church its power. The Christian church has but one perfect possession, that is Jesus."
• "Some of you are not interested in him; it is because he is so far above you. Some of you have no sympathy with him; it is because you are not at all like him. Some of you do not understand his words; that is because you are disobedient. Some of you have no disposition to do his will; it is because you are the prisoners of sin. But the sinless Christ does not turn away from us, no matter how sinful we are. He says: 'Come unto me. He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.'"

Believers see Jesus as holy - the perfect spotless Lamb of God.  We are also called to be like Him - to be holy (see also 1 Peter 1:15-16).  How is this possible?  Jesus is the King of Kings.  First, we are all made in His image - see Genesis 9:6.  Since the Fall (Genesis 3), sin separates us from God. In the Old Testament, the ceremonial rituals of sacrifice were required to atone for sin.  Yet, over time, Israel largely performed this ritual as rote, devoid of a truly repentant heart - they could claim obedience to following God's commands for atonement but God wants our heart (to love Him first, then others - the two greatest commandments - see Matthew 22:34-40), not rote sacrifice.  With Jesus, we see the end of the OT sacrificial system and those who believe in Jesus are reconciled to God, and become a new creation with the Holy Spirit in their hearts.  As we read and study the Word and see Jesus in the Word, we know more about Him and love Him more with each passing day.  It is not us, but God working in us to bring about obedience and sanctification - we become more like Him through Him.  As I approach the last chapter of this book by Charles Jefferson, I return to the beginning with a reminder of why I read this book - quoting from the Introduction: "to be a Christian is to admire Jesus so sincerely and so fervently that the whole life goes out to him in an aspiration to be like him."

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is Holy, and the sinless, perfect Lamb of God who calls me to be holy and equips me with the Holy Spirit and Your Word to help me become more like You.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You save nor how You bless in these ways and so much more.  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.    

[H]e looked around at them with anger[.]

Mark 3:5 

[H]e looked around at them with anger[.] Mark 3:5a

I continue my study of The Character of Jesus.  For this morning, I focus on chapter 23: The Indignation of Jesus where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:

• "It has not escaped us that when men and women are angry they usually make fools of themselves. This fact has made a deep impression on us. Most of the indignation which we have known has been so childish or so brutish, so full of fury and of bitterness, that we find it hard to give it place in the experience of a strong and holy man."
• "It was thus that the Stoics taught, contending that ever to be moved by anger is a sign of weakness and unworthy of a full-grown man. The philosophy of the Stoics is not consciously accepted by us, but the considerations which led them to their estimate of anger are still operative in us all."
• "It is not easy to free one's self from the feeling that anger has something sinful in it, or that if anger is not actually sinful, it is at any rate unlovely, a defect or flaw in conduct, a deformity in character from which the lovers of the beautiful and good may wisely pray to be delivered. It is because of this assumption that anger is in its essence sinful that many persons find it impossible to think of Jesus in an angry mood."
•  ..."[I]t was inhumanity and insincerity which always kindled [Jesus'] heart to furnace heat. When he saw men — ordained religious leaders of the people — more interested in their petty regulations than in the welfare of their fellow-men, his eyes burned with holy fire. Those who were present never forgot the flash of his eye 'as he slowly looked round upon the pedants whose hardness of heart he held in abhorrence."
• "He was angered by the desecration of the Temple. The sordid wretches who cared nothing for anthems and prayers and everything for money, kindled a fire in him which well-nigh consumed him. The miscreants who fled before him had never seen such a flame as darted from his eyes. That a building erected for the purpose of adorning the name of God should be converted into a market was so abhorrent to his great soul that he was swept onward into action which astounded his disciples and which has been to many a scandal ever since."
• "One of the purposes of the New Testament is to give us a new revelation of anger. Take away Jesus' capacity for indignation and you destroy the Jesus of the Gospels. His anger was one of the powers by which he did his work. His blazing wrath is one of the most glorious features of his character."
• "Had he been less emotional, he would not have stirred men as he did. Had his passion been less intense, the world would never have called him " Master." Here, then, we have in Jesus what seems to some a contradiction. He is a Lamb and at the same time he is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He caresses like a mother and he also strikes like a thunderbolt. He is tender but he is also terrible; he is loving but he also smites with a blow which crushes."
• "How can we reconcile the indignation of Jesus with his love? Nothing is easier. His indignation is the creation of his love. His wrath proceeds from his holiness. His mercy would have no meaning were it not for his immeasurable capacity for anger. Take away his indignation and you destroy the basis of his holiness, his righteousness, his mercy, and his love. Love and indignation are not antagonists or rivals. They ever go together, each one unable to live without the other."
• "In Jesus, then, we see what a normal man is and feels. He is full-orbed, complete. He gives sweep to every passion of the soul. He will not admit that in the garden of the heart there are any plants which the Heavenly Father has planted which ought to be rooted up. All the impulses, desires, and passions with which the Almighty has endowed us have a mission to perform, and life's task is not to strangle them but to train them for their work."
• "Jesus was angry but he did not sin. Anger because of its heat readily passes beyond its appointed limits. Like all kinds of fire, it is dangerous and difficult to control. But Jesus controlled it."
• "Our anger is frequently a manifestation of our selfishness. We become indignant over trifles. The street-car does not stop, or somebody carelessly knocks off our hat, or a servant disappoints us, and we are all aflame. Our comfort has been molested, our rights have been entrenched upon, our dignity has been affronted, and we are downright mad."
• "Our indignation then is quite different from that of Jesus. His anger never had its roots in selfishness. When men abused him, he was unruffled. When they lied about him, his pulse beat was not quickened. When they nailed his hands to the cross, no trace of anger darkened his face. His calm lips kept on praying, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." It was when he saw his brother men abused that his great soul rose in wrath. The more helpless the person who was mistreated, the hotter was the fire of his indignation."
• "It was when he saw cruelty perpetrated on the defenseless that his indignation rose to the fury of a tempest. The thought of bad men leading innocent souls to sin, converted him into a furnace of fire." 
• "If hearts do not burn with holy fire against wicked men and their wicked deeds, it is because the heart is too undeveloped to feel what manly hearts were meant to feel, or because the core of the heart has been eaten out by the base practices of a godless life. It is one of the lamentable signs of our times — our incapacity for anger. Many of us are lukewarm in the presence of evils which are colossal. Some of us are indifferent. Indifference to wrong-doing is always a sign of moral deterioration."
• "Society would be cleansed of much of its pollution if we had more men and women capable of becoming genuinely angry. Let us pray then every day that a new indignation may sweep through the world."
• "The New Testament is a glorious book. Its lines are straight, its discrimination is fine, it rings true. It is absolutely free from sentimentalism. It has no sickly fondness for bad people. It does not deal in excuses and in extenuations. It has no abnormal tenderness. The world is full of sentimentalists, — men and women who gush of love, and who do not know what love is.  After listening to their flimsy talk it is refreshing to get into a book where every bad deed is held up to scorn and every bad man, if unrepentant, is overwhelmed with shame. Nowhere in the Gospels is there a soft or flabby thought, a doughy or mushy feeling. All is high and straight and fine and firm and true."
• "One feels sure that God is in His heaven, and that though wickedness may flourish for a season, God's heart bums with quenchless fire against it, and that at the end of the days every impure man, and every cruel man, and every man who loves and makes a lie, will find himself outside the city whose streets are gold and whose gates are pearl." 

Many who don't (and perhaps some who do) believe in God cannot fathom why anyone would worship a God who wiped out all of humanity except Noah and his family (see Genesis 6-9) or who condemns people to eternal damnation.  Such actions are indeed harsh.  But we must remember that all of humanity is God's creation and humanity exists for His glory and not for its own glory.  As such God's anger is righteous - not a selfish anger.  When people reject God, intentionally mock or blaspheme His name, or willfully continue in sin without repentance, God had cause for anger.  But God is just, as all will be held accountable for all of their deeds and those whose name is written in the Book of Life (believers) will be saved - while everyone else who has not repented of their sin and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior will suffer eternal damnation.  At the same time, God is also merciful and patient as He seeks for all to repent and be saved.  For example, the thief next to Jesus upon the cross who is saved.  For us, in this life, We must remember that just because God has righteous anger, that we as believers do not have free license to be angry.  God calls us to be slow to anger and quick to listen - see James 1:19.  Our ability is be slow to anger is driven by the sanctification process as we become more like Him - see scripture for how God is slow to anger. 

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You an awesome God who is just, patient and merciful - full of love to see all people saved. You are slow to anger, abounding in love - and it is this love with animates anger towards those who are not loving like You are.  Thank You for the love, patience, and mercy You show for me - I am not deserving.  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.  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. 

Fear not[.]

Luke 12:5 

Fear not[.] Luke 12:5a

I continue my study of The Character of Jesus.  For this morning, I focus on chapter 22: The Courage of Jesus where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:

• "Jesus of Nazareth we find bravery at its best, courage at its loftiest, heroism at its climax."
• "There are different kinds of courage. There is a courage which we may call physical. It runs in the blood, it is a kind of instinct. This sort of courage is not peculiar to man, it is possessed also by the brutes. The bulldog has it and so also has the weasel. It is possessed by man in all the stages of his development. It is an indifference to danger, a contempt for suffering and for death. But the courage of Jesus was not this. His was a higher and nobler possession. His was the courage of the mind, the heroism of the heart. It was a sober and reasoned thing. He deliberately counted the cost and paid it. Nor was his courage military. Military courage is the most common of all forms of courage in the world, and one of the earliest developed. Military courage is the courage which the soldier has in the time of battle. The courage of our Lord was not military, it was the courage which manifested itself in isolation. There was nobody to march with him. He marched alone. Palestine was filled with evils, he alone was brave enough to strike them. Injustice lifted its hideous head, and he alone resisted it. Hypocrisy made a mockery of religion, and he alone stabbed it. He trod the wine press alone. Even the men whom he succeeded in attracting to him left him and fled at the final hour. But even then he did not wince or falter, saying, 'I am alone and yet not alone, for the Father is with me.'"
• "[Jesus' revealed His courage] on that day on which for the first time he announced his mission to the men and women who had known him from boyhood. It was necessary for him to say things which would offend, and he said them. He was to preach the truth, but he could not preach the truth without cutting across the grain of the prejudices of these people. He went calmly onward, however, and preached the truth."
• "To estrange the hearts of those who have known and esteemed us for many years, to cut one's self off from the respect and sympathy and love of those in whose friendship we have found solace and delight — that is hard indeed. And that is what Jesus did on that awful day in Nazareth. By the simple speaking of the truth he alienated from him the minds and hearts of the people in whose midst he had grown to manhood and whose high regard had been one of the most valuable of all his earthly treasures."
• "He was a courageous man that day, and equally courageous was he in the streets of Capernaum when he talked to that crowd of five thousand men whom he had fed a little while before in the desert beyond the Sea of Galilee. He came into the world to bear witness to the truth, but men were not willing to receive it."
• "It is not an easy thing to offend society and to offend it in such a way as to lose caste and standing. The people in Jesus' day were great sticklers for forms of fasting. Jesus minimized the value of them. They were exceedingly scrupulous in regard to sabbatical laws. Jesus could not keep them, he did not believe in keeping them. They were punctilious in regard to the number of times they washed their hands before they sat down to eat. Jesus had no time for such elaborate foolery. The best people of his day divided things into clean and unclean, people into clean and unclean — Jesus could pay no attention to these distinctions. All men were his brethren, and so he associated with people who had lost caste. By so doing he lost his own reputation. Has any one courage enough here to do that? He went contrary to the established usages of the best society of his day; he trampled on conventionalities which were counted sacred as the law of the Eternal. And the result was he was suspected, shunned, and abhorred. But he did even more than this: he surrendered the good opinion which many of the people had formed of him."
• "But he did a braver thing even than this: he gave up the good opinion of the best people of his day. He was reverent, religious, sensitive, but there were certain things it was necessary for him to say because they were true things, and he said them. By saying them he exposed himself to the charge of being a blasphemer, but he said them. He was willing to do his duty even though by the doing of it he won for himself the ignominy of being counted a blasphemer, a lunatic, and a traitor. Only the very loftiest heroism can meet such a test as that. But we have not yet reached the climax. If it is difficult for a man to withstand his enemies, much more difficult is it for him to withstand his friends. There are many men who can resist the people who are opposed to them who cannot withstand the opinions and wishes of their friends. Many of us can pour denunciation on the men who hate us, but we succumb at once to the gracious words of those who wish us well. Peter was Jesus' dearest friend; but when Peter on a certain occasion says to him, " Far be it from thee, Lord, this shall never happen unto thee," quick as a flash the reply comes, "Get thee behind me, Satan." James and John present what seems to them a most reasonable request — Jesus says, "I cannot grant this." Judas was one of the most trusted of the apostolic company — so trusted that he was made the treasurer of the band; but Jesus by the simple telling of the truth and the living of a perfect life estranged the affections of this man until at last he became his betrayer."
• "The story of Jesus' life is the most heroic record ever written, and any man who wishes to increase the bravery of his heart must read this book day and night. See him as he sets his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem, where he knows they are going to scourge him and spit upon him and kill him. His friends endeavor to dissuade him, they strive to hold him back. He keeps steadily on, knowing that at Jerusalem he will give his life a ransom for many."
• "Only cowards surrender, only cowards get tired and sick. Jesus steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem and never turned back until he reached the cross. See him as he goes onward, trampling on all the precious things of earth, putting under his feet the ambitions by which the hearts of other men are fired, trampling into the dust the prizes and the joys of life. Make out a list of the things which you count most valuable and worth while, and you will see that Jesus placed every one of them beneath his feet."
• "When the soldiers buffeted him and cuffed him, cursed him and spat upon him, he never said a word. He was so courageous that he dared to be silent. As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. When he comes at last to stand before Pontius Pilate, he stands so erect that Pilate is afraid of him, and the heart of the Roman prosecutor flutters when Jesus says to him, " For this cause was I born, unto this end came I into the world, to bear witness to the truth." And when at last they nail him to the cross the only thing he will say is, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'"

Believers are called to proclaim the Gospel in their every day life and to all corners of the earth - just as Jesus came to bear witness to the truth - both in words and in actions. We are also told that we will face tribulation - see John 16:33 and James 1:2-3. Both of these verses exhort us to press on - John 16:33 shares that just as Jesus overcame the world, we too will overcome the world and what challenges it throws at us; James 1 shares how trials and testing "produces steadfastness."  This may seem difficult but we can take heart by understanding how God equips us to do so.  Jesus tells us that He will never leave or forsake us (Matthew 28:20 and Deuteronomy 31:8) and that He provides the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts so that we can feel His presence.  God equips us also through the sanctification process where we are transformed by the renewing of our minds - as our thoughts become more like His (Romans 12:2).  Jesus is courage and it is through His courage that we also can be courageous.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God and You are the portrait of courage.  Through Your courage, I have salvation and the all the rich blessings of being part of Your kingdom - eternally.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how Your courage saved 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 continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead 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.         

[A] bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench[.]

Matthew 12:20

[A] bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench[.] Matthew 12:20

I continue my study of The Character of Jesus.  For this morning, I focus on chapter 21: The Patience of Jesus where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:

• "[Patience is] calmly waiting for something hoped for...[and] the uncomplaining endurance of tribulation."
• "But would you see patience in both its forms raised to its highest power without a defect and without a flaw, you will find it in Jesus of Nazareth."
• "Think of what delay must have meant to Jesus. How his blood must have boiled in little sleepy Nazareth as he dreamed of the mighty things which ought to be done and which he felt he could do in the great arena. As man after man brushed by him on his way to success and renown his soul must have been agitated, he too must have felt the fever to hasten on. Think of what his dream was and you will understand how it must have tugged at him and made the years seem interminable in drowsy, prosaic Nazareth. But he waited.  At twenty-one he said, Not yet. At twenty-five, Not yet. At twenty-eight, Not yet. It is in the twenties that the blood is hottest and the soul is most eager to get on. Through all the blazing years of youth Jesus waited in Nazareth. It was not until he was in his thirtieth year that he said to himself, The time has come."
• "A man at thirty is more than one-third of the way through life, and since Jesus has so much to do, certainly now that he has been baptized he will plunge into his work with alacrity, and push his projects with a vigor which will startle his contemporaries. Not so. He will calmly meditate on the best ways of helping his day and generation. The leaders of the people were looking for a man who would imitate the methods of the men who had hitherto proved themselves masters of the destinies of nations. In imagination he saw himself on the top of a lofty mountain with the kingdoms of the world lying stretched out below him. He saw how he might gain possession of them by adopting methods employed by those who had lived before his day. But having considered the whole situation he said, "No, I will not do what others have done, I will choose the slow and toilsome way; I will not cut the knot, I will untie it; I will not push the world, I will draw it; I will not subdue the world by military methods, I will heal it by the sympathy of human hearts." With this conviction firmly established in his soul he began his ministry in Galilee."
• "But when [His disciples] urged him to hurry, his reply was, " Are there not twelve hours in the day?" or, "My hour is not yet come." And instead of setting all the land afire he tried, so it seemed, to suppress himself, to hold his disciples back, to keep his name from becoming glorious. When he healed sick men he said to them, 'Tell no man." When his disciples saw him all radiant on the mountain he cautioned them to keep still. The result was that at the end of his life he had made only one hundred and twenty disciples. What a pitiful outcome of a life so arduous, of work so strenuous and so unceasing! But the sight of a hundred and twenty men did not daunt him, he died with contentment in his heart. 'Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.'  When? Not then, not a hundred years after his death, nor a thousand years, nor ten thousand years after. Nevertheless he has the tone of victory in his voice, knowing that in spite of all the obstacles, delays, and retrogressions, the outcome is absolutely certain."
• "Wherever he went he was pursued by men who were his enemies. They watched him in order that they might trip him. They questioned him in order that they might get him into a trap. How difficult it is to speak if one is speaking in the presence of people who are watching each sentence, determined if possible to catch the speaker in an error. Wherever he went his conduct was scrutinized by eyes that were green with envy. Everything he did was criticized, every action called forth a storm of fresh abuse. His enemies gathered around him like a swarm of mosquitoes biting him, like a swarm of hornets stinging him — but he never complained. They nagged at him, pelted him with abusive epithets, sowed the land with lies about him, but he never grew bitter."
• "The disciples to whom he gave himself with a devotion that has never been equaled were constantly failing to catch the import of the things he told them. They were slow and stupid, petty and selfish, unable to take in the great things he had to say — but he was patient with them."
•  "To every follower of Jesus the Almighty is a long-suffering God. He has vast plans running through the ages, and He is willing to wait for their fulfillment."

Frustration results when we believe that something should have happened did not.  We want things to go our way.  This is certainly true for myself - a sinful posture indeed.  I need Jesus to continue a work in me in patience - as a parent, including for a special needs child, God has equipped me with greater patience.  Yet I need to see things as Jesus does, that there is a plan for me and for the details of my life and I need to slow down and see what God is doing because He is in control (Colossians 1:15-17).  It is with this perspective where I can become content and thankful in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God that has demonstrated immense patience with me - never giving up on me even when I fall down in the mission You give to me.  Thank You for the mercies that are new every morning and that never cease.  I am not deserving of my salvation, nor any of the blessings You pour out for me.  My sin 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.