Bye Bye 2015 Hello 2016

I was stumped!  The Christmas "to-do" list had me occupied and it had been days since I'd written.  I had decided it was time to get back to the habit.  Yet the verses in Mark 6:1-6 were tasking my brain.

Jesus   went to His hometown and taught in the synagogue.  The people were amazed at His wisdom.  Then they realized He was the carpenter and they knew His siblings.  So they took offense at His teaching.

Jesus' reply was "only in His hometown, among His relatives and in His own home is a prophet without honor."  He only performed a few healings of sick people.  Jesus was amazed at their  lack of faith.

It's no coincidence that  these verses have stumped my thoughts on the last day of the year as I ponder the next year.  I am still enough of a legalistic that I refuse to skip any verses as I blog my way through the Gospel of Mark.  So, I have decided to let these verses frame my resolutions for 2016.

My vision statement for the coming year:

·         Wonder, not worldly. I don't want worldly doubts to cause me to miss God's work.  When the circumstances or the delivery method of God's grace and gifts appear common or familiar I resolve to acknowledge them as blessings.  If I've learned nothing else from our annual binge of Hallmark Channel "sappy" Christmas shows,  I do recognize the recurring theme that I have to pay attention to see the wonder.  It's there, I'm just not paying attention.

·         Fresh, not complacent. I want Jesus to be amazed at my faith, not the lack of it.  The statement in verse six is a sad verse.  Jesus shaking His head in disappointment at their blatant refusal to believe just because of their familiarity with Him.  I must resolve to keep my familiarity with Jesus, fresh and not complacent.

·         Resolve and See.   I will see God's miracles as His divine intervention in my ordinary life, not as just healing a few sick people.  I was troubled that Jesus could not perform miracles.  Couldn't He or wouldn't He?  It seems to me that Jesus, the Son of God,  God Incarnate, could do anything.  So perhaps He wouldn't to accentuate their lack of faith.  I think those few sick people who came to Jesus felt He had performed a miracle in their life.  God is at work all the time, all around me.  I'm the one not acknowledging His work. Again, I want to pay attention so I don't miss seeing a miracle because of my lack of faith.

I'm think I'm ready to close out on 2015 and look forward to 2016.  Happy New Year!

Two "Simple" Instructions

"Your daughter is dead."  It is a parent's worst nightmare.  A synagogue ruler named Jairus heard those words delivered in a crowd by some insensitive men.

Jairus' story is told by Mark in chapter 5 verses 21 through 43.  Jairus had approached Jesus in a large crowd. He fell at His feet and pleaded for Jesus to come to his house and heal his dying daughter.  She was 12 years old. 

Jairus was desperate.  He must have been full of hope for her future.  Yet, he knew he would probably lose his little girl.  He knew she was dying.  

He ignored the theological discussions that he must have heard.  Jesus wasn't popular with the religious leaders.  But his little girl had no other options.  So he begged Jesus for help.

Jairus had a glimmer of hope.  Jesus agreed to go with him.  Yet a woman interrupted the journey to his daughter.  She distracted Jesus.  While He was speaking with her, some men came and told him he was bothering the teacher.  The child was dead. His hope was shattered! 

Jesus directed His attention to Jairus and gave him clear instructions:  1.  Don't be afraid and 2.  Just believe.

In the face of the desperate news in our daily lives we need to follow these same two instructions.

1.  Don't be afraid.  Reject  the world's view of events.  The men at the house didn't believe in Jesus' power and authority.  They called him merely a teacher.  Jairus had believed that Jesus could do anything, even snatch his little girl from certain death.  Likewise, in this uncertain world which delivers  lots of bad news, we should not be afraid because we know God can and will do amazing works.  Why?  He is sovereign.  He is all-powerful.  And He has prepared an eternal home for us.

2.  Just believe.  Jesus didn't tell Jairus what was about to happen.  He didn't share His plan with Jairus.  He gave Jairus simple instructions to follow in a crisis.  Jesus ignored what those men believed about Him and their interpretation of the situation.  He knew they thought He was only a teacher.  He saw the crowd of mourners laugh at Him when He said the child was merely sleeping.  He took just His three disciples and just the girl's parents and in a private moment, touched the little girl and healed her.  Why?  He is loving and compassionate.

The men who delivered the bad news suggested that Jesus was bothered by Jairus' need.  This miracle reminds me that God cares about each one of my fears and needs.  I am never a bother when I approach Him for reassurance and deliverance.

To face the world today I must:

1. Don't be afraid.  God loves me, personally and intimately.  He alone will meet me, every time, and deal with my crisis.  Fear is the world's suggested response.  Faith in God is what I need to choose.

2.  Just believe.  God is bigger than any situation or circumstance I face. 

When the world gives me circumstances beyond my ability to handle, I have a choice, fear or believe in God, the almighty, the all powerful, the all knowing, the loving and the compassionate.

Two "simple" instructions to face the day.

Live to matter

I felt tears well up in my eyes.  My friend was sharing an experience with our small group.  We were discussing caring for other people.  She quietly shared about a little girl living in an unfortunate situation and how she and her church has shared with the little girl.  My friend has long since lost track of the little girl but I was moved.  I knew that for the few months those people were in that  little girl's life it made a difference.

Jesus made a difference in, what we would label, an insignificant woman's life.  In Chapter 5, verses 21-34, Mark relates the story of Jesus showing this woman and those in the crowd that she indeed mattered.

Jesus had again crossed over the lake and was met by a large crowd.  A synagogue ruler approached Jesus and asked Him to come to his home and touch his sick daughter.  So Jesus set out for this man's home.  Jesus had a destination.

In the crowd was a sick woman.  She'd been ill with a bleeding condition for 12 years.  This illness had drained her finances.  She spent her wealth on many doctors with no cure.  She had heard about Jesus and felt that if she could merely touch His cloak she would be healed.  So she moved through the large crowd, came close enough, reached out and touched Him.  And it worked.  She was healed immediately!

Jesus knew.  He turned and asked who touched Him.  The disciples pointed out that He was in the midst of a huge crowd so lots of people had touched Him.  Jesus knew one significant person had touched Him and had been changed.  So He asked again.  The woman realized she would not go unnoticed (as it is stated in Luke 8:47) and trembling she fell at His feet and told Him the whole truth.

Jesus called her "Daughter" and then reminded her that her faith had healed her.  He told her to go in peace and be free of suffering.

This large crowd saw and heard this miracle.  The crowd saw their version of an insignificant woman transformed into one who mattered to the All Knowing One.

We live in a world of extremes.  We strive to matter.  Too often the philosophy of selfishness and "it's all about me"  controls our life.  Or we feel so insignificant that we lose hope. When circumstances burden, we think we don't matter enough to God.

The story of this sick woman reminds me that I am significant to God. In the crowd of those around me and in the world, He knows me!  He cares about me and my life journey.  His way offers me peace and freedom.

My friend's story reminds me that God uses me to show others that the All Knowing One knows them and their situation.  I have the opportunity, as I travel through my life, to touch lives to bring Him glory and to make a difference.  I can't get so focused on my destination that I miss the work of God in changing lives around me.   I am significant and at the same time, I am a part of a huge crowd of others equally significant to Him. He knows me and He knows All. 

Amazingly Good

"When I straighten up my life, then I'll go to church.  When I quit........"  I'd been sharing my faith with a fellow at the desk behind me.  I'd invited him to hear my husband preach in a nearby church.  After his response, I told him that he had it backwards.  God loves him just as he is.  The straightening comes later. 

My friend had a skewed view of God.  He thought he could hide his activities.  He thought he didn't deserve God's love and acceptance.  He didn't think he was good enough and he didn't think God was good enough.  Jesus' encounter with a man possessed by a legion of evil spirits reminded me how Good God was and is! 

Mark's version of the event begins in chapter 5 verse 1.  Jesus and the disciples crossed the lake and a man came from his current home, the tombs, to meet him.  No one and no chains were strong enough to subdue him.  He cried out night and day and cut himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus at a distance he ran to him and fell on his knees in front of Jesus.  He loudly shouted "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God.  Swear to God that you won't torture me!"  Jesus had said "Come out of this man, you evil spirit."

The man knew Jesus was his last hope for a normal life and he ran to Jesus.  The evil spirits knew of Jesus' power and authority and made an attempt to bargain with Him.  They seemed to think that the herd of pigs was a viable option and suggested Jesus let them go into the pigs.  He gave them permission.  The herd of about 2000 pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. (I'm not sure this is what the evil spirits thought would happen.)

Those who tended the pigs hurried off to town and country to tell what happened and the people came out to see.  They found Jesus and the man who had been possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.  Instead of being amazed and glad for the poor man who'd lived in the tombs and must have been scary himself, they were afraid and begged Jesus to leave. The people were so afraid of the marvelous changes, they rejected Jesus.

The delivered man begged to go with Jesus.  (Today this is my favorite part.)  Jesus didn't let him come.  Instead Jesus told him to go home to his family and tell them how much the Lord had done for him.  Jesus gave him back a normal life with his family!  If this had happened today, Jesus' public relations team would have exploited this man and his story.  He would have had his "15 minutes of fame" and struggled to have a normal life.

But Jesus is Good, so very Good.  He gives us the deepest desires of our heart.  Imagine living a tortured life alone in the tombs.  I'd just want to go home and be normal.  That's what this man got after he fell on his  knees before Jesus, a normal life with his family.

Too often, we think if we follow Jesus we will have to "give up" what we want.  Really He gives us the best and most desired because He is Good, really, really Good.

The man went away and told how much Jesus had done for him.  And the people were amazed. 

I have been reminded that Jesus is good to me and good for me because He is Good, really Good.  All Jesus asks of me is to tell others what He has done for me.  I am amazed at His Goodness and hopefully those I tell will be amazed at His goodness.

Storm Prep

I heard the front door open and in walked my six year old son - 20 minutes before I was to pick him up from school.  I was confused.  Was the clock wrong? Why didn't he call me?  When I questioned him, I discovered there had been a cancellation of his activity and some confusion at the school regarding the use of the phone, so he'd walked home.  Then I panicked.  I'd never shown him how to walk home or what to do in this circumstance.  He'd made it home but he'd traveled the long way.

Immediately he and I set out to practice walking home from school.  I showed him the safest and shortest way.  We also discussed friends who lived along the way so he could go there to phone me.

I thought about being prepared for change in life when I read the parables in Mark chapter 4.  I got the feeling that Jesus was preparing His disciples for what He knew would be happening in their future.  He spoke in parables to the masses but He spent time explaining the parables to the disciples.

In the first parable about the farmer sowing seed on various types of soil, Jesus tells the disciples he is giving them the secret to the kingdom.  I'm not sure they completely  understand what He meant by the kingdom (they probably hoped it meant kick out the Romans and crown Jesus King) but He certainly gave advice on what He expected from them.  He expected them to keep sowing the seed of The Word regardless of the type of soil and the quantity of the harvest. 

Jesus used a lamp to illustrate  their new way of life.  Don't hide the Good News.  The secret is to be revealed.  They were to be the leaders and show others the Way.

He warned them that since they had been given the knowledge of the kingdom there were expectations that they use it.  Use it or He'll find someone else to share.  He expected them to share.

He reiterated that their job was to scatter the seed of the kingdom.  They really had nothing to do with the success of the seed sowing.  Just like the farmer, who sows the seed and then the seed grows whether the farmer sleeps or gets up.  The farmer can't force the seed to sprout and grow.  The farmer is responsible for planting the seed and collecting the harvest.

I have the opportunity to be in a study group using A.W. Tozer's book The Knowledge of the Holy. It is fabulous!  It makes God so much bigger! Chapter 9 in Tozer's book is on the immutability of God.  God does not change, He is holy, He is perfect.  In our constantly changing world He remains ever the same.  We lust for permanence but He is the only permanence.

Mark Chapter 4 reminded me that change happens and will continue to happen.  I jotted down  some points to remember when change enters my little world:

1.            God expects us to do our job, our God-given mission, regardless of how the world may evaluate.  The farmer still sowed the seed everywhere.  We are not to judge The Harvest, just sow the seed of the kingdom.

2.            The Kingdom is to be revealed, so share and don't hide it.

3.            Listen up to Him.  Several times in Chapter 4 Jesus tells His disciples to listen and hear.

4.            God expects us to change.  Conquer the thirst for permanence.

5.            The Kingdom is bigger and so  much better than we can think or imagine.

6.            Jesus wants us to know so ask Him to explain.

                Chapter 4 ends with a storm.  Jesus wants to head out in a boat.  While He is napping a storm comes, a storm so big that the seasoned fisherman fear for their lives.  They wake Jesus because they think He doesn't care if they drown.  He quiets the wind and the waves!  He asks them why they are so afraid and if they still lack faith.  They are terrified and ask "Who is this?  Even the wind and waves obey Him!"

                When the storms come into my life, and they have and will in the future, Jesus will be with me.  He has been preparing me.  To deal with change I am to trust Him.  He is the constant, the unchanging, the permanent.  This great "secret" of His permanence in this chaotic world of unmanageable change is not to stay a secret but to be shared.  Jesus will get me through the storms of life and my role is to let the world know He is the reason, and only reason, I survive the storm.

Today's Wardrobe includes...

"They'll know we are Christians by our love.."  I realized yesterday I was mouthing the words to the instrumental offertory. The light bulb came on. I'd been considering Mark 3:20-35 for several days. 

Jesus was at a house with a crowd so large He and the disciples couldn't eat.  His family heard and came to the house to get Him as they thought He was out of His mind.  The teachers of the law came from Jerusalem because they thought He was under the prince of demons' control.

Jesus pointed out the error in their  logic.  How could Satan drive out Satan?  If Satan acts against himself, his kingdom would end.  The truth was that all the sins and blasphemies of man will be forgiven.  However, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.  They thought He was an evil spirit.

Then Jesus' family arrived.   His mother and brothers sent someone to call Him.  Jesus replied that those sitting in the circle around Him were His mother, brother and sister.

My first read of these verses reminded me that Jesus really knows how we feel when other people misunderstand us.  People think we are out of our minds, possessed by evil and refuse to listen to our logic or heed our warning.  My usual response, after I control  my anger, is to avoid and ignore them, to distance myself from those who refuse to consider me worthy.

Jesus' own family, the ones who grew up with Him, thought He had taken leave of His sensibility.  How that must hurt?  The most educated thought His teaching was derived from evil.  Yet Jesus warned them of the consequence of their thinking.  And Jesus knew exactly what  they were thinking, not just what they said to Him and others but He knew every single angry and conniving thought.  He even knew what would happen to Him as a result of those thoughts, words and actions!

These verses remind me that Jesus loved us, and me, so much that He provided the forgiveness for my wrong thoughts, my sins.  He, Himself, in the midst of others' doubt, conspiracy and misunderstanding, gave His life as a sacrifice for others' sins.  He defines love for us in these verses.  His love is displayed in contrast to hate and confusion.

In addition, to providing the avenue for my forgiveness of sins, He provided me with an eternal destination in Heaven and a spot in His circle of family.  In response to the world treating Him with disrespect and challenge He looked to those sitting in a circle with Him and declared them His true family.

Do I act like I'm a member of God's family as I travel through this world of chaos, misunderstanding and all out evil?  Does anyone see a glimpse of true love from me?  After all, I received an overabundance of love when Jesus died on the cross for me, and others like me, centuries ago.

When I think of the state of the world, is loving it first on  my mind?  Love was first in Jesus mind.  WWJD! (What Would Jesus Do?)

It's time to prepare for today and face the challenges of the world.  I usually plan what to wear first. I'm going to put on love today because Jesus first loved me. 

Come when I call

"When you hear me call, you come!"  It was one of my mom's rules.  Recently my husband and I were reminiscing about growing up in our respective neighborhoods.  My most vivid memory of  outside play was "Kick the Can."  It's basically an outdoor night version of "Hide N Seek."  Most of the neighborhood kids my age were boys so this was the usual activity.  I don't think Mom liked us being out after dark running through yards and jumping fences to avoid detection.  So when she'd thought we'd played enough she'd call us home.

She'd impressed upon me the importance of coming when she'd call.  I don't recall ignoring her even during the game.  Not responding to her call was not an option, even if I was well hidden.

I am still impressing upon Mickey, the male pup, that "Come" is not optional. If he is not ready to come when I call, I go get him.  He gets a  reminder tug on the collar, much as a mother dog would use on her pups.

When I read Mark 3:13-19 I was impressed that when Jesus called The 12, they came.  Jesus was going up a mountain and called those He wanted with Him and they came.  He designated them as apostles so they might be with Him and He might send them out to preach and have authority over demons.  These verses name those 12 and includes a bit of description for several.

Would I come when He calls?  Too often we think it's too risky to come when Jesus calls or we think it may cost us something.  Yet I am reminded of John 10 when Jesus tells me He is the Good Shepherd.  His sheep know His Voice and when He calls they listen and obey. If a single sheep strays and gets lost, He goes to find it.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd so coming should not be an option to weigh and choose.  Coming to Jesus' call should be a "no-brainer" because He calls us to be with Him (as The 12 went to the mountain), to have adventures together(as The 12 were sent out to preach) and to have victory (as The 12 had authority over demons, one of the  more incomprehensible situations in their lives). 

Jesus called The 12 to the good and gave them authority over evil.  Jesus calls to me to come to the good, Him, and away from the evil.  Why do I hesitate or deliberate? Because I'm selfish and want to play a bit longer the way I want to play.  So my mom had a rule.  So I have to go get Mickey and remind him of my rule.  I want Mickey to come to me to protect him in the future.  I want him to listen and obey so that if he is in danger and I call, he comes to me.  Jesus calls to me so He can protect me from sin, mine and others.

I know Jesus' voice.  I will listen for His voice and I will choose to come.  It's really not an option.