Month: October 2023

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Commandments are Required, Traditions are not.

Mark 7 The religious leaders challenged Jesus about hand washing and asked him: 

 “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders but eat with eat with unwashed hands?”  [Mk 7:5]

Jesus shows us how we can answer those questions from so-called religious people about why we do or do not do certain things. Jesus carefully reminded them that nowhere did Moses command the washing of hands prior to eating. It may be beneficial but there is no law regarding this. The Pharisees had taken what is beneficial and made it mandatory which God had not.  

So how do we interpret this and understand what we are to do. First, there are the Ten Commandments which are required for men to follow. Anything beyond that is your tradition or suggestions to follow. Church groups and religious people use this to circumvent what is required. Jesus carefully pointed his audience to what God said must be done: Honor thy mother and father but professing and doing something else is hypocritical.  

Today watch what I say and what I do for that reveals my obeying God’s commandments or my traditions.  

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Work or Believe? What does God require?

John 6 Salvation’s requirement:
After Jesus fed the 5000, he left them to spend time with His Father in prayer. Jesus spent time in prayer, leaving us with the question: what do we do when faced with decisions ahead of us or when we are weary? We remember that He had gone away to mourn the death of John, but then his compassionate spirit was overwhelmed when He saw the need of the people. Do we set aside our feelings to meet the needs of others?

Later, the people asked him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?” [Jn 6:28] If you have ever talked to an unbeliever about salvation, that is the first question they ask: What do I have to “do” to earn this salvation? People want to “do” not just “believe.” Doing feeds the emotional needs and not the spiritual. Just believing seems so very out of touch with what they face every day, for men require us to “do” so they are satisfied, but God doesn’t require that. Jesus returned their question to them, saying, “believe in the one the Father has sent.” [Jn 6:29]

Isaiah wrote centuries before this time: God’s ways are not man’s. His ways are higher and superior to ours. [Is 55:8-9] He simply asks us to believe Him and the One He sent. Will we take God at his word and take that step of believing?

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Evidence Demands a Verdict

Mark 6: What do you find hard to believe? For me, it is hard to believe that God has given men the choice to believe that He is or He is not. How gracious is our God! Yet even with the evidence of healings, and other miracles the town of Nazareth found it hard to believe Jesus was the long-awaited prophet. They instead questioned him because they only saw him as just a carpenter. How do you see Jesus? Is He “just” a man, “just a carpenter” or is He who He said He was. The evidence demands a verdict. Yet the people of Nazareth were merely astonished. 

They were not the first but joined the throng of many unbelievers. Even today if you try to talk about this Jesus, some will say only “I respect your faith…but.” Years later, Paul wanted the Romans to understand that like today, those who refuse to believe are without excuse because the very evidence of the sun rising and setting, and the other proofs of the universe should point to a God who is the Creator. So, “people are without excuse.” [Rom 1:20] This has to be the hardest verse of all that we read. 

What will one say when they stand before a holy God as to why they have not believed? Not one excuse will carry weight for since creation, God has revealed Himself. How about you? 

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Fear or Courageous?  

Mark 6 In Proverbs we read: the fear of man is a snare but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high. [Prov 29:25] In this chapter we meet two men, one who is fearful of all men and one who is not. One has fallen into the snare or trap of the evil one and one is set free from fear and thus courageously steps into the lion’s arena to speak truth even in the face of death.  

King Herod is fearful of all people and when he met John the Baptist who boldly told him ‘It is not lawful to you to have your brother’s wife.’ [Mark 6:18] he was exceedingly fearful. You see, his wife (now Queen) Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, yet Herod knew in his heart that John was a righteous and holy man.  

You can know the truth but until you act on it, it is just words. Herod heard the truth yet was more fearful of man or his wife than of God.  On the other side was John who feared God more than men.  

How about you? Where do you stand in the face of fear?  

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Spiritual Blindness

Mark 4 Centuries ago, Isaiah wrote, and Jesus quoted this parable: “they may look but not see, they may hear but not understand,” and Paul explains the reason behind those words. Satan is the enemy of mankind and God and as such he uses the tool of spiritual blindness so that the truth of Isaiah’s words can be literally seen and understood. For a long time people, like me, have struggled to understand what Isaiah was trying to explain and it finally dawned on me when I read 2Cor 4:4 “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Truly Satan has mastered this tool so that many would not come to saving grace. Just like then, we too see and are befuddled by the unbelieving for their lack of spiritual life and Nicodemus is a prime example. He came seeking answers from the teacher come from God and left befuddled. How can this be? How can a man enter the womb, but Jesus was not teaching that, He was teaching that men needed a rebirth; a spiritual rebirth. Why is it that men may not see or understand? It is because if they do, they will recognize, as Nicodemus did, that they need to repent of their sin. John wrote they refuse to repent because they love the darkness.

Do our hearts yearn to open the eyes of the blind? Do we hope to open their eyes to wee that they need to repent of their sin? That should be our prayer.

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Transformed

Matt 11: The populace wondered who John was. They wonder who “this” Jesus is. Over and over the question surfaces, who is this man? Who was John speaking from the wilderness? Yet, we know that John knew who Jesus as for the heavens opened and he saw the dove descending upon Jesus and heard God speak: This is my beloved son, listen to him. 

So why did John, in prison, send two disciples to ask Jesus are you the one to come or should we look for another. Graciously Jesus asked them to look at the evidence. Times have changed but the questions remain the same: is He the Christ. 

Jesus in His gracious way says look at the evidence. The blind see; the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, He asks the people and the two disciples of John to look at the evidence. That is what we must do as well, ask people to see the evidence. What has happened in our lives? Is it clear to others of His saving grace? Is this verse true in our lives as others look at the evidence: Are we being transformed? [2Cor 3:18; Rom 12:2] 

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Worry is not trusting God

Matt 6 “Do You Worry?”

As Jesus taught, he touched on the many problems that people had in a very sensitive way. He touched the hearts and minds of people so that they knew someone cared for them, and that is a lesson for all of us. When was the last time you met the need of another through your words or actions?

As He taught, He reminded the people not to worry. Why? Because you can’t add to your life or what you will have to eat tomorrow or even today. You can’t even worry about what you will have to wear, but God knows everything you will need each and every day.

Precious reader: Worry is nothing more than not trusting God for the next thing, whatever that thing would be. 

Where are you, where am I not trusting God for the next step?

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Are you Rule Oriented or God Oriented?

Mark 3, Luke 6, Matt 12:1-21 As Jesus went through Israel, he met those who were seeking help in many areas: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Some who followed Jesus were without hope, but some who followed Him were seeking to destroy Him for this reason: he “worked” on the Sabbath. As he entered the synagogue, he was confronted with a man with a withered hand. Would he heal, their definition of work was the question in the minds of the religious leaders, so they asked Him pointedly, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ Being the legalists of the day, they had the Torah memorized and checked every jot and tittle to be sure people were obeying to keep the Sabbath holy. Is this what God desired?

So Jesus tested them to see if they could or would put aside rules to do God’s work, which was to help another on the Sabbath just as they would help a donkey who had fallen into the ditch. Which was more important, the man or the donkey? The religious leaders had misconstrued the most important thing. Healing of a man then, constituted “work,” according to their rule book. How about us, do we cling so tightly to the rule book that we miss the importance of meeting the needs of the moment?

Today, let us seek the kingdom needs that God presents to us, regardless of the day of the week.  

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True Friends are Hard to Find

Mark 2 Jesus has been about His Father’s business as he walked about Galilee. One thing is certain, Jesus made friends easily and not only listened but then acted if there was a need. How often do we listen but not meet the needs of others?

A sign of a true friend is one who goes beyond the normal to the extraordinary, as we see in the story of the paralytic. Here are four young men whose love for a friend would take them to find a way to meet Jesus. They tried the normal entrance, but it was impossible because of the crowd, so they climbed the house to the top and removed the roof! How extraordinary! How clever! They did not let the problem stop them until they found a solution to help their friend. Do we move heaven and earth to help a friend, or do we come and say we tried, but it is impossible? What kind of friends are we to the ones in need?

Jesus saw not just a need for physical healing but a need for spiritual healing, and so he pronounces: “Your sins are forgiven!” Yet, the naysayers who had a front-row seat scoffed and said he was blaspheming. It is no different today. We meet the naysayers who scoff. Do we press on or let their words deter us from bringing others to the Healer? 

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Empty Jars and Hearts

John 2 Many a year ago, we were married, but the day much like this story in John 2, had a very embarrassing moment. After saying our vows, the photographer insisted he take us to take photos. Unbeknownst to us, the drama in the church was just beginning. The day was exceedingly hot, and the church had no AC. The photographer kept insisting he needed more pictures. In the meantime, while we were sweltering outside, inside, the food sat in the kitchen and was never served. Imagine our embarrassment as we returned only to find all the guests had left, the food was untouched, and everyone was hot and just plain miserable. We can thus relate to this story in a very real and practical but embarrassing way.

How I wish Jesus had been a part of our wedding!

The story begins in Cana, and the wedding had been planned, but there was a problem. No wine! Mary sought out the one she knew could solve the problem. Moms like me think a son can solve any problem. She trusted Jesus and told the servants to do whatever He said to do. What did Jesus see? He saw empty jars, much like He sees us empty and in need of His transforming power. He told the servants to fill the jars to the brim, a picture of how the Holy Spirit fills our souls!

What a beautiful picture of Jesus’ compassion and care. He sees us as an empty jar in need of His transforming power! 

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