Touch
Father, Your patience never ceases to amaze me! For whatever reason, I’ve not been able to get myself to settle down this morning and sit with You. Anything that could be a distraction was! But You have been so patient and finally, I am here and You have not left me but are here as well. Thank You for Your longsuffering love!
Mark 1:40-45 (<<click to read the passage)
From a cultural perspective, the leper in today’s passage was untouchable. He was rejected. But when he asked Jesus to heal him and make him clean, Jesus did that but He touched him! The leper probably hadn’t felt the touch of another human being in years but Jesus did it without a second thought. He may have looked awful. He may have smelled awful. But none of that held Jesus back.
How many people in our communities are “untouchable”? They don’t look like us, or act like us, or dress like us, or think like us, or believe like us. I guess we could fall into the same categories on other people’s lists. We don’t want to be near each other. We are all rejected…and we all reject.
But Jesus? He never met anyone He didn’t absolutely adore! Every single one of us is loved and cherished. And…we are touchable! No one is ever too far gone, no one is every beyond the “long arm of the Lord” to quote an old Wayne Watson song.
We may feel we’re too dirty or diseased or stained for anyone to come close to us…but Jesus will. And He will do more than just come close. He will touch. In fact, he will embrace us!
Lord Jesus, may we see ourselves as You see us. May we not hold back from pursuing a relationship with You. And it needs to be more than a surface level relationship. Help us to develop a deep, penetrating, life-changing relationship. Help us to allow You to touch us…to embrace us in our entirety.
Jan 28th, 2019, Mon, 10:52 am
Not an Entertainer
Father, thank You for a good Sabbath day. Thinking of this morning’s services, I would ask that You would call us all to prayer. We so desperately need to be in a closer, more intimate relationship with You. Woo us, may we be drawn to Your side each and every moment. Amen.
Mark 1:35-39 (<<click to read the passage)
Simon [Peter] and his companions searched [everywhere, looking anxiously] for Him, and they found Him and said, “Everybody is looking for You!” vs. 36-37AMP
We all like a good show. What if your favorite performer turned up at your door and put on a fabulous performance. People from miles around had shown up and the crowd all knew that your guest was staying in your home that night.
Everybody got tucked in for the night but first thing the next morning, you go to get them for breakfast and they are gone! What in the world? Where are they? And soon thereafter a ton of your “friends” show up wanting an encore performance but they are nowhere to be found! The search would be on!
Wouldn’t you search high and low? Wouldn’t your anxiety mount with every passing moment? And when you finally did find them wouldn’t you be just a little exasperated when you exclaimed, “Everyone is looking for You!”
Now I realize the Jesus is far greater than any “here-today-gone-tomorrow” performer and that He came to earth with a heavenly mission guiding His every thought and move and most definitely not to entertain! …but you get the picture.
His “companions” didn’t understand. They had no clue as to what was going on. They didn’t know where He had gone! They needed to find Him…and fast! People were waiting for Him to do His “thing” again!
Jesus’ response when they finally found Him?
“Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so I may preach there also; that is why I came [from the Father].” v.38
Jesus hadn’t come just to keep us entertained – He came to be about His Father’s business.
Do we sometimes get caught up in the “show” and forget what it’s all about? Even devout followers can get so caught up in details and stats and outcomes that we forget that there is absolutely nothing more important than Jesus himself. He is the focal point and nothing else matters one bit. Without Him, we are just entertaining ourselves.
Lord Jesus, may we keep our focus on You. As You fill our hearts may we be about the heart of Your ministry in our world of influence. Fill us. Use us. Amen.
Jan 27th, 2019, Sun, 8:04 pm
Intentional
The beauty of Your creation from my office window is a wonder to behold! The stark redness of the cardinals against the snowy background, the diligence of the downy and hairy woodpeckers as they cling to the suet cake feeder, the red-breasted woodpecker and the blue jay as they swoop in, scattering the smaller birds in their wake – they all reflect Your glory! Praise You, Almighty Creator of All!
Mark 1:35 (<<click to read the passage)
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. NLT
Here is the Jesus, the Son of God, deliberately taking the opportunity to spend time with His Father.
How often do we in the busyness of our lives, jump right in without a second thought, into the hustle and bustle of our schedules? We may, if we think of it, spout off a few words before we eat. We very well may rattle off the obligatory rending of Your prayer as a part of a once a week time of worship. But in actuality, how many of us deliberately take the opportunity to spend time with the Father?
I like doing so but often I forget, as well. My mind is in so much a better place, if I take time to interact, giving my day over to You, Lord. If I intentionally acknowledge Your presence and Your eagerness to involve Yourself in the daily workings of my life, what contentment and peace it brings.
Lord, if You felt the necessity to spend time alone with Your Father, knowing how close You are to each other, how can I do any less?
Jan 24th, 2019, Thurs, 12:51 am
Timetables
I am grateful for Your consistency, Father. As Hebrews 13:8 AMP proclaims, You are “[eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever.” Each day in my own life can go any number of directions but You remain, stalwart and rock solid! Praise Your holy Name!
Mark 1:32-34(<<click to read the passage)
Time – we are chained to and cannot escape it. Author C.S. Lewis stated, “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
These few verses have a lot to say about time.
First of all, as soon as “the sun had set” people were bringing to Jesus everyone who was sick or under the power of demons. Eventually “the whole city had gathered together at the door.”
Why did they wait until then? Why didn’t they begin as soon as Jesus arrived? He arrived on the Sabbath and Jewish Law – expanded by Jewish religious tradition – would not allow them to come any sooner than sunset. They were chained to the timetable of religious tradition.
Now, as we have already witnessed in verses 25 and 30-31, it may have been the Sabbath but Jesus had set free the demon-possessed man and rid Simon’s mother-in-law of a high fever. Jesus was not restricted by the time constraints of religious traditions timetable.
And though Jesus, as God, exists outside the restraints of time, as “God with us” he has his own timetable. As we can see at the end of verse 34 He “would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him [recognizing Him as the Son of God].”
Jesus, in the course of God’s will, held everything to His timetable. It was not yet time for Him to reveal Himself as the Messiah – the time would come…but had not yet arrived.
Lord, help me to set each and every day – for the entirety of my time here on earth – to Your perfect timetable. May I yield to Your directive, so that I may reap the benefit of Your wisdom. Amen.
Jan 23rd, 2019, Wed, 7:59 pm
Like Wisps of Smoke
Father, one of my favorite things to do is to lie in bed on a cold and clear winter’s night with a bright and shining moon and look out the window above my head. Our bed sits on the easternmost wall of the house and as I lay there I can see the wisps of smoke from our wood burner which sits on the same wall in the living room.
It is quiet. It is simple. It is peaceful. No matter what has transpired throughout my day, I find great solace in those moments.
In all the complexities of life, Lord, You are there. You bring solace to my life when so many things are clamoring for attention.
Your word speaks to me.
And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. Philippians 4:7 AMP
We often get so stressed out in regards to all that life throws at us and I feel like I should write more but why fill my mind with words upon words? Lord Jesus, stand guard over my heart and mind and give me Your peace which reassures my heart. Life is full of turmoil but may I bask in Your peace as I lie by Your side and see that turmoil blow away like wisps of smoke on a cold winter’s night. Amen.
Jan 22nd, 2019, Tues, 8:53 pm