Category: daily meditations

SCRIPTURE: Mark 3:20-30 “He is out of His mind!”… “He is controlled by Beelzebub!” Jesus responds to how people accuse and attack Him, warning them to be very careful, that they may actually be closing themselves to God’s Spirit. What they see as crazy, what they feel as wrong, what they reject as demonic… is actually…

SCRIPTURE: Mark 3:13-19 These twelve disciples are not the first and only apostles, but the first of many apostles. Yes, they have a position of priority because they are first, and they walked with Jesus. They talked with Jesus, they worked with Jesus, they suffered with Jesus, they died with Jesus (eventually). But Jesus made it…

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 44 There was a time when my faith was simple: God was great, God was good, and everything made sense. In time things got more complicated: good people suffered, bad people prospered, not everything seemed to work out for good. Eventually I entered perplexity: what? why? how? when? nothing fit with my simple faith….

SCRIPTURE: 2 Samuel 18-24 What do you sense the Lord saying to you? PRAYER

SCRIPTURE: Mark 3:7-12 There is something about Jesus that still attracts people. From the first Jesus-followers to the Jesuits to the Jesus People, crowds of people have gathered again and again, trying to capture what it is about Jesus that attracts. Even non-Christians have admitted a fascination and admiration for Jesus, though not for His followers….

SCRIPTURE: Mark 3:1-6 The ultra-conservative Pharisees hated the compromising Herodians. The former were devoted to obeying the Law, the latter to pandering to Herod. But here they have something in common, they both hate Jesus even more. Jesus did not share their devotion to legalism or liberalism, He was devoted to love. If the Pharisees truly…

SCRIPTURE: Mark 2:23-28 Imagine a family whose parents buy a cottage and raise their children with the tradition of spending one weekend a month relaxing at the cottage. The children grow up, and their own family situations change, they cannot keep up that tradition. Do the parents disown their kids because they refuse to follow the…

SCRIPTURE: Mark 2:18-22 With Jesus, everything changes, for everyone, not just the Jews or Christians. Jesus represents a new reality, a new season, a new relationship with God. Religion says: ‘perform these rituals, practices or laws in order to acceptable to God’. But with Jesus, the new reality is that we do not need to follow…

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 43 This psalm seems to be a continuation of Psalm 42 (some Hebrew manuscripts combine them). The psalmist is continuing his battle with depression, wondering why God is taking so long! It is very important for us to see that God includes and inspires doubt and lament in the sacred text. If anyone challenges you…

SCRIPTURE: 2 Samuel 10-17 What do you sense the Lord saying to you? PRAYER