SCRIPTURE: Mark 9:2-8 I’ve always assumed that this story was the divine nature of Jesus peaking out momentarily. But now I wonder if this is God’s way of showing the glory of the human Jesus as an obedient son. This is the glory that we all contain, as God’s children, when we live in the likeness…
What must I do to be sacrificed?
SCRIPTURE: Mark 8:31-9:1 So is following Jesus about ‘being saved’, or ‘being sacrificed’? Most of the focus of the Church’s message today seems to be on being saved. But Jesus makes it plain that if our motivation is to save our lives, we will lose them… Peter was thinking about survival and success, for himself and…
Who do YOU say He is?
SCRIPTURE: Mark 8:27-30 We are so familiar with calling Jesus ‘the Christ’ that the shock value is gone. For centuries the people of Israel (and of all nations) have been hoping and waiting for a Deliverer, a God-ordained, God-equipped Messiah who would finally set things straight. Many would-be Messiah’s have come and gone, but none were…
The kind of person God lifts up?
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 52 This Psalm is tied to 1 Samuel 21-22, where Doeg betrays David and slaughtered the priests and citizens of Nob. David accepts responsibility for what happens (1 Samuel 22:22); this Psalm expresses his pain, anger and confidence in God despite this horrific situation. Love for God and people does not mean that we ignore injustice or abuse…
No ordinary people!!!
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does…
2 Kings 21-25
SCRIPTURE: 2 Kings 21-25 What do you sense the Lord saying to you? PRAYER
My heart is still blurry!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 8:22-26 First of all, why spit; and second, why did it take two times for the man’s vision to become clear? I am not sure about the spit, nor about the two-step healing process… but I can relate to the process itself. This is not instant healing, for some reason it takes a bit…
Still not getting it… or being stubborn?
SCRIPTURE: Mark 8:14-21 I have been journalling for years, and one thing I’ve noticed is that I often have to learn things over again. Lessons learned in the past have to be relearned again. And I can sense the Lord gently saying to me, “Why can’t you see or understand? Are you stubborn?” Jesus warns His…
He refuses to play games with us
SCRIPTURE: Mark 8:11-13 There are different motivations for testing someone. A jealous employee may set up a fellow employee with an assignment, hoping that they will fail; a wounded counselee may test their counselor with limited information, to see how they will respond. Both are testing for selfish, personal reasons, but the counselee’s test is more…
God has to repeat Himself!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 8:1-10 Is this just another version of a single feeding miracle, or did it happen on several occasions. But if it happened on several occasions, why didn’t the disciples figure it out the second time? If they saw Him do it once, why did they not expect it again? Good question, though we should…