I’m teamed up with ya for Tuesday! Yesterday we talked about the Christmas morning type of excitement that we have as Dad’s kids as we watch for Jesus’ return to earth and speaking of holidays, today in Dad’s Word, we see the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are just two days away. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill Him. “But not during the Feast, they said or the people may riot.” This was so hypocritical in their thinking. The hearts of the chief priests and teachers of the law should have been focused on the gift of Jesus’ love, grace and provision for their life, but instead their eyes were focused on ways that were destructive to their relationships – with themselves, with God and with the people around them. Their hearts were far away from recognizing the true meaning behind the celebration. This reminds me of an event from a few years ago when someone decided they wanted a Christmas tree. (Christmas being a time of celebrating God with us; God being love.) The person decided to go to a neighbor’s yard and cut the top out of a beautiful pine tree that they had growing there. This was an act so hypocritical to the celebration of God’s love towards one’s neighbor! It was so not right! As we look at the celebration that was about to take place in Mark’s story, we see it was the time of Passover that was a celebration of when the Lord told the Israelites to take the blood of a spotless year-old lamb and paint the blood of it on the outside of their door posts so the Angel of the Lord would pass over the homes of the Hebrews rather than killing their firstborn sons as He did the Egyptians. The chief priests and the teachers of the law didn’t realize it, but Passover was a celebration that pointed to Jesus as the sacrificial lamb whose blood they were about to spill. This would move the Father as the Angel of the Lord to pass over the sins of all mankind instead of bringing the wages of sin upon them which was death. This special remembrance was to be followed by a feasting time of celebrating God’s provision. It included a focus on getting rid of all the yeast in their homes as yeast was symbolic of sin. Jesus was the destroyer or “getting rid” of sin from within the holy temples or homes (the flesh) of all mankind. To those who believe in Him, Jesus is a gift worth celebrating every day, not just during holidays. We need to not let the yeast (Satan’s ways) that begin very small, work their way through us and swell us up with sin. To live lives without the yeast of the enemy is to live lives sincerely based on God’s Truth. It is important to read and speak Truth to our hearts and sometimes just having a fellow sister or brother to talk about it with can make all the difference in how we view life – that it is truly worth celebrating. It can make a big difference in the health of our relationship with our self, God and those around us. As we go through life, may we keep our eyes fixed or focused on His love, grace and provision for us and truly celebrate that within our hearts, not just during holidays, but every day of life. Much love to you all!
Mk 14:1-2; 1 Co 5:6-8; Ex 12:1-30; He 3:13; Ro 6:23
Tag Archives: Talk
The Work of The Great
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Super Saturday to ya today! Jesus, the author of today’s story has a large following after He leaves Tyre and goes through Sidon down to the sea of Galilee and into the city of Decapolis. There some people brought to Him a man that was deaf and could hardly talk and they begged Him to place His hand on the man. After He took Him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit (We’re talking holy living water here!) and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to Heaven and with a deep sigh said to Him “Ephphatha!” which means “be opened”. At this point, the man’s ears were opened, His tongue was loosened and He began to speak plainly. Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more He did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” It is a good thing that the people in this story had the faith it took to step out to help their friend by taking Him to Jesus. They must have greatly cared for him. Jesus looked to His Father when He looked up to Heaven, knowing that apart from His Father, He could do nothing and it would take the power of His Father to do the work needed in this man’s life. His Father honored His prayer in faith and healed the deaf and mute man. Jesus told the people not to talk about it as He wanted to control His fame. This was important to eternity as Satan would have loved to have Jesus become an earthly king and give up on the work on the cross that saved us all from death and sin. The people ignored His request and sinned by talking about it much. Jesus knew the work done in the deaf and mute man’s life was the work of His Father, but I can see how it could have been easy for the people that took the man to Jesus to be tempted to become prideful and take the credit for their friend’s healing and walk about boasting of how God used them in the life of their friend. The truth is, they could do nothing without Jesus. Our Father wants us to be vessels of obedience in stepping out as He asks us to and use what He gives to us to help others, but the glory must always go back to Him. He is the author and finisher of everyone’s faith and the writer of each person’s story. Amazed at the work of Jesus, the people said “He does everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!” A great response to seeing His work is worship – tell Him how wonderful we think He is. As Christians, if Jesus tells us to be quiet, we do not want to cross over the line into gossip in talking about God’s work in someone’s life and yet sometimes Jesus has told people to go and tell others what He has done. We must be led by His voice that also says keep partnering with Him – that’s an honor and sweet amazing work to me! Well, bye and hugs to ya! Mk 7:31-37; 2 Co 12:20; He 12:2; Jn 10: 1-5; Ps 66