Tag: Melissa New

3 Devotions from Mark 14

Deuteronomy 27-28

Psalm 30

Mark 14

Today we are pulling up three previously shared devotions on Mark 14, and these are just a few of several posted over the last 9 years at SeekGrowLove.com. You may read one, two or three – or even go find some more. Today, may we consider what Jesus did for us, as we also contemplate what we will do for him, this day.

A BEAUTIFUL THING

-Devotion by Andy Cisneros (SC) – (originally posted 3/28/2024 for SGL)

In Mark 14 we see the story of Jesus being anointed with  perfume. Jesus takes this beautiful moment and shows us just how great this event truly was. Mary’s actions may signal more than she knows. But, although she may not fully comprehend the messianic significance of her anointing, she appreciates Christ’s worth more than anyone else at the table. But Jesus receives the woman’s gift as a selfless act of love and devotion—an appropriate way to honor the Messiah. Jesus reveals that He will not be with them much longer, which references His soon death and burial.

Jesus says five things about it that mark it as an extremely beautiful act. First, he says, “she has done a beautiful thing to me”. The beauty of it lay in its extravagance. This woman did not spare any of the costly perfume but broke the flask and poured the whole quantity out on him. Judas, with his practical and corrupt mind, counted it up as worth three hundred denarii. A denarius was the day’s wage for a laborer. Three hundred days’ wages would be a tremendous sum. In the eyes of Judas, this woman wasted an enormous amount of money when she poured out the perfume on Jesus. It was such a lavish over the top act, and there lies the beauty of it. When have you done something extravagant and beautiful for Jesus?

Second, He said that it was a timely thing she had done. It was something that could only be done now. Any time you want to do good to the poor you can, because they are always around. And it is right to help the poor. But there are opportunities that come in our life that must be seized at that moment. Mary had sensed this and seized the moment to offer this gift, for such a time would never occur again. It was out of the sensitivity of her heart that she realized that the timing was right, and Jesus recognized this. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase timing is everything. Mary is preparing Jesus for his death. The timing was now.

Third, she did what she could. She could not fix Him a meal; there was no time for that. She could not make a garment for Him; there was no time for that. There was nothing else she could do to show her love but this. She did what she could. I am sure Jesus has called our attention to that because it is so practical for us. Someone said, “I can’t do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do I ought to do. And what I ought to do, I’m available to do”. Are you doing what you can? Or are you doing what’s easy? Are you doing at least what you are capable of for God and his son?

The fourth element of this act was that it was insightful. Jesus says she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. Many times, Jesus said to these disciples that He was going to die. Not one of them believed or understood him–except maybe Mary of Bethany. She could have understood that he was heading for burial. And since she could not be sure she would ever have the opportunity later to find his body and anoint it for burial, she did it now, as a loving act of service. Of all these friends who were around Him at this time, only this one had the sensitivity of heart to understand what was happening.

Finally, what she did was deserving of being remembered. It was memorable. Jesus said, the story of this beautiful act will be told in memory of her wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world. Here we are today, two thousand years later, fulfilling this very word, telling again of the act of Mary of Bethany when she anointed our Lord’s head and feet.

I hope we can be as understanding and extravagant as Mary was. What can you do today to show your love and appreciation of Jesus? Something extravagant. Something with meaning.

FEAR TAKES OVER

-Devotion by Melissa New (AR) – (originally posted 8/3/2019 for SGL)

Jesus told the disciples that they would all abandon him. It was bad enough that he knew the agony he would endure on the cross, but the emotional sorrow of the betrayal of his closest friends would be gut-wrenching. All of the disciples were saying they would never leave him, no matter what. Peter insisted, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” (14:31) Jesus told Peter that not only would Peter abandon him, but that very night he would also deny him three times.

Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks the disciples to keep watch and pray. They keep falling asleep. I imagine the impending situation has them exhausted from worry and dread. Jesus acknowledged that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (14:38)

When Judas comes to betray Jesus the tension is at an all-time high. The disciples want to fight, but Jesus stops them. Apparently, they  immediately realized they were overwhelmed and that’s when fear kicked in. They all ran. One was slow enough that he was seized, but that fear was coursing through his veins so strongly that he left his clothing and ran away naked. That was better than sharing the fate of Jesus. We might see this as utterly shameful. How could they? And how could Peter deny Christ three times especially after Jesus said he would? Did he not remember Jesus’ words after the second denial?

Fear is such a powerful thing. It can be crippling. Fear can shut our mouths, stop us from going and loving others, and keep us from fulfilling God’s will for our lives. More often I see that fear holds God’s people back, but it can also provoke us to act as we shouldn’t just as the disciples did. The naked man and Peter are a clear warning to us. Let’s not let fear have the power to encourage us to expose ourselves shamefully or deny Christ even. In I John 4:18 we are told “perfect love casts out fear.” Let’s pray for perfect love. When we feel fear creeping in, let’s pray for our love to be stronger than the fear.

A DAY TO REMEMBER

-Devotion by Mason Kiel (IN) – (originally posted 8/5/2022 for SGL)

It’s a story we’ve heard a thousand times – Mark chapter 14. Jesus predicts that one of his disciples will betray him, one will deny him, and they feast for one last supper. He’s arrested and, in the face of threat of death, commits to remaining non-violent; even going as far as to heal those who oppose him. The archetype of betrayal, prophecy, and endurance coming together in one of the final chapters of Jesus’s time on earth. So, what more could we take away from these things after hearing it repeated our entire lives? There is always something new to be learned or applied if you’re willing to try to find it.

Starting at the beginning of the passage, a woman approaches Jesus with an exorbitantly expensive container of perfume. She takes this jar of perfume and dumps it all over Jesus, to which she receives backlash. Those in the company ridicule her for not utilizing the perfume for something better, like helping the poor. Admittedly, this would be a very honorable thing to do. But surprisingly, Jesus stands up for her and tells them to not shame her for doing a good thing to him. “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.” Mark 14:7.

This is an interesting thing for Jesus to say, as I would imagine him having the mindset of ‘do everything to help those in need,’ but this circumstance seems to be different. There will always be the poor and needy, there will always be the hurt and the wicked. Jesus is the light in darkness, as darkness is the default state, only interrupted by the presence of light, not vice versa. If we spend all of our energy trying to eliminate the darkness, we will lose sight of the light that sustains us incipiently.

Jesus is well aware of this, as the light that sustains and empowers him is God. He cries out “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:36. Jesus is crying out in the most passionate and sincerely affectionate way imaginable to his father, begging that his death be made unnecessary, that this burden will be taken from him. However, he takes the proper mindset of being able to accept that what he wants may not be what God wants. When you pray to God for an answer, are you able to accept what He responds with in the same faith Jesus could? It’s no mere feat, but then again Jesus is no mere man.

Not only does he accept what needs to happen, but he also stands firm on what he teaches. If you remember from yesterday, Jesus specifically said to not be afraid when we are brought before the court for our faith, but to answer as the Spirit guides you to, as it is the voice of the Spirit that will talk for you. When they had arrested him and grilled him with questions, “… Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.” Mark 14:61. He needed not respond to their trickery but waited until he knew what he was saying to tell them the truth. For this, they killed him. Could you stand for truth until the end? Could you stand with what you believe and know to be true even if every person would hate you for it? If so, you would be stronger than Peter. He lacked this ability, and defied Jesus 3 times—to which end it destroyed him.

“Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.’ And he broke down and wept.” Mark 14:72. Have you ever gotten to the point in your sin where you don’t even recognize who you are anymore? For Peter, he had been spending the past couple years of his life devoted to following Jesus to the end. And yet, when it mattered most, he denied even knowing him. He had become so distraught by his sin that he had nothing else to do than weep at what he’d done.

Sometimes, when we recognize that we’ve fallen so far from the righteous path laid before us, and become so wrapped up in our sin, all we can do is weep and pray that God can forgive us. In fact, it’s often in these moments that we convince ourselves that there’s no way God could possibly forgive us for what we’ve done… but that would be missing the whole point of the story! Jesus died so that even in the midst of our most egregious pain from sin, we have the opportunity to be forgiven. Even Paul, who was a Christian-slaying murderer found salvation! Do not waste this opportunity that Christ has given to you, but rather repent for your sins and devote your life toward serving his purpose. Amen.

Application Questions

  1. Even if you’ve read Mark 14 many times before – what stands out to you today?
  2. How can you extravagantly love and honor Jesus?
  3. What does it mean to pray, “Not my will but yours be done”? What do you need to surrender and give up to God?
  4. In the past, how have you deserted or denied Jesus? How has fear kept you from doing what God wants you to do?

PRAYER

Dear God,

We thank You for the gift of Your Son. We are not worthy of such a perfect gift. Forgive us of the times we have acted in fear not faith, for the times we have passed up the opportunities to give extravagantly in response to the gift given for us. Help us see Jesus for who he is, and respond with total commitment and devotion today and everyday. I love you, Lord God.

In Your Son’s sweet name, Jesus, I pray.

SGL.2026.CalendarDownload

Searching Mark 9

Old Testament: Numbers 35 & 36

Poetry: Job 24

New Testament: Mark 9

The past few weeks we have pulled up some devotions from the past 7 years of SeekGrowLove. Today, I chose two, and could have added more. The next several months we will have new devotions to share. But if you are ever curious about a passage and want to read some past devotions you can do a quick search on any passage from the right sidebar on the SeekGrowLove home page. (Hint: put the passage or topic in ” ” marks to pull up the best matches.)

Be the Very Last

In our New Testament passage that we read today is the transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus had just asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” The Jewish people revered Moses and Elijah as great prophets of God. I believe that this vision was a way to show them that Jesus is even more than a great prophet. To the Jewish people God was always associated with the cloud. In Exodus, He was in the cloud that was leading them through the desert; when He talked to Moses, He appeared in a cloud; when the glory of the Lord was in the tabernacle, it was covered in a cloud, and when they dedicated the temple, the glory of God was associated with a cloud. 1 Kings 8:10 says,”When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.”

The transfiguration is showing them that Jesus is to be more honored than both of these men. Mark 9:7 says, “Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: ‘This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!’”  God is telling them, and in essence telling us, to listen to what Jesus is saying. To take his teachings to heart. Jesus is not trying to lift himself up and tout his own glory. He is trying to glorify the Father, and teach others about the kingdom.  Acts 3:22 reads, “For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.” Yes, they had other prophets but they paled in comparison to the Son of God, and we are told to listen to everything that he tells us. We need to make sure that we are reading and closely following what Jesus was teaching them. Today, there is a “Be Kind” movement.  Jesus started that movement years ago, it’s just now catching on. He said to “Love God, and Love others.” Pretty simple and straight forward. The world would be a much better place if we would all listen to the words that Jesus spoke. But we can’t just listen, we also have to act on the words that he said.

Sometimes we, just like the disciples, have a hard time living what Jesus was teaching. It goes against our natural desires, which is to look out for ourselves. Jesus tells them once again about his impending death and resurrection, and he sees them having a conversation. He asks them, even though he knew, what they were disputing about as they walked to Capernaum. They would not answer him, because they had been arguing over who would be the greatest among them. This story always reminds me of one of my children and their first cousin. When they were together, they always wanted to be first at everything. The first to get their food, the first to finish eating, the first in running, etc. So one day I told them, “In the Bible it says, ‘The first shall be last and the last shall be first.’” Then they both decided they wanted to be last, so they would then be first. They may not have learned the true meaning of these words. Mark 9:35 says “Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” With these simple words, Jesus has given us a fundamental truth. So many of the world’s problems would be solved if we would take these words to heart. If we would try to make others’ lives better instead of making our life better. If we would become the servant of those around us. Jesus typified this when he washed the disciple’s feet. He could have sat down and demanded that someone wash his feet, because he was the Son of God, but instead he showed true leadership by serving them. With his death he was serving all of mankind so that we would have a chance to share in the kingdom when he comes back as the King of Kings.

-Sherry Alcumbrack

(Originally posted October 20, 2020)

A Mountain of Confusion

When I realized later that I had volunteered to write a blog over this chapter I winced. Oh, dear. There is so much confusion out there about the transfiguration. Some say it confirms the “deity” of Christ. Some say it confirms that there is no “soul sleeping” because if there were, then Elijah and Moses could not have been there. I don’t have all of the answers, of course, but I would have a couple rebuttals to each of these assertions.

I don’t see the “deity” of Christ at all for two major reasons. It’s true that Jesus is transfigured and is shown in a new and powerful way on that mountain. He is glorified, radiant and shining, and wearing shockingly white clothing all of the sudden.  However,

  1. Peter had just previously acknowledged who Jesus was. In Mark 8:29 Peter says, “You are the Christ.” The Matthew account of this has Peter saying more, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16) It seems very unlikely that Peter, James, and John thought Jesus was God.
  2. Then there is the cloud and the voice out of the cloud saying, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7) They didn’t think Jesus was in the cloud. And the voice in the cloud did not say, “This Jesus is also your Father in heaven.”

I still don’t have a problem believing in “soul sleep” either. I believe Elijah and Moses were resting in peace (RIP) and were awakened for this transfiguration.

  1. We are told in Deuteronomy 34 that Moses died and was buried. And we see at the end of Hebrews 11 that Moses, and many others including Elijah, have not received what was promised yet “so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”
  2. In 1 Samuel 28 we see that Samuel was “disturbed” after dying and being buried because Saul wanted to chat with him. In that chapter we see that he came “up out of the earth.” There is no mention of his soul floating down from heaven to meet his body coming out of the earth. And he would need his soul to have a conversation with Samuel. Just as Elijah and Moses appeared with bodies and souls.

What I would like to know is what Elijah and Moses were talking to Jesus about! And another thing that I find interesting is that Peter, James, and John seemed to recognize Elijah and Moses right away. It doesn’t look like Jesus introduced them. I suppose this is how it will be in the kingdom. 

– Melissa New

(Originally posted July 29, 2019 for SeekGrowLove)

Reflection Questions

  1. What do you find most helpful in Mark 9?
  2. If you were writing the devotion today what would you write about?
  3. How does what you find in Scripture impact or change how you live your life today?
sglcalendar2024Download

Fear Takes Over

Mark 14

Mark 14 50 NASB

Jesus told the disciples that they would all abandon him. It was bad enough that he knew the agony he would endure on the cross, but the emotional sorrow of the betrayal of his closest friends would be gut-wrenching. All of the disciples were saying they would never leave him, no matter what. Peter insisted, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” (14:31) Jesus told Peter that not only would Peter abandon him, but that very night he would also deny him three times.

Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks the disciples to keep watch and pray. They keep falling asleep. I imagine the impending situation has them exhausted from worry and dread. Jesus acknowledged that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (14:38)

When Judas comes to betray Jesus the tension is at an all-time high. The disciples want to fight, but Jesus stops them. Apparently, they  immediately realized they were overwhelmed and that’s when fear kicked in. They all ran. One was slow enough that he was seized, but that fear was coursing through his veins so strongly that he left his clothing and ran away naked. That was better than sharing the fate of Jesus. We might see this as utterly shameful. How could they? And how could Peter deny Christ three times especially after Jesus said he would? Did he not remember Jesus’ words after the second denial?

Fear is such a powerful thing. It can be crippling. Fear can shut our mouths, stop us from going and loving others, and keep us from fulfilling God’s will for our lives. More often I see that fear holds God’s people back, but it can also provoke us to act as we shouldn’t just as the disciples did. The naked man and Peter are a clear warning to us. Let’s not let fear have the power to encourage us to expose ourselves shamefully or deny Christ even. In I John 4:18 we are told “perfect love casts out fear.” Let’s pray for perfect love. When we feel fear creeping in, let’s pray for our love to be stronger than the fear.

-Melissa New

Be Alert

Mark 13

Mark 13 37

In Mark 13 we see Jesus telling his disciples that things are going to get bad. Before Jesus comes back there will be trouble politically, physically, and even spiritually. This isn’t what anyone wants to hear, but it is the truth.

Politically- verses 6-9

  1. Leaders will arise in his name saying “I am He” misleading many.
  2. We will hear of wars and rumors of wars. (Isn’t this already the case? My sister is in the navy and they are always preparing for a possible war. Right now the concern is Iran.)
  3. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. (We see this, too.)
  4. You will be delivered to the courts. (You may find yourself in trouble for standing up for God’s commands. These persecutions do happen already. Check out the Colorado baker. He was “delivered to the courts” for not wanting to bake a cake for a same-sex marriage couple and recently again persecuted because he didn’t want to bake a cake celebrating someone’s transition from male to female.)

 

Physically- verses 8-9 and 12 and 14-18

  1. There will be earthquakes and famines.
  2. There will be floggings and betrayal that could lead to death.
  3. Some will have to leave their homes to run and hide.

 

Spiritually- verses 22 and 33-37

  1. There will be false Christs and prophets trying to lead people astray.
  2. Some will be found asleep.

 

Jesus says in verse 23, “I have told you everything in advance.” We shouldn’t be surprised when we see things getting rough politically or physically. God will help us with this. If we find ourselves speaking in the courts, He will send the holy spirit to help us (verse 11). If we find ourselves physically dealing with tribulation, we can find assurance in the fact that God “shortened the days” of disaster (verse 20). Jesus puts extra emphasis on the spiritual trials though. Here it is our responsibility to “take heed” and “keep on the alert”. We can’t get lazy about our devotion to our Father. If we are alert and on guard, we shouldn’t be led astray. This is why Jesus warned his disciples and it’s a warning for us, too. We don’t know when Jesus is coming back. We do know that he is and that we will want him to find us alert and ready!

-Melissa New

The Greatest Commandments

Mark 12

Mark 12 29 30 NASB

A scribe goes to Jesus and asks what the foremost commandment is.  “Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31.

It’s easy. Know who God is, love Him with all your heart, and love others. Well, when it’s put like this, it seems easy anyway. It’s interesting to note that if we are loving God with all our hearts, then we are keeping the first five of the 10 commandments.  (Honoring our fathers and mothers is a way we honor God as well, because He put them in authority over us. Although you could say that this fifth commandment could go with the last five and loving others.) Likewise, if we are loving others, then we are keeping the last five of the 10 commandments.

How can we love others as ourselves? We can strive to think of others before we think of ourselves. If we can make our lives more about others and less about “me”, then we are on the right track. How do we love God with “all”? Well, we must love God with every part of who we are and outwardly it shows because of how we spend our time and money. At the end of this chapter Jesus points out the widow who gave very little, but gave “all she had”. That took a serious amount of faith. God is always pleased when we act out of faith in Him.

-Melissa New

 

The Fruitless Fig Tree

Mark 11

Mark 11 22

In Mark 11:12-14 we see Jesus appear to get upset and curse a fig tree because he was hungry and there was no fruit on it.

“On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.” Mark 11:12-14

About a month ago, when our family was reading together, we came across this passage. My kids thought it was funny that Jesus was hungry and looking for food. It tickled them that he got “hangry” and cursed the fig tree because there wasn’t any food to be had. But this is a misunderstanding. Notice that the Scripture says there were leaves. Usually when a fig tree has leaves, it also has fruit.  Jesus saw the fig tree from a distance and it looked like it was flourishing. It looked as though it should have fruit. Upon closer inspection, it did not. Jesus found this situation worthy of cursing.

Later, in 11:20-21 Peter mentions to Jesus that the fig tree he cursed is withered (dead). Jesus’ response is interesting. He says, “Have faith in God.” He tells him that if you believe God can do amazing things through you, without doubting, He will! There will be good fruit. And what does this mean for us? We need to be careful about how we are presenting ourselves. Do I look promising? Do I look like a tree that’s healthy with lots of foliage, but in reality I’m not bearing any fruit? If so, I need to understand that this won’t be enough. Jesus finds this worthy of cursing and death. May we all be faithful, flourishing, and bearing fruit for our Father.

-Melissa New

Divorce

Mark 10

Mark 10 8b

There are many things that man has come up with that God really didn’t create us to do. The Pharisees loved to bring the complicated subjects up to Jesus and see what he said. They were always comparing his teachings to the teachings of Moses. So the Pharisees go to Jesus and start discussing divorce. Jesus says for them to go ahead and tell him what Moses commanded.  They say that Moses said it was okay “to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” Jesus admits that this is true, but reminds them that the Hebrews Moses was dealing with were a rebellious and ungrateful people. This was not the best way. In the beginning God wanted man and woman to “become one flesh” and stay that way. In Mark 10:9 Jesus says “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Jesus’ disciples wanted to make absolutely sure that they understood Jesus on this subject. So later they bring it up again. In verses 11 and 12 Jesus says, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.” They knew without a doubt that adultery is wrong. It’s one of the ten commandments. “You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14

We might ask “Why is this so?” Ultimately we have to trust that God knows what is best and wants what’s best for us. We can look at divorce in our society and see some of the ramifications of it and see for ourselves that it’s hard on families. Does God want us to be happy? Without a doubt, YES! Read Psalm 37:3-5 God wants to give us the desires of our hearts. We need to trust Him, be committed to Him and His ways, and do good.  Our Father will take care of the rest.

Melissa New

 

 

A Mountain of Confusion

Mark 9

Mark 9 7

When I realized later that I had volunteered to write a blog over this chapter I winced. Oh, dear. There is so much confusion out there about the transfiguration. Some say it confirms the “deity” of Christ. Some say it confirms that there is no “soul sleeping” because if there were, then Elijah and Moses could not have been there. I don’t have all of the answers, of course, but I would have a couple rebuttals to each of these assertions.

I don’t see the “deity” of Christ at all for two major reasons. It’s true that Jesus is transfigured and is shown in a new and powerful way on that mountain. He is glorified, radiant and shining, and wearing shockingly white clothing all of the sudden.  However,

  1. Peter had just previously acknowledged who Jesus was. In Mark 8:29 Peter says, “You are the Christ.” The Matthew account of this has Peter saying more, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16) It seems very unlikely that Peter, James, and John thought Jesus was God.
  2. Then there is the cloud and the voice out of the cloud saying, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7) They didn’t think Jesus was in the cloud. And the voice in the cloud did not say, “This Jesus is also your Father in heaven.”

I still don’t have a problem believing in “soul sleep” either. I believe Elijah and Moses were resting in peace (RIP) and were awakened for this transfiguration.

  1. We are told in Deuteronomy 34 that Moses died and was buried. And we see at the end of Hebrews 11 that Moses, and many others including Elijah, have not received what was promised yet “so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”
  2. In 1 Samuel 28 we see that Samuel was “disturbed” after dying and being buried because Saul wanted to chat with him. In that chapter we see that he came “up out of the earth.” There is no mention of his soul floating down from heaven to meet his body coming out of the earth. And he would need his soul to have a conversation with Samuel. Just as Elijah and Moses appeared with bodies and souls.

What I would like to know is what Elijah and Moses were talking to Jesus about! And another thing that I find interesting is that Peter, James, and John seemed to recognize Elijah and Moses right away. It doesn’t look like Jesus introduced them. I suppose this is how it will be in the kingdom. 🙂

Melissa New

 

Compassion & Faith vs. Reality & Doubt

Mark 8

Mark 8 35

Have you ever thought about how imperfect the disciples, that Jesus himself chose to follow him, were? They have already seen Jesus feed the 5,000 (back in chapter 6). Here there are about 4,000 hungry folks and compassionate Jesus turns to his disciples and says, “We can’t let them leave here hungry, can we?” Immediately the disciples say, “We can’t feed all these people.” And the excuses come out… “There are too many.” “We are out in the middle of nowhere.” “We only have 7 loaves.” The reality of the situation has them seriously doubting that they can do anything.

Now let’s think about ourselves in the church. Are we full of compassion and faith or do we also look at the reality in front of us and let doubt convince us that we are unable to do what seems too hard for us? I know the excuses I can find myself making. “Someone else can do a better job.” “I have a lot on my plate already. I can’t take on anything else.” “I can’t do this. I have no experience with it.” Excuses can even come with negative attitudes… “Why doesn’t someone else do it?”  “I’m not good enough.” “I’m not smart enough.” Or even, “I just don’t want to.” Where did the compassion and faith go?

Jesus makes a good point later on in Mark 8:34-35. He says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

So it turns out that it wasn’t about the disciples and what they thought they were capable of. Just like it’s not about me and what I want my life to be like or even what I think it is already. Let’s not overanalyze things, but let compassion and faith move us.

(There is a short book by Thom Rainer called I am a Church Member. I recommend it. It changed my attitude on things about church that I was a little grumpy about.)

-Melissa New

Paul Serves and God Provides

Acts 28

acts 28 31

There has been a lot happen on the way to Rome, but Paul is still a prisoner. What, I wonder, were all the other prisoners doing? Were they mainly sitting around and only doing something when told to? We can see from chapters 27 and 28 that Paul couldn’t just sit by if there was something he could do to help. Paul had a servant’s heart. He served during the storm by encouraging the other 275 on the ship. He served by convincing them to eat and not give up. When they are shipwrecked on Malta, Paul immediately continues serving. He gathers wood for the fire. The natives are doing this, too, but I bet Paul is tired like all the others who had to swim for safety. He doesn’t let exhaustion stop him from serving. Paul serves again by going to see Publius’ father who is sick. He prays, lays hands on him, and heals the man. In a sense he has served everyone he came in contact with. He serves his own crew by serving and healing the natives because they, in turn, supply them for the next part of their trip! Paul was a blessing to everyone around him and he blessed them by having a humble and serving heart that prompted kind acts.

While Paul is serving and blessing, God is providing protection and opportunity. God gets Paul an audience by protecting Paul from the snake bite.  God also gets Paul an even larger audience by giving him the ability to heal “the rest of the people on the island who had diseases.”  Later, we see that God protects Paul in Rome from a miserable prisoner’s existence by providing a sizable rental property and a simple guard to watch over him. It seems sizable because this allows him to testify about the kingdom of God and Jesus to “large numbers.” God has provided Paul with suitable accommodations and the opportunity to witness to Gentiles and Jews while imprisoned in Rome for the next two years! For “two full years” he was “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.”

There seems to be a correlation between Pauls’ serving and God’s providing. What could this mean in our own lives? I personally would love to be a blessing to others as Paul was. Wouldn’t you? And what could be better than knowing God is protecting you and providing opportunities for you to make a difference for Him?

On a side note, I would like to point out that while it isn’t mentioned in this chapter, Paul did speak to Caesar. According to Philippians 4:22, “All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.” Obviously, there was some success there for God among some Gentiles, some Jews, and some among the kings at least! This was Paul’s purpose. (Acts 9:15)

-Melissa New