Been Thinking.....

That might be a scary thought for some of you.......the fact that I have been thinking!  :D  It might surprise you to know that I do a LOT of thinking, but I don't always verbalize my thoughts.  That is probably a blessing in disguise for you!  :D

Anyway, I was reading Mark 6 today and so many thoughts came to mind.  This chapter is LOADED with good stuff!

Reading and underlining God's Word with Tim close at heart.

A Prophet in His Own Country

When I think about the opportunity the Bible people had in knowing Jesus personally, it blows my mind when I read how his own family did not believe in Him as God's Son, the Messiah!  I think verse 4 confirms this when he includes in His list of those who don't honor Him, "and in his own house."  He walked among these people, family and friends, for 30 years before He began His public ministry.  I marvel at their unbelief!  HE marveled at their unbelief, too, says verse 6.  Their disbelief led Him to "do no mighty work" (v.5) in His own hometown.  That is so sad to me!  But, unfortunately, I, in my sins, would have been the same as these people!  :(

The Twelve

He called His 12 men who would help Him spread the gospel (I wonder who went with Judas?  Maybe Thomas, the doubter?).  Can you imagine being given power over demonic spirits (v.7) and having the power to heal the sick (v.13)?  WOW!!

King Herod Heard

Do ya think?  EVERYONE had to have heard (v.14)!  Herod was having a guilt trip, I think!  When John the Baptist was alive King Herod revered John because John was a holy man and he gladly listened to John (v.20).  But, King Herod made a promise to his step daughter that pride caused him to keep.  V.26 says, "And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her."  He was the king, for crying out loud!  He could do anything he wanted to do!  Now, fear and guilt from his actions have come back to haunt him!

Rest Awhile

Jesus does not expect us to work for Him and not take some leisure time for ourselves (v.31).  But the people would not allow that to happen!  Instead of hiding from them, Jesus had "compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd."  That is one way you can tell if a preacher is in the ministry for the right reason or not.  Are they in the ministry for themselves or for the glory of God?  I'm not saying that we did everything perfectly for the glory of God, but I do remember that Tim and I have been away before and come back when something happens to one of the members.  It comes with the territory and Jesus gave us that example!  Our sheep needed their shepherd!

Give Ye Them to Eat

The disciples had just experienced, personally experienced performing miracles in casting out demonic spirits from people and healing people.  Yet when Jesus told them to feed the multitude their minds were far away from those miracles!  Were they that tired?  Possibly!  But, Jesus didn't yell at them the way I would have!  "What is wrong with you people?  Don't you get it?"  (Yeah, sometimes I have trouble with being compassionate.  Please help me, Lord, to work on that!)  Anyway, He performed another miracle with the loaves and fishes and ended up with an abundance of leftovers!

He Prayed

Confession time.  My prayer life is probably the weakest area of my Christian life.  I find myself being distracted while praying.  Or I find myself repeating the same prayer over and over.  That is one of my desires for this year.......working on my prayer life.  Jesus departed, he separated himself from the others (alone, v.47) to pray.  He prayed for a long time, too.  Remember, the food he just multiplied was a little boy's lunch.  And now it is evening (v.47).  I can only imagine spending that much time in sweet fellowship with the heavenly Father!  But, I want that in my Christian life!  I want that sweet fellowship!  Forgive me, Father, and help me to stop toiling in the rowing!

Toiling in Rowing

The disciples were doing what Jesus had commanded them to do, yet they were struggling.  The wind was keeping them from making progress across the water (v.48).  Could they have calmed the wind themselves?  Were they not performing miracles and involved in seeing miracles just the day before?  Their hearts were hardened!  They had been working hard.......in their own flesh!  Not in faith!  They had completely forgotten about the miracle of the loaves (v.52).  Toiling instead of trusting.  That seems to be what we fallen humans do best.

Made Whole

V. 56, "And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment:  and as many as touched him were made whole."  Make me whole, Father!  In Faith.  In my prayer life.  In my Christian life.  Make me whole!

Saturday, January 6th

Today was spent in our warm home.  Thank You, Lord, for supplying our needs!

The rest of the food for our supper was not going to be ready for another hour.  We had not eaten lunch, so we were hungry!  We decided to go ahead and eat our salads and wait for the rest of the meal to be finished in about an hour.

Yes!  Finally ready to eat!

Delicious!

We are looking forward to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ tomorrow and fellowship around God's Word!  Have a wonderful Lord's Day!