Mark 1
... Immediately ...
Mark says this 9 times in this one chapter: verses 10, 12, 18, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, and 42.
Jesus never put off anything for even a moment. He always did what He needed to do immediately, and He accomplished everything He needed to in only 3 1/2 years.
Many of us struggle with the procrastination that is acceptable in our society today, even knowing that it displeases our Father in Heaven.
Show me, Father, what You would have me do today, immediately, and not put off anything I can get done today. Please strengthen me in this weakness, and continue to work on me and in me to make me more like Jesus. Teach me Your ways, Father, as Your Son demonstrated by doing everything "immediately."
Keep me from wasting any more of the limited time You have granted me. I know my days are all numbered, so help me accomplish what You have planned for me before Time began. Restore the "years the locust has eaten," and help me to serve You wholeheartedly.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, August 4, 2017
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Supplies Or Spirit
Psalm 20: 7
Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; but we will boast in the Name of the Lord, our God.
David was a very highly skilled military genius. Today, instead of chariots and horses, he would say tanks, bombers and submarines, or even atomic or biological weapons. The message he is giving us here is that no matter what our worldly provisions are, they are all worthless without the wisdom and power of our Lord God behind us (and before us, and above and below, and all around us).
Like David, I realize that in myself I have nothing that is strong, or righteous, or commendable. I can never win any battle in my own strength. I must turn to my Lord every time, for every battle. I cannot depend on how He delivered me the last time, even though the situation seems similar; He may have a different plan for this new battle. I must seek His face every time.
O my Father, please teach me Your abilities and capabilities, train me and equip me to be an acceptable servant to You, my Lord. Help me to know what You would have me do in all the areas of my life: relationships, possessions, actions, words; my own attitudes toward all these things.
Thank You for being with me, for upholding me, placing my feet on Your Rock which is Jesus.
Continue to work in me and on me, Father, and hold my hand tightly, not letting me wander or stray to the right or to the left, but walking straight.
Let this day and the things You accomplish this day bring You all the honor, credit and glory forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; but we will boast in the Name of the Lord, our God.
David was a very highly skilled military genius. Today, instead of chariots and horses, he would say tanks, bombers and submarines, or even atomic or biological weapons. The message he is giving us here is that no matter what our worldly provisions are, they are all worthless without the wisdom and power of our Lord God behind us (and before us, and above and below, and all around us).
Like David, I realize that in myself I have nothing that is strong, or righteous, or commendable. I can never win any battle in my own strength. I must turn to my Lord every time, for every battle. I cannot depend on how He delivered me the last time, even though the situation seems similar; He may have a different plan for this new battle. I must seek His face every time.
O my Father, please teach me Your abilities and capabilities, train me and equip me to be an acceptable servant to You, my Lord. Help me to know what You would have me do in all the areas of my life: relationships, possessions, actions, words; my own attitudes toward all these things.
Thank You for being with me, for upholding me, placing my feet on Your Rock which is Jesus.
Continue to work in me and on me, Father, and hold my hand tightly, not letting me wander or stray to the right or to the left, but walking straight.
Let this day and the things You accomplish this day bring You all the honor, credit and glory forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Man's Steps
Proverbs 20: 24
Man's steps are ordained by the Lord, how then can a man understand his own way?
We all think we are thinking all our own thoughts and making all of our own decisions. But our freedom of will only extends to the boundaries our Creator has placed on us. Everything we can choose or decide is still within the "fenced yard" He has placed us in. So everything we can do is still within the Plans God has determined for each of us.
And, even so, have you ever done or said anything that you hadn't planned? That was God, Who has "ordained your steps." Aren't you glad that God did that for you? He probably saved you from a lot of trouble.
I remember one time on my way to my daughter's, I realized I was thinking very critically of her as I drove, so I prayed that my Father would put His words on my lips. While we were visiting, I "heard" myself telling her something very encouraging, just the opposite of what I had been thinking on the way! That was God! Thank You, Father! He surprised me that time!
Has He ever surprised you? He will always make sure that His Plans will succeed, and He uses the choices we make to move things along. Even when we choose to do or say something not positive, or even sinful, God can still use even those for His purposes. As a matter of fact, the "worse" the situation can be, the "best" God can bring out of it! Consider the worst thing that Mankind has ever done, executing the Lord God as a common criminal! Yet God used Jesus' death to pay our eternal debt, now He can forgive us and let us into His Heaven!
But don't ever do what you know is wrong because God can bring good from it. You will still bear the temporal consequences, and also damage your witness for Christ. You will never know the benefits God would bring out of your sinful action, if He chooses to do so at all.
This is a consolation only for the mistakes we make, not knowing the right yet. But we do need to learn to make better choices, by learning His ways, which are so far above our ways that we can never attain to them without His help and enabling.
Dear Father, please teach us more and more of Your ways and Your thinking processes. Draw us ever closer to Your side, to walk with you and commune with You every day. Continue to mold us and make us into the very image of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Man's steps are ordained by the Lord, how then can a man understand his own way?
We all think we are thinking all our own thoughts and making all of our own decisions. But our freedom of will only extends to the boundaries our Creator has placed on us. Everything we can choose or decide is still within the "fenced yard" He has placed us in. So everything we can do is still within the Plans God has determined for each of us.
And, even so, have you ever done or said anything that you hadn't planned? That was God, Who has "ordained your steps." Aren't you glad that God did that for you? He probably saved you from a lot of trouble.
I remember one time on my way to my daughter's, I realized I was thinking very critically of her as I drove, so I prayed that my Father would put His words on my lips. While we were visiting, I "heard" myself telling her something very encouraging, just the opposite of what I had been thinking on the way! That was God! Thank You, Father! He surprised me that time!
Has He ever surprised you? He will always make sure that His Plans will succeed, and He uses the choices we make to move things along. Even when we choose to do or say something not positive, or even sinful, God can still use even those for His purposes. As a matter of fact, the "worse" the situation can be, the "best" God can bring out of it! Consider the worst thing that Mankind has ever done, executing the Lord God as a common criminal! Yet God used Jesus' death to pay our eternal debt, now He can forgive us and let us into His Heaven!
But don't ever do what you know is wrong because God can bring good from it. You will still bear the temporal consequences, and also damage your witness for Christ. You will never know the benefits God would bring out of your sinful action, if He chooses to do so at all.
This is a consolation only for the mistakes we make, not knowing the right yet. But we do need to learn to make better choices, by learning His ways, which are so far above our ways that we can never attain to them without His help and enabling.
Dear Father, please teach us more and more of Your ways and Your thinking processes. Draw us ever closer to Your side, to walk with you and commune with You every day. Continue to mold us and make us into the very image of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
The King's Heart
Proverbs 21: 1
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord, He turns it wherever He wishes.
We need to pray for all our elected and appointed government officials, so that God would lead them to make the right and best decisions for our Nation and our people.
Many Nations have ungodly leaders, or those who don't understand what would be best, so they need us to pray that God would lead them, as He said He would.
Please, O Father, lead our leaders to seek You for Your ways so they will bless us their populace with the good that You desire for Your people. Father, if they don't know you yet, please draw them to Yourself, and if they do know You, then draw them ever closer to Your side. Father, may all our leaders have Your wisdom, compassion and thought processes to align with Your purposes for each of us and all of us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord, He turns it wherever He wishes.
We need to pray for all our elected and appointed government officials, so that God would lead them to make the right and best decisions for our Nation and our people.
Many Nations have ungodly leaders, or those who don't understand what would be best, so they need us to pray that God would lead them, as He said He would.
Please, O Father, lead our leaders to seek You for Your ways so they will bless us their populace with the good that You desire for Your people. Father, if they don't know you yet, please draw them to Yourself, and if they do know You, then draw them ever closer to Your side. Father, may all our leaders have Your wisdom, compassion and thought processes to align with Your purposes for each of us and all of us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, July 31, 2017
Place Of Refuge
Psalm 142: 5-6
I pray to You, O Lord, I say, "You are my place of refuge." You are all I really want in life. Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.
Our persecutors can be debts, they can be wayward children, they can be a circumstance forced on you by the weather. Anything that makes us feel overwhelmed, not able to do whatever is needed to resolve the situation.
O my Father, You are my place of refuge, Lord. You really are all I want in this life. I am feeling the pressure right now of this pressing situation. Please rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Please provide the help I need to deal with all the mud and trash and destruction this flood has put on me in my basements. Show me what I can do to clear out all the mess, and return this house into the home it should be.
Then, Father, any prospective buyer will see it's possibilities and take this property off my hands at last. I know You have been preparing the person(s) You would have here, who would be able to use this place for Your purposes.
Strengthen me, now, to go downstairs and deal with this enemy.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I pray to You, O Lord, I say, "You are my place of refuge." You are all I really want in life. Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.
Our persecutors can be debts, they can be wayward children, they can be a circumstance forced on you by the weather. Anything that makes us feel overwhelmed, not able to do whatever is needed to resolve the situation.
O my Father, You are my place of refuge, Lord. You really are all I want in this life. I am feeling the pressure right now of this pressing situation. Please rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Please provide the help I need to deal with all the mud and trash and destruction this flood has put on me in my basements. Show me what I can do to clear out all the mess, and return this house into the home it should be.
Then, Father, any prospective buyer will see it's possibilities and take this property off my hands at last. I know You have been preparing the person(s) You would have here, who would be able to use this place for Your purposes.
Strengthen me, now, to go downstairs and deal with this enemy.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Had Not Yet Directed Their Hearts
II Chronicles 20: 31-33
Now Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years.
And he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not depart from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. The High Places, however, were not (did not stay) removed; the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.
Asa reigned 41 years, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years. They both had removed these shrines, these "High Places" (Asa in 14:3 and Jehoshaphat in 17:6), but the people kept replacing them, because even after 66 years of godly leaders, the people still "had not directed their hearts" to the Lord Who was their God. They still kept turning to the pagan deities of the peoples around and among them. They were just too seductive.
And people today also are seduced by the same ideas that these pagan idols represented. Our enemy is still deceiving us into believing that God is holding out on us, and we're smart, we're intelligent, we can make our own decisions; we can be our own god. We don't need to ask God what we are to do in every circumstance, what worked before should work again.
But God is still God, He is still our Creator, Who knows us better than we know ourselves, and He still loves us more than we can imagine. He always wants what's best for us, even if what we're going through right now doesn't seem very pleasant. But He has purpose for everything He allows in our lives.
Here in this World we are children in school, and we must endure the testings that come with that. They are all for our benefit. And His glory.
And one day, when we're adult children in God's Family, in the New Heaven and the New Earth, then we will be mature and ruling with Him in His Family Business, His Kingdom.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Now Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years.
And he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not depart from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. The High Places, however, were not (did not stay) removed; the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.
Asa reigned 41 years, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years. They both had removed these shrines, these "High Places" (Asa in 14:3 and Jehoshaphat in 17:6), but the people kept replacing them, because even after 66 years of godly leaders, the people still "had not directed their hearts" to the Lord Who was their God. They still kept turning to the pagan deities of the peoples around and among them. They were just too seductive.
And people today also are seduced by the same ideas that these pagan idols represented. Our enemy is still deceiving us into believing that God is holding out on us, and we're smart, we're intelligent, we can make our own decisions; we can be our own god. We don't need to ask God what we are to do in every circumstance, what worked before should work again.
But God is still God, He is still our Creator, Who knows us better than we know ourselves, and He still loves us more than we can imagine. He always wants what's best for us, even if what we're going through right now doesn't seem very pleasant. But He has purpose for everything He allows in our lives.
Here in this World we are children in school, and we must endure the testings that come with that. They are all for our benefit. And His glory.
And one day, when we're adult children in God's Family, in the New Heaven and the New Earth, then we will be mature and ruling with Him in His Family Business, His Kingdom.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Jacob And Esau
Genesis 33: 4
Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Wow! Jacob didn't know what to expect from his brother. The last he knew, 20 years earlier, Esau wanted to kill him. But God told him it was time for him to go home, and what an eventful journey that was!
Jacob was very highly on edge with approaching Esau and hearing that Esau had 400 men with him! That must've been a very nerve-wracking night, with everyone up all night, driving the animals, and the women with their children, crossing the river, as they approached the meeting. And then Jacob was alone and wrestled with the Angel that night, resulting in a limp to remind him to rely on God.
Then his trepidation turning to relief and joy when Esau accepted him favorably, no wonder they both wept! Their emotions went from one extreme to the other.
We are not given any information at all about what happened to Esau, to change his attitude toward his brother from hatred to love. But God knew that those 400 men with him weren't an army to wipe out Jacob's whole family. God knew it was time for Jacob to return home, to the land God had promised to give his descendants. And now God has made Jacob His prince, in changing his name to Israel (a prince with God).
O my Father, You took special care of Jacob the whole time he lived with Laban; and You also took care of Esau, changing his thinking processes so that he would welcome his brother home.
And, Father, you are also taking care of me, teaching me what I need to know, shaping my understanding to conform to Your Truth, and molding me into a vessel suitable for Your King's Table; making me fit to be Your own child, to work with You in Your Family Business, Your Kingdom.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Wow! Jacob didn't know what to expect from his brother. The last he knew, 20 years earlier, Esau wanted to kill him. But God told him it was time for him to go home, and what an eventful journey that was!
Jacob was very highly on edge with approaching Esau and hearing that Esau had 400 men with him! That must've been a very nerve-wracking night, with everyone up all night, driving the animals, and the women with their children, crossing the river, as they approached the meeting. And then Jacob was alone and wrestled with the Angel that night, resulting in a limp to remind him to rely on God.
Then his trepidation turning to relief and joy when Esau accepted him favorably, no wonder they both wept! Their emotions went from one extreme to the other.
We are not given any information at all about what happened to Esau, to change his attitude toward his brother from hatred to love. But God knew that those 400 men with him weren't an army to wipe out Jacob's whole family. God knew it was time for Jacob to return home, to the land God had promised to give his descendants. And now God has made Jacob His prince, in changing his name to Israel (a prince with God).
O my Father, You took special care of Jacob the whole time he lived with Laban; and You also took care of Esau, changing his thinking processes so that he would welcome his brother home.
And, Father, you are also taking care of me, teaching me what I need to know, shaping my understanding to conform to Your Truth, and molding me into a vessel suitable for Your King's Table; making me fit to be Your own child, to work with You in Your Family Business, Your Kingdom.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)