Seriously? Jesus and the disciples are on the lake in a boat in the middle of a big storm and Jesus is sleeping. The disciples wake him up by yelling at him for not caring about them. When Jesus rebukes the wind and instantly calms the storm, the disciples say, “Who is this man?”
Really? Who is this man?
I’m hoping that you and I will ‘get it’ faster those those guys. Jesus loved them but he had to be very frustrated with them. He loved them in spite of how they were acting and in spite of their lack of faith.
Just like he loves us in spite of how we act sometimes and in spite of our own lack of faith.
We know the end of this story so we know that the disciples got it and they gave their lives for it. It’s the reason we know Good news today. The disciples not only got it, they also shared it.
Category: February
The Answer to all of Life’s Questions
The Book of Mark starts off with the ‘Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God’.
I forget sometimes how blessed I am to have a personal relationship with the ‘Good News’. I never realized how much the Good News really changed the way I view everything until my husband and I got involved with Apartment Life Ministry. We lived in an apartment complex and we cared for our neighbors. We shared our faith with them most often in actions and listening instead of testimonies. As I listened to them describe their issues and their problems and the hurts in their lives, I had a new understanding of how Jesus really is the Good News. He was the answer to all of their questions. A relationship with him was the piece that was missing in every one of their dilemas.
We were truly blessed to be able to share with our neighbors the Good News and we saw some of them accept the truth and believe.
Thank you, Dear Father, for the Good News that is Jesus Christ, your son. Please open up our eyes to the people around us who need to hear this Good News.
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Capital L
Matthew 28:5 What a perfect scripture to be reading today!
The angel tells the women by Jesus’ tomb not to be afraid. Jesus wasn’t there anymore because he had risen from the dead!
His body was no longer laying dead in the tomb. He had been beaten and ridiculed and stabbed and whipped and spit on and then crucified.
For you. And for me. That’s how much he loved us.
That’s how much our Father loves us today.
He sends us a huge, forever Valentine in these verses which sets us free from guilt and sin and death and fear and emptiness and hopelessness.
Dear Father, We celebrate your love for us today! Happy Valentine’s day!
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Stirred Up Hearts
Can you imagine what it looked like when the whole community of Israel went into their tents and came out with so many offerings that they had all of the materials needed for the Tabernacle? Exodus 35: 21 tells us that their hearts were stirred and their spirits were moved.
And then The Bible goes on to tell us that all of the people volunteered their skills. Some of the women were skilled in sewing while others were skilled in spinning. God gifted many of the craftsmen with the special skills that they needed in order to build the sanctuary. I wish I could have seen that sanctuary – I bet it was spectacular!
It’s still happening! When I look around me, I see people everywhere that God is gifting with special skills to accomplish what he wants done today. When our spirits are moved and we bring our offerings to God with a willing heart, he enables us to do his will – sometimes in truly spectacular ways and sometimes in special, small ways. But always in ways that bring joy to us and glory to him.
Dear Father, we ask you to move our spirits and stir our hearts today so that we are ready to do the work you will enable us to do right here in our neighborhood, our school, our workplace.
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My Tent
When I read about Moses meeting with God in Exodus 43:42, I imagine Charlton Heston walking into a tent and a cloud lowering over it. That would be a truly awesome experience!
And then I imagine me sitting on my couch with my Bible in my hands (like I am right now) and a cloud lowering over me as God talks with me. Because that’s what he’s doing when I read his word – he’s talking with me.
It’s a very intriguing image, isn’t it?
As we sit down with him and listen, what are we hearing?
When I read these instructions from God about all of the different sacrifices the Israelites needed to make, I’m thinking about my life and is there anything I need to give up (sacrifice) in order to get into a closer relationship with God?
Dear Father, like Moses, we ask you to let us know your ways so that we may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor.
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A Holy Hassle
When I was a young mother, I attended one of the best Sunday school classes of my life. In the class, an older mother (Grandma Holly for those of you that knew her) shared some of the family values and traditions that she had started in her family. We immediately adopted one of her traditions.
Sunday morning has always been an important time for me – a time set to meet with my church family and worship God. When I became a mother of 2 young children, the Sunday dynamic quickly changed to being one big hassle from the beginning to the end. If you have ever had little kids, you know what I mean. The struggle to get everybody up, ready and out the door on time created way too much stress for a ‘day of rest’ like Exodus 31:15 tells us. It was hard to enjoy going to church and even harder to get anything out of it except a headache.
The tradition we adopted was to spend Saturday night preparing for Sunday. Just like Jewish families prepared for the Sabbath on Friday night, we decided to do as much as we could to get ready for Sunday on Saturday night. So our Saturday night dinner table discussion included our plans for Sunday – what we were going to wear, what time we were leaving for church and what we were going to eat afterwards. We even ate dinner by candlelight quite often on Saturday nights as an indication that this was a special dinner just like the Sabbath dinner is for Jewish families. We stopped planning anything on Saturday night that would cause us to be out too late.
Amazing what some preparation can do! Sunday morning became almost hassle-free. Everyone knew the plan and the expectations. This also helped when the kids moved into teenagerhood because they were rock solid on knowing our family value of being prepared for Sunday and attending church together on Sunday morning. As they grew older, the Saturday night expectations changed but the habits of our Sunday morning routine were established so there were very few issues.
This was a truly great tradition for our family!
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I’d Like to Close My Eyes
I could really use a newer car, how about you? What do you have on your list of things you would really like to have?
I try not to think about buying a newer car because I know what happens if I think about it long enough, it changes from a ‘want’ to a ‘need’. Suddenly I’ll be saying that I need a newer car when, in fact, I don’t. My Maxima is now 11 years old but it’s in great shape and running well.
Matthew 25:29 convicts me about making good use of the things I already have. God has blessed me abundantly and he expects me to be a good steward of the things he has already given me. I don’t think that having a constant list in my head of more ‘things’ that I want really honors him because he has already given me so much. I really think the ‘abundance’ that Jesus talks about in this verse doesn’t necessarily mean material stuff. In my experience, it’s more about the abundance of peace and contentment I receive when I focus on all that God has already given me.
So I try to stay out of the materialism trap but it’s very hard. Especially when I see those newer Maxima’s on the freeway all around me every morning. They really look nice! I would shut my eyes, but that’s not a good idea 🙂
So I’ll just keep reading God’s word and asking him to help me soak up his wisdom so I can apply it to my life everyday. And I’ll focus on doing a good job with the things he has already given me.
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No one knows…..
when Jesus is coming back.
In Matthew 24:36, God tells us that only he knows.
Then why do some people and some religions spend so much time and so much effort in trying to figure out when the world is ending? Prediction after prediction, translating sign after sign, memorizing Revelations – what’s it all about?
It’s pretty clear that God knows and he’s not telling.
If he thought it was important, he would be telling us. The Bible is jam-packed full of all of the important things God wants us to know.
Some of the things that are really important he repeats over and over such as loving him with all of our hearts, minds and souls and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus said these 2 commandments are what it’s all about. Short, clear, to the point.
It’s not about signs, predictions or weird creatures with eyes all over their bodies. It’s not about the end of the world, it’s about loving God right now with everything we’ve got. So how are we doing?
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God, our Parent
Reading Exodus 20 -23 can be a little boring, let’s admit it. There are alot of instructions for everything from what to do when your ox gores someone to when to return your neighbor’s cloak.
I think it’s all more interesting if we read it remembering that the Israelites had been slaves for hundreds of years. They were used to having their masters tell them what to do, when to do it and how to do it.
We remember in Exodus 17 where people were waiting in line all day to talk with Moses about all of their issues. Luckily Jethro stepped in and suggested that Moses teach some of the other honest men how to help people with all of these decisions that they didn’t know how to handle. Now we see in Exodus 21 -22 where God is bringing the teaching of right and wrong down to the level of all of the people.
From my perspective, this is much like the process of parenting. Af first, the parents tell the little kids what to do and when to do it. Gradually, the parents move into helping their children make good decisions. Maturity grows when the children internalize what is right and wrong and start to make good decisions on their own, with little help from the parents (except when asked…but that’s a whole different subject : )
As we read on we will be able to see if the Israelites decide to grow up, learn and mature or if they close their ears to the teaching and experience the consequences.
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A Supernatural Team!
Exodus 17 tells us that the warriors of Amalek attacked the Israelites and Joshua took 
his army out to fight them. While they fought, Moses stood on top of the hill holding the staff of God up in the air.
As long as Moses’ arms staying in the air, the Israelites were winning. When his arms got tired and Moses dropped his hands down, the army would start to lose. When Moses could no longer hold his arms up, Aaron and Hur stood beside him and held up his hands for him. As a result, Joshua’s army won the battle.
Together they did something that they could not have done alone.
I know from my own experience that this is why God gives us people who walk our journey of faith with us. There will be things he will ask us to do that we won’t be able to do by ourselves – we’ll need a team. There will be events in our lives that shake us and we’ll need a team to help hold us steady upon our Rock. Anybody who really wants to grow their relationship with God needs to be a part of a Bible Study group. They become your team and God uses this team to bless you, to challenge you and to develop your walk with him.
I have blessed by participating in LOTs of different Bible study groups and one of the anchors in my life is a group that’s been meeting for over 13 years at 6 am on Thursday mornings. Thank you, dear Father, for giving me people to take this journey of faith with!
Come with me on a Journey through the Bible 