How do you cause Jesus to marvel?
25 Feb 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
Numbers 14
Numbers 15
Mark 6:1-32
And He marveled because of their unbelief (Mark 6:6).
How do you cause Jesus to marvel?
Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth. This visit displays the mercy and grace of God because one year earlier His former community rejected and sought to kill Him (Luke 4:16-29). Jesus’ teaching “astonished” its hearers (Mark 6:2). The verb “astonished” means to strike, and has an intensifier affixed to it. Although being strongly struck by His teaching, they stumble over His lineage. Jesus responds, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house” (Mark 6:4). Jesus brings the twin virtues of grace and truth to Nazareth, but “He could do no mighty work there” (Mark 6:5). Why? Mark answers, “And He marveled because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:6). Even though they were struck by Jesus’ words, He could only be astonished at their unbelief.
Employment Point: Cause Jesus to marvel because of your faith and not unbelief.
———————
Reflections
“The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?”
Numbers 14:11 NIV
- I think we are like that at times.. we have been through so much, we have seen His hands in many situations. We sing praises and give thanks for His goodness but yet during trials or seasons of tests, we only complain or wanted an easy way out-reverting back to our old ways.
- This is a reminder that when we come to Christ, we are all made new. We are called to live a different life altogether. No more selfishness but one that is more and more Christ-like.
- We ought to often sit and reflect upon ourselves. Are we bearing fruit of the Spirit or the devil. Do we have more love for others or bitterness? What may be stopping us or preventing us from bearing good fruits? Is it because of others or ourselves? What have we done to set ourselves apart from others?
“For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’”Numbers 14:34 NIV
- scary isn’t it, to have our Lord against us? For every day they explored, they have to suffer for a year. They went exploring for 40 days and had to suffer 40 years. We know the Lord is gracious and lifts up those who are righteous. Each of them who did not believe was struck down and none of them can enter the promised land. Only their descendants are able to do that.
- Caleb and Joshua had warned the people but being adamant on doing things their way, they did not listen.
- Reminder to always heed warnings and not to be stubborn. Only His ways and His will be done. One should not force and do things which the Lord forbid for He will not be with us.
“The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven. “ ‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the Lord and must be cut off from the people of Israel. Because they have despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, they must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them.’ ””
Numbers 15:28, 30-31 NIV
- The Lord can forgive all who sin unintentionally but for the ones who know and still is defiant, it is a different situation altogether. This reminds me of the prodigal son who defiantly asked for his share of inheritance and went away. The Lord allows and he suffers.
- Though it is not the Lord’s intention for people to suffer, and especially not for Job for example, there are certainly situations where we really deserved to be punished or suffer due to our own decisions. At times, this is a must because we do not listen and He will have to let us feel and understand that pain so that we will eventually understand. Just like we cannot force a horse to drink water but it is better to obey than to resist.
If we remember the centurion who told Jesus not to trouble Himself to come to his house because he understands authority-Jesus marvelled at the faith of the centurion. Here we are being reminded to have faith in our Lord like that of the centurion and not let Jesus marvel at our unbelief.
——————
The Poverty of Service
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
February 25
If I love you more, will you love me less? — 2 Corinthians 12:15
Natural love expects to be returned, but Paul didn’t care if he was loved by those he served. He was willing to be ridiculed and overlooked, to be made poor and humble, just so long as he was bringing people to God. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Giving his all wasn’t a burden for Paul; it was a joy: “I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well” (12:15).
The way Jesus thinks about service is not the way the world thinks about it. Jesus Christ out-socialists socialists. He says that in his kingdom the greatest will be the servant of all (Matthew 23:11). The real test for us lies not in preaching the gospel but in washing feet, in doing the things that are little esteemed by the world but count for everything with God.
Paul didn’t care what God’s interests in other people cost him. The instant God asks us to serve, we start making calculations. “God wants me to go there?” we say. “What about the salary? What about the weather? A sensible person has to consider these things.” When we think like this, we’re being selfish and cautious about how we serve God.
Paul was never cautious. He embodied Jesus’s idea of a New Testament disciple, one who not only proclaimed the gospel but became, for the sake of others, broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold.
———————-
Reflections
This is the kind of love that I wish to give and the kind of love that expend myself as well, in the hope that others see Christ in me. I received so much blessings and love from our beloved Lord and Abba Father and what is this that is worth nothing in heaven but everything on earth.
People know how to put money in the bank for savings to build up their earthly wealth but what kind of money are we putting in heaven’s bank? Is what we are doing building treasures in heaven or are we drawing advance cash from heaven (using blessings all for our own sake and not for His ministry).
It’s common for people to count their cost, especially when they want to become missionaries. Money is one of the top most concerns. Even mentors will tell you to make sure you are well prepared. For me, my mindset is slightly different. The Lord will not send anyone who is not ready. When He is preparing us for our calling, He would have anticipated what we needed. Of course always wait till He calls and not run ahead of Him.
Remember when He told His disciples to go out two by two and not to take anything with them? He did not say to pack with them loaves of bread, food, wine or anything that is meant for travel but to just travel empty. They needed no packing!! They were meant to just go and He will provide. This is totally based on faith and trust and nothing else.
—————————-
Lent devotion Day 8/53
taken from YouVersion, Lent for Everyone
Lent for Everyone is a devotional created and written by N.T. (Tom) Wright. For each day of Lent, there is a reading chosen from the Gospel of Matthew, plus a reflection by Wright. These readings have grown out of a project encouraging Lent reading in Northern England. This is the second in a three-volume series based on the Revised Common Lectionary of the Church of England.
Today’s reading:
Matthew 7
WEEK 1: WEDNESDAY
One of the great lies of our time is to suppose that because Jesus brings forgiveness, and urges us to be forgiving people, meek and gentle, there is no sharp edge to his message. To hear some people, you'd think the whole of the Christian message was simply a call to accept one another, never to judge another person. Indeed, doesn't Jesus himself tell us not to judge, at the start of this very chapter (7.1)? That verse is quoted again and again by people who would do well to ponder this present passage.
Jesus is quite clear that there are such persons as false prophets, as people who appear to be his followers but who in fact have never known him. Life would be a lot simpler if we could tell at a glance who the true and the false prophets were, but the only guide Jesus offers is the picture of the tree. Sooner or later — and it may be a lot later, or it may happen quite suddenly — the fruit of someone's life will appear, and then you can tell whether they were real or whether they were fooling themselves and others.
In Jesus' own day there was no shortage of such people. Jesus spoke more than once about people who would turn up and declare that they were prophesying in his name, or in God's name, and would lead people astray. The second and third generation of the church faced the same problem, and developed an interesting rule of thumb: if someone arrives claiming to be a prophet, but asking for money, they are false. We might expand that into the usual trio: money is so often linked with sex and power. Some false teachers offer their followers sexual licence in contrast to Jesus' rigorous standard, as in 5.27—30, 15.19—20 and 19.3—12; part of the lie, today, is that Jesus didn't mind about such things. Others are eager for personal power, as you can tell when someone challenges them. And, yes, some today are in it for the money.
When Jesus uses the image of the tree, he is drawing, as so often, on an ancient biblical picture. The first Psalm speaks of God's true people like trees planted by streams of water, which will produce fruit at the right time, while the wicked are like chaff blown around by the wind. Jeremiah develops this picture (17.8), thinking of the tree that sends out its roots to look for the water it needs. Lent is a time when we should be doing that: sending out our roots to look for the water of life. The challenge of these verses isn't simply one of learning to recognize true Christian teaching from false. The challenge is to become, ourselves, trees that bear good fruit, people who not only say 'Lord, Lord' when it suits us, but who apply ourselves to the much harder task of discerning and doing God's will.
TODAY
Gracious Lord, draw our roots to yourself, the living water, so that we may grow strong and bear good fruit.
—————————
Let’s pray:
Father bring to our minds the things that stumble ourselves and also others. Help us to open our minds and our hearts to seek You and overcome any unbelief that we may have. May we, as Your children, be able to live out the Christ-risen life so that others will see the good fruit that stems from You. Help us to abide in You and be sure footed of teachings that are coming from false prophets so we will recognise and not follow. In Jesus’s name we ask and pray. Amen 🙏🏻
Amen
ReplyDelete