Monday, April 25, 2011

Jesus Marveled!!!

As we finish our look at Mark 6:1-6, we will look at verse 6 today:



Mark 6:6

6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.



Wow! Jesus among His own people and as He leaves them His final thought is....wonder and astonishment at their unbelief in Him! It makes me wonder what He thinks about the unbelief in this nation of ours. There are only two times in scripture that mentions Jesus marveled. One is here of course and the other is in Matthew:



5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!



Here Jesus was marveled at belief, in the passage in Mark we are looking at He was marveled at unbelief.



When we encounter folks who reject Jesus, I want us to see what Jesus did... He left and went to others who were teachable! But remember this was his second time back to His hometown, the first time they tried to kill him...but He still went back!



Let us make sure Jesus is not marveled at us this Monday morning!



Tom

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Belief has an effect!

As we continue to look at Mark 6:1-5 remember that Jesus own hometown people did not believe He was the messiah. Look at what the consequences of that are in our verse for today:



Mark 6:5 (New King James Version)

5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.



This verse does not say Jesus choose not to or decided not to, it says "He could do no mighty work there". Why is that? I believe it is pretty simple...they did not believe or put their faith in him. If you study scripture you know that many times as Jesus healed folks He told them your faith has made you well!!! Same thing here! I have a good idea that the few sick that He did heal as told in verse 5 had faith in Him!



So this brings us to the question for us this morning. Has Jesus had a mighty work in your life? From what I see in God's Word all you have to do is believe and put your faith in Christ and mighty works will happen! Salvation will be the first mighty work and I praise the Lord for that this morning!!!



Tom

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

No honor.

Continuing in Mark 6:1-6. Today we look at verse 4.



After Jesus had taken the insults as we have read the last couple of days, and knew that His own people were offended at Him, this was His reply:



Mark 6:4

4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”



The Messiah, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Savior of the World was without honor among His own people. Have you ever left like that? Are you living for Jesus but your family and friends are not and they are harassing or putting you down all the time. Welcome to Jesus's world. The only difference is Jesus deserved honor...we do not! Although God does tell us if we preserve He has rewards awaiting us in heaven! God's Word warns us many times that following Him would be difficult:



2 Timothy 3:12

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.



Acts 14:22

strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”



James 1:2

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,



So this morning if you are struggling with rejection from family or friends because of your faith, know you are not alone. Christ has been through it and is by your side this morning!



Tom

Monday, April 18, 2011

Offended at Jesus!

We continue on in our study of Mark 6:1-6. As we seen the last time we were together the slamming of Jesus continues. Check out these verses:





Mark 6:3

3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.



Those that were listening to Jesus,( remember theses were his hometown people), continued to ask questions that were used to question Jesus and make accusations that what He was saying was not true. The first question in verse 3 was "Is this not the carpenter"? Carpentry was a decent job but for these folks it certainly was not the job a Messiah would have. The second question was "Is this the Son of Mary?" This was asked in the form of a put down. You see in the time of Jesus you were referred to as the son of the fathers name not the mother. Next question was "doesn't he have brothers?" Like any of us common folk. Can't you just hear the doubt in their voices? They also threw in the question "are not His sisters here also?" Then the key words that prove Jesus had no honor among His own people...."so they were offended at Him". That sounds so familiar with our country right now. How many are offended at the truths of Jesus? More and more everyday don't want to hear of or about Jesus.



Guess what Jesus told us in the Word that when we follow Him many will be offended but to not lose heart and stay faithful and proclaim the Word! Stay strong my brothers and sisters!



Tom

Friday, April 15, 2011

Sarcasm!

Continuing in Mark 6:1-6...we will look at verse 2 this morning:



Mark 6:2 (New King James Version)

2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!



Ever been the victim of sarcasm??? I am pretty sure all of us have. As Jesus went to his home folks and began to teach in the synagogue He became the victim of sarcasm. When it says those that were hearing were astonished it was not in a good way. Look at their next words....and I will paraphrase a little bit....where did He get these things??? He is crazy! And what makes Him think He is so wise? Where does this wisdom come from? It's not from God! How does he perform these miracles? Can you hear the sarcasm? Remember folks accused Jesus of performing the miracles by the work of the devil.



We will continue to see more sarcasm in the next verse on Monday. But what I want us to see in this verse today is when you are doing the work of God many will doubt what you are doing and many times it may be those who are most familiar with you...like people in your home town! Keep working anyway...Jesus did!



Tom

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Coming home!

For the next couple of days we will look at Mark 6:1-6. Today lets look at verse 1.



Mark 6:1

1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.



There is nothing quit like coming home is there? After you have been away for some time, it is always a great feeling to come home to familiar surroundings. Jesus had healed toe woman with the blood issue and brought Jairus's daughter back to life. From there He was headed home. For most this would have been a great homecoming but last time Jesus came home this happened:



Luke 4:16-30

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth



16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”



20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

23 He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’” 24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath,in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.



As you can see it did not go well, they wanted to kill Jesus! So why is Jesus coming back home again? Because He loves his people. Jesus wanted to give them another chance. Would we? This is an example from Christ that we need to try and continue to reach people no matter the cost.



So this morning do we need to go home and tell the gospel???? No matter the cost!



Tom

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

What does the Lord require of you?

I shared this with the FCA group at Waverly this morning and wanted to share it with you also. Here is the verse:



Micah 6:8

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?



God tells us in this verse that He has shown us what is good. Where does God show us what is good? In His Word of course. This is again why it is so very important that we are reading His Word daily!!! In the beginning everything was good in the eyes of God...until the fall of man. Sin entered into the world and now very little is good. It takes work and the power of the Holy Spirit for man to be good in Christ. Christ only can make us good when we accept Him as Lord and Savior. In these next verses God reveals what He requires of us outside salvation to be good! First He says to do justly. Treat others fairly. That doesn't sound to hard does it? But it is. As humans we tend to treat some better and some worse than others but God says he wants us to treat folks justly or fairly or equally...How are you doing in this area? Second, God says to love mercy! Oh my...can you honestly say you love mercy? We love that God has mercy on us but do we have mercy on others? We are to apply the same mercy to others as God has shown us!!! This is very hard but can be done through the power of Christ! Thirdly, and the key to all of these requirements is to walk humbly with God. Are you walking with God this morning? Have you spent time with Him reading and praying? If we are truly walking with the Lord this morning all His requirements will fall right into place and will not be hard to do!!!!



After we receive Christ, God does expect us to meet His requirements. As the book of James says this work for the Lord proves our faith!



Tom

Monday, April 11, 2011

Just a reminder....

As we start out on this Monday let us remember these Words from Christ to Peter:



Matthew 26:75

75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.



Will we deny Christ today? We will have many opportunities through the day and through the week to share Christ with others. We can share by our words of how Christ loves us and others. We also can share by the way we live our lives each day. We have the choice like Peter each day to live and stand for Christ or we can deny Him which should cause us shame when we do.



So how about this Monday, whom shall you serve this day????



Tom

Friday, April 8, 2011

Never gets old!

I don't know about you but for me these verses never get old even though they are the most well known in the Bible.



John 3:16-17

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.



I think often about this verse. How can God love me or you this much? To give your only son up for a sinner like me. It is just hard to comprehend. It is such good news for us though. Because God gave up His Son for our sins if we believe this we will not perish but have everlasting life. WOW! God has made it so simple but yet so many still don't believe. Verse 17 says God did not send Jesus to condemn us like we deserve but that through Jesus's death on the cross we will be saved! That is LOVE!



Thank you Father for saving a filthy rag like me.



Tom

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Where is your heart?

Isaiah 29:13

13 Therefore the Lord said:





“ Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths

And honor Me with their lips,

But have removed their hearts far from Me,

And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,



Another great Word from the Lord. How many folks talk a good game? We talk about how much we love the Lord and how close we are to God but it that the truth? Thousands of years ago the Prophet Isaiah was dealing with the same thing. Israel would talk about how much they loved God. They would talk about how close they were to God. But Isaiah said that the Lord says their hearts are far from me. Isn't that the same for many inside and outside the church today? For so many their hearts are far from God and is proved by the way they live their lives. Instead of living by the Word of God they live by what man thinks is right or wrong. The same thing was going on in Isaiah's day. God was warning them to get back to a right relationship with Him! God told them not to take counsel from man but from him. When we do that and we follow after God's Word we prove where our heart is.



So what about it today? Where is your heart? Trusting in man or God?



Tom

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Are you going to get any rewards?

As we continue on in Matthew 16:24-27. Today we will look at the last part of theses verses:



Matthew 16:27

27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.



Well in previous lessons were asked "what would we give in exchange for our souls?". That was a very thought provoking question. Today we are told Jesus one day will come in all his glory along with His angles. Oh what a day that will be. It will be so exciting for those who have trusted in Christ. For those who haven't well it will be horrible. This verse also tells us that when Jesus comes he will also reward according to each ones works. Let me remind you that your work doesn't get you to heaven. Only faith in Jesus Christ gets you to heaven. The rewards are going to be given for your service to Christ after you have received Him as Lord and Savior of your life. You will be rewarded for things like sharing the gospel to the lost, loving others, self-control, giving out of your abundance, faithfulness to the Word of God, tithing, and many other things found in the Word of God. The book of James also tells us that our work for the Lord proves our faith. So let me ask you this morning if Jesus came right now would you be receiving any rewards? Secondly, would there be any proof of your faith????



I can hardly wait for the return of Christ...how about you???



Tom

Monday, April 4, 2011

What is worth your soul?

We have been looking at verses from Matthew 16:24-27 the last few days so today we will look at this verse:



Matthew 16:26

26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?



All of us need to stop and think long and hard on these questions this morning from Jesus. We all seem to want more of something. What is that something for you? Money, sex, drugs,clothes, you fill in the blank. Jesus point blank asks us if you have everything your heart desires but end up losing your soul...what good is it. I heard a preacher say the other day that when we die and wake up in hell is there anything we would not surrender at that point to get out of there??? Of course the answer is no but we had better be thinking about that question NOW! For when death comes knocking it will be too late then. The next question Jesus asks is on the same line but worded a little different....what would you give in exchange for your soul? Is there anything. Before we jump in and say no we had better think through our lives right now and see if we have something in our life right now that is keeping us from Jesus!!! Lots of folks are exchanging Jesus for the lusts of this world. That is why Jesus told us the the gate is narrow for the believers but the gate is wide for the lost!



Take a little time this morning and talk to God and think about the Word of God this morning....your soul may be riding on it!



Tom

Friday, April 1, 2011

Give it up.

Yesterday we looked at Matthew 16:24 which told us to deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Jesus. This is the next verse:



Matthew 16:25

25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.



This verse is pretty straight forward. If we want to save our life we must lose it. Well how does one lose their life? They must surrender it to Jesus. This is the ONLY way to heaven. Accepting Christ as Savior and giving control of our life to Him. The verse goes on to say if we give our lives up for Jesus we actually find life. So many folks are trying to find peace and the void in their life in so many ways. Sex, drugs, alcohol, money, relationships, and the list goes on and on. Jesus is telling us in this verse to truly find life give yourself up and follow Him with everything you have. We will not live life to the fullest until we are doing what God designed us for....to worship and serve HIM!



Take a little time to meditate on this verse....let God speak to you!



Have a great weekend!



Tom