Mark 10:26-31

Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it." (Mark 10:27, The Message)

This pretty much encapsulates the whole conversation. Are you trying to pull off eternal life on your own? Or are you surrendered and surrendering daily?

This is about as bluntly as Jesus could have put it. It is some of the beautiful simplicity of the gospel. Salvation is found in Christ alone. Not to overuse a very popular saying right now (and I hope it stays that way): Jesus. All.

Not "Jesus and." That's nothing but a demonic fraud that deserves a quick trip to the garbage heap. "Jesus and" might salve pride, but it accomplishes nothing. Pride points back to who? Me.

Peter takes a different tack in this conversation and points out that they left everything to follow Jesus. Well, sort of. Some disciples did have wives (and possibly families since that kind of goes hand-in-hand much of the time) and homes, although many of them would lose those things eventually as they pursued their lives of dispossessing of themselves for Christ's sake. I again have to wonder, though: was Peter's motive in saying this much better than that man Jesus had just been talking to?

The only chance we have is "Jesus, all." Yet even Peter's statement seems to show him trying to do something, and it almost sounds like he is justifying himself a little. "Well, uh, commandment keeping (which is what we've thought would do it since birth) isn't going to do the trick, so then giving up everything is what we have to do." Sorry, Peter. Go back to verse 27.

Jesus does, however, uphold what Peter actually says, so perhaps Peter's statement is more sincere than it first looks. Anyone who gives up won't lose out. They'll get it back many times over, plus eternal life (plus big troubles on earth). It's interesting that "eternal life," in The Message, is called a "bonus." The meat of the payback is being with Jesus, whether in this life or the one to come.

My takeaways...

• Surrender salvation to Jesus. "Jesus, only" can accomplish eternal life. I have no chance through commandment keeping, my efforts, or even my action of dispossessing of what I have. If it has to do with what I do, it falls woefully short of acquiring it. Every chance in the world is found in complete, daily surrender.
• Surrender all I have to Jesus. Really, all I have is what He gave me in the first place, so do I really have anything? I'm but a caretaker for a little while. Marriage? Children? Extended family? Friends? Pets? Home? Everything inside that home? Car(s)? Job? (we can't go far enough with this). None of it's mine to begin with. If it's getting in the way of following Jesus, I've made something terrible of it and abused the privilege. The solution? Surrender it back to Him. That might mean losing it completely. This is a matter of intense prayer. I believe, however, when we put anything we have before One, He'll help us know what to do with it, even to the point of walking away from it, and He'll give the strength necessary to do it. I'm actually thinking that it would be wise to do this with my dearest possessions on a daily basis. Surrender them. Ask the One what I should do with them. Listen. Obey.

Father, my life is Yours. I surrender. I depend on Jesus only today. Transform me, and remove anything in my life that hinders that process and the life of following You. Take me to the cross, but bring me through a resurrection experience today. Holy Spirit, baptize me and give me a completely different life, enabled to walk away from anything of the old existence and into the new.

Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field. Begin with me!

Mark 10:17-22

For once a wealthy individual approached Jesus without a seeming thought to test Jesus, but to seek Him. At least his heart was open to something Jesus might share.

His approach is so like the tact many take today. "What must I do to get eternal life?" (Message). Two words belie his theology: get and do. These also belie this man's own internal struggle: have I done enough? Don't tell me you haven't ever thought like this... I think we all have.

Well, there is an answer, and Jesus spells it out pretty plainly. Keep the commandments. But we have to realize that to Jesus, commandment keeping looks different. If its true, as 'll my righteousness (commandment-keeping) is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), then it must mean that even my keeping the letter of the Law is inadequate and empty. I'm going to feel this way even if I never break a commandment, and it seems to me that this was this man's issue. "Teacher, I have--from my youth--kept them all!" Well, if he had done this, why bother continuing the conversation? If commandment-keeping was enough, then as soon as Jesus told him to do that to get eternal life, the fellow should have said, "Well, cool! I've done that! See you in heaven!" But he didn't. He kept going with the conversation, seeking the answer.

I think Jesus loved this man (as it says) because he came to the conclusion that Jesus hopes everyone will come to. That is, "My righteousness, my commandment-keeping, my [fill in the blank] will NEVER BE ENOUGH to 'get' eternal life." In fact, eternal life isn't something you just get... you don't do something to acquire it or earn it. There is always going to be something, this side of heaven, that puts you in the category of law-breaker. Without total and complete surrender to Christ--His death, resurrection, will, and plan--we are all in grave trouble. It's about surrender and acceptance, not acquisition and earning. This is an incredibly hard thing for most humans to grasp. We aren't raised with this kind of mentality. Ergo the man's dissatisfaction.

What was this man's "something"? Looks to me like it was riches. A sense from this man that he "had it all" and had achieved ultimate success. He may have kept the commandments, but it looks like he kept them to acquire eternal life, just has he had worked to acquire riches (or maybe he inherited those--makes it maybe even more confusing to figure out how to earn something). Maybe, if he inherited his riches, he was thinking about why he didn't just inherit eternal life as well, since he'd inherited everything else (born with a silver spoon in his mouth).

Either way, his "something" had to be surrendered. It's not about earning. It's not about achieving or conquering. The way of Christ is surrender.

Today, I pray to know what my "something" is that I need to surrender. Maybe it's more like "somethings" (plural). God has much to do with my heart yet, and surrender is daily and it is sometimes really hard. Maybe there's a series of questions I need to ask today:

• What is the absolute most dearest thing to me in my life? (wife, children, relationships, a possession or possessions)
• Am I clinging to the dearest thing as though it's my own? (it isn't)
• Am I tempted to do something today out of a sense of obligation to Jesus, as though I need to earn His favor? Or do I think to respond to His love?
• What do I need to dispossess to enable me to follow Jesus more fully? Does this mean to literally put it out of my sight and reach, or does it mean to surrender it's use to Christ?

Father, walk with me today. Son, transform me today. Holy Spirit, reveal my "something" today that I need to surrender. May I follow You and act out of a loving response, not a desire to earn eternal life. I surrender my life to You. I surrender my dreams and intentions to You. Thank you for loving me so perfectly.

Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today. Begin with me!

Mark 10:13-16

There was a crowd of people there that day, made up of commoners, disciples, and religious authorities. People had different reasons for being there. Disciples were following Jesus to learn. Religious authorities, such as the Pharisees, were there to test Jesus and try to trip Him up in nuances of the Law (which He knew far better than they did as He was there when it first came about).

What is intriguing to me is the reasons for the crowds to be there. Some came to learn. Jesus obliged and taught them. Some were curious to see this wonder-working rabbi that seemed to rile the authorities so much. Some came for healing, either for themselves or for friends and loved ones. Then there was this group of parents that came to Him. They knew enough about Jesus to know that He was knowledgable and powerful. They knew He taught about truths of God's Kingdom, claiming that the Kingdom was at hand. And so they brought their kids so that this misfit with His motley crew of disciples would bless their children. After all, what had they to lose? World authorities were proving to be impediments in their lives, and the so-called religious authorities weren't doing much for them either. Here was a man who offered something different.

Imagine how difficult it would be, then, to witness His disciples trying to keep your kids away from such a man. Think of what this would communicate to them... that God's Kingdom wasn't for kids! That this incredible life that Jesus was offering was only for big people. Imagine the choice parents would be faced with if this was true. Do I leave my kids to follow this man? Do I leave them behind? Or do I pass up on this opportunity to stay with them?

This, to me, is the biggest reason that Jesus was "irate" with them (The Message). It says that they shoed the children off. Jesus came as a child, not as an adult, incarnate as an endangered baby. He was Savior to the nations, and He came for young and old. To shoe away the children was to force them away from the only true source of life that existed (makes me wonder if the disciples really fully believed this yet), and it forced parents to choose between Jesus and their children. I can't imagine something making the Son of God more furious than this. Makes my blood boil just thinking about it.

Do I see a child and immediately react with annoyance? Or do I see a little one and light up inside? Do I make it simple to embrace Jesus (for anyone--in the "simplicity of a child")? Or do I muck it up with my own ideas?

God's Kingdom is for all. And Jesus Christ is the only reason I have any right to touch it at all. My takeaways? First, embrace Jesus--and embrace His Kingdom. Second, never do anything that gets between a child (and a child's family) and Jesus. In fact, go out of your way to make it easier for them! Third, don't muck up the beautiful simplicity of the gospel with my own ideas and takes on things. It's Jesus... only. Fourth, as you observe a child simply loving Jesus, join in! Enjoy Him as a child enjoys Him! Do you feel like dancing over Him? Then dance! Do you want to sing and bounce in place with a little one's energy? Do it! (You wouldn't have that energy but for Him anyway). Fifth (and these come in no particular order), come to Jesus to learn, to be healed, to be blessed, and to lead another (such as a child) to such a blessing. Embrace Him with joy and with the simplicity of a child. Any other agenda is flawed and full of gas.

Father, I embrace Your Son today. Fill me with joy in Him! May I dance in Him today, not just walk! May I be blessed and healed, and show me how to lead another to such an experience. Please bless my children today... may they be fully devoted to Jesus, embracing Him with incredible joy. Help me not to muck up Your beauty with my self--in fact, put that self to death!

Father, fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today. Please! Begin with me!

Mark 10:1-12

This is one of those passages of Scripture that you'd almost as soon not touch. It deals with marriage. To be more specific, it has more to do with divorce. I think that Jesus must have been highly grieved by this. The Pharisees came to him to test him with a really tragic human problem and approach to a question that should have directed them back to God's ideal for the answer. Instead, they tried again to trap him in a nuance of Torah.

I have far too many friends and relatives who have experienced divorce. None will tell you it was pleasant. None would tell you that it was something trite. As I read about divorce in Scripture and read through some comments on the subject from other authors I respect on the subject, I see a few things come through loud and clear.

First, God's ideal is marriage. It is two-becoming-one flesh. It is spirit, mind, and body union. As God looks at a married couple, He looks at one person. I think it's much the same as when we look to Him. He is three, but He is One. The result of such a union is another person, the ultimate expression of the love of two that have become one. It is a union God created, not man. It is not something that should be separated by man, especially on a whim, as it is attacks what He created.

Second, divorce is a concession to sin. Like sin, which is rebellion against God, it results in tearing apart God's creation. God created earth. Man has consistently, throughout history, selfishly destroyed God's creation. Divorce is kind of like a model of what has happened on earth. It is a concession to sin on a couple of fronts. For one, even as Moses wrote what he wrote in Deuteronomy 24 (which is what the Pharisees were referring to here), it was a concession in the Torah to the hard-heartedness of man (i.e. his self-centeredness in marrying her and putting her away just because she displeased him).

Third, Jesus is teaching that it should be avoided if at all possible. The only real exception He ever makes is in the case of adultery. In this case (which is a pretty close approximation to the other gospels' accounts) it could be interpreted as divorcing for the purpose of marrying someone else, which would be adulterous in God's eyes.

Now this is tough. I can understand why the disciples, in Matthew 19:10, would say it's better not to even get married if that is the situation between a man and wife. I think we have to be a little careful here not to pass judgment. Divorce is a sin concession... but it was a concession that was made. Where I start having difficulty is where one party divorces another and makes that party a victim of adultery. I think it's appropriate to read the Bible's total testimony on the subject. If you just stick with Matthew 5:31-32, for instance, sexual immorality is the only reason to divorce someone without it being adultery. When you get to Matthew 19 and Mark 10, it seems to read divorcing and marrying someone else (or for the purpose of marrying someone else).

I think I'm getting close to splitting hairs here. If I'm going to stick with a plain, straightforward reading of the Word, there's a couple of takeaways I can draw.

1. Every effort should be made to avoid divorce and preserve marriage in just about every circumstance. God made it, not people. It's not to be taken tritely.
2. Really the only biblical purpose for divorce and re-marriage is sexual immorality (adultery, or "defiling the marriage bed"). That's tough to accept, but it's a pretty plain instruction in Scripture.
3. If adultery hasn't happened, but the marriage is miserable, I don't think that the parties are mandated to just endure misery. If being apart is the only option, separation seems to be an option (look at 1 Corinthians 7:10-14), but divorce isn't sanctioned at all except for the case of adultery.

Think about it. Jesus has had just about every reason to "divorce" mankind. We have, as sinners, committed adultery against him. We have done things that are extremely displeasing to him. All sin is rebellion against God, and we've all sinned. Yet he still endures with us and loves us to the bitter end. In the end, he is not the one who divorces us. We have to divorce him in order to be eternally separated from him. So maybe it's for us to avoid hard-heartedness, be patient and enduring in marriage, and do everything we can possibly do, with everything at our disposal, to preserve what God has created.

Father, make me patient as You are patient with me. Strengthen and bless my marriage, showing me every option and opportunity to be strengthened. Be close to those who are having difficulty, and show them the same. Fling laboring harvesters into your harvest field today... begin with me!

Mark 9:42-50

Child-like faith brought actual children to Jesus. They saw, heard, and trustingly came to Him. Child-like faith led a man to, in the Name of Jesus, believe in His power and love enough to cast out demons in His Name.

Disciples were concerned with themselves that day. The children and those with child-like faith were concerned only with (and fully dependent upon) Jesus. Only.

Getting in the way of those with child-like, simple, trusting faith spells doom for those wrapped up with themselves and their status. You can't regulate the fruit of raw faith no matter who you are. If you try, you'll be kicking against the movement and work of God Himself, a no-win scenario if there ever was one. Was it not Lucifer who was wrapped up in himself at one point? Was he not concerned with his status in heaven? Did his hands and eyes not cause him to sin? Jesus is speaking not just a truth here that applied to the immediate, but to the eternal. He had personally witnessed the results of selfish motives.

Sin is rebellion. In this case, to rebel against God is to place self over God's agenda. His agenda is inclusive of children and those with child-like faith and raw trust. To get in the way of this is to rebel, and you're better off maimed and blind than to do this.

What are my eyes on today? Are they on my agenda? My needs? The needs that I perceive in the church? In my home? Do I see simple belief and trusting faith and think, "It'll never work... no common sense... there's a process to follow here... experience to gain first... they're crazy!"? Do I get in their way? Any time I look to myself/procedures/systems/traditions/policies before looking at Jesus with raw trust, it's like my eyes or hands getting in the way of child-like faith (which could include my own). Am I suggesting throwing those things out? Not at all! Such things exist for a reason, and policies and procedures are found throughout Scripture. But the eyes and motives should begin and end with Jesus, the One. Otherwise they are false and even become idols.

Put aside status today. Seek downward mobility. Love and support the child-like (including the children themselves). And seek to become more child-like in faith and in deed.

Father, rule over me and this day You have given me. Jesus, transform me, putting the self to death to be raised to abundant life in You. Holy Spirit, put that spark of child-like, trusting, raw faith in me today that leads to loving obedience. God, fling laboring harvesters into Your fields today... begin with me!

Mark 9:38-41

³⁸ “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

This seems to go back to the heart of what the disciples were having a pointless argument about. We saw someone... and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us. Remember, their argument a few verses prior to this was about who among them was the greatest (answer... none of them were... the whole point is to look to Jesus). What's ironic is you go back a bit further and the disciples themselves were unable to cast out an evil spirit, being told that it only happens because of prayer, which is the ultimate act of looking to who? Jesus. Period.

Right before this story, Jesus took a little one in His lap. The Bible doesn't just come out and say it, but you really get the impression that Jesus absolutely loved doing this, and you get the impression that He was really popular with them. If you're a toddler superstar, by the way, take it as a good indication that you're a lot like Jesus! The Kingdom... and all its power and riches... belongs to them!

So, then there's this man who is exercising the power of Jesus' Name to cast out demons. I read this story and am left with the impression that whoever this was, he was embracing the very simple-yet-powerful truth of Jesus at face value. He has power over the forces of evil! In His Name the disciples had cast out evil spirits in the past. Somehow, although we're not told a lot about this man, he embraced the power of that Name at face value and participated in Jesus' liberation of mankind from the powers of darkness. Without this kind of simple, child-like, face-value faith, the man couldn't have done this. And with such faith, powerful things can happen, and people become allies with God! "... whoever is not against us is for us."

I take a few takeaways from this.

1. It isn't about me, or us. If we just look at ourselves for making choices or exercising power, we'll fall flat on our faces (see: disciples trying to cast out the demon at the base of the mountain, Peter trying to figure out what to do when he saw the transfiguration, the disciples arguing about who was the greatest when a little child blew them away).
2. It is about Jesus. Listen to Him. Call upon Him in simple trust, realizing that I have absolutely no power over anything in life if it weren't for Him.
3. Do not oppose those who are partnering with Christ. They will speak and do things that couldn't be done if it weren't for Christ. Even if I don't like it or feel threatened by it, I have no business opposing people who are obediently following Christ. Hey, if it isn't of Christ, it's doom to fail anyway, so why should I concern myself over it? The point is to stop depending on my self to judge these things anyway.

Father, get my eyes of me, and train them to stay on you. I am nothing. You are everything. Please, Jesus, transform my attitude and my life. Holy Spirit, baptize me and enable me to focus on You alone and to build up those who focus on You alone. Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field... begin with me!

Mark 9:33-37

It seems these disciples were on quite an emotional roller-coaster. First, three of them had seen Jesus transfigured (literally changed right before their eyes). Then the others weren't able to cast out a demon that had kept a boy mute his entire life. Then they were taught (again) that Jesus was going to be rejected, suffer, die, and rise again.

Now Jesus calls them out. Jesus was getting away from the crowds to teach his disciples. There was urgency here, things they needed to know. But on the journey, rather than digest what Jesus was teaching, they were arguing about which one of them was the greatest. Peter, James, and John had seen Jesus transfigured. Their reaction was to let us build memorials. There was no command given to do so, and God's reaction was to simply listen and do what Jesus directed them to do.

At the base of the mountain, the focus was on we could not cast out the demon. Jesus' reaction to them? "This kind can only come out by much prayer" (read, "Yeah, I know that you can't do it. You're not strong enough. Only God can do this through you. Depend on Him").

The disciples continued to be confused by Jesus' teaching about His suffering and death. He wasn't being the Messiah they dreamed about. Jesus' teaching to them? It would be, "If anyone is to be My disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." In other words, embrace the path of suffering that Christ embraces, knowing that in the end the result is real life.

Now those same men are arguing about who was the greatest. It would take Jesus fulfilling His own teaching before they would understand. Jesus' way is the only way of any value. It is the only chance for any of humanity. Until you are ready to start denying yourself and seek to serve each other, you'll never truly be great.

Embrace and serve the little ones. Serve them, even the ones that seem the simplest. Don't get so full of yourself that you forget that God is in love with children and those who think like them. Welcome them, welcome Jesus. Welcome Jesus, welcome the fullness of God. It begins with service. It begins with embracing His path and denying our own.

How do I seek to build up self? What do I do to make myself "feel better" in life? Am I guilty of self-medicating with things of the world (TV, internet, shopping, etc.)? Or am I truly embracing the path of Jesus, taking up my cross, denying myself, and really serving the "least of these"? I am ashamed to admit how much of my life revolves around my desires and search for my happiness. Even the best of intentions get caught up in this. Even "service" is tainted with a desire to feel better about my expression of my relationship with Jesus. I'm encouraged with the knowledge that Jesus is merciful and forgiving and knows my heart. What I want Him to do today is replace it with a new one that really embraces His path for my life.

Father, walk with me each step today. Jesus, transform me completely, taking my self with its heart to the cross in Your body. Holy Spirit, baptize me today, and give me a new heart that beats with love for God and a reflex to obey and follow You. Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today. Begin with me!

Mark 9:30-32

The core of Jesus' teaching with the disciples was quickly shifting. Whereas much time was spent on following him, for the third time in two chapters, Jesus foretells of his rejection, suffering, death, and resurrection. There's something to remember there... he keeps including the resurrection part. Based on Peter's rebuke in Mark 8, however, you'd think the disciples could only hear the first three things.

It's not surprising that this confused the disciples. The Messiah who was healing and feeding the masses, the One who was raising people from death and boldly going to the pits of society with His love... how could He be going to a miserable death? If He was going to be rejected by the Jewish ruling establishment, they had to know what it would lead to. Crucifixion was a pretty nasty form of punishment in those days, but it happened and they knew it. As popular as Jesus had become with the masses, I would have found His prediction to be pretty confusing as well, especially after I had accepted Him as the Son of God, the Messiah. Yet, the path of Jesus was, for the third time, clearly laid out for them.

I don't think I would have spoken up either. It wasn't too long before this that Peter had challenged Jesus on this matter. The result was Jesus looking at Peter and rebuking Satan! That had to sting, for the implication was that it wasn't even Peter that was saying those things, but something far more evil. God's Spirit led Him to believe in Jesus as Messiah, Son of God. Satan led Him to refuse to accept that Jesus' path included rejection, suffering, and death (and, by extension, resurrection).

As I read this, I have to ask myself the question... does the teaching still confuse and bewilder me today? Yes, I know it has actually happened. I believe that Jesus was rejected, suffered, and died. The funny thing is that I really tend to focus on that to the exclusion of the last part... that He rose again! If I am doing this, am I not just as confused as the disciples? Is it not evil leading me to underplay this part of the story?

Here's the Message: Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, dwelled with man. He lived a sinless life. He is the Lamb of God who was rejected, suffered, and died at the hands of men who were being guided by the forces of evil. Sin led to this. But love made Him willing. And it is love and the perfect justice of God that also rose Him back to life. It is love that will also bring Jesus back again make the world new.

That's what Jesus taught. That's what the Bible teaches. If I don't accept all of it, am I not even more confused than the disciples who had yet to witness the resurrected Jesus?

Father, open my eyes! Rule in me. Jesus, transform me, and raise me to life in You! Holy Spirit, open my mind and speak to my heart, reassuring me that Jesus died, but that He lives again and in me! Jesus, come soon... I can't wait to see You! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field... begin with me!

Mark 9:14-27

I think it's significant the the teachers of the law were arguing with the disciples. The last time we saw them in Mark, they were challenging Jesus to produce a sign to prove who He was. They needed a miracle to believe. So, since the disciples were supposed to be able to do what their rabbi did, it's natural that they would start making the same demands of them.

Then, "all the people" (disciples, gawkers, teachers, etc.) saw Jesus (and the three with Him). It says that they were overwhelmed with wonder. It's interesting to me that the teachers of the law are not separated out from this. Remember, Jesus and the three had just come down from the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. If that was anything like what happened with Moses on Sinai, they would have come down shining with God's glory, just as Moses did.

The teachers of the law were arguing with the disciples. Jesus asked the disciples what it was about, but His answer didn't come from the disciples. It came from a man who brought his son to Jesus to have a demon cast out. Again, as the disciples were being taught to do what Jesus did, it's not a stretch that he would have asked them to do the same. After all, they had done this earlier when Jesus had sent them out in pairs. What they were arguing about was that they weren't able to cast the demon out of the boy. Teachers of the law were arguing with the disciples about this. Interesting. The last time they got into it with Jesus, Jesus refused to comply with their demands. Here it appears that the disciples were trying to do something, then weren't able to do it, and now were into it with the Teachers.

So what does Jesus address here? The "unbelieving generation." He doesn't upbraid the disciples. He responds to the whole group, really. The disciples believe, though. Who was this unbelieving generation? Teachers of the law? The crowd? The father of the boy?

Jesus had the boy brought to him by the disciples (and his father, based on the context). He gets the boy out of the crowd. This can't be about the crowds. It can't be about the Teachers who are probably making the same arguments they made earlier... "If He's the Son of God, He should be able to do a miracle to prove it! Since you guys, his followers, can't do it, He must be a fraud!"

Who is the unbelieving? Enter verse 22: "... if you can do anything..." In verse 23, Jesus calls the father out on this. It seems kind of cruel, from a human perspective, the father of a very tormented boy being reprimanded. But think about it... miracles, at this point, are down to confirm belief, not prove Jesus' Messiahship.

Jesus goes through with it. He casts the demon out of the boy, and lifts him up to his feet again. He confirms Scripture, and He confirms belief. The father was desperate. It wasn't about proving anything. The teachers of the law just saw an opportunity and pounced on it (arguing with the 9 disciples). This man just wanted his son back. I imagine all the arguing over his son must have been really messing with him. I can picture him seeing the glory of Jesus, descending from the mountain, and having hope again, yet still knowing the doubt the teachers were instilling in the people. "If" becomes more understandable to me in this light. But the best part of this man to me? "Help my unbelief!"

That is an authentic prayer!

Before the crowds could swoop upon them, before he was in the position of proof verses confirmation, he healed the boy.

As for the disciples, they had to know that it wasn't about proving Jesus. Jesus had proved Himself plenty already and had the Scriptures to back Him up. They had to know that it wasn't about them. "Why couldn't we cast them out?" implies something insidious, that in their minds it was about them and proving themselves (and Jesus, by extension). Why else would they argue with the teachers of the law?

Miracles and the power of God can only be effective because of prayer, where Christ's followers are truly submitted to His will and agenda. If they were truly trying to be like their Master, arguing with the teachers of the law wouldn't have been necessary, and proving anything to the crowd wouldn't have been an option. It has to be about loving the person and submitting to God.

• Do I feel a stronger need to prove Jesus or my own belief? Or is my desire to love people and submit each day to God's agenda in my life?
• Do I feel a need to argue the identity of Jesus? Or is my greater felt need to see Him for who He really is in my life and share that without saving face before people?
• Is following Jesus about me? Or is it really about Him? Should I even care what others think about Jesus-in-me?
• If I'm living like this... submitting, loving, glorifying Jesus, witnessing to who He is in me... do I even need to worry about proof? Could it be possible that miracles (healing, casting out demons) will just happen as a natural outflow from this? If this is the case... how many followers are really out there? Kind of challenging!

Jesus, transform me! Teach me to be submissive to Your will. Help my unbelief! Holy Spirit, fill me! Empower me to love and witness. Father, walk with me! Show me Your glory and the identity of Your Son in my life. Fling laboring harvesters into Your fields... begin with me.

Mark 9:9-13

The disciples' world was already rocked. Jesus had told them that on a "rock" of converted pagans and unbelievers, the kingdom would be established. Peter, on behalf of the disciples, confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Then Peter tried to upbraid Jesus over saying that he was going to be rejected, suffer, die, and come back to life. Jesus turned this around on Peter, essentially, calling Satan himself out for planting such thoughts. The ways of Jesus trump the ways and feelings of humans. His path is the only path to true life and finding our true selves.

On the mountain, Jesus confirmed in an astounding way who Peter had confessed him to be. He was God-in-the-flesh. He was the spotless lamb of God. He was everything Peter confessed him to be, and on the mountaintop he showed himself to be the one and the same power that was there at creation, in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, the same one who gave the law to Moses, the "LORD... the compassionate and gracious God," abounding in love and mercy and forgiveness.

Coming down from that mountain, I find it interesting that Jesus was speaking specifically to Peter, James, and John. Those were the only eyewitnesses to Jesus' transfiguration. They were not to tell about it until Jesus had risen from the dead. I wonder why not? Why not talk to the other disciples about it? Would they not have benefited in much the same way as these three?

I know that these three had a very special relationship with Jesus. These guys were "all-in." I think that Jesus loved that about them. But among the disciples was one who would betray Jesus to the very fates that he was talking about. I think that there must have been some who had to come to conclusions about Jesus' identity differently than the three on the mountain. I wonder if they couldn't have handled seeing Jesus in that light, much like the Israelites couldn't stand looking at Moses when he came off the mountain. At any rate, Jesus knew who needed to see this. After having seen that transfiguration, I can't imagine how confusing it must have been to see Jesus on a cross.

As far as rising from the dead, I wonder why that didn't clear up just at seeing Moses there that day, a man who died but was standing there in front of them on the top of that mountain. It seems like that might have answered that question. Just as Moses died but was risen up and taken to heaven, Jesus would be put to death as well and rise again three days later. Yet they were still not clear on what he meant. After witnessing the transfiguration, it would be hard to believe that Jesus was going to be put to death. If you can't fathom the Son of Man being put to death, it would be hard to fathom his rising from death. But Jesus had discussed this with them already. The disciples were struggling with a human idea of success that didn't include such things as death. The path of Jesus was to be preferred, however, for it lead to real living, their truest selves.

So, in verse 11, it's like the disciples are saying, "OK, next subject... we don't get this rising from death stuff... so what about Elijah?" Well, they had just seen him. So the question about Elijah coming first would have been a little confusing now.

Jesus actually directly addresses the question with these three. No parables here. The Elijah part--the teachers got the idea right on that (but not the identity). Interesting... that seems to happen a lot with the establishment. Right idea, wrong identity (and wrong ways of identifying--human ways as opposed to the ways and paths of God).

Elijah will come first and make everything as it should be for the coming of the Son of Man. The Elijah part, however, isn't the biggest part of the picture. The teachers are missing that. They are missing his identity and purpose. Jesus redirects them back to the Son of Man. Why would the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will be rejected and suffer? In light of what they had just witnessed, that should have been the disciples number one question. It should have been the considered by the establishment too. What the teachers keep teaching has already happened, and they pretty much treated him like garbage (look at what happened to John the Baptist). The Scriptures said that would happen, and it happened to the first Elijah too (the guy they just saw on the mountain). Let's move on. Think about what the Scriptures are saying about the Son of Man! Keep your mind on that! Did the voice not say, "Listen to him"?

Seems like good advice. There's a lot of things we can think about. There's a lot of questions we could ask. But what's the biggest picture of all, the ultimate question to be asking? Is it "What does the Bible say about the state of the dead... the mark of the beast... the right and wrong things to do on a specific day of the week?" Or is it "Who is Jesus? What do the Scriptures say about Him? What is He teaching me? What is His path?"

If Jesus is really all, I truly believe everything else will fall into place. Elijah will be understood, and so will anything that is taught about rising from death. There's actually more of that to come one day!

Father, no matter what the subject, no matter what the text, no matter what the discussion... keep my eyes on Jesus today. Take away my faulty and erroneous ideas and perceptions and replace them with the wisdom and sight of Jesus. Reveal yourself to me today. Fill me, Holy Spirit! Transform me, Jesus! Walk with me, Father! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field... begin with me!

Mark 9:1, 2-8

It wouldn't even be one week before three of those who were listening to Jesus say this would witness Jesus' words coming to pass. Peter, James and John went with Jesus "up a high mountain where they were all alone." There Jesus was "transfigured" before them.

In the Greek, the word for "transfigured" comes from "metamorphao," the same word we get "metamorphosis" from. It literally means to change into another form. So, right in front of these three disciples, Jesus changed into another form. It wasn't that who he was changed, but what he appeared to be was altered.

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this. John Mark tells us that "his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them." Aside from what his clothes looked like, however, this account is pretty vague. It makes me wonder about what John Mark had in mind here (remember, Bible writers tend to explain current reality in the language of the people's history). When Moses was taken alone to the top of Sinai, he saw the glory of God and came off the mountain shining so brightly that the people couldn't even look at him directly. Then it was, "The LORD (YHWH), the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God..." (Exodus 34:6). He took the unpronounceable, totally transcendent name of God in that instance. Was Jesus was revealing to these three disciples who he truly was... the One and the same God that appeared before Moses, the One and the same who was at the beginning, through whom the world was made, the One and the same who both gave Moses the Law and was even now fulfilling it? What a powerful moment!

Elijah and Moses appeared there, talking with Jesus. It's as if they were there confirming to these three that this was indeed the true identity of Jesus. The glory of God was really there, on earth, in the form of a man. While Moses and Elijah were taken into heaven (Moses after his death, while Elijah never tasted death), Jesus came down from heaven. It strikes me that these three disciples actually witnessed here, at the end of the story, the condescension of Jesus... the glory and power that he gave up! They bore witness to the glory and power of the God's kingdom, and what Jesus gave up for them!

I can't blame Peter for what he said. Whenever, in Israel's history, God's power and glory was revealed, the people would set up memorial stones to remind them of what was witnessed. In the heat of the moment, Peter was no more able to process what he was seeing than Moses was on the top of Sinai. I have a funny picture in my mind of Moses standing there with Jesus, watching Peter, and thinking, "Yeah, I was pretty clueless on how to handle this too!" There's nothing that will ever truly memorialize a first-hand witness of God. You can memorialize something he did. Israel did so when they finally entered the Promised Land. Jacob did so after dreaming of a ladder ascending to heaven. But the very glory and presence of God? There are not enough stones in the world.

The part of the story I love most comes next. The cloud appears (kind of like a cloud that led, shaded, and illuminated Israel in the desert?). It covers them and speaks to them (sound anything like Sinai... only even closer?). It says, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"

The Father speaks and identifies Jesus. This is the same Jesus that says to the disciples, "I'll establish my church using you, and building it with those who don't believe!" This is the same Jesus that says to his followers, "My path includes rejection, suffering, and death, but ends with resurrection!" And here is the Father, revealing His Son as the One and Only Jesus, the One who walked with them in the flesh. Listen to him! Follow him! As you can see, Jesus' glory and power is far greater than any suffering you might experience, because the world's got nothing on him!

Finally, once again, they saw no one but Jesus. The fullness and glory of God right there in the flesh, incarnate with them. Transcendent, yet human.

I have seen what God can do. I have seen his miracles. All serve as reminders of who Jesus is and what he can do. I have seen hundreds fed and supplied with just a few donations. I have seen a friend brought back from the brink of death. Memories of these things mean something incredible to me.

But God's glory? The transcendent Jesus? Can't say that I've seen it like this before! If I did, I think I'd remember it. But suffice it to say that faith leads me to the conclusion I think Jesus was driving for that day. He is God! He is the one and the same YHWH, Name above all names! He is Creator and King, the full embodiment of the Father, full of Holy Spirit, transcendent in glory, yet incarnate in the flesh. To believe anything less of Him is to cheapen Jesus, and to cheapen Jesus is to nullify everything He has done.

Jesus, You are ALL! You are King of kings, Lord of lords, Creator, and Name above all names! You are the glory of God in the flesh, incarnate Messiah, my only chance! Reveal Your self to me so that my self dies in Your presence. Raise to life my true self, alive in You alone, so that You will be revealed in me today.

Father, walk with me! Holy Spirit, fill me! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field... beginning with me!

Mark 8:34-38

Jesus was speaking to a crowd in this story, but the message gains meaning considering the exchange with Peter that had just happened. To review, Jesus previewed his future of rejection, suffering, death, and resurrection. Peter, the disciple, might have accepted this as coming from his learned rabbi. But Peter (or Simon), the human being, couldn't grasp this idea. Rejection, suffering, and death did not seem like the way to win people to a cause. It went against anything he thought or felt, against his own common sense. To save, even enhance, your own existence and influence was the way of an adulterous and sinful generation. To lose that life to gain the life of Jesus (including rejection and suffering and death) was to gain your true self--the one that is resurrected in Christ.

Peter had lost his sense of his true self moments after acknowledging Jesus as Messiah. Even Satan would acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Messiah for the world. But it's his intent to lead men and women away from this truth. To cast doubt into the way and methods of Jesus... it's Satan as his best. It wasn't Peter's true self that Jesus was rebuking. It was the self that Satan was pushing back into the forefront, and self dies hard.

The true self is not worth sacrificing to satisfy the self of a wicked generation. There is nothing you can offer that will buy your eternal life. There is nothing of your "self" that is worth saving. It will redeem nothing. It is only the way of Jesus that is worth anything, and that way will lead to rejection, suffering, and death, but then resurrection and a brilliant homecoming. To accept anything less than this path is to show disdain for Jesus.

This is hard stuff to consider in an environment that is extremely self-serving. I am constantly surrounded by the temptations of self-promotion, self-satisfaction, and self-exaltation. I have a hard time even considering the path of the cross because it sounds so extreme! Can we even comprehend it in our culture? The possibility of embracing suffering? And what does this even mean? Are we to leave any luxury behind and voluntarily suffer, or does it mean to obey even if suffering comes from it? Am I supposed to pursue it? It's easy to feel guilty at times that I live in relative luxury while others in the world suffer for their faith. My self hates the thought of rejection or suffering or death. I constantly ask the question: how does the path of the cross play out in my life today?

As I consider this, the word "obedience" keeps coming back to mind. Obedience isn't about just keeping a set of rules. It's about daily listening for the voice of God in my life. He knows where I need to be used for the sake of the gospel. I don't. I will come up with my own ideas that are erroneous on the best of days. I think it's a matter of asking in prayer, each day: "Father, where am I to be an agent of the gospel today? Show me where to go and what to do, what to say or not say. No matter what, give me the fortitude and attitude to obey well." Kind of like the radical prayer, isn't it?

Father, kill self in me. Kill my desires and ideas, replacing them with Yours. Please! Fling laboring harvesters into the harvest field... beginning with me!

Jesus... all!

Mark 8:31-33

The disciples had rightly figured out Jesus' identity. They were all-in for him as Messiah. While at the seat of pagan teaching and practice Caesarea Philippi), Jesus taught about his sufferings: rejection by any and all those in authority and death. He taught about the end-game as well, rising again after three days.

In the place, people degraded themselves for the sake of no-gods that would supposedly bring them fertility for body and earth. People sought their "god" through prostitution and bestiality. It was false worship of the worst variety.

Interesting that this is where Jesus would teach plainly about his own plan in the days ahead. The Jewish establishment was not to degrade themselves as these pagans in calling out to their God. They would degrade themselves in another way. In the name of the true God, they worked to destroy His Son. As I see it, what they did was worse. They defiled themselves in God's Name. It's religion at its all-time worst.

The Kingdom of God--which was to be represented by the church Jesus' followers established--was to be planted on the very people they were then surrounded by. People who defiled themselves for no-gods would be the very ones through whom the Gospel would be established and spread world-wide. This was God's plan. Why was it such a big deal that Peter rebuked Jesus? Because Peter was rebuking God's plan. He was seeing things his own way. It seems like his emotional lenses kept him from seeing things through Jesus' eyes.

This is actually a terrible thing. I think it sounds a lot like what Lucifer did in heaven. Through his own eyes, full of pride and selfishness, he rebuked God's plan and rule, leading many angels to do the same. I also think this is why Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan!" It almost seems like Jesus had heard this kind of thing before and wanted none of it.

Jesus' way was to take up a cross each day and follow him. Human concern seeks self-preservation. It seeks relationship and protection of life (good things, actually, when in proper context where self concern is removed) over the perspective of Jesus.

What a lesson! I think it's among the hardest to learn. Even the best of intentions and concerns look tainted with evil in this light. It's not about human perspective, where we choose the setting, the people, and justice. In God's eyes, these things are very different. Even relationships and our emotional desire for a close friend's preservation have to be set aside if in opposition to the ways and plans of Jesus.

In the movie, "Quo Vadis," Christians (men, women, even children) are depicted in the arena with lions as Nero and Roman citizens watched on. Before they went into the arena, as they were stressed and anxious about what they were about to face (certain death), Peter shows up, encouraging them and reminding them that the pain they were to face paled in comparison to the riches they would experience with Jesus, and that even while their blood was spilled, the Message of Jesus would be firmly established. The Christians then faced martyrdom singing hymns of praise.

Do my human feelings and perspectives prevent me from seeing and believing God's plan? Do my desires for relationships (even the best of them) and success blind me to the truth of Jesus' path and the path of a disciple? Do I see people and refuse to believe that the Kingdom of God can be established in them?

Father, I submit my eyes, perspective, and desires to Yours. May I see with Your eyes. My I be full of your feelings and perspectives. May Your goals and definitions of success become mine. Holy Spirit, fill me! Jesus, transform me! Father, fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field, beginning with me!

Mark 8:27-30

Jesus was taking His disciples where they weren't supposed to go.

Caesarea Philippi was, historically, a center for the worship of false gods. The ancients that came before Christ worshipped the god "Pan." In a cliff above the city, people built shrines and temples to him. The city stood at the base of this cliff. Out of a cave there, water flowed.

The pagans of Jesus’ day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves. To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld—the gates of hell. In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats. Devout Jews would have avoided any contact with the despicable acts committed there. That's why when Jesus took the disciples there, it was a bold act.

Jesus would have been a huge contrast to the false hopes of the pagans there who trusted in dead gods. There is a rich biblical context and lesson to all of this when viewed in the light of what the disciples were possibly even witnessing. This story is also found in Matthew 16:13-20 and in Luke 9:18-20. Jesus first confirms His identity with the disciples. Other Jews thought he was a prophet, Elijah, Moses, or whatever they chose to believe. But none of these figures had the power of Jesus. And what was Jesus' power to accomplish?

In Jesus' day, gates were defensive structures. Thus, the “gates of hell” were to be under attack. Where demonic forces rule the roost, Christ and His followers were to “attack,” taking over and building His church.

Christ's disciples are not to hide from evil. They are to storm the gates of hell!

After Luke’s account, He spoke to them about being ashamed of Jesus (Luke 9:26). He knew that as the disciples attacked evil, they would be mocked, ridiculed, and persecuted (even killed). No matter how fierce the opposition, Christ’s followers were to stay on the attack and never hide their faith.

Following Jesus is not an easy life, per se, filled with worldly rewards, but it comes with eternal reward, the only prosperity that matters.We cannot avoid sinful culture, or run from it and hide. Schools and churches need to be staging areas, training followers to storm the gates of hell (go on offense) rather than hide away from the world (go on defense). We are called to confront evil, not avoid it.

For consideration...

• Do I really trust Jesus with my life? Do I live as if He is truly the Messiah? Who is He to me? The Messiah of Scripture, or a messiah of my own making?
• Do I trust that He has truly enabled and empowered and equipped me to do as He calls? Do I live defensively, or am I “storming the gates of hell” as God directs?
• To those who will not acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, the One, should I cease going to them with this information?

Father, You sent Your Son Jesus to be the world's Messiah. Your Spirit reveals to me that He is the true Savior, my Messiah, the Messiah for eternity. May I trust Him as such. May I trust that You are enabling me to follow Him, to storm the gates of hell as you direct. I submit myself to you. I submit my time today to You. May I die, so I can live only in Christ, completely healed, with a new heart and full of Your Spirit, with the nature, mind, and Spirit of Jesus--a completely new person! Please! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today... begin with me!

Mark 8:22-26

On the other side of the lake, Jesus had a dispute with the Pharisees (8:11-12). While in the boat on the way to Bethsaida, Jesus spoke to the disciples of the “yeast of the Pharisees” (self and self-motivation, need for proof of Messiah, power, Jews-only salvation, etc.). The disciples thought it was about bread. But it was not. It was about self and being unable to see reality because of self and the need for gratification. Jesus was a savior better than Moses (bread from nothing), and His miracles should have been seen in the light of Israel’s past. They (the Pharisees and even the disciples) were blind to reality.

Bethsaida was on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee, the “house of fisherman.” Lots of Jesus’ teaching included fishing illustrations (Matthew 4:19) because this region thrived on the occupation and people understood the language of fishing. Bethsaida was part of the “orthodox triangle” around Galilee and full of devout Jews. A lot of synagogues have been unearthed in this region, and most of Jesus’ miracles happened in this area (Bethsaida, Capernaum, Korazin). Peter, Andrew, and Philip were successful fishermen from here. This is where Jesus fed 5,000. It was a prosperous town.

People brought a blind man to Jesus so He would touch them. They obviously knew Jesus could do something about this man. So they had seen his miraculous signs before. Why was touch—why is this significant?

The woman in Mark 5 had touched Jesus and was healed from her hemorrhaging. Jesus took Jairus’ daughter by the hand and brought her to life. He touched the bread, breaking it and feeding 5,000, then 4,000. He placed hands on the man’s ears in the Ten Towns district and gave him hearing (He told the man to be quiet, but he wasn’t). Touch seemed to be associated with a lot of His miracles. People were impressed by what they could see happening. Touch means something to the one healed, I would think.

Jesus did touch the man, but this didn’t bring immediate healing. He led him outside the village. Why would He do this?

They were in a region full of devout Jews. Perhaps there were a lots of rabbis, teachers, Pharisees around. In Dalmanoutha, the Pharisees badgered Him over proving Himself with some kind of miraculous sign. But healing was to be about the one healed, not in satisfying curiosity or the desire for the sensational. Jesus could have been trying to get the man away from these people.

He spat on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him. I always thought of this as pretty gross, actually. Ancients believed that saliva had healing properties. I can’t imagine that this was what Jesus was thinking here. These were devout Jews. In their Scriptures, spitting on someone is only referred to in a negative way, an act of rejection and contempt. People spat on Jesus after His trial on the day of His crucifixion.

But why would Jesus do this? I’ll take a gander, but understand that it isn’t clearly stated, so more thought is definitely due on this besides my own. Could this have been a way of Jesus showing contempt to the blindness and what Satan had been doing? Was it a concession to this man’s possible belief in what the ancient healers had taught (again, I doubt this answer just based on where they were). Was it a supernatural anointing?

Jesus asked the man, “Do you see anything?” Strange. He didn’t do this anywhere else. He didn’t heal in two stages anywhere else either. But think about it! This follows Jesus’ rebuking of the disciples: “… do you have eyes that fail to see…?” I would assume the disciples may have witnessed this healing. Could this be a lesson for them?

Contempt would be God just giving self-centered hearts a sign to indulge curiosity or a need for a sign to reveal truth. Blindness is seeing as a Pharisee, or seeing as a disciple in the boat whining about not having enough bread. You only see “trees walking around,” not with clarity. Jesus’ touch brings healing to a heart who wants true healing and clarity of thought and life. Sight is restored with the touch of Jesus, and healing means that the self is left dead. There’s no need to make a dead man happy!

Jesus told the man to not even enter the village. I might interpret this as Jesus saying (really to the disciples as much as the man), “The ones who brought you, the ones in the village, are blind. They won’t see this with clarity. They’re seeking the sensational to satisfy themselves. I want you to be healed. Don’t stoop to their blindness, trading one blindness in for another.”

Healing: not just physical. It’s healing of the heart. It’s healing of your perceptions and sight into the things of God, giving you clarity to see what’s true versus what’s false, the things of God vs. the things of Satan.

Father, open my eyes! If I seek You to gratify curiosity, don’t reveal what I’m looking for but what You know I need for new, healed, and complete Kingdom life. I want to see the world through Your eyes. I want to see truth, with perfect sight and twenty-twenty focus. I want desire today to please You, to love You, to follow You, forsaking my self, not trying to make that dead man happy.

Fill me with Your Spirit! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today, wherever that might be. Please, begin with me!

Jesus... all!

Mark 8:16-21

"Enter with the password: 'Thank you!' Make yourselves at home, talking praise."

• Thank you for worship. It is completely life-centering, focusing my heart on what is real and what actually matters.
• Thank you for Sundays and the chance to just be today with family, to relax with pancakes and prosage and the paper! For a little more time to get lost in the Word.
• You have given me so much, and yet so often I catch myself wanting more. Thank you for providing for my every need and then some. May I give the blessing away today.

"By your words I see where I'm going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path."

Read Mark 8:16-21

The Pharisees had accosted Jesus in Dalmanoutha, asking Jesus to prove Himself with a “miraculous guarantee” in spite of the fact He had given plenty. He had ministered to Gentile pagans as well. The “Contaminating yeast of the Pharisees” may have included the desire for more miracles and signs; desire to minister to the right kind of people; to keep the rules; a Messiah that was only for the Jews; to gain power and authority; self; yeast that prevents people from finding freedom in the Lord.

The disciples' reaction to the “yeast of the Pharisees” talk was to turn to their immediate need for bread. They had likely witnessed the confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees. They had also witnessed the freedom Jesus had brought to people: Jews, Samaritans, and even Gentile pagans. Their discussion was about immediacy. It was self-centered. It focused on their needs. It’s almost like they are saying, “The Pharisees would keep us from eating!” A great exercise in missing the point.

As Jesus reacts, I almost get the sense that His radar was out for discussions that revolved around the self/flesh. Hey, for every generation on earth He had witnessed what the self actually did to people. This is the first indication from Jesus that the disciples were way off track. To say this is about bread (physical need, satisfying the self) is to be blind to reality that was happening right in front of them. It proves that their heart was hardened, that Satan was successful in getting them to see this in terms of immediate gratification of the flesh rather than seeing reality with God’s eyes.

So, Jesus basically says, "OK, let’s go over this again. What did you just see, right in front of your face?" In Galilee, Jesus had made a huge meal from nothing, with mostly Jews in attendance. It should have hearkened memories of the Jews’ history with God. Manna and quail in the desert. Creating the world out of nothing. Bringing bread to Elijah at the brook Cherith. God providing when provision seemed impossible. Jesus doing the same, showing Himself to be the Son of God, even better than Moses or Elijah, and providing more than enough. Then He did the same for people who were also Gentiles and pagans. They had not experienced God the same way. For them, this was a new experience. It proved that Jesus was the real thing, not a no-god idol or a myth, but flesh and blood right in front of them, yet more than flesh and blood but God in the flesh! He was what they were searching for, and enslavement to a demonic master was no longer necessary. He is the Son of God, Savior for the whole world! (Maybe pagans and Pharisees weren't really that different, actually... either way of life in that day could easily make "self" into a no-god idol).

Jesus was basically telling them to change their viewpoint… it’s much bigger than they were seeing. It’s not about just you. It’s not about immediate gratification or the flesh. It’s not about just your people. It’s much greater! Open your eyes and see things with God’s eyes! So, “yeast of the Pharisees” changes even a bit here. Their yeast is self. It is immediacy. It is power-hoarding. It is flesh. It is limited and limiting. It is blindness—it is seeing the world through your own human eyes, unable to see with God’s, blind to the greatest reality of all. To them, miraculous signs would have only gratified their own flesh.

There are a few takeways for me here to apply to my life. First, I learn to keep in front of what God has done. How has He provided for me?

• Transportation. I have two vehicles that I didn’t even know I could have a few months ago but desperately needed.
• Family. Really, nothing brings me more happiness than my relationship with my wife. Nothing brings more joy than how awesome my children are.
• I am not hungry. I am not in need of shelter right now. I may take this stuff for granted, but it is a real provision of the Father, not something that I have just done for myself.
• Hope and a future. Not just something immediate, but something eternal in Jesus.

Second, I learn not to turn God’s action and provision for me into self-gratification.

• Don’t abuse the vehicles He’s given me. Care for them. Be good stewards of His provision.
• Daily return to God my family. It’s not my family to do what I want with. It’s His, and He’s given them all to me to care for and cherish, to pray for and with, to lead to Jesus each day.
• Don’t overindulge. He hasn’t sheltered me to want for something bigger and better. He hasn’t fed me to be a glutton. He hasn’t given so I can horde. Be satisfied. Be temperate. Be modest and simple. Look for ways to be generous in spirit and in practice.
• Don’t abuse hope and future. Eternal life isn’t license to do want I want. My future isn’t about my self. It’s about Jesus and who He wants me to be in Him. Value this hope each day with passionate obedience, by caring for the gifts and talents I’ve been given. Die to self daily. Live in Christ. Be full of His heart and His Spirit. Be a new person today!

Father, I plead with you, put me to death. Put me on Christ to be taken to the cross. But put me on Him so that I’ll be raised in Him! Give me a new heart today in place of my old, stony, worn-out and wretched heart. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so I’ll live new in Christ, passionately following You, desiring You and Your Word, obeying You, and growing in You. Give me your mind, thinking, reacting, and feeling as You. Give me Your nature to see, hear, and touch the world as You would, and to speak as only You would speak. May my life be unexplainable except that the Holy Spirit is there and I live in Christ. I am a new creation! I am completely changed! “The old has gone! Behold, the new life is burgeoning today!” May I care for what You have given me, not being a glutton or a hoarder, but satisfied, temperate, and generous.

Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today. Please, begin with me.

"Pile your troubles on God's shoulders—he'll carry your load, he'll help you out. He'll never let good people topple into ruin."

• Corine and Tommy
• Cynthia Hunter
• Hester and his family
• Your Spirit poured out on my family, all of us becoming disciples, taking up our cross(es) and following You.
• Your Spirit poured out on Carrollwood. Your protection. More people praying. More people becoming disciples, connecting to Christ, church, and community.
• Godly leadership for East Pasco.

Jesus... all!