Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Deut 6–8
Chronological Order: Num 7
Get Plugged In
Happy Leap day!
I see three major themes in today’s reading on which I could comment. I’m going to try to briefly touch on two of them since I have written before on the third. I am referring to the story of Herod and John the Baptist, the return of Jesus’ disciples from the mission field, and the feeding of the five thousand.
Herod seems to have been a man driven more by his passions than by his brain. He tended to pursue his passions only to discover later how much discomfort those choices would inflict. Herod married His brother’s wife. Under Judaic Law, he committed adultery. How could he possibly have thought that committing adultery wouldn’t have been a terrible affront to the people over whom he ruled? The answer to that question is he didn’t think. He saw something he wanted and he took it.
This is not my only evidence of Herod’s rash behavior. Upon witnessing his step-daughter’s dance he was so overcome with passion that he recklessly promised her anything she asked for. Now you don’t have to be parent of the year or the greatest dealmaker ever to know he wasn’t thinking when he said that. How do you give anyone a blank check? If you are thinking, you don’t. Herod, once again, succumbed to his passions. His brain was not in charge, his desires were.
I’m afraid far too many of us Christians have a similar problem. Our desires can cause us to act before thinking of the consequences. Why do you think Jesus said the following about being His follower?
Luke 9:23 ESV
“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”
I quote that verse often. I wonder if you’re tired of it. I’m afraid I quote this verse often because it is foundational to our life as followers of Christ. When we submitted our lives to Christ we put him first, others second, and ourselves last. When we allow our desires to drive our thoughts and actions, we have put ourselves in the place of Christ. This is absolutely wrong. When desire grabs hold of you remind yourself whose you are and deny yourself. Don’t find out later what a mistake you’ve made.
The second thing I want to mention in today’s post is the fact that after the disciples returned from their missionary adventure, Jesus took them away to a secluded spot to rejuvenate them.
Mark 6:30-32 ESV
“The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.”
Now if you think I’m going to make a case that you need to take a vacation every year you are wrong. Notice Jesus didn’t take them away to Disney World, or to a ball game, or some other tourist attraction. He didn’t even take them to the beach. (Okay they did get on a boat so there was probably a beach nearby, but that is not where they were going.) Where did He take them? He took them to “a desolate place”. There are no distractions in a desolate place. What do you think they were going to do in this desolate place? They were going to pray and read Scripture if I’m any judge of the thing.
What is the best way to rest and be restored? It isn’t in running from place to place. It isn’t even in sitting around the house or sleeping. True restoration is found in the presence of the Lord. We run through our days from morning to night with our engine running at top speed. Our weekends are full of non-stop chores, and family and sports activity, and then we start things all over again on Monday. We then take a one or two week vacation where we tend to be almost as active as when at work. Is it any wonder you are exhausted?
The 23rd Psalm tells us how we can be restored.
Pslam 23:1-3
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.”
Yes our bodies do need rest and it does make sense to get away from the daily grind for the sake of our bodies, but do you know what gets even less rest than our bodies? Yep, our souls. How much time do you spend in the presence of God? Let me tell you that I think you spend too much time away from the source of power. Your spiritual batteries run low and you struggle through spiritual challenges because you fail to recharge on a regular basis. I plug my phone in every night so it is recharged and ready to go the next day. How often do you do the same for your spirit? What is the old saying – “you have not because you ask not”? Brothers you need daily quiet time with God.
Get plugged in guys and get the power He is offering you!
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Deut 3–5
Chronological Order: Num 5–6
That Old Time Religion
I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this, but I have a couple of times. I’m referring to coming in to a company as the “new guy”. I’ve come in to a company and for a time it seems everyone hangs on my every word as if I’m speaking some kind of divine revelation. After a while, however, the newness wears off and I can’t get anyone to listen to a word I say. Eventually there is a new “new guy” and he will tell my coworkers the same things they have been ignoring from me, but respond to him as if he is speaking pure genius. I wasn’t a genius when I started working for those companies any more the new “new guy” was a genius.
You know, you might have experienced something like this in your own life. Remember when you were dating your wife? I’ll bet she hung on your every word. Now she can’t believe the stupid things that come out of your mouth! It is simply a matter of that old saying “familiarity breeds contempt”.
That saying is actually based on a bit of Scripture from today’s reading.
Mark 6:4 ESV
“And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.’”
The people in Jesus’ own hometown could not picture Him as a prophet let alone the Son of God. They had known Him as a child growing up, they knew His family. How could someone of such lowly beginnings be the Messiah? It seems it is easier for us to get excited about something new than about something with which we are familiar. I see this play out in American Christianity. The same people who have come to reject Christianity will often embrace Buddhism, Islam, New Age-ism, and any other number of “isms” because it is new and exotic to them. These folks seem to bounce from one fad to another. They keep looking for an answer that has been right in front of them for a long time.
This makes me sad. They hurt so much, and will hurt even more in the end. This problem, however, is not reserved for the lost. I’m afraid many in Christendom exhibit this same problem. We keep looking for that preacher or teacher who will tell us something new; who will explain things in just the right way. Sometimes we are looking for someone who will make us feel good about ourselves. My heart breaks for these folks too. Truth is not a fad and there is little for us to feel good about in and of ourselves. True joy in life, the only way to truly feel good about ones’ self, is found only through the indwelling presence of Jesus Christ. This truth has been around for over 2,000 years. It doesn’t need spinning, it doesn’t need elaborate illustrations, it simply needs a heart surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The people of Jesus’ home town of Nazareth really missed out when they overlooked who Jesus is.
Mark 6:5-6 ESV
“And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.”
Jesus had performed miraculous things in other parts of Israel but the unbelief of His own neighbors kept them from experiencing the fullness of Christ. You and I can keep looking for something that has been right in front of us all along as well. Brothers, give me that Old Time Religion. I intend to daily place my life under the authority of Jesus Christ. I am going to read my Bible and spend time in prayer and I am going to watch in amazement the things God will accomplish through His children. Jesus is all I need.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Deut 1–2
Chronological Order: Num 3–4
Pray For Your Children
How often do you pray for your children? In today’s reading a man with a 12 year old girl asks Jesus to come and heal his daughter for she was close to death. Unfortunately the girl died before Jesus got there. Jesus, however, went and saved her from death. He grabbed her hand and told her to rise. Every miracle we witness Jesus perform demonstrates His immense power to save and heal both physically and spiritually. There is nothing He cannot do.
I have a 12 year old daughter. At a very young age she claimed to accept Christ but she has been unwilling to be baptized. She was at one point afraid of water in her face, and since has become shy about a lot of people watching her. It is my great desire that my daughter know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior but I cannot force her to make the decision to do so. What I can do, however, is ask Jesus Christ to open her heart and mind to His truth. I can pray that God call her to Him and that He make it possible for her to hear Him.
It is no small thing to pray for our children. There is power in prayer. It is foolish to say “all I can do is pray”. It is wisdom and power itself to confidently pray for the salvation of our children. There are two spiritual disciplines that are essential to spiritual life. One of those disciplines is daily Bible reading, the other is daily prayer. Prayer is not simply reciting a “To Do” list to God. Prayer is a time of fellowship with Christ. It is time to open your heart to Him and then to listen to what He lays on your heart in return. He has much to tell us if we will only listen.
Brothers, spend time in prayer for your children; lay their safety and salvation before Him and then listen to what He has to say to you in return.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Num 34–36
Chronological Order: Num 1–2
Legion
We read a short passage today and I’ll only make two short observations. First, it never ceases to amaze me the power of Jesus Christ over Heaven and Earth. Jesus has absolute power even over the demons.
Mark 5:6-10 ESV
“And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.”
This isn’t just one demon but a hundred demons all residing within this one unfortunate man. Jesus had the power not only to send them of the man out but to determine where they went. The passage goes on to say that Jesus “gave them permission” to go into a herd of pigs. Do you have any doubt that Jesus will win the final battle? I don’t.
My final observation concerns what happened with this man who was now freed from the bondage of these demons. He asked to go with Jesus but Jesus sent him elsewhere.
Mark 5:18-20 ESV
“As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.”
In the past I have asked the question why, once we are saved, we don’t immediately go to Heaven to be with Jesus? I say again that Jesus has sent us into the world to mature spiritually and to spread the Gospel. I have also said that these two things happen simultaneously; while sharing the Gospel we mature spiritually. This saved man wanted to go with Jesus but Jesus told him to go tell his friends how much the Lord had done for him and how He had mercy on him. That man did as he was told and proclaimed the saving work of Jesus Christ.
Are you any different from this man? Were you not once in bondage to sin? Did Jesus not free you from the power of sin? Why has He not taken you to Heaven yet? He has not taken you yet because He has a job for you to do. He has sent you to your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to tell them all that He has done for you.
Get to work brothers!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Num 32–33
Chronological Order: Lev 26–27
Don’t Stop Growing
Today we read several of my favorite parables – the parable of the Sower being first among them. I’ve commented on that parable several times over the past couple of years so I won’t focus on that one again today. The focus of most of these parables is on growth. We have the parable of The Sower, the parable of The Seed Growing, and the parable of the Mustard Seed. All of them are about seeds which are the beginnings of growth and fruitfulness.
I have been a Christian for a long time and yet I do not fully reflect the character of Christ. What is wrong with me? I submitted my life to Christ; I am a new creature in Him, why do I still stumble, why am I not yet perfected? Friends these parables tell us why. A seed must be planted in fertile soil; it then must receive the right amount of rain and sunshine. Even with perfect soil, rain, and sunshine it takes time for a seed to grow.
At our moment of salvation we are a new creature we just haven’t grown into our full potential yet. Think of a human baby; he is new but he has a lot to learn about who he is and how to function as an adult. It takes time to grow up spiritually just as it does physically. Now we should use our understanding of growth to excuse bad behavior. Excusing our own bad behavior only slows down our growth. We need to be focused on the end result and continue to progress toward that goal.
Jesus tells us that the mustard seed is the smallest of seeds but when it is grown it is larger than all the garden plants.
Mark 4:31-32 ESV
“It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
You see we are not to remain small little mustard seeds. We are to grow into big strong mustard trees with large branches so that others, still growing, can take shelter with us, and find comfort in our shade and strength. Maybe you are just a little sapling. Maybe you are a young tree with just a few branches. Maybe you are a more mature tree with a solid trunk and many branches. No matter your current state of growth there is always more growing to do. Keep growing brothers and be fruitful.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Num 30–31
Chronological Order: Lev 24–25
The Rejection Of Pardon
Jesus died for the forgiveness of sin but He tells us in today’s reading that there is only one sin which is unforgivable. But wait, didn’t Jesus die for all sin not just most sin? Yes He did die for all sin. Of course Jesus hadn’t died at the time He said this, so one could argue that He was saying the sin of these individuals was unforgiveable because He hadn’t yet died for sin. I don’t really follow this line of thinking so maybe I haven’t stated it correctly. Any act a person commits can be forgiven if that person truly repents of that act, asks for forgiveness, and places themselves under the authority of Jesus Christ.
Now, how does one come to a point of repentance? It is God’s Holy Spirit that moves in the lives of people calling them back into right relationship with Him that causes a lost person to acknowledge they are a sinner before a Holy God and causes a desire to repent unto salvation. The only way a sinful act can be forgiven is if one responds to the Holy Spirit. If you reject the urging of the Holy Spirit you have rejected salvation. You cannot be forgiven because you do not desire forgiveness. It isn’t the act that prevents salvation, it is the attitude of the heart and mind. If the Holy Spirit is truly part of the Holy Trinity then rejecting Him is rejecting God – this is blasphemy.
I’m afraid I’m hopped up on Benadryl due to a savage case of Hay Fever so I’m not sure if I’m making sense. Let me know if I need some correcting here. Bottom line, the only unpardonable sin is the rejection of pardon.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Mark 6:14–44
