from my perspective
Time is a precious gift from God
by Pastor Dennis on 07/15/15
Mark 6:30-34 Sabbath Rest
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20.8) Martin Luther asked, “What does this mean?” He answered: “We should fear and love God, and so we should not despise his Word and the preaching of the same, but deem it holy and gladly hear and learn it.”
What does the LORD say? “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:9–11)
What is required of Christians? In Christ we are free from the burden of the law for salvation but that does not lessen God’s instruction for our good to devote and set aside time to worship the LORD. In fact, because Jesus has freed and redeemed us we should gladly take time weekly to worship and praise Him. (see i.e. Acts 2.42-46, Hebrews 10.25, Gal. 4.8-10) Furthermore, just as taking daily nourishment is good for the body and necessary for life so is a daily meal of God’s word necessary for our soul, our spirit.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus you know our burdens and our shortcomings. We know time is a gift from You; moves our minds and wills to use it wisely. We place our lives at Your feet depending on Your mercy and grace to raise us up and give us rest. Amen (let it be so)
Next Sunday we will explore Jesus’ command, “Give them something to eat.” (Mark 6:37) Jesus commanded them to give out of the LORD’s abundance. His disciples feared it might cost too much (read: the LORD would not provide).
Let us ponder God’s Word this week: take time each day; imagine how Jesus’ words could affect your life and pray that God, the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your heart to God’s message for you.
Monday: Deuteronomy 28.1-14
Tuesday: Mathew 6.19
Wednesday: Luke 12:22-34
Thursday: Matthew 13.18-23
Friday: John 14.23-30
Saturday: Share what God has revealed to you with a friend.
Only Jesus can weed out the weeds
by Pastor Dennis on 07/15/15
Mark 6:7-13
Every child and sometime must learn to walk on their own. Jesus sends His disciples with very little of their own stuff, so that they can learn to be dependent upon the power of His Holy Spirit and the hospitality of strangers.
Hospitality was a sacred duty in Palestine as it is in rural America. It was expected that the village would offer a place to stay and eat but when expectations were not found, Jesus gave His disciples clear direction, “…leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” To ‘shake off the dust’ was a clear action that not even the dust on their feet of such a place should be carried along with them.
“So, they went out…” and where they found receptive ears and hearts, they called for repentance. And where they found repentant hearts they “cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.” Oh, that today we would find receptive, repentant hearts so that God’s children might be healed of destructive spirits!
Let us pray: Lord Jesus you know our burdens. We place our troubles at Your feet. We fall to our knees depending on Your mercy and grace to raise us up and give us rest. Amen (let it be so)
Next Sunday we will explore Jesus’ command, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31) We might protest, “But I have so much to do – I can’t take time to rest.” You might have heard how I resist taking vacation but I do not resist taking the life-giving time to be in God’s word in prayer.
Let us ponder God’s Word this week: take time each day; imagine how Jesus’ words could affect your life and pray that God, the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your heart to God’s message for you.
Monday: Genesis 2:2, Exodus 20:8-11
Tuesday: Mathew11:28-30
Wednesday: Luke 4:16-19
Thursday: Luke 13:10-20
Friday: John 5:2-17
Saturday: Share what God has revealed to you with a friend.
Rise up and Go out
by Pastor Dennis on 07/15/15
Mark 5:21-43
All the elements of tragedy are found in today’s Gospel lesson. A child is supposed to become and adult and live a long life. Good and honorable parents are supposed to enjoy their daughter’s family, especially their children’s children. Illness is to be short-term. Life is not supposed to be this way but in fact these situations are all too common. I suspect we can all identify with one or the other of these not-supposed-to-happen situations and join in the plea of Jairus when he cries out to Jesus, “Come lay your hands on her that she may made well and live” or the join in the hope of the woman who having heard about Jesus desperately comes up behind him believing if she can only touch his garments, she will be “made well.”
Our Lord Jesus is faithful: He hears Jairus’ cry and goes with him; He feels the touch of the woman and does not hold back his power to heal. The woman-child is commanded to “arise”. For thousands of years the cry of God’s children to be ‘made well’ is met by God’s faithfulness.
Our Lord commands His children, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Let us pray: Lord Jesus you know our burdens. We place our troubles at Your feet. We fall to our knees depending on Your mercy and grace to raise us up and give us rest. Amen (let it be so)
Next Sunday we will explore when Jesus sent out His Disciples and “gave them authority over unclean spirits.”(Mark 6:7-13) We might ask, “Are there still unclean spirits? What are they? Does Jesus still expect His followers today to cast them out? How?” To answer to this question let us ponder God’s Word: take time each day; imagine how Jesus’ words could affect your life and pray that God, the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your heart to God’s message for you.
Monday: Mark 1:23-27
Tuesday: Mark 9:17-29
Wednesday: Luke 4:31-37
Thursday: Luke 11:17-26
Friday: Acts 5:12-16; 8:4-8
Saturday: Share what God has revealed to you with a friend.
The Commands and Declarations of Jesus - June 15-21st
by Pastor Dennis on 06/16/15
Jesus, who is God’s Anointed Christ, declared and commanded God’s true word of salvation to God’s children.
The disciples found Jesus’ teachings to be so extreme that some could not follow Him. (John6:60-69) But Jesus declared, “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” (John 14:21) When Jesus, the Resurrected Christ, ascended into Heaven, He sent the promised Holy Spirit of Truth to walk alongside His Apostles; to “teach all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14) For the Apostles everything changed as the impossible became possible. (Mark 9.23-24)
Next Sunday we will explore Jesus’ command, “Fear Not.” (Matthew 10:31) We might ask, “How is this possible?” The answer to this question is found in the words of Jesus, the Son of God.
This week set aside time to consider Jesus’ words: take time to ponder the texts above and below; imagine how Jesus’ words could affect your life and pray that God the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your heart to God’s message for you.
Monday: Matthew 8:23-27. Jesus Calms the Storm
Tuesday: Matthew 17:1-8. God commands, “This is my Beloved Son, listen to Him.”
Wednesday: Matthew 14:22-43. Jesus commands Peter, “Come.”
Thursday: Matthew 28:1-8. The Angel of God commands “Do not be afraid…”
Friday: Matthew 28:27-30 Jesus declares, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden…”
Saturday: Share what God has revealed to you with a friend.
Sunday: Come to worship the Son of God, who has the power to do the impossible and bring a friend.
Commands of Jesus: You Must Be Born Again by the Holy Spirit
by Pastor Dennis on 06/09/15
Nicodemus and the Son of God…
Nicodemus is a “ruler of the Jews,” “the teacher of Israel.” He was a very important man in the Temple of Israel. When he spoke Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees listened. But there must have been something that Jesus said that brought Nicodemus to Jesus, the “light of God.”
Jesus appears to be a small-town Rabbi from a Nazareth in Galilee. Jesus is not one who has been identified as priestly material. If he were, he would have been brought into temple as a prodigy and trained in the Law, the Torah; God’s instruction on how the children were to live with one another and the world. But somehow Nicodemus sees Jesus as “a teacher from God.”
Nicodemus would not have thought of being re-born by the Spirit of God as opening up to a casual influence of God’s Spirit on one’s life. Nicodemus would have understood “Spirit” as ruach. (Hebrew for the all-powerful, creative breath of God) God speaks and by His breath (ruach) life is created or destroyed. To be “born of water and the Spirit” (Jn. 3.5) would be to be cleansed by the breath of God and inspired, inspirited by the very Spirit of God. This is no small matter but a complete washing away of sin and becoming, by God’s grace, pure and holy. Jesus has raised the bar of a holy relationship with God from merely trying to keep the commandments of God to an intimate spiritual relationship founded and nurtured in God’s love.
As you go out this week consider your relationship with the God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If God’s Spirit within you is tugging at your heart for a closer relationship, pray in the certain knowledge that God who is faithful will begin the process and bring to completion what He has already begun in you. (Philippians 1.6)
Pray: Come Holy Spirit of Jesus;
Shine Your light into the darkness of my heart;
Guide me through Your Words
to speak to those You put on my mind,
Your Word of salvation.
Amen, let it be done according to Your Will Blessed Savior.
