June 1, 2012 Spirit's Power

Spirit’s Power Mark 13:9-12 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” YOU see Jesus draw a really grim picture for a Jesus follower, don’t you? Who wants that? I do, and here’s why: I see the Spirit’s power. When Jesus says, “Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” Jesus promises his disciples the Holy Spirit will be with them. The promise of the Spirit’s presence is an extraordinary promise. The Spirit’s presence brings life to you. This is the Spirit that formed the universe at the spoken Word of God! Yes, from the formless void came the world. Into your mind’s void comes the power into your mind to know Jesus’ truth. Words flow before you can think, and words come before you know what you will say. God’s Spirit connects to your spirit; you know God is right there with you! He gives you vision beyond today’s persecution, heartache, joyless days and disappointments to open the eyes of your heart to those around you. You go where you go, do what you do, say what you say because the Holy Spirit pours into you. Yes, the Spirit is extraordinary power, and he is powerful for you. Pause and consider God’s power is for you.

May 31, 2012 See the Signs

See the Signs Mark 13:4-8 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” 5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.” YOU’VE heard the bad news. “A storm’s coming!” You want to know when, don’t you? You want to know the details, so you’ll be prepared. Maybe, just maybe, you can do something to prevent the storm. As Jesus prophecies the temple’s destruction, the disciples ask the “When?” question. Jesus doesn’t tell them specifically when it will be, but he tells them signs they will see as the “Judgment Storm” approaches. Jesus paints a grim picture. Imagine you are Jesus’ disciple, and he talks to you of impending doom. What would you do? Or should I say, “What will you do?” If you call yourself Jesus’ disciple, you must listen to Jesus’ warnings telling you that wars will rage, earthquakes will destroy, and many false teachers will turn people from Jesus. These things are happening. All creation is scheduled for the final “Judgment Storm”. As Jesus’ disciples then, you don’t know the precise answer to the “When?” question, but you can trust Jesus’ words it will occur. No, you cannot stop the destruction, but if you believe in the Jesus’ words, you will live in God’s new creation. A good Jesus disciple is properly prepared. Pause and consider: are you ready?

May 29, 2012 Self-Focused Teachers

Self-focused Teachers Mark 12:38-40 as he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.” HYPOCRISY is a great evil in Jesus’ eyes. He condemns the Pharisees for the ways they use their status to their advantage. Jesus is particularly harsh as he says they “devour widows’ houses”. What does he mean by that? The Pharisees had the authority to exact an excessive tithe of 20-30 per cent from the people. Such a requirement of a widow could make her homeless. Jesus severely condemns this practice. The Son of God often speaks of widows’ care as a sign of belief in God. And God’s law specifically required the Jews to care for a widow’s daily needs. Causing widows to become homeless was clearly a sin. Now Jesus deals with the sin as he speaks to spiritually “defrock” the ones who wear flowing robes but wear no heart for their people. The Pharisees’ pride has become a stumbling block to the heart of God. Jesus calls them out of their hypocrisy into reality. He wants them to be “real” before God, so they will be “real” before his people. The Pharisees have the knowledge to teach people of God’s glory. But pridefully they point to their own glory. This is a grave sin. Keeping people from God will keep the Pharisees from God forever. Pause and consider: is there any hypocrisy in your heart that might keep someone from God?

May 23, 2012 God's Inscription

God’s Inscription Mark 12:13-17 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn't we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar's,” they replied. 17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.” And they were amazed at him. WHEN the Bible says in Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” God is making it clear he has put his mark on every person who is ever born. Thus, when Jesus says, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.” he could be talking about money, but it is easy to see he is talking about Kingdom commitment. “Yes,” Jesus says, “pay Caesar his coin. Then give to God what is his—your self—you.” Made in the image of God, you are stamped with God’s image. You are clearly his. Give to him your commitment. Pause and consider—a coin’s image changes. God’s does not.

May 22, 2012 The Lord Reigns

The Lord Reigns Mark 12:1-12 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this scripture: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12 Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away. THE TEACHERS acted as the farmers in the parable. They would kill the Son. But the Son reigns over them. Pause and consider the victory is the Lord’s.

May 21, 2012 What Do You Choose?

What Do You Choose? Mark 11:31-33 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’ . . . .” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) 33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” DO YOU wonder, “Where is God when I need him? Is Jesus real for me today? I can hardly believe what the Bible says. Savior? I could use some saving right now, Jesus.” Why is it so hard to see Jesus in your life, do you think? Could you possibly be too much like these questioning teachers of Israel? They kept questioning, but they seldom believed. They seemed to always be demanding one more miracle or two more answers or some self-determined sign that Jesus was conforming to their view of life. They did not understand that Jesus came to change their view of life—life “right now” and life eternal. Jesus walked into their homes, villages, towns, synagogues, cities and temple. He spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, the illustrious wonder of salvation and the joy of forgiveness and love. But they didn’t buy it. Actually, they didn’t receive it. They didn’t have to buy it. Jesus was giving it to them. He was giving all they needed, and they refused it. There’s a deadly truth about people that is deeply disturbing. It goes like this, “When people face change or death, they choose death.” It’s true, isn’t it? Keep up the smoking, drinking, overeating, doing drugs, driving too fast, sexual immorality...ignoring Jesus. Pause and consider what Jesus gives to you is life for you.

May 20, 2012

Hinge Point Mark 11:29-30 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John's baptism — was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!” WHAT’S your response when some person or persons consistently doubts you? Are you frustrated and hurt from their persistent challenges to who you are? Of course you are, and so is Jesus. He has cleansed the temple of ungodly activity. He has repeatedly shown the miracles of Heaven come to earth. He has preached forgiveness and love. Again and again and again he steps into the public forum to debate the legalists and bring hope to those without hope. All he wants is to love on his people. And all the educated teachers do is say to him in effect, “Who do you think you are? Who gave you the right to cleanse the temple, to judge us and to remove our source of profit?” Jesus’ response is designed to get them to remember their response to John the Baptist. The people of Jerusalem went out into the Jordan to be baptized. John was a popular prophet. People believed him to be the Messiah and that his works were the works of God on earth. Jesus has drawn a line. If the teachers won’t admit John’s baptism came from heaven, then what is the point of him telling them, “My authority is from heaven.” It’s useless to keep preaching to the “deaf”. You probably know that. Some people will never listen to you because they don’t want to hear your truth. Question is, are you willing to hear Jesus’ truth? Pause and consider Jesus’ has come in the authority of God to speak his truth.