Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Read Mark 5:21-6:13

Here we see Jesus showing His ability to heal and His power over life and death. Note what happens after Jesus raises Jairus' daughter from the dead. Instead of singing His own praises, He immediately wants the girl's needs met. Jesus is demonstrating His own teaching, to love others as you love yourself. Have you met anyone else's needs today?

Chapter 6 starts with Jesus requiring belief from those who want to be healed. We also noticed His 4 brothers and sisters......... 30 years worth of His parents' kids by now. This section ends with the disciples preaching that people need to repent of their sins.

"For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name's sake, lead me and guide me." Ps. 31:3

All you have to do is ask..........

Friday, October 26, 2007

Jesus Cares

Read Mark 4:35- 5:20

In this section, Jesus shows His deity by demonstrating His power over nature, demons, and humans. That includes all of creation! When Jesus commanded the storm, there was instantaneous calm. Isn't it interesting that the demons immediately recognized Jesus? He was just an ordinary looking man. How did they know? We also discussed "Decapolis", the region of 10 cities, probably Gentile.

Does Jesus care? (remember singing that for Grandpa when he was dying?) Yes, He cares, He cares for us today. He sees us, thinks about us, and desires communication with us. He is an awesome God.

Ps. 26:11 "But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful to me."

Monday, October 22, 2007

Read Mark 4:21-41

Jesus wants us to be a light for Him. Will you hide it? Witnessing takes some premeditated thought- wanting to name the name of Jesus today.

Lastly we talked about the parable of the growing seed. Though we plant seeds, God causes the growth. Somehow, one's freewill is mixed up with God's grace in this process. The principle of growth is seen in nature as well as in the kingdom of God.

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That is from last week, and this week will probably have nothing as dad is in Texas :(

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Read Mark Chapter 3

It is lawful to do good on the sabbath- it was made to bless us!

The crowds that followed Jesus were probably Baal worshippers. And the demons recognized Jesus. But somehow, the Pharisees just weren't interested!

The powers of the apostles included healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead. Dad pointed out that only Judas was replaced, and after that, as the apostles died, none of them were ever replaced.

Notice that Jesus' mother and brothers are not yet saved.

If Jesus can cast out demons, then it follows that He must be stronger than Satan.

We got into a lengthy discussion over the "unpardonable sin" and whether or not one can commit it today and lose their chance at receiving salvation. Any thoughts?

Mark 4

This is about the parable of the soils. A normal yield for the day would have been tenfold, so Jesus is greatly expanding that. Beth asked why Jesus said verse 12. Pual pointed out that Jesus didn't want the people who only wanted a handout, but weren't interested in His teaching.

Then we gave examples of bearing fruit thirtyfold: witnessing (paul), having kids (me) , providing for the family (dad).

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Dad shared a dog story. On the way home from work, an elderly woman asked dad to fetch her little white dog. He very graciously helped her. She thanked him for his good work and he mentioned how he wished that he had said something about Jesus, but didn't think of it at the time. We need to be more prepared if we really want to witness.

Then dad says that he has an announcement to make. We all get real quiet, and you'll never guess what he says................. this year we are going to give presents on Christmas day!!!!!!! Wow, what will be next?

Monday, October 15, 2007

"I came for sinners"........Jesus

Read Mark Chapter 2

Once again we looked at the "immediately"s. Mark must have been impressed with Jesus' ability to do things quickly. From verse 13, Dad pointed out how remarkable it is that Jesus was willing to teach the multitudes. The make-up of the crowd was definitely not all intellectuals. Jesus cared about the common man, whom most other teachers probably did not take time for.

The second half of the chapter speaks of the new wine being put into old wineskins. It doesn't work. We talked about the new wine of salvation and the old wineskin of the law.

And then the chapter ends with Jesus' disciples plucking grain on the sabbath. The Pharisees were always looking for a way to judge others. They didn't seem to discern between what was petty and what was important. Do we? Do I?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Introducing Jesus

Mark Chapter 1

Paul, Beth, Dad and I have been plugging away at family devotions by ourselves. We just finished a summer study of the Kings of Israel and now are doing the book of Mark. If you want to read along, I will try to be consistent and share what dad points out from our reading. We have been praying mostly for you guys, Paul's "calling", people at church, and our missionary friends.

Verse 10 mentions that when Jesus was baptized, the Spirit came upon Him like a dove. Dad made the connection to the dove being sent out from the ark.

Isn't it neat how Jesus called brothers to be disciples? I can see that our boys have a really special relationship. May you be able to stay close friends all of your lives.

We counted how many times the word "immediately" appears in chapter one and got 5 I think. Mark likes to write with this adverb.

And lastly we talked about the leper being cleansed and shared some reasons why he might have told people after being asked by Jesus not to tell anyone.


I will try to be more consistent with this blog for the fall at least!