Category Archives: Christian life

MARK’S GOSPEL…INTERRUPTIONS -16

Christian life

Mark 6:30-34 NIV

[30] “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. [31] Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” [32] So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. [33] But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. [34] When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

This Servant of Yahweh had to perform a fine balancing act… between the clamouring need of the people and His own and His disciples’ need of rest.

On some occassions, He simply walked away and went elsewhere. On this occasion, according to Mark’s report, He rolled up His sleeves and got to work. How did He differentiate beween one kind of need and another?

Mark specifically comments on Jesus’ motivation. He was more affected by the spirirual condition of the “sheep” than by their physical needs. In His eyes, they were “shepherdless sheep”, people without a leader to give them direction or protection.

Jesus’ response, strangely enough, was to “teach them many things”. Gone His weariness! Gone His plan to escape the crowds, to get some “R and R” in a secluded place! He tried to escape but…

That didn’t work! In fact, when Jesus and His disciples arrived at their solitary place, the crowds were already there!

Real compassion means “Do something about it.” Jesus’ compassion plugged into their real need. He began to teach them…not heal them, not feed them (although He did feed them later on).

Healing and feeding were temporary measures to meet physical needs. Teaching them truth would arm them for life and affect their quality of life and their eternal destiny.

If we go back to the story of the woman Jesus healed of bleeding, it was her faith in the truth of God’s promise in Malachi 4:3 that delivered the healing. Faith in Jesus must be, first, in His identity, second, in His ability and, third, in His veracity,  that is in His word.

When Jesus came from heaven and became a man, He arrived, equipped with grace and truth…

John 1:14 NIV

[14] “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

…grace for our weaknesses…

2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV

[9] “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

…and truth for our freedom…

John 8:31-32, 34, 36 NIV

[31] “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. [32] Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…

[34] Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin…

[36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” 

Healing their illnesses and feeding their bellies would not set them free from the ravages of sin. Only truth could renew their minds and set them on course to faith in Jesus who did for them what the law of Moses could never do.

John 1:16-17 NIV

[16] “Out of his fullness, we have all received grace in place of grace already given. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” 

Unfortunately, too much focus today, is on the “healing and feeding” ministry of Jesus which is, at best, only physical, material, and temporary.  These benefits of the gospel must fall into place behind His greatest work…redemption, reconciliation, and restoration to fellowship with the Father, and our place in His kingdom as holy and beloved sons and daughters of the Most High God.

Jesus knew His priorities, recognised the real needs of the people, forgot His own need, and gave the sheep what they needed most, truth to feed their souls. 

Jesus’ declaration…

Matthew 6:7-8 NIV

[7] “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words…

[8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

…should alert us to something more than health and food.

Our Father’s intimate knowledge of His children’s every need should encourage us to look much further than the everyday issues that preoccupy us.

What if the struggles we are in, the troubles we face, the trials and tests we endure, are just what we need to refine our faith and to prune our souls of sin as much as the money in our banks or the food in our fridges?

Jesus knows our needs as much as He knew the priorities that really affected His people. Trusting Him means giving Him the right to orchestrate our circumstances as is best for us without complaining and resisting. Giving credit to the devil for what God is doing in our lives is tantamount to blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.

Our issues will take on an eternal significance when we really, unconpromisingly believe that…

Romans 8:28-29 NIV

[28] “.. in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [29] For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

MARK’S GOSPEL…BLASPHEMY – 12

Christian life

The Pharisees had gone too far. They were standing on the edge of a precipice.

Mark 3:22-29 NIV
[22] And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” [23] So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? [24] If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. [25] If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. [26] And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. [27] In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. [28] Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, [29] but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

Matthew included in Jesus’ response, the true source of Jesus’ power.

Matthew 12:28 NIV
[28] “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

The very argument of the Pharisees was faulty. Jesus pointed out a principle that not only applies in the spirit world but also in the human world. History has shown us that division has caused the collapse of even great empires and movements.

However, in the Pharisees’ case, they were unwittingly planting themselves in the path of eternal judgement. Jesus said that there is one sin that will never be forgiven. Of course, all sin is the fruit of unbelief in Jesus, and can therefore never be forgiven outside of repentance. However, one sin remains unforgivable because it severe connection with the Holy Spirit.

So, what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

According to Google…

“The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is when one condemns God’s merciful operation and attributes it to evil and to deceiving spirits when that same operation is evidently the Holy Spirit’s work.”

Blasphemy is specific. It’s not using God’s name lightly, for example, as an expletive, as is so common in certain cultures. The expression, “O my God!” is so commonly used today that it is has become a part of Western culture. It has even contracted to “OMG” as though this somehow lessens the sheer disrespect and dishonour of God’s name. However, not even using expressions like this can be taken as blasphemy but certainly as using God’s name in vain.

Google again…

“To “take God’s name in vain” means to use God’s name in a way that is worthless, empty, careless, or for a false or wrong purpose. It refers to using the name of God, or Jesus… in a meaningless… or profane way, such as in casual curses or false oaths, and also to bearing His name in a way that contradicts His true character through one’s actions and lifestyle.”

Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit unforgivable? To the Holy Spirit has been assigned the task of administering God’s grace to His people. Without the Holy Spirit, there can be no conviction of sin…

John 16:7-8 NIV
[7] But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. [8] When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin…”

…no new birth into God’s kingdom…

John 3:5 NIV
[5] “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

…and no spiritual transformation and growth…

1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV
[11] “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

To declare that the Holy Spirit is the author of evil, is a lie and negates everything the Spirit is and does. He is an honoured member of the Trinity, in perfect unity with the Father and the Son, the “Three-in-one” God, Holy as His name implies, the very replica of Jesus, and His representative indwelling every believer.

John 14:17 NIV
[17] “…the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

To attribute evil to the Holy Spirit is the worst form of depravity. A mind so warped as to say this is beyond repentance.

MARK’S GOSPEL…FORGIVENESS – 9

Christian life

Mark 2:1-5 NIV
[1] “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. [2] They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. [3] Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. [4] Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. [5] When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

What a shocking thing for someone to say! It’s one thing to tell people about forgiveness, but quite another to declare a person forgiven, especially in the religion of Israel where only the priests had that prerogative and only after all the prescribed rituals had been performed.

The Pharisees were quick to jump on Jesus in their thoughts for speaking words that they considered to be blasphemy.

Mark 2:6-7 NIV
[6] “Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, [7] “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Exactly! How could Jesus forgive sins if He was not God? DoescHe think He’s God? Is He God?

I think what shocked them even more was that Jesus knew what they were thinking!

We could talk about Jesus’ awareness that this man needed forgiveness of sin first before he needed healing. However, the context demands that we examine the Pharisees’ accusation of blasphemy.

What was the big issue between the Pharisees and Jesus? Authority! Blasphemy! Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and confirmed His claim by doing works that only God can do. One of those works was to forgive sin.

The general belief in Isreal was that physical conditions were the consequences of sin. For example, the disciples questioned Jesus about the blind man in John 9.

John 9:2 NIV
[2] “His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus even confirmed this belief when He cautioned another blind whom He had healed not to go back to sinning.

John 5:14 NIV
[14] “Later, Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”

Since the Pharisees were accusing Jesus of blasphemy, the only way to prove that He was not blaspheming was to do a miracle that would prove that He was telling the truth about His identity, and that He had the authority to forgive sin.

Mark 2:8-12 NIV
[8] “Immediately, Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? [9] Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? [10] But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, [11] “I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home.” [12] He got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

What could the Pharisees say? Jesus did exactly 2hat He saud He had the authority to do…He forgave his sin and healed the man.

Well, did this miracle convince the Pharisees that Jesus was who He claimed to be? Not at all! In their stubborn unbelief, they were even more determined to get rid of Him. Whats more, the oeople were beginning to believe in Jesus.

Mark 2:12 NIV
[12] “He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Everything Jesus did to confirm His claim enraged Hisc opponents more and fueled their determination to have Him arrested and tried for blasphemy.

PARTNERS WITH CONTENTMENT

Christian life, ,

Philippians 4:10-13 NLT
[10] “How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. [11] Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. [12] I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. [13] For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Ahhh! Contentment! Almost a forgotten word in today’s world. Discontent in all its ugly forms is the name everywhere. Strife, conflict, murder, theft, greed…these and more are all the symptoms of discontent.

James had something to say about the discontent that rears its ugly head even in the family of God, a sign that the flesh at work.

James 4:1-3 NLT
[1] “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the EVIL DESIRES at war within you? [2] You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. [3] And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

Since James was writing to people in the church, this is quite an indictment! Is it possible that God’s own children can behave like this?

If course, if the core of this behaviour is discontent, then this horrible attitude will come out in many corrupt ways.

Discontent ruins inward peace and manifests something far worse than simply being dissatisfied with our lives, our circumstances, or what we possess.

Discontent is a slap in God’s face, a declaration of mistrust in God’s goodness, an insult to the very nature of God who is love personified. Discontent accuses God of shortchanging us. Satan’s ploy in the Garden of Eden was to stir up mistrust by triggering discontent. God said, “You may eat from all the trees in the garden except one.” The devil said, “Why is God withholding something good from you?”

Discontent is a symptom of the old nature’s ability to stir up trouble. Discontent has tentacles that reach deep into the lives of others around us as well, spreading its poison by the way our discontent affects other people. Discontent is like an infectious disease that spreads through contact. Just watch mob behaviour to see how discontent spreads like a bush fire.

How imperative that God’s children learn, as Paul did, to deal discontent a death blow, once and for all. All spiritual growth is a learning process. Even Jesus had to learn, from His human experience, how to submit as a Son to His Father.

Hebrews 5:8 NLT
[8] “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”

How do we learn contentment in our topsy-turvey circumstances? We learn, as we do in everything else, by doing! Paul learned contentment by trusting Jesus in every situation. Was he hungry, deprived of food? He was okay with that because Jesus was in charge. Did he have a time of plenty? He was grateful to the Lord for His goodness. Was he cold and without shelter? He trusted the Lord in his hardship.

Contentment in all our ups and downs is the evidence of genuine faith in Jesus AND of God’s peace ruling in our hearts. We cannot have peace and be discontented at the same time.

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Paul’s strength in hard times came from a steady reliance on Jesus’ presence and faithfulness.

… Another verse of Scripture often quoted out of context. What was Paul saying? I suppose it’s true that, in the all circumstances of life, through Jesus in us, we can accomplish many things or even go through our many difficulties but…in this context, Paul testified to the power of Christ in him that enabled to accept any and every hardship with the same unassailable trust in the Lord that kept him on even keel.

Now, that’s real power! Hiw often we are, in our old selfish nature, so concerned about our comfort and convenience that we easily baulk at any disturbance of these provisions.

Paul testified that it is possible, through God’s grace, to be so in union with Jesus that we can rise above all discomfort and be contented. He enables us so to trust in Him that we refuse to be moved by any adversity or hardship, or to allow our faith in Him to be diluted by plenty. Much or little can make no difference to us if we are anchored in Jesus.

Contentment, in the end, is the surest safeguard against mistrust, doubt, and unbelief. His peace garrisons our hearts against the fiery darts the enemy would hurl against us to throw us off balance and gain entry into the deepest recesses of our confidence in God’s love.

Contentment is the thermometer that measures our trust in the Lord, and God’s peace the thermostat that keeps our hearts steady and unmoved in times of hardship.

Philippians 4:20 NLT
[20] “Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.”

Another little opportunity to glorify Jesus. Paul must always redirect his readers’ attention to the one who is everything in every situation. It’s about Him! Cold, hungry, homeless…warm, well fed, sheltered…didn’t matter to Paul. What mattered was that Jesus was there, fully supporting him, caring and providing for him, leading him, protecting him, and working out His purposes through him.

… And with that, Paul was satisfied.

CHRIST IN ME, THE HOPE OF GLORY

Christian life,

have travelled slowly through Paul’s letter to the Colossians, stopping at every new point to examine each truth and draw from them the life lessons that Paul built into them to guide his readers through some treacherous waters. Though he did not know them personally, he knew that false teachers were assaulting their simple faith in Jesus as Lord. He also knew that they needed solid grounding in the Word because, as new Gentile believers, they had no background knowledge of the Old Covenant and its significance for the New.

Paul carefully steered them back to the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus for faith and life. All the additions and subtractions of unscrupulous false teachers did nothing but confuse and distract these new believers from one simple truth, that God sent Jesus, His own Son, to redeem them from sin…to restore His presence in them.

Paul slowly builds the picture until he reaches the zenith of his message… “Christ in you, the hope of glory! “

An alternative translation clarifies Paul’s disclosure, the secret hidden from their understanding until this moment.

Colossians 1:26-27 NLT
[26] This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. [27] For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.”

God has finally ended the hatred between Jew and Gentile. This was His plan from the beginning of time, to unite all people under one Head, Jesus, and to put His own Spirit in them as a guarantee that each one would be recreated in His image.

Paul fleshed out this goal, but not in so many words, in his instructions to the men and women in Colossae who made up God’s household in that city…wives, husbands, children, slaves and masters. Each had a role to play in God’s divine order. How were they, ex-pagan, new-born believers in God’s family, to live by God’s impossibly high standards?

Paul’s answer is simple, unimbellished and powerfully possible. Jesus Christ is in you by His Spirit. His life in you makes possible God’s predetermined outcome. Wives can submit to their husbands gladly and willingly because Christ is in them. So too, husbands can love their wives; children can submit to and obey their parents; fathers can teach and train their children without provoking them; slaves and masters can run the household without resistance or conflict because…CHRIST IS IN THEM.

For us too, and all believers for all time, this is the one truth and reality that makes this life possible, despite the ungodly environment in which we live. Jesus is not only the centre of the universe and the centre of our personal world but also the very power by which we are energised to live His life while we are here.

What if this truth dominated our thoughts every moment as we navigate the temptations and tests of everyday life? What if we managed every choice and decision by this thought, “Jesus Christ is in me!”?

Paul seems to have got it right.

Galatians 2:20 NLT
[20] “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Since Paul’s “old self” was dead, he was no longer obliged to take notice of it. Dead people don’t respond! He was infused with a new nature and a new life. He had a new driver in his vehicle. NOT I BUT CHRIST IN ME!

What an amazing difference it would make to us, to our families, our workplaces, our churches, and to the world around us if we were to live our this truth, Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Paul’s statement has in it a powerful reassurance. Since Christ resides in our spirits by His Spirit, we have the guarantee that God will achieve a seemingly impossible purpose. He will transform these sin-riddled, stubbornly independent, rebellious slaves of the devil into perfect replicas of His own Son. How will He do this? By putting the Spirit of His own Son in us!

Paul tells us, in his letter to the Ephesians, that the Holy Spirit is God’s “deposit”, His promise, like an engagement ring, that He has redeemed us, that we belong to Him, and that He will finish what He started. How will He do this? By Christ in us. “Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory…(becoming exactly like Him).”

Ephesians 1:12-14 NLT
[12] “God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. [13] And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. [14] The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”

So, John could write,

1 John 3:2 NLT
[2] “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that WE WILL BE LIKE HIM, for we will see him as he really is.”

We receive this assurance by faith. We believe what God says, do what He tells us, experience His grace, and the end result is guaranteed.

Do you get it?