Monthly Archives: May 2015

Boundaries

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BOUNDARIES

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where He prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they exclaimed, ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ So He travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and driving out demons (Mark 1: 35-39).

‘Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ What a remarkable man! A lesser person may have been so excited about his popularity and the success of his ministry that he would have found an office and set up his headquarters right there in Capernaum.

Not Jesus! He wasn’t out to build a ministry and set up a data base of supporters so He could send out His newsletter every month and garner “partners” for His ministry. He had a twofold mission to accomplish – to reveal the Father to His people and to train disciples who would be replicas of Himself so that they would carry on His ministry when He was no longer there. It was a hands-on, on-the-job training programme.

His power came, not from the support He could build based on His popularity and His “seeker friendly” methods. His source of power was simple – prayer, much prayer, early-morning prayer when there was no one around to clamour for His attention. He was in partnership with His heavenly Father, energised by the Holy Spirit.

He had to touch base every day to ensure that He maintained His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit and did exactly what He was instructed to do. This was, after all, the Father’s business and He was the Son. Only through submission and obedience to the Father would Jesus succeed. The success of His enterprise would come, not from His methods but from the Holy Spirit who came upon Him at His baptism and who put Him through His paces in the wilderness. The principles were hammered out there and He would stick to them, no matter what.

This meant that He had to set boundaries. He was not driven by people’s need. He was led by the Holy Spirit. The fact that people were up and out at the crack of dawn looking for Him was not His motivation. He had a much wider mission to accomplish than healing all the sick people in one town. He had a message to deliver to the whole nation. He was not deterred or held up by people in need in one locality.

Jesus had not come from heaven on a healing campaign, as urgent and necessary as that was in Israel. Healing and casting out demons was not an end in itself but a demonstration of what God’s reign would be like when He came in His fullness. Satan’s rule had brought misery and suffering to the human race because people allowed him to deceive them into thinking he was in charge. It was time for the people to know the truth.

When God is in charge, everything that is contrary to God will be defeated and destroyed. Love and all the ramifications of love, will be the ruling principle. There will be no place in His kingdom for any imperfection. Attitudes and behaviour that represent the dominion of darkness will be gone forever. That’s what Jesus came to show His people. He would conquer disease, death and demons and with them all the ugly emotions and attitudes that mess people up and destroy relationships.

He would not allow anyone or anything to deter or distract Him from His purpose. He walked away from Capernaum because He had a message to deliver everywhere. Not His disciples, not the clamouring crowd, not the promise of success or popularity, nothing would stop Him from following the Father’s directions. He knew His boundaries. He drew His boundaries. His disciples would just have to get used to Him if they were to learn His ways.

What if those of us who think we are His disciples were to take a leaf out of His book? What if we were to get our directions daily from the Holy Spirit and not from our plans and strategies? What If we were to draw boundaries around our times of interaction with the Father and His directives and allow nothing to distract us and pull us off course?

What if we were to spend more time seeking the kingdom of God than we do building our own kingdoms?

What if we were to understand the heart of Jesus and do what He did – bring heaven to earth where we are by being like Him? How effective would that be?

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

Hope In Their Hopelessness

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HOPE IN THEIR HOPELESSNESS!

That evening after sunset, the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but He would not let the demons speak because they knew who He was (Mark 1: 32-34).

What a window of opportunity for the sick and demon-possessed people of Capernaum! There was someone in town who could heal and deliver.

The town was buzzing with the news that a man had been in the synagogue that morning who had sent a harassing demon packing. Many of them had seen it happen. One minute the man was a raving lunatic and the next he was as sane as the next man. This rabbi seemed to have appeared from nowhere. He was making His mark on society from the day He was baptised by the wild prophet from the wilderness! Saying things like, “God’s kingdom is here,” and “It’s time to return to God’s way.”

Hadn’t they always been walking in God’s way? Didn’t they try to follow their religious leaders as meticulously as they could? What was this new teaching all about? And then He went and healed a sick woman without even saying anything! Never had they heard of this kind of thing before – not in their lifetime, anyhow! So what did it all mean?

One thing was for sure. He could heal, he could! That was enough for them for the moment. Strange teaching aside, there were sick people in their homes who needed healing and they cashed in on the moment. Before He could disappear out of town again, they took advantage of the few hours after sunset on the Sabbath to mob Him with their loved ones.

Nothing fazed Him. He reversed the ravages of disease and deformity with a touch or a word. And as for the demons! These guys had had a field day with God’s people – taking up residence whenever and wherever they could. The people were not aware of how dangerous it was to dabble in sin. Given half a chance, where they left the door open by allowing evil deeds or even hatred, bitterness, jealousy, promiscuousness, lust or greed to get a hold of them, the demons were in and that was it. It was far easier to let them in than to get them out.

Jesus was the man of the moment, for sure! He was mobbed by helpless, hopeless people wanting a fragment of His time to free them from their pain, their suffering and their bondage. Loved ones pushed and shoved to get near him with a wheezing baby; a suffering child, a shrunken, crippled brother, sister, mother, father; a son, a daughter burning up with fever, screaming in pain.

And He didn’t disappoint them. Didn’t He announce to them that God was back to set things right again? The devil had run the affairs of men for too long, and look at the mess he had made. God’s people had tasted what he could do. Now it was time to see what God could do.

But, best of all, the demons knew who was boss! They tried to blurt out who He was but Jesus would not allow the enemy to put in a good word for Him. It was not their place to tell the world that He was the Son of God. The people had to make up their own minds from what they saw and heard from Him, not from them. They dared not resist His eviction order. They were in enough trouble as it was, trying to make out that their boss was in charge. It worked as long as the real boss wasn’t in their faces for occupying what belonged to Him.

What a stir Jesus caused! That night, when everything had settled down again, there were many happy people in Capernaum; well people who were sick when the sun had risen; crippled, blind, deaf people who went to bed whole; crazy people who were perfectly sane; mothers and fathers who went to bed ecstatic because their baby, their child was healthy and happy again. Amazing! And all because Jesus came to town!

You sigh and wish that He would appear in your town, What if He turned up in your church on Sunday – in person? But, wait a minute. Didn’t He say that He would be with us to the end of the age? So where is He, then?

He is here, with us, nearer to us than our breath. He has never left. We are immersed in His presence like fish in water. Don’t beg Him to come. Change your awareness. Marinate in His presence because He is here with everything He is, Immanuel – God with us.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

 

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

 

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

Without A Word

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WITHOUT A WORD

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So He went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them (Mark 1: 29-31)

Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn’t give His disciples a “healing” formula to say over sick people? As His disciples, it would be part of their job description to do what disciples do, imitate their rabbi. In this case, healing would be expected of them if they wanted to be just like their Master. Perhaps they began to wish that some other rabbi with s’mikah had called them to follow him – except that no one but Jesus would do such a thing because they were not qualified.

Notice how much confidence they had in Him at this early stage in their apprenticeship. They may have known something about Him from hearsay, or even from listening to Him preach about the kingdom of God, but they had hardly had time to get to know Him. Yet – this was a crisis in the family. A fever could mean anything from a head cold or ‘flu to a serious and life-threatening illness. And there was no doctor on call with a range of antibiotics to treat the condition.

Ah, but for once they had hope. Jesus was on call. Had He already shown His power to heal? We don’t know, but He had, just an hour or two ago evicted a demon. Did they believe that this woman’s condition was caused by an invading “squatter”? Again, we don’t know. But as far as they were concerned, Jesus was there and He was up to dealing with any uninvited invader, be it demonic or bacterial – not that they knew anything about bacteria.

All they had to do was to tell Him and the rest was up to Him. And they were not disappointed. What did they expect Him to do? Say a prayer over her? Quote healing Scriptures to her and command the sickness to leave? Impress God with His confidence in Him to heal – after all, there was healing in the Covenant, wasn’t there?

Jesus did the absolutely unexpected. He simply took he hand and gently helped her to sit up and get off her sleeping mat. One moment she was shaking with fever and the next she was up on her feet, as cool as a cucumber and ready to get on with her day. How did that happen?

The answer is simple – God’s mercy, through the hand of Jesus, did a miracle. It didn’t even need a prayer or a command or a mantra or a repetition of Scripture to effect a miracle. The Holy Spirit was all over Him. He came on Him at His baptism. And the Father was with Him. Jesus and the Father were one. Hadn’t the Father affirmed Him vocally, verbally at His baptism? They were all there together, Father, Son and Holy Spirit to bring heaven back to earth. With that powerful presence, no word was needed. Just a helping hand and power flowed.

What did the disciples think of that? They must have been flabbergasted. “We are supposed to do that! Who does He think we are – some superhuman god-men or something?” By this time they must have known that He was someone more than a man. But how were they supposed to be like Him?

There were then, and still are now, two important factors that made all the difference. Firstly, Jesus had called them, them, because He had confidence that they could become what He was. That what rabbis with s’mikah did. Secondly, He was equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit, and so would they be after He had dealt with sin. That’s what He, Jesus, could and would do. No other rabbi could do that!

And what about us? Jesus instructed them to go out and make replicas of them because they were on the way to becoming replicas of Him. This was His simple but effective strategy. Any new disciples were to receive the same equipment as He had and they would have – His confidence in them and the power of the Holy Spirit in them. They didn’t need to do what other religions tried to do – get their gods to respond by formulae and babbling and mantras and ridiculous rituals and capers and . . . and . . . and. . . Just like the prophets of Baal.

Only “Christ in them”. They didn’t even need words – just the awareness that the Father was there, the Holy Spirit was there, Jesus was there. That’s all He did on that occasion, gave her a hand and she was up on her feet. Sometimes He spoke. Sometimes He didn’t. Sometimes He did strange things, like make mud with spit, or ask strange questions like, “Do you want to be healed?” It actually didn’t matter. What did matter was that God was right there and did the work through an obedient and trusting channel.

It’s not words that heal. It’s God, all God – because He wants to bring heaven to earth – now.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

 

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

 

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

Jesus Let Loose

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JESUS LET LOOSE

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at His teaching because He taught as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law (Mark 1:21-22).

Jesus was ready. He had bent all His energies towards this moment when He could do what He was born to do, to reveal the Father to His people. He had gone through the school system of His day to become a rabbi – a recognised teacher of Torah. From early childhood He had memorised and been coached in the Torah, the five books of Moses upon which the rest of the Holy Scriptures depended.

Over and above His training as a rabbi, Jesus was recognised as one having authority – s’mikah. That gave Him the right to choose men to follow Him and learn to be like Him so that they could pass on what He taught about the Torah which was uniquely His interpretation – His yoke.  Unlike the “teachers of the law”, He was not bound by the yoke of the ancient rabbis and the rabbis of His day who had s’mikah.

The people of Capernaum were used to the “teachers of the law” who taught in the synagogue every Sabbath. Whoever they were, they all had the same thing to say. They simply regurgitated what others taught about the way of Yahweh. To them the Torah was a book of general rules, but it was left to the authoritative teachers to fill in the missing bits. This resulted in a religion of intricate instructions about everything which were constantly debated and which left the common people confused and in fear of upsetting God by not doing what He demanded.

Jesus had a different story to tell. He spoke about the way God ran things which they had lost in the maze of humanly imposed interpretations. The real God was obscured by all this stuff that had been heaped upon what He had said. The real God was not anything like they made Him out to be. He wasn’t some tyrant who was fanatical about their keeping His rules and punished anyone who dared to step out of line. He was a loving Father who taught them how to live so that they could enjoy the best life.

The people were amazed. How could anyone say things like that? Jesus was making God out to be nice. What authority did He have to do that? Who gave Him the authority to tell them things about God that they hardly believed possible? Was He just making it up or was God as loving, caring and merciful as He made Him out to be?

Jesus’ teaching not only stirred up the ordinary people; it also got the religious teachers going. What He taught was not what they taught. They were losing credibility because the people loved what He had to say about God and His kingdom, and He seemed to know what He was talking about. But not only did He tell them about this nice God who was their Father, He also showed them what He meant, by healing sick people and restoring disable people. The religion teachers had no answer for that!

Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!’ ‘Be quiet!’ said Jesus sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were so amazed that they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching – and with authority He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey Him.’ News about Him spread quickly all over the region of Galilee(Mark 1: 23-27).

It was all about authority. Never in their lifetime had the people been exposed to a rabbi who said and did things with such authority that He could literally chase demons out of a man. One minute the man was crazy and the next he was completely sane and they had no answer for it.

Strange, isn’t it that the only one in the synagogue who knew who He really was, was the demon who held the man prisoner? He belonged to the unseen world. He represented the arch enemy of the one whom Jesus represented. He was there to create as much havoc in the human world as he could. He was the opposite of everything Jesus represented and stood for.

Here was Jesus’ opportunity to show His people what He meant when He told them that God’s kingdom was near. With a single command He evicted the squatter and set the man free from his tormenting presence. That’s what the kingdom of God is all about – living free from all the slave-drivers that control our lives – emotions, habits, moods, beliefs and attitudes and whatever dominates our thinking and behaviour that holds us in bondage.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour (Isa. 61: 1-3).

This was His mission, and He had authority from above to do everything He was commissioned to do.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

Jesus, The Rabbi

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JESUS, THE RABBI

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will sent you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther, He saw James, son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay He called them and their left their father, Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him. (Mark 1: 16-20).

We often admire these men for acting so promptly when Jesus called them, don’t we? How could they just drop everything and go after a comparative stranger? And Zebedee didn’t protest either. He watched half of his workforce walk away without uttering a word. And they didn’t just take off half an hour to chat with Jesus. They were gone for good!

Of course we would wonder at this because we don’t understand the culture. Jesus was a rabbi. He was thirty years old, the age at which a rabbi would have completed his education and was ready to begin his itinerant teaching work. If he was recognised as having s’mikah – authority – he would choose young men to follow him to be his talmidim – disciples.

It was a great honour to be chosen to be a disciple. The rabbi’s simple invitation, “Follow me,” was an indication that he believed that they could become like him. These men would stick to him like glue, living with him day and night. They would watch him and listen to him and learn to copy him until they became replicas of their rabbi. He would teach them his yoke – his way of understanding and living Torah – God’s teaching in the five books of Moses, which they were faithfully to pass on to others who would follow them. They could not change or omit anything without being disqualified as a disciple.

Talmidim were usually chosen from among the young learner-rabbis. Those who did not make the grade after their elementary education went home to learn the family business. The select few went up the ladder of education, always aspiring to be among the very best who would one day also be recognised as being rabbis with s’mikah.

Strangely enough, Jesus chose men who had failed their entrance “exam” to “rabbi school” and were plying the family trade on the Sea of Galilee. They were not only dropouts from school, they were also in a sense religious dropouts as well. Because they dealt with dead fish, they were probably always considered “unclean”. They must have been startled out of their wits to hear the qualifying call, “Follow me,” especially from the mouth of the most popular rabbi of the day.

It’s no wonder they dropped everything and set off after Him without hesitation. Who would be so foolish as to pass up an opportunity like this? I can imagine how they shook their heads in wonderment and chatted excitedly together as they walked behind their rabbi, each one trying to get as close to Him as possible to pick up the dust thrown up by His sandals as He walked. They just could not believe that their lives could take such a radical turn in a moment.

They did not know that they were in for a rough ride. They were called to follow, not just another rabbi but, as they would find out soon enough, the Son of God. His authority did not come from the recognition of men but from God. He would say and do things that would appal them because they knew He was courting trouble with the religious authorities but it didn’t seem to bother Him.

He mystified them. He was ultra-kind to the down-and-outs. He had amazing powers – like no other rabbi in Israel. He healed sick people with a touch or a word. He made blind people see and deaf people hear. He even raised dead people to life again. And His preaching! He made outrageous claims and said outrageous things and yet, somehow, they believed Him. He spoke as though He knew what He was talking about.

As for the revered religious leaders, He made mincemeat of them with His words. He enraged them by uncovering their wicked hearts. He had no compunction about pulling them to pieces in public. He courted trouble without a qualm – almost as though He was egging them on to kill Him.

It’s just as well they had no idea what lay ahead for them. Would they have been so eager to follow Him had they had a glimpse into their future? This was an all-or-nothing call and they answered it without hesitation and without a backward glance.

Jesus still calls, “Follow me!” When men who masquerade as disciples call you to follow them, don’t go. If leaders try to bind you to themselves, don’t follow. There is only one who has the right to call and to whom we must respond – Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com