June 5
Mark 3:7-12
Just imagine for a moment that the cure for cancer was found. Only one doctor knew the secret to the cure. All someone with cancer had to do was see this one doctor. Once word of this started spreading, how long do you think it would take before that doctor was surrounded by people? My guess is within a week there would be millions of people trying to get to this one doctor. This is why Jesus would sometimes ask people not to tell others about their healing. “Jesus sent [the leper] away at once with a strong warning, ’See that you don’t tell this to anyone.’”(Mark 1:43-44b NIV) Jesus demonstrated His love and compassion by healing the sick, but that is not why He came to earth. He did not want crowds of people flocking to Him for physical healing, because that was not what God sent Him to do. In today’s verses we see that Jesus is starting to attract crowds of sick and demon possessed people. While He does take time to heal many of them, He also had an escape route. “Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.” (Mark 3:9 NIV) Jesus was not being rude or uncaring by trying to avoid herds of sick people. He knew that His purpose here was far greater than to heal a few diseases. He came not to make our life on earth better, but to bring us eternal life with Him!
Principle: Be faithful to the ministry God has given, never letting circumstances interfere.
Application:
1. Where am I being too busy or too tired to meet the needs of my family and those around me?
2. Do I seek Jesus only for what He can do for me or for what He wants me to do for Him?
3. What controls me? The pressure of people around me, Satan’s subtle sidetracks, or God’s Holy Spirit?
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Where am I too busy or too tired? It seems like I am Frequently too busy and tired. But now as I sit here and really think about it, those are the days when I don't start out in His Word. When I begin my day with The Lord things just seem to fall into place-and I always accomplish more-Duh! Now I am wondering why I don't do that everyday! I really think that this daily Bible study will put me on the right tract and "train me up in the way that I should go!(Prov. 22:6 NIV) (I have to admit that at first I thought a DAILY study would be overwhelming, now I find myself looking forward to it. Thanks)
ReplyDeleteWhat controls me? That is a question for every minute of every day. I would certainly like it to always be the Holy Spirit. But there are those moments when self jumps in the lead and if I don't realize it quickly enough - takes over. And that's when I am most likely to let circumstances interfere. Lord help me to stay on track every moment of every day - so that I am continually aware of you and continually joining you in the work you put before me.
ReplyDeleteAt first read-thru I was impressed with the far reaching news about Jesus. It had all just been passed on by word of mouth. They had seen what Jesus could do and wanted to tell others. I even got my atlas out to see how far it was. But as I was looking at it, that wasn't the reason at all. He wasn't teaching them anything. They were all bombarding Him with what He could do for them. So much of the time when I pray it's "I need this. This other person needs this. I'm going thru this, and I think You should do this in my life. What can You do for me today?" What would happen if I asked what I could do for God today?
ReplyDeleteToo much!
ReplyDeleteAbout a year ago, Pastor John (PJ), preached a sermon on dealing with "More Than You Can Handle," and I still have the sermon notes hanging on the wall here in my office because I feel like I have too much so often.
One point that PJ made was that I need to prioritize. That's what Jesus did! He wants us to have life abudant, and He is healer, but as Sarah pointed out, He wants to heal more than our bodies. The greater healing is reserved for our souls, and Jesus made my soul His priority! I'm so thankful for that! He could have healed and met the needs of that day, but instead, He thought of me, and what I would need, and I was a priority!
What can I do today to help others know that they are also a priority to Him? I'm just so excited!
I too get busy and think about what I need instead of what I can do for God. Linda about a week ago with this study I decided that I needed to begin each day in pray instead of if I have extra time. Well, today I rushed that time because I did not what to get out of bed. You are right my day has not gone as well as others of this past week.
ReplyDeleteMost people come to God because of what they need. Somewhere in the discipleship process we must go from being consumers to being servants. Many of us never make that transition. Those who do are true disciples: our calling is to give ourselves away. I pray that God will help me to lead our church to be more concerned with serving others than being served.
ReplyDelete