Healing the Sick Soul - I Peter 2:24

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” The Bible teaches us that we are born with a sinful nature, which means separation from God and generally results in bad behavior of varying degrees. Our sinful nature is not an excuse for bad behavior, but it does indicate that we have a problem that needs to be addressed. God addressed the problem for us when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the the cross as atonement for our sinfulness. So from God's perspective our sinfulness was hung upon the cross (tree) with Jesus that it might die and so that we we might begin to live in union or association with God (live to righteousness). So each person who accepts this gift from God by believing in the work of Jesus on the cross, then himself or herself crucifies the sinful nature and is endowed with the power of the resurrected Christ to live a new life. Peter, quoting from Isaiah 53, emphasizes this putting off of the sinful nature and taking on a new nature as healing or deliverance. By the wounds Christ received at His crucifixion, the sickness of your soul and spirit--your sinful nature, your separation from God--has been healed!

Stopping and Going with God - Numbers 9:23

"At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out." This verse refers to the comings and goings of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness of Sinai after their escape from Egyptian slavery. When the Israelites constructed the tabernacle to worship God during their wilderness wanderings, God demonstrated His presence among them by covering the tabernacle with a cloud by day and the appearance of fire by night. The cloud and appearance of fire indicated the presence of God's Spirit with His chosen people. Whenever the cloud lifted over the great tent, the Israelites would set out and continue on their journey and then encamp in the place where the cloud would settle. Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for a month or longer and sometimes for a few days (Numbers 9:22). In recent postings I have discussed how God leads His people by setting and revealing a path for each believer's life. This verse  indicates that there are two aspects to God's guidance--advancing and waiting--and that our job is to be obedient whether going or stopping. In the same way that God's presence covered the tabernacle, God's Spirit dwells within each believer. Sometimes the Holy Spirit leads you to move forward and sometimes the Spirit leads you to stop and wait. The waiting may be for a little while or it may be for an extended period of time. The stopping and waiting aspect of the Spirit's leading seems to be more difficult for us to obey. Nevertheless, our duty is to obey the Holy Spirit! Whether the Spirit says go or the Spirit says stop, if you are listening and obeying then God will lead you and His perfect will can be accomplished in your life.

A Present and Future Salvation - I Peter 1:3-5

"Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being protected by God's power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

We often talk about being "born again" as meaning saved from a sinful way of life to a life of righteousness in Christ. Certainly, salvation encompasses redemption from sinfulness, but that's not the the whole story.

Peter reminds us in these verses of an integral aspect to our salvation--resurrection to eternal life. Peter says that we are "born again" to inherit eternal life.

When we are "born again" we have a living, vital hope for resurrection to eternal life because of the resurrection of Jesus. (If Jesus was resurrected, then so will we who are His followers and believe in Him.)

Peter says that God stands behind this inheritance of eternal life and our faith in God assures our resurrection to eternal life because God is standing guard over this promise until the day it happens at the second coming of Christ.  

So when we are born again we receive from God through Christ a present salvation that is the redemption from sin and a future salvation that is resurrection to eternal life.

Letting God's Light Show the Way - Proverbs 4:18

"But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day."  This proverb is a wonderful promise to God's people and uses a beautiful figure of speech to portray the promise of God's guidance and direction over a life surrendered to His will. If you have ever observed a sunrise, you know that as the dawn begins to turn night to day some flickers of light burst over the horizon. As the sun breaks the horizon more light is gradually projected from the sun. However, it is not until the sun is well above the horizon that the full light of day is emitted. Now if you happen to be out for a walk or run before sunrise in an unlit area, you know that you have to watch your step until the sun is fully risen in order to see clearly the path or road you are following. When you have surrendered your will to God's will, He will light the way and make it clearer and clearer where you are going as you continue to follow the path that He has set for your life.

Traveling the Straight Path of Life - Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." This saying from the book of Proverbs is a well-known and oft-quoted Bible memory verse. Most teaching and preaching focuses on verse 5 about trusting the Lord rather than one's self. What is most interesting to me about these verses is the straight paths metaphor presented in verse 6. The ancient Hebrews were a nomadic people and it was important to travel the same paths to pastures and campsites. If these straight paths were not followed, one could get lost in the desert or wilderness. So if in all your ways you acknowledge the Lord--that is, you surrender your will to God's will in every realm of life because He is all-knowing and all-loving--then He will make the path of your life lead straight to its intended destination and you will not get lost and wander around looking for the right way. This does not mean that God's promise to make your path straight does not mean there will be no problems. God's promise is to guide you and sustain you through all difficulties along the straight path of life, not to remove difficulties from your path.

Some Good Advice - Numbers 5:5-7

Many of the laws God decreed concerned the offering of sacrifices in the tabernacle as atonement for sin. Embedded in these acts of sacrifice were some fundamental principles for maintaining good relationships with God and other people. God told Moses to tell the people of Israel that when any one of them--man or woman--commits a sin against another person by stealing or embezzling his property and lying about it, then he breaks faith with God and his neighbor. The person who stole and lied should confess his or her sin and make restitution to the the person to whom the wrong was done (or a family member) with an additional 20% added to the restitution; yes, pay restitution plus 20%. This still seems like sound advice: confess your sin to the one you have wronged and to God and do what is necessary plus more to make it right..

Learning to Live Righteously - Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." This basic tenet of the book of Proverbs is that the "fear of the Lord" is the place where we start learning how to live righteously. The "fear of the Lord" is the perception or awareness that there is a Creator/Redeemer of the world in which we live. This capability to perceive God is built into every human being. The Apostle Paul says, "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made" (Romans 1:20). So the learning process for godly or righteous living described in the book of Proverbs is this: A perception of God as our Creator/Redeemer, is the basis for knowledge, which is a correct understanding about the world and about God, and then wisdom is the application of the knowledge of the world and of God for living rightly and righteously. Thus, godliness or righteousness comes from the recognition that there is a God and He is the Creator and Redeemer of the universe and the source of all truth and righteousness.

What Makes God Happy - Psalm 149:4

"For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation." Don't the people you love the most--spouse, children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, parents, or friends--make you happy? It is your love for them that makes you happy.  When you love someone, you naturally want to give gifts to your beloved--maybe some new clothes--and show off your beloved to everyone. According to this verse, God is the same way toward human beings. Because God loves us, we make Him happy. God takes pleasure in His people, particularly the humble ones. And because we are God's beloved, He wants to give us gifts--specifically, a new set of clothes. He wants to attire His loved ones with His salvation and then show off His beloved to the whole world...because God's people make Him happy.

A Government You Can Trust - Psalm 146

You should give praise to the Lord, yes praise to the Lord, the Psalmist says, because His Kingdom is eternally powerful and benevolent--it's a government you can trust! The Psalmist says not to trust in the leaders of the governments of this world because they are human and when they die (or are deposed) their plans perish with them. But those who place their confidence in God's Kingdom for the present and future are blessed because God rules righteously, justly, and mercifully. He will:

• execute justice for the oppressed
• give food to the hungry
• set the prisoners free
• open the eyes of the blind
• uplift those who are distressed
• love the righteous
• protect the foreigners among us
• care for the widow and orphan
• frustrate the plans of those who are corrupt

Because God's Kingdom is eternal and never-ending, then you should completely trust Him and, of course, give Him your praise!

Signs of the Times - Mark 13:4

"Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?" The disciples asked these two questions in regard to Jesus' prophecy that the temple in Jerusalem will one day be destroyed. Jesus appears to answer the disciples' two questions--the signs and the time. But Jesus seems to transcend a prophecy of the destruction of the temple to include a discussion about a time of great tribulation preceiding His second coming (13:26). However, Jesus' point is that what's important is not when it will happen but that you are always prepared for His coming (13:37)

Sacrificial Giving - Mark 12:41-44

As Jesus watched people putting their gifts in the temple collection chest, a poor widow dropped in two small copper coins, their value being only a fraction of a cent. Jesus declared that the widow gave more than all the others because "they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on" (Mark 12:44). God measures gifts to Him not on the basis of the size of the gift but of the size of the sacrifice--the greater the sacrifice, the greater the gift. Therefore, with God what is important is not so much a matter of how much you give, but how much you give up! And this principle applies not only to money but to your time and even your own self or will. Jesus said: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34).

Truth Versus Political Correctness - Mark 11:27-33

The authority of Jesus is called into question by the Jewish religious leaders. When asked from where did He receive His authority, Jesus answered these religious leaders by asking them  a similar question: From where did John the Baptist receive his authority? Rather than answering His question truthfully or factually, they searched for a politically correct (PC) response: "They discussed it among themselves ... " (vs. 31). Why did Jesus' simple question require a committee meeting to determine the correct response? Was there more than one right answer?  The Jewish religious leaders had a political agenda to discredit Jesus and they knew if they responded one way to Jesus' question then they would be discredited and if they responded another way then they would be criticized.  Lord, let me strive for truth, righteousness, and goodness, and not political correctness; let me live a life of conviction, not compromise.

The Prayer of Faith - Mark 11:24

"Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." A Bible teacher once told me that for some people (Christians) faith is like this: if you believe God can and you believe God will and you believe it hard enough then God has to. C.S. Lewis said the real problem with Jesus' teaching about prayer in this verse is that He so lavishly promised that God will grant what we ask in prayer when refusal by God for what we ask in prayer is so frequent. Lewis said that we must not encourage in ourselves or others any tendency to work up to a subjective state we describe as faith with the idea that this will somehow insure the granting of our prayer. He said that the state of mind which desperate desire interacting with a strong imagination can manufacture is not faith but rather a feat of psychological gymnastics, as my Bible teacher so aptly observed. C.S. Lewis concluded that such faith occurs when the one who prays does so as God's fellow-worker and is so united with God in particular situations that he or she can demand from God what is needed to accomplish His plans and purposes. When we pray the prayer of faith, we must be sure that we are being led by the Holy Spirit to pray in faith to accomplish God's purposes.

Last Will Be First Redux - Mark 10:31

"But many who are first will be last, and the last first." Jesus presents the same basic Kingdom principle in the context of wealth as He did in reference to importance and recognition. A rich young man would not sell all that he had to follow Jesus, though he wanted to be a follower, because he had many possessions. Jesus remarked how difficult it is for those who are rich to follow Him into His Kingdom, but tempered His remark with the statement that all things are possible with God (meaning rich people can, in fact, be saved but it is more difficult for them to trust in God rather than their wealth than it is for the poor). He concludes by reiterating that those who seem to be closest to God may not be as close as they think and those who seem farthest from God are often the most redeemable.

When Last is Better Than First - Mark 9:35

"If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." How do you get ahead in the Kingdom of God? Not by promoting yourself or your ministry, nor by expanding your resume, nor by working harder and longer than everybody else.When the disciples were discussing who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God, Jesus told them that you get achieve success in God's Kingdom by serving others--especially the most vulnerable. Jesus used an object lesson to demonstrate this principle. He embraced a child in front of the disciples. Children were considered unimportant because they had no power or status in society. By embracing the child Jesus characterized Kingdom greatness as being comprised of humility rather than self-importance.

Building for Eternity - Psalm 127:1

"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." We do a lot of things in life and we do a lot of things with our life. We build marriages; we build families; we build careers; we build friendships; we build homes. But all this life-building counts for nothing--we labor in vain and stand to lose our souls--unless we are building for eternity. Specifically, this means that unless your efforts are conducted in obedience to God and directed at pleasing Him, they really do not count for anything. This observation by the Psalmist is just the Old Testament way of saying what Jesus meant when He told His disciples to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Him: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36). If God is not in whatever you do--all that you do--then it is not worth doing!

Which Comes First, Faith or Miracle? - Mark 8:11-13

The Pharisees came to Jesus asking Him for a sign from heaven to prove that He was the Son of God. Would another sign finally convince them that Jesus was the Messiah? Apparently all the miracles that Jesus had already performed--healing the sick, driving out demons, walking on water, raising the dead--were not signs enough for them. Probably, another sign would not convince them to believe in Jesus because they already had their minds made up. Anyway, when you study the miracles of Jesus, you see that miracles don't necessarily lead one to have faith. You have faith first and then the miracle occurs. So it's not the miracles that God performs in our lives that make us believe in Him, but because we believe He will do miraculous things. So, would another sign convince the Pharisees? No, because almost always the belief precedes the miracle?

Making Worship Enjoyable - Psalm 122

Does going to church sometimes become drudgery? It shouldn't be so according to Psalm 122. The Psalmist said that you should actually look forward to going to church and worshiping God: "I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord" (vs 1). The Psalmist was preoccupied with seeking peace and unity so that there would be security in the house of the Lord. So be a promoter of peace and unity at your church and you will find joy and gladness in God's house and you will look forward to going to church and participating in worship.

What Do You Depend On? - Psalm 121:1-2

"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. While this Psalm seems to be speaking to the pilgrim coming to the temple in Jerusalem to sacrifice and worship, it also becomes a moral lesson for the journey of life. The Psalmist directed his plea for help not toward the hills surrounding Jerusalem or even the Temple Mount, but to the Lord Himself, the person of God, Who created heaven and earth. So what do you depend on? Do you find your security in your job, your home, your life insurance policy, your bank account, your retirement fund? The Psalmist makes it clear that the Lord is your Keeper and should be the One on Whom you depend. So much so that the Psalm is dominated by the word, "keep." The Lord is your keeper (vs 5). The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore (vs 7-8).

The Principle of God's Provision - Mark 6:30-44

Jesus and His disciples traveled to an isolated place for a time of rest from their ministry to find a crowd of thousands of people waiting for them. Jesus "had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd" (Mark 6:34) and taught and ministered to them until late in the day. The disciples wanted to send the crowd away to buy food in the surrounding villages but Jesus commanded His disciples to feed them with the food they already had, which was only five loaves of bread and two fish. So Jesus blessed the five loaves and two fish and divided them up and it miraculously became enough food to feed five thousand men plus women and children with twelve baskets of food left over. This miracle demonstrates the way God provides for our needs. God does not send us a whole bunch of what we do not already have or need. God takes the little that we already have and enlarges or enhances it to meet our need. So here's the principle: When you offer any and all the resources (or talents and abilities) you possess totally, completely, and willingly to God, He provides for your need by extending, expanding, or enhancing those resources (or talents and abilities), even to an abundance.

Restricting the Power of God - Mark 6:1-6

 Jesus goes back to His hometown, Nazareth, and  begins to teach in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The people of His hometown who heard him were both surprised and skeptical. They knew Him as the carpenter's son and knew His mother, brothers, and sisters and were offended by the authority He demonstrated in His teaching. Their attitude toward Him exemplifies the old saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt." Jesus explained the phenomenon as a prophet is without honor in His hometown. While His friends and neighbors in His hometown scorned His authority and leadership, Jesus was amazed by their unbelief: "And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief" (Mark 6:5-6). Matthew says that Jesus could not do mighty works in Nazareth because of the unbelief of His hometown friends and neighbors. Previously, we described how even a small act of faith can unleash the mighty power of God. Now we see the debilitating effects of unbelief. It seems that unbelief by those who should believe can have the unfortunate consequence of restricting the flow of God's grace to save, heal, and deliver people.

Unleashing the Power of God - Mark 5:21-34

While Jesus was on His way to to heal the young daughter of Jairus, one of the rulers of a synagogue in Galilee, a woman who had suffered for twelve years from a disease causing abnormal bleeding touched His garment and was immediately healed of her disease. Her healing is seemingly unintentional or inadvertent on the part of Jesus because He asked who it was that touched His garments even though the usual crowd of people was pressing against Him. The woman fearfully acknowledged that she was the one that touched Him and was healed. Jesus then said to her: "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease" (Mark 5:34). This suffering woman's actions demonstrate the power of faith that is focused on the person of Jesus and draped in humility. God's grace is so pervasive that even the simplest act of human faith is capable of discharging its mighty healing power.

The Storms That Build Our Faith - Mark 4:35-41

When all the world is raging about you and it seems that problems just keep piling on, though you know that you are God's child, do you get a sinking feeling and it seems that God has forgotten about you and your circumstances? That may be the way the disciples felt when they were traveling across the Sea of Galilee in a boat with Jesus and a great storm came up: "And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he (Jesus) was in the stern, asleep on the cushion" (Mark 4:37-38a). The disciples had to wake Jesus and then asked Him if he cared that they were perishing. When Jesus woke up He rebuked the storm saying "Peace, be still" and there was a great calm. Then He turned to the disciples and asked them why they were afraid and did they still have no faith. How many problems must you have before you know that you can trust your life and circumstances to God? For those who still have little or no faith, Jesus will rebuke the storms of life. For those with faith, He will sail with you through the storms of life and build even greater faith!

Kingdom Productivity - Mark 4:1-20

This passage is the parable of the sower. It is also repeated in Matthew 13:1-23 and Luke 8:4-15 and it presents an important principle to living in God's present and future Kingdom. The parable of the sower describes four categories of hearers of the message of the Kingdom of God--three categories are believers of different degrees and and one category is unbelievers. The first category is unbelievers who hear but do not understand the message (seed falls along the path and birds eat it). The first category of believers receive the message with joy but do not endure (seed sown on rocky ground). The second category of believers is unfruitful because the cares and desires of the world choke the message (seed sown among thorns). The third category of believers is fruitful and productive for the Kingdom (seed sown on good soil). These fruitful or productive believers believe in the reality of God's Kingdom and so it transforms their life so that they now live for the purpose of growing God's Kingdom: they hear the message, accept responsibility for it, and then tell the message to others--and God produces the yield thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold!

The Unforgiveable Sin - Mark 3:29-30

"But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin—for they were saying, He has an unclean spirit." The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying that Jesus was possessed by the devil because He cast out demons and healed people. Jesus responded by asking how Satan can cast out Satan because a kingdom divided against itself cancels out its own power or authority. He concludes with a strong warning directed toward the scribes who were accusing Him. Jesus warned them not to blaspheme the Holy Spirit because it is a sin that is eternally unforgiveable (because the Holy Spirit is the agent of God's power). It seems that it is easy to attribute acts that are outside of our own realm of understanding or experience to Satan. It is almost as if we believe the devil does miraculous things and the Holy Spirit cannot or will not. If a supernatural or miraculous act advances the Kingdom of God, then common sense tells us, as Jesus points out in Mark 3:24, that it is surely not Satan tearing down his own kingdom by building up God's Kingdom.

Your Other Right Hand - Psalm 109:30-31

"With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the midst of the throng. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death." This Psalm is an assurance that God takes up the cause of His people when they are downhearted and confronting evil and injustice. Verse 21 says that God will "deal on my behalf" for His name's sake and He will deliver me because of His steadfast love. Isn't it good to know that God stands beside you--He stands at your right hand--when you need His vindication and His deliverance? Knowing that He is right beside you taking up your cause gives you reason and strength to give God "great thanks!"

Taking Care of Sin First - Mark 2:9-11

"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—he said to the paralytic—I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home." While Jesus healed many people during His earthly ministry, this is the second healing of an identified person recorded in Mark (2:1-12) and Luke (5:17-26) and the fourth recorded in Matthew (9:1-8). A paralyzed man being let down through the roof of a house in front of Jesus has lots of dramatic effect and is certainly noteworthy. But I think the story is significant and the reason that this account of a miracle of healing is recorded in the Bible is because Jesus confronts the Jewish religious leaders about what His real mission is. Although Jesus has authority to heal people, taking care of sin is His primary objective. Before Jesus heals or delivers you, He needs to take care of your sin problem first!