“Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He had mercy on you.”
(Mark 5:19)
When Jesus healed the man of “legion”, the man was given a new mission. Tell everyone at home about the mercy he had received and whom He had received it from. What if we all did the same?
God does a lot of wonderful, merciful things for us. We have much to be grateful for and a pile of good news to share. If our cup overflows, shouldn’t it overflow into our conversations, too?
If God has been good to you – go home and tell your people, too.
When Jesus rebuked the winds and the waves – He did so with a whisper, and it obeyed. The reaction of the apostles? Fear. Fear of the waves turned into fear of Him who could still those waves with a gentle rebuke.
“They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
When we recognize the power of Jesus – we learn to be still, too. The waves and winds of this life no longer become the problem they once were. The only thing that matters is if you are right with Him. If you are in Jesus’ boat, nothing else matters.
Don’t fear life – fear Him. Get off the world’s bandwagon and get into Jesus’ boat.
After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
(Mark 3:5)
Our Lord felt sorrow at the hard hearts of mankind, but it also made Him angry. Grief and anger often intermingle in our hearts. An unjust world infuriates us, and yet, it can also bring us to tears. Why does life have to be so hard sometimes? And why do people have to be so cruel?
Sin is the problem. It’s always been the problem, and Jesus is the answer. The more we turn to Jesus the better equipped we become to wade through this dark world’s gloam and point people toward the Son. The more people we bring to Him, the brighter we make the corner where we are.
It’s okay to be angry with this world. It’s okay to be saddened by it, too. Just don’t be defeated by it.
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
(Mark 1:15)
It had been 1,400 years since Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and given them the promises of a future Savior. Many things had happened during that time. Kings had come and gone, generations had passed, and nations had risen up and scattered into the dust clouds of history. Babies had been born, old men and women had died, and life seemed to continue on with no change. The mundane drudgery of everyday life would have made it easy for people to think, “He isn’t coming” or “God has forgotten us.”
And yet, God hadn’t forgotten. He had been planning and preparing for the day when Jesus would rise up and tell them, “The time is fulfilled.” The kingdom, the church, did eventually come, and Christ, our King, bought it with His blood.
The danger of our day-to-day routines is their ability to lull us into complacency and dull our commitment and hope in Christ. Just because most of our days seem the same doesn’t mean that there aren’t important moments when God fulfills all things. We all have one day of our birth and one day of our death, and the many days of normalcy in between doesn’t remove the singularity of the beginning and the end.
So, repent and believe the gospel. Follow Christ and be baptized into His burial that your sins may be washed away. Repent of your sins and follow Him completely. Revitalize your faith and stir up the passion for service in His kingdom.
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
(Hebrews 13:2)
It is so easy to neglect people you don’t know. After all, they are strangers, and their well-being is none of your business unless you make it your business. We must forcefully interject our love into the lives of our fellow man; hospitality to strangers isn’t the default behavior. It is radical to look at those who aren’t your responsibility and determine that you will become concerned with their welfare. Who does that anyways? Jesus, that’s who. Jesus chose to make our business His business and our welfare His concern.
Don’t neglect the opportunities to do good to those you don’t know. You might just turn strangers into brothers.
“For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”
(Hebrews 12:17)
Esau learned a hard lesson when he sold his birthright. Choices have consequences, and sometimes, there isn’t a way to fix it once you’ve broken it.
We take for granted that we will always have time to change, but that lie is the procrastinator’s siren song. Don’t assume you can make yourself right with the Lord tomorrow. Car accidents, brain aneurysms, mental deterioration, and a thousand other things have the ability to remove your capacity for repentance. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
Procrastination over repentance also doesn’t take into account the hardening of our hearts. The more we commit a sin, the more accustomed we become to it in our lives. If you are comfortable rebelling against God now – what makes you think you will be less comfortable with it tomorrow? The more likely truth is that today you are the more receptive to God’s message than you will be in the future. Though repentance happens as we get older, it is far rarer to see older people obey Christ than it is to see younger ones.
Do not put off today what you may not be able to do tomorrow. In eternity, there will be no place for repentance.
“make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.”
(Hebrews 12:13)
If you broke your leg, you probably would put a pin in your hiking schedule. When we are healing our bodies, we allow time and opportunity to recover. We set ourselves up for success by making sure that we avoid unsafe activities, follow doctor’s orders, and get plenty of rest and time to heal.
Why don’t we treat our souls the same? There is wisdom in taking a break from difficult relationships until you have healed or matured. Make life easier on yourself when you are trying to heal from sin. Switch to a flip phone to avoid the temptation of pornography, distance yourself from difficult relationships, deactivate your social media accounts until you can rebalance your priorities, or pick a different route home from work that doesn’t pass the bar you used to frequent. Self-imposed boundaries just make it easier to heal. Doing it now doesn’t mean doing it forever. You can always reactivate and reassess these self-imposed rules later as you see fit, but in the beginning, set yourself up for spiritual success.
Don’t be afraid to cut things out to strengthen your soul. Give yourself straight paths for your feet.
“…and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”
(Hebrews 11:13b)
We cannot face a struggle until we acknowledge it. Addiction therapy programs have long understood this truth. Recovery begins with confession. Until then, the addict simply tries to mask the problem with rationalizations, and the cycle continues.
People of faith acknowledge the problem with life – they confess themselves strangers and exiles. Until we own the truth that we have eternal souls trapped in mortal bodies, we cannot begin the recovery process from sin. All the great heroes of faith accepted that the reason they weren’t happy on earth was because they were made for heaven. Earth was not their home, and therefore, they would always feel out of place and uncomfortable here.
The temptation is to mask the problem by embracing the world and trying to make earth home. Sin is alluring because it provides temporary, earthly pleasure that creates a false sense of belonging to this world. Don’t fall for it. Accept that you don’t belong and that life here is strange and a struggle. We are living in tents while longing for houses. Only when we die will we be home.
Confess yourself a stranger and exile on the earth and seek a heavenly home. Acknowledge the problem, and you will find recovery in Jesus.
“For by it [faith] the men of old gained approval.”
(Hebrews 11:2)
Anyone else struggle with the feeling their effort is never good enough? Ask any craftsman, and they will tell you they see all the flaws in their own work. While others fawn over their creations, they see every weak joint, nicked corner, or smudged paint edge. Life is like that, too. Since you are living your life, you see every misstep and stumble – others might think you are sailing along just fine, but you feel every bump. Never good enough.
Which is why Hebrews 11:2 is so important for our souls. Tuck this verse away in your heart. God approves of your faith. He did with the likes of Abraham, Rahab, David, Sampson, and Gideon. Their stumbles didn’t remove God’s approval – a life of faith, no matter how bumpy, is still righteous in the eyes of God. Your effort is good enough. You are good enough… because of Jesus.
So, run with conviction the race set before you, and don’t be dismayed by the smudges of life. Your Father approves of your effort.
You must be logged in to post a comment.