Author: Don Guthrie

RE Verse reading–Mark 6:1-6 (day seven)
“And they took offense at him” (vs 3)  Faith in Christ sets people free.  “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”  (2 Corinthians 3:17)  Unbelief traps the human soul.  Wrong choices harden our attitudes into prisons.   When Mark describes the people of Nazareth (Jesus’ hometown) he says they took offense.  The word in Greek is very picturesque.  Scandolon was the stick inside an animal trap.  When the stick was dislodged, the trap fell into place and the animal was caught.  Good image.  That is what happened to the Nazarenes.  They refused to believe and got  trapped inside a world and a perspective of their own making–without life, without progress.  Are you trapped today?  Do you desire freedom?   Ask the Lord to help you return to the place where faith was being required of you.  Repent of your reluctant, stubborn heart.  Trust the Lord.  Faith can move mountains, it can also open traps.

RE Verse reading–Mark 6:1-6 (day six)
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? . .and they took offense at Him.”  (vs 3)  Nothing is free.  Not even grace.  Not if you mean “without obligation”.  The grace of God makes us debtors.  See Romans 1. We have something to repay.   “To whom much is given, much is required.”  (Luke 12:48)  Perhaps this is where the people of Nazareth stumbled.  Rather than feeling the moral urgency of a faith response to Christ ( What the miracles and teaching of His public ministry were calling for), they used their history/personal knowledge of  Jesus as permission to “hang back” unchanged.  Is it possible that we do the same?  Do we ever allow past experiences with Christ to substitute for progress with Him?  Do we ever say, “I have known Him for years”, without appreciating that we are NOT following Him at the present moment?  God’s goodness obligates us to trust!  Even when the new chapter is unexpected.

RE Verse reading–Mark 6:1-6 (day one)
God is amazing.  No argument.  His grace.  His faithfulness.  His mercy.  We sing about it.  “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.”  But people are amazing too, sometimes, and for all the wrong reasons.  Vs 6 of Mark 6 says, “He (Jesus) was amazed at their unbelief”  The greek word is thaumazo–“to marvel, or wonder”  It means that Jesus had questions re. human behavior that didn’t have answers.  Illogical stuff.  Irrational choices.  We often think of the “questions” we have for God.  Think of the “questions” He will have for us!  “Why didn’t you trust me?”  “Why, when it came between the Spirit’s voice and your own fears/logic did you always choose the latter?”  With all the clues packed into the universe and all the proof of His faithfulness, it just doesn’t make sense.  Not to Jesus.  Our unbelief causes Him to shake His head in wonder.  He is amazed, but for the wrong reason.

RE Verse reading–Mark 5:22-43 (day seven)
“Your daughter is dead, why bother the teacher any more?”  “Dont’ be afraid; just believe.” (vs 35-36)  The argument is simple.  The girl was dead.  I was a waste of time to press further.  Death trumps everything.  Right?  There are moments when to continue believing is both futile and foolish.  Right?  Wrong!  Jesus knew there is never a time when faith is powerless to save.  Especially at the point of death.  Believe! He said to the young father.  Don’t let fear take ahold of your heart.  Trust!  Are you ever discouraged?  Defeated?  Tempted to think that (whatever the present disaster) the situation is hopeless?  If so, I hope you take great courage in the words of Christ.  There is NEVER a time when nothing can be done!  NEVER a time when faith is not the victory.  A God of infinite power and love is near.  Crisis and defeat are moments when faith matters most.

RE Verse reading–Mark 5:22-43 (day six)
“But Jesus kept looking to see who had done it”  (vs 32)  The Bible speaks of real salvation as more rare than we normally think. “The way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  (Matthew 7:14)  Appreciating this, Jesus was not one to ignore real faith when he saw it.  Even in a great crowd with people pressing in on Him; even with the pressure of the anxious Father who wanted Him to hurry, the Lord refused to walk past the opportunity to recognize faith.  I am certain that He still has this priority.  In every crowd, there may be thousands of motives in thousands of hearts.  What Jesus notices, what Jesus values is faith–the person who has accurately and positively connected the person and power and promises of Christ to his/her own situations.  When we believe and act He still notices and says  “Your faith has healed you.”  (vs 34)

RE Verse reading–Mark 5:22-43 (day one)
“A large crowd followed and pressed around him.  A woman. . .came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. . .at once Jesus realized that power had gone out of him.”  (vs 24,27, 30)  It is THE most impressive characteristic of Jesus.  Ok, one of the most.  He was never in a hurry.  Never stressed by outward pressure or deadlines or urgent needs stacking up around him.  Modern folks talk about being “present in the moment”.  Jesus knew how to do it, even before it was cool.  A calm heart comes from inward concentration on God, inward confidence in God.   “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee”  (Isaiah 26:3)  As the New Year comes, with all of its demands, may we learn this lesson from the Savior–we can be calm in pressure-filled situations when our mind is stayed on God.  Be still, dear friends, be still.

RE Verse reading–Mark 5:1-20 (day seven)
“For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart.”  (vs 4)  It is a sad story.  Sadder because it is still being repeated.  People try to help others and sometimes only make it worse.  The Gerasenes had not ignored the demoniac.  Not at first.  They had tried to subdue him.  Like locking a person up.  But it didn’t work.  He was so maniacal that he tore the chains apart and moved further away from society, more of a danger to himself and others than before.  We live in this same world–a world where people without help and hope get guns and hurt school children.  Only Christ can do the healing that is needed.  Only Christ can free a person from this kind of torment.  “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  (Matthew 17:21)  May the Lord teach us to give real and much-needed help.

RE Verse reading–Mark 5:1-20 (day six)  “(They) told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man–and about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.”  (vs 16-17)  Almost comic!  The people of Geresa are more concerned about the pigs who drown than the man who was healed/restored.  I get it.  A herd of 2000 pigs is worth alot of money.  Perhaps, the Lord did not cause the “pig suicide”–the blame for that resting with the destructive demons.  Even so, it is strange that the people are so unimpressed with the salvation of a person and so overly concerned that the Lord’s Kingdom might cost them something at the bottom line.  We sacrifice pigs all the time for physical health.  Bacon.  Ham.  Why not spiritual health?  All of us must choose what matters most–possessions or LIFE.  “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36 )

RE Verse reading–Mark 5:1-20 (day one)
“Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ”  (vs 8)  It is a miracle story.  It is also a picture of salvation.  For people who are demon-possessed, and for those who are trapped/broken in other ways.  It must have been frightful!  Naked, irrational man runs at you screaming the moment you arrive in a new country.  Complicated situation.  Not too complicated for Christ.  He talks with him. He begins a careful and confident search for the man inside the tangle of conflicted words and actions.  What is YOUR name? the Lord says  to the the man in an effort to establish contact with the real him, the one who had been captured and confused for so long.  “Thou art a God who sees!” (ELROI–Genesis 16:13)  Sees what?  Value!  Potential!  Purpose!  What great good news!  Beneath the fears and the mistakes and the wasted years, He sees the me that  He came to redeem.

RE Verse reading–Mark 2: 13-17 (day seven)
“He said to him, ‘Follow me!’  And he got up and followed Him.  And. . .many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him.”  (vs 14-15)  When Jesus called Levi to follow, it set off a chain reaction.  Soon Levi’s friends (many!)  were introduced to Christ and they followed Him too.  Every believer has this same power and potential for service.  In Matthew 13, Jesus speaks of the man who “bears fruit. . .some a hundred times more, some sixty and some thirty.”  (vs 23)  Levis’ story reminds us that people are the fruit that Christ values most.  The old saying goes, “Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but no one can count the number of apples in a seed”.  Every converted soul has this same amazing opportunity.  When we follow Christ, we should influence others to do the same.