The Everyday Prayer

RE Verse reading–Mark 15:40-16:8 (day five) It’s a phrase that gets thrown around frequently these days. It’s an attitude of entitlement, selfishness, and comparison. It’s a word I often refuse to let slide when I hear it, often responding, “Fair (fare) is what you pay to ride a bus!” Our culture and own flesh will tell us life is supposed to be fair. One of most important lessons the gospel teaches us is that life is not meant to be fair. At the cross, an innocent “lamb” is killed in my place. The Lord Himself taking my sin, my punishment, and my deserving wrath of God. God’s Amazing Grace comes at a monumental cost! That’s not fair!! My own heart looks at circumstances and life in general and tries to influence me to think that life should be fair, that I deserve better. But, when the Holy Spirit reminds me of the cross, salvation, and the eternal promises of the Father, I am reminded that if “life is NOT fair” for Him, why should it be fair for me?

RE Verse reading–Mark 15:40-16:8 (day four)
“In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs.”  The spirit within a man fears isolation.  Part of what it means to be fully human is to live and move in a social context.  From estrangement from family to solitary confinement to shunning by a community, isolation sets a person at the terrifying edge of the abyss of loneliness.  God is the only person who will never lose track of you.  Even in the midst of abandonment by friends, followers, and hangers-on—even as in the Pharisees’ eyes he became a pariah—Jesus knew God’s provision.  Food, clothing, local arrangements for lodging—these women took seriously their privilege of caring for this man.  At some point, “God with us” must manifest as “friends with us.”  We can go to extraordinary lengths in excruciating circumstances if we know we’re not alone.

RE Verse reading–Mark 15:40-47, Mark 16: 1-8 (Day three)
“You can’t go over it. You can’t go under it. You’ve got to go through it.” So goes the kids book about a bear hunt. What’s true of bear hunts is also true of following Jesus. “There were also some women looking on from a distance” (15:40). These women learned firsthand that following Jesus requires you to stand and look at the cross. Try as one might to go over the cross on the precarious scaffolding of religious devotion or to go under the cross by relativizing truth and justifying sin, the path of Jesus stubbornly, persistently leads his followers face to face with the horror of the cross. You’ve got to go through it…and face the horror of your own sin. You’ve got to go through it…and accept a substitute Savior. You’ve got to go through it…and submit to a resurrected King. You’ve got to go through it…have you faced the cross?

RE Verse reading–Mark 15:40-47, Mark 16: 1-8 (day two)
16:5 – “they were amazed”…that is probably an understatement!  The Greek word used here is an intensified form of ‘terror or rendered immovable.’  These women could not comprehend what they were experiencing.  What is our response when we enter into the presence or power of God?  Do we casually approach God’s throne?  He is the Creator, Sovereign over all of the Universe…He is All Powerful, All Knowing, Ever Present!  The children of Israel would not even approach the mountain where He came to meet with Moses.  Is our ‘fear of God’ at the point of ‘amazement’?  When was the last time that we trembled in fear at the face of God?  Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and Proverbs 10:27 says, “The fear of the Lord prolongs life.”  Let’s remember the vast privilege we have to approach the throne of God in prayer through Jesus Christ, but let’s also remember Who we are approaching!

RE Verse reading–Mark 15:40-47, Mark 16: 1-8 (day one)
“But go tell His disciples and Peter that He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.”  (16:7)  It was a loud, clear statement on the subject of equality.  The first people to carry the good news of Christ’s resurrection were women.  Unheard of in His day and not the first indication of Jesus’ view.  The Samaritan woman experienced respect from Jesus rather than condemnation (John 4).  Mary was encouraged to study the scripture along with the men (Luke 10).  Now, the Lord tasks these faithful women with a duty.  To these loyal souls, to these willing-to-brave-the-scorn-of-association-with-Christ people He says, “Go tell!” and then trusts them to act with the same sort of bravery that led them to the tomb in the first place.  Without an ounce of prejudice, the Lord gave an assignment to them and a lesson to us.  The first preachers of the Easter message were women.

RE Verse reading–Mark 14:10-11, 17-21, 41-50 (day seven)
“It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”  (vs 21)  I believe that Judas is in hell.  It is not something I say with any joy.  I believe Jesus was telling us.  What could be worse than not ever living?  What could ever make life itself a mistake–something to regret?  Answer–to experience eternal death.  Sober words, I know.  Not, however, unusal in Scripture.  “Whoever wishes to save his life will LOSE it.”  (Luke 9:24)  “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME.’ ” (Matthew 7:22-23)  I believe that the universe is much harsher than most of us imagine–much cleaner, more ruggedly just.  I believe that Jesus was warning Judas, I believe He was warning us.

RE Verse reading–Mark 14:10-11, 17-21, 41-50 (day six)
“Then Judas Iscariot. . .went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them.  When they heard it, they were greatly pleased and promised to give him money.”  (vs 10-11)  Matthew adds a sad detail to the Judas story.  He ASKED for money.  It was HIS IDEA–not something the Sanhedrin offered.  “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?”  (Matthew 26:15)  Makes it worse for me, somehow.  Colder.  More heartless.  What do  I take in trade for Christ?  What do I ask/seek from an unbelieving world, knowing that the purchase price will be the “first love” that legitimately belongs only to Jesus?  “Everyone has his price” says the old cynicism.  “Still as of old, man by himself is priced; for thirty pieces, Judas sold himself, not Christ.”  “Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of the wicked.” (Psalm 37:16)  Keep us pure, Lord.  Only yours.  Not for sale.

RE Verse reading: Mark 14:10-11, 17-21, 41-50 (day five)
Learned a new word this week. Bokeh (pronounced Bō kuh) is the ability to keep one part of a picture in focus while the other remains blurry. Ever seen a picture where the foreground is blurry and the background is in focus? The trick is to focus on a particular object in the background. Jesus had an amazing capacity to do this between present circumstances and the eternal perspective. His focus was on the eternal perspective from the beginning of His ministry (Mark 1:38- “Let us go somewhere else… so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”) to the end (Mark 14:49- “But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”) Even the Hebrews writer references this ability (Hebrews 12:2- For the joy set before him he endured the cross). I will pray, asking God to help me have this kind of vision. I will read the scriptures believing they will shape my ability to clearly see the eternal.

RE Verse reading:  Mark 14:10-11, 17-21, 41-50 (day four)
What a disappointing experience!  One of Jesus’ closest followers is the one who will betray Him.  And worst yet, He knew it ahead of time.  Jesus knew Judas’ heart even better than Judas.  Judas had walked with Jesus, heard Him teach daily, seen miracles of healing…of quieting storms…of raising from the dead (Judas was even the treasurer of the group, a position of trust!).  How would you respond to such betrayal?  I know how I would have and I’m sure it wouldn’t have been pretty.  Jesus saw a much bigger picture, though.  He saw past any personal rights that were violated and saw God’s greater picture of redemption.  We could look around ourselves in today’s world and feel that our personal rights are being violated, but God’s Word paints a much bigger picture than our rights.  By staying in God’s Word daily, we can gain His perspective on current events, and like verse 49 say, “but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.”

RE Verse reading–Mark 14:10-11; 17-21; 41-50 (day three)
“It would be better for him if he had not been born.” The human will can devote itself to a certain path, and it can organize the mind, body, and social context of a person to help it stay on that path. The longer these things assist the will, the stronger the will becomes in its determination to stay the course–until it becomes difficult for the will to consider any other possibility. When this happens towards the things of God, we call it discipleship. When it happens towards the things of man, we call it destruction. The most Judas’s hardened will would register after his evil deed was a feeling of remorse. Repentance would have led to a new path and a forgiving Savior. But the remorse mustered by the hardened will of Judas found its only answer in suicide. The will is the heart of a human life. No wonder the scriptures tell us to guard it.