I am a woman who stands in awe of her loving and Faithful God.
I am the bride of Rich for 31 years, and the mother of four grown children. I recently retired from homeschooling all four of my kids for 21 years total. I am also the blessed grandmother of two.
Currently I am a Bible teacher and weekly devotions writer for Women on Wednesdays Bible Study, a local women’s ministry.
https://www.wowjcmo.com/
May God bless you and reveal to you His everlasting and faithful love!
Three groups of people are mentioned in this passage: The Pharisees who hated Jesus. The large crowds who followed Him wanting His healing touch and to see miracles. The inner circle of Jesus, His disciples.
“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” Mark 3:13-15 NIV
The disciples, the ones closest to Him, His friends are described as the ones “he wanted”. He appointed them “that they might be with him and that he might send them out…”. What a privilege to be one of the ones to walk and talk with Jesus to learn from Him and to be used by Him! The disciples were blessed!
We are blessed!! When we follow Jesus and have the Holy Spirit inside of us, we are His disciples too. We are the ones He wants! We are the ones He is with and He sends out!
Jesus rocked the world of the religious elite of His time. They could not wrap their minds around His teachings and the miracles that followed Him. They were shocked when He didn’t follow all their traditions and man made rules. They wanted Him and His disciples with Him to fast.
Jesus explained that what He was proclaiming to them was “New Wine”. It could not be put in the constricted old wine skins. In other words. What God wanted to do in their lives could not be confined by the old ways of the law. It was New.
God wants to do the same within us! Where we have been with God is only the surface of where He desires to take us! His relationship to us is New and it is living!
We don’t have to be stuck in the ways of the past! Jesus gives us New Wine and changes our hearts so that it is put into New Wine skins that can receive the New He wants to do in us!!
This is Good News!
““No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”” Mark 2:21-22 NIV
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”” Mark 2:5-7 NIV
The teachers of the law could not stomach the idea of Jesus forgiving sins. Only God could do that! This would mean Jesus claimed to be God! And it would upset all their traditions and ways. But the Good News is that Jesus is the One who forgives sins!
Jesus went to eat at Levi’s house. He was a horrible and hated sinner, a Jewish tax collector working for the Romans.
“When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”” Mark 2:16-17 NIV
The Good News is once again proclaimed! Jesus came to bring healing to those sick with sin! He came to call to sinners that He could set them free!
Jesus has not changed! He is the same today as He was yesterday, and will be the same tomorrow. He has come to forgive our sins and to bring healing from its horrible effects on our life. What made the difference in the man paralyzed and the tax collector’s lives? They came to Jesus! He invites us to come too! Good News!!
When the Kingdom of God comes near healing and restoration occurs. Everywhere Jesus went lives that were broken were fixed, lives that were occupied by evil were set free, unclean lives were made clean. The people were amazed. Yet in all this activity, Jesus took time to get alone with His Father.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”Mark 1:35 NIV
Why? Jesus was God and there was so much to do? Why would He need time to pray? He was One with the Father and One with the Holy Spirit. He was in relationship with them. He still is! Out of this relationship God’s Kingdom love and power flowed!
We are invited to enter into this relationship and be One with God. Then God’s Kingdom flows through us! As Jesus ambassadors of the Kingdom, we are a part of His plan to restore and heal. This was Good News then. This is the Good News now. The Good News that goes on and on!
(This month I’m going back to the gospels, the books that tell about Jesus’s life- the Book of Mark)
Mark starts his book by proclaiming that Jesus and His coming is Good News! It is Good News indeed! John the Baptist testified of this Good News in his ministry before Jesus came. John said this:
“And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”” Mark 1:7-8 NIV
In the first 12 verses of Mark, the Holy Spirit is mentioned three times. Why is this important? Jesus came as God with us! He walked in our world. Jesus came so that He could baptize us or fully immerse us with the Holy Spirit, who is God in us! As we come into that relationship we will find the Holy Spirit to be such a precious friend.
This same Holy Spirit that fills us is the same Holy Spirit of whom John the Baptist spoke. The same Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove at His baptism. He is the same Holy Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness afterwards.
Jesus offers us Good News as well today! The Kingdom of God has come near! We can be a part of that Kingdom! He wants us to follow Him just as He called out to Simon and Andrew.
“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.” Mark 1:16-18 NIV
And as we follow Him others will want to follow as well! Empowered by the Holy Spirit and sharing the goodness of God we receive. Good News for all!
“My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.” Song of Solomon 2:10-13 ESV
Sunday will mark the 7th Wedding Anniversary of my son and his bride. A lot has happened in seven years for them including a growing family. So I offered to watch my grandsons, three years old and one, for an overnight date for my son and his bride. I told my daughter in law, “You need to go out alone and remember why it was you got married in the first place.” I remember what it was like. Having had four children of my own. My mother in law offered to watch them for my husband and I to go away for our anniversary, so I wanted to give my own daughter in law the same gift my mother in law gave me.
This morning I awoke at 5 am. I contemplated staying in bed a little while longer, but I heard the still small voice say to me, “Come away with me.” So I quietly snuck out of my room, fixed a cup of coffee and headed to my upper deck that faces East. Time to watch the sunrise with the lover of my soul, Jesus.
As I have sat here listening to the sounds of morning, in particular the cooing of the doves in the distance, I was reminded of the verses above. And I thought about how I was as a young mom of four. Laundry!! Lots of it! Cooking, cleaning, baths, and boo boos. My life was preoccupied. When I finally got all my kids to sleep, my mind was not on my romantic relationship with my husband. I was distracted. Getting away with him helped me to lay aside all the responsibilities and to remember why it was I fell in love, or as I told my daughter in law, “why you wanted to get married in the first place.”
My heart toward God is not that different. Things crowd in. They occupy my mind and my time. And He calls to me, “Come away!” He wants me to remember why it was I fell in love with Him.
There was a time when the disciples had a time of busy ministry doing good things, the things of God. When they got back, Jesus saw their need. He told them to come away.
“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” Mark 6:31-32 NIV
He still calls to His disciples, me and you today. Every morning, if I take the time to listen, He speaks. He calls me away to remember. He reminds me exactly what it was that caused me to fall in love with Him: He is so kind. He is so good. He is so patient with me. He gives me so many blessings. He speaks of His love towards me. The doves cooing, the smell of honeysuckle floating through the air, the colors of a sunrise are all His gifts to me. And His presence…none can compare. When I’ve felt Him, just a small taste of what it is like to be totally immersed in His love, my heart is overwhelmed.
This is why He calls to me. This is why He calls to you! Time with Him is not a duty that we mark off a list of chores for the day. If it is we have missed the point. He wants us to “come away with Him” so we can remember. Remember how much He loves us and we in turn will love Him all the more. Then our desire will be to be close to Him, attached, to know Him intimately.
(I write these devotions as a daily text to my nieces. I began to share them on my blog. There is a reference to Grandma and Grandpa, my mother in law and father in law. They believed and received the gift I wrote about.)
Happy Pentecost Sunday! At Christmas we celebrated God with us. At Easter we celebrated God restoring relationship with us. Today we celebrate God in us!!
I want to encourage you today to reflect on the precious presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He is the comforter, the teacher, the intercesor, the one who empowers us. The promise of the Holy Spirit’s infilling is for today.
Your Grandma and Grandpa testified frequently to the difference they experienced when they received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that we read about in Acts. They also practiced daily praying in tongues or praying in the Spirit. This is a part of your rich heritage. This gift of a prayer language that we read about in Ephesians:
“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication…” Ephesians 6:18 ESV
This Builds us up in our faith. I have experienced its benefits in my life as well. I pray often in the Spirit. It is a daily practice that has helped me in my walk with the Lord.
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,” Jude 1:20 ESV
I mention all of this because I know how hard it is to live victoriously in this world. This is one of the tools that God has given us to help us to overcome sin. I would encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and to desire all that He has for you.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV
The Apostle Paul spoke of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. That is spending time with Him as a friend. I know only a small portion of what this is and I want to know it more. May we all desire to know Him as our dear and closest Friend. Love you all!
The final chapter of Acts tells of Paul’s time on the island of Malta and the miracles that happened there and his arrival at Rome. No matter what the circumstances or possible opposition, Paul preached to everyone and anyone who would listen to him.
The final verse of Acts says this:
“He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” Acts 28:31 NIV
He lived a life that experienced the promised power to be a witness. He knew how to receive comfort in hard times from the Holy Spirit. His life is an example of what being full of the Holy Spirit is like.
Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday. It is a time to remember the wonderful promise fulfilled in the upper room years ago. We have an invitation to not only remember, but to receive Him into our lives and to pray for Him to fill us and overflow us. We can know the Holy Spirit and experience His fellowship, His closeness.
Paul sails to Rome, but along the way his ship ends up in a terrible storm and the lives of those aboard are in peril. Those aboard the ship “gave up all hope of being saved.”But God continues to speak to Paul about the situation. Paul told those aboard the ship with him:
“For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’” Acts 27:23-24 ESV
What God spoke to Paul eventually came to pass. The ship was dashed to pieces on rocks, but everyone on the ship survived.
This story may seem like a horrible detour, unfair to a man that desired to live his life only for Jesus. But, God had a purpose in it!
We go through things we do not understand, hardships… As we have yielded our lives to the Holy Spirit and trust God, we will see that God does work all things out for our good and for His glory.
Paul was brought before King Agrippa to plead his case. He once again tells his testimony of how he had an encounter with the living, resurrected Jesus. In that encounter, Jesus told Paul what his mission in life would be when he met him on the road to Damascus.
“But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” Acts 26:16-18 ESV
He was testifying of the power of God that enables us to turn from the darkness of sin- anything we do that is against God’s laws and separates us from God. He told everyone he was in contact with about what he had both physically and spiritually experienced, a God who could take eyes that are blind- unable to see God’s ways and truth- and make them see. He spoke of forgiveness from God for the wrongs we have done and being set apart for God’s purposes through faith.
This is all still available to us today. The Holy Spirit continues to move our hearts to desire to know all of what Paul was telling King Agrippa about. We have a choice. King Agrippa did too. But his response was truly a sad one.
“And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind…In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”” Acts 26:24, 28 ESV
Paul’s desire was not simply to be free of his chains. His desire was that everyone he came in contact with would know the Jesus he knew. Paul wanted them to experience the relationship with the Holy Spirit he was experiencing. His response was this to the Kings question.
“And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”” Acts 26:29 ESV
This is why I write these things to you. I know from experience the power of God who broke off the chains of sin by which I was held captive. I can tell you the difference of walking in the darkness of my own ways as opposed to walking into the light of God’s path- His ways. Do not be “almost persuaded” to surrender your heart entirely to God! King Agrippa walked away from Paul’s testimony of Jesus that day unchanged. May we see the value of what he spoke and seek out the relationship he described. It is the only way!
Your Love 