Category Archives: Jesus

Show Us The Father — Family

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Today is Mark 3:21-35.

Jesus’s biological family thought He was “out of his mind.” They came to seize Him. They did not understand who Jesus really was.

When Jesus was told about their coming, they said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” Jesus then defined our true heavenly family. He said, “…whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Verse 35)

If we want to dwell in a relationship of “family” with God, we need to do the will of God. What is the will of God?

Jesus defined the will of God:

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.””
‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭40‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The will of God is that we believe on Jesus and receive His eternal life.

Jesus also defines eternal life:

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Knowing God = Eternal Life= Connection to God in a Relatioship of Oneness

When we know God intimately, in a connected relationship, we will be in His will. The ones who know God in this relationship are His family.

Nothing else matters in life. God wants us to experience Him as our Father. In this passage, the ones who were seated around Jesus, listening to Him speak were the ones who wanted to know God and to experience Him in relationship. They were the ones who were doing the will of God. They were Jesus’s true spiritual family.

When we enter into a relationship with God, we enter His family too! We can know God in a relationship of family!

Show Us The Father — Real

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Today is Mark 3:1-21.

“And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

People are looking for what is real, what is true. This was true in Jesus’s time and it is true today.

Crowds were showing up wherever Jesus went. They wanted an opportunity to experience Jesus. They had heard of Him, but they wanted to be near to Him, touch Him, and feel His power. They knew He had healed many. They knew He wasn’t just another religious leader. They knew He was real!

I have heard that this generation has seen so much false. They are hungry for what is real. God desires for them to know Him and His Word. He is the one who is right and true! He is real!

May our lives reflect Him so others may know Our Heavenly Father who still touches the broken and needy! He is real!

Show Us The Father— Relational God

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Today is Mark 2:18-28.

The Pharisees thought they had God figured out. They had a list of laws with boxes to check off on that list. If they fulfilled it all they thought they were all good with God. They had “religion”…

Jesus came. He was Emmanuel — God with us. He came displaying God the Father to anyone who would pay attention to Him. Jesus walked and talked with the people who followed Him. He lived in relationship with them. His words He spoke and His call to follow Him literally changed lives. Relating to God was no longer a list of boxes to check off. Relating to God became a relationship — the very thing God wanted all along. Following the list of rules regarding the Sabbath (including picking grain for a hungry group of men) was not what God was after all along. It was their hearts.

God wants our hearts as well. When we truly love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we will do the things that God desires. We do not need a list of rules regarding the Sabbath when our greatest desire is to love and obey the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus.

God will give us a new heart that desires to do what is right if we will only ask Him to. His desire is for us to know Him intimately in a relationship, not follow a list of rules.

Show Us the Father — Friend of Sinners

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Today is Mark 2:1-17.

I can vividly remember the weight of my sin. I have known the emptiness of being separated from God. I can imagine how those who encountered Jesus in this chapter (the paralyzed man and Levi) must have felt, under the weight of their sin.

Jesus came to reconcile us to God. He “has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Verse 10) Jesus, God with us, ate with sinners.

He told the self righteous religious leaders, who thought they had it together, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” These leaders disliked Jesus all the more. In their preoccupation with how they looked, acted, and lived, they lived consumed with themselves. They couldn’t see the one truth that we all need to realize…we are all sinners too. They too were carrying the weight of sin as the ones they so quickly judged. Had they seen it and received God’s forgiveness, they would have had opportunity to experience God in truth. The God they thought they knew all about…

Jesus told them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus came so He could call the sinners to Himself. He came so we could be forgiven. Our Heavenly Father desires for sinners to come! He is still calling us, sinners, today!

“…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬, ‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus knew this truth! He came, He forgave sinners, and He ate with them! He has calls us His friends.

The ones who think they don’t need forgiveness of sins miss what Jesus was trying to show us about the Heavenly Father. He desires to be the sinner’s greatest friend!

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Show Us the Father — Good Will Toward Men

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Today is Mark 1:21-45.

When teaching about the love of God, A. W. Tozer said, “First of all, love is the principle of good will. The angel sang, “good will towards men.” (Luke 2:14) Love always wills the good of its object and never wills any harm to its object.”

Jesus demonstrated God’s love in the words He spoke. “He taught them….”(verse 22) God knew that the best way for us to see Him and understand Him, was for us to be taught by Him. His will towards us came out in every Word Jesus taught or preached.

Jesus demonstrated God’s love, His will for our good when He healed the sick. “He healed many who were sick with various disease, and cast out many demons…” (verse 34) In fact Jesus spoke the very intent of God’s heart towards us when approached by a leper desperate for Jesus to make him clean, free of the horrendous disease. Jesus said, “I will…” (verse 41) His divine determination was for that man’s good, to be made whole, “clean.”

Jesus is still demonstrating God’s love. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:8:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
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Jesus is our Heavenly Father’s love demonstrated — His will for our good. He wants us to Know Him!

He wants us to know His love!

Show Us The Father — Mark 1:1-20 There’s Something About Jesus

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“Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:9 NIV

God wants us to know Him! Jesus coming to earth is evidence of that truth. God has given us in the four Gospels a beautiful picture of what our Heavenly Father is like. Because if we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father.

This month we will read the Book of Mark. With each section, we will explore what our Heavenly Father is like as Jesus displayed Him before us.

To Know God is to Love God is to Trust God is to Obey Him! It is my prayer that as we read each section, this will become a reality in our lives.

Today is Mark 1:1-20.

There’s something about Jesus!

Before Jesus stepped on the scene, John was proclaiming His coming. John realized that Jesus was mightier than Him. He knew that Jesus was worthy of worship. When the time came, Jesus was baptized by John. God audibly spoke. “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” (Verse 11) The Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove.

Jesus stepped into a world that was far from God in their hearts. God, Himself, had come to reveal Himself to us to show us the way back to Him. In today’s reading, Jesus reveals to us a Heavenly Father that wants us to KNOW Him! Not just know about Him from a distance. This is why Jesus came!

New Beginnings in The Book of Acts — Proclaiming the Kingdom

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Today is Acts 28.

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

Paul 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.

God has offered us the same New Beginning that Paul experienced. We too can experience Jesus and receive His New Life! The same Holy Spirit that Paul was filled with when Ananias placed his hands on Paul in Acts 9, desires to fill us too!

May we proclaim the kingdom and teach others about the Lord Jesus as Paul did, “with all boldness and without hindrance.” (verse 31)

New Beginnings in The Book of Acts — All Things For Our Good and For His Glory!

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Today is Acts 27.

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.

May we trust Him more!

New Beginnings in Acts — Almost Persuaded

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Today is Acts 26.

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.

“…In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”” Acts 26:28 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!

New Beginnings in The Book of Acts — “I Would Like to Hear the Man Myself”

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Today is Acts 25.

The Jewish leaders of Paul’s time refused to listen to the truth of God. They hated Paul, and they hated his testimony regarding Jesus. The would not believe that Jesus was alive, that Paul had had an encounter with Him, and that Jesus had changed Paul’s life.

They wanted the message that Paul was teaching and preaching to die. In their minds, the way to achieve it would be to kill Paul himself. The results of this mission was Paul imprisoned.

However, this gave Paul more opportunity to share what Jesus had done for him. First he shared with Felix, the Roman official. Then the opportunity came to speak to King Agrippa.

“I would like to hear the man myself.” King Agrippa spoke these words. He was not a believer in Jesus, but he was curious of what Paul was preaching.

Our world is filled with people similar to those of Paul’s time. There are those who have heard the message of Jesus rejecting and resisting it. There are those who are curious. Who would “like to hear” our testimony of what Jesus has done.

The question is will we respond as Paul did? Will we tell everyone with whom God brings into contact with us about the encounter we have experienced with Jesus?

Paul was not afraid to testify of the Gospel of Jesus! Are we? We live in a world with people who “would like to hear.” How they respond is not the issue. Our willingness to testify is.