Category Archives: scripture

Show Us The Father — Unchanging

Posted on by
Reply

Today is Mark 13.

Jesus and His disciples came out of the temple. One of the disciples commented on the beauty of what he was seeing. Jesus spoke of how all that seemed so certain and indestructible would be destroyed, the Temple.

They went to the Mount of Olive opposite the Temple. As they sat at there Jesus began to tell of what was to come. In all the disturbing events Jesus spoke of, One Thing stood out as unshakeable and unchanging — His Word!

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Verse 31)

In all the changes we experience in our daily lives, Jesus tells us His Word will not change. It will endure.

The Word is God! It is His Divine Expression of Himself. You cannot separate God from His Word. They are one. Jesus shows us that His Word is unchanging, so is His Heavenly Father. Nothing in the future will change the character of our God. He will always be love, goodness, our peace, our strength, etc.

Of all the events that we will face in our lives, there is one certain person to run to that will withstand the storm, God. He and His Word are unchanging!

Show Us The Father — Everything We Need, True Life!

Posted on by
Reply

Today is Mark 10:1-31.

A rich young man ran up to Jesus as He set out on a journey one day. Although the man had everything he could ever need, he knew he was missing something.

He asked Jesus a question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus told him. “You know the commandments.” This was a true statement. A Jewish man of Jesus’s time would have memorized them, but Jesus began to list them off to the rich young man. The man pointed out to Jesus, “all these I have kept from my youth.”

Then it seems that Jesus switches gears, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor…” However, Jesus pointed out the greatest commandment that the man had missed — The Shema: 

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ ‭ESV‬‬

As a Jewish man, he had customarily repeated this verse twice a day, everyday. Jesus was right, the rich young man knew te commands, BUT he had not observed them all. He loved his wealth more than God, Himself.

Jesus offered him the opportunity to follow Him, the very God who gave the life the rich young man desired. But he “went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

The disciples observed the interaction. Afterwards, Peter said something that should be the prayer of our heart, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”

God wants all of us! Total surrender!

When He is all we seek, we will find Him to be all we need!

Whatever we give up, Jesus said we will receive back “a hundredfold” of His provision. And we will also receive the one thing the rich young man longed for — “eternal life.”

Knowing Jesus, is Knowing Our Heavenly Father. THIS is Knowing 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

Show Us The Father — Compassionate

Posted on by
Reply 
“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭6‬:‭34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today is Mark 6:30-56.

Jesus told His disciples to “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” They had been very busy ministering to people and sharing the Good News. So much so that they hadn’t even had time to take care of the basics, such as eating and rest.

When they went a way in the boat and arrived at the resting place, the crowds came. Jesus looked at the “great crowd, and he had compassion on them…” He was moved by their needs. His will for them was good and He saw the hurts, the brokenness, the spiritual hunger. They were like “sheep without a shepherd.” They needed Him to keep them, to care for them, to meet their needs.

Jesus “began to teach them many things.” He met their spiritual hunger with spiritual food. Then He worked a great miracle providing physical food to meet their physical need. Jesus displayed to us compassion!

Our Heavenly Father is compassionate! He sees our needs, including our greatest one, to be connected to Him in a relationship. He knows that apart from Him, we will experience nothing but death, darkness, and destruction. He cares very much about not only our physical needs, but our spiritual needs as well.

How good it is to know that Our Heavenly Father is moved by our needs of Him! He loves us with great compassion!

Show Us The Father — Faithful

Posted on by
Reply

Today’s reading is Mark :1-29.

Jesus went to His hometown. As He was teaching, the people who heard Him had a hard time looking at Jesus as anything more than “the carpenter’s son.” Even though He spoke with wisdom, and did mighty works. They were in “unbelief.” Jesus “marveled” at it. But this did not deter Jesus from continuing His mission that God had sent Him to do. He continued to go about the villages teaching. Jesus was faithful! He displayed the faithfulness of His Heavenly Father.

I know I have acted like the people of Jesus’s hometown a time or two in my life. I heard the Word of Wisdom, and I knew that God did mighty works, Yet I stood in unbelief. I am thankful that God has been faithful to me. He continued to call to me. He continued to draw me to Himself.

The Apostle Paul described the faithfulness of God like this:

“if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus “could do no mighty works there…” because of their unbelief. His desire is to do mighty works in our lives. This is why He faithfully pursues us. May we repent of our unbelief and surrender to Him our faithful God!

Show Us The Father — He is Sovereign

Posted on by
Reply

Today is Mark 4:30-41.

Circumstances can loom intimidating and large. In today’s passage the disciples found themselves in a circumstance they knew was bigger than them, “a great windstorm” and “waves… breaking the boat” they were in. When they woke Jesus who was asleep in the oat, they asked Him a question that I’m sure I have asked God before, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Or in my words it may have sounded like, “God, don’t you care…?”

Then Jesus speaks, “Peace! Be still!”

“Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” These are the questions that Jesus asks as they sat in the boat in the “great calm.”

Every day as they walked with Jesus, the disciples saw Him perform miracles, speak with wisdom like no one else, heal, cast out demons, etc. He displayed that He indeed is Lord, and sovereign over all. He is supreme in power and dominion.

In my life, God has come through, time after time after time. Why would I be afraid and have no faith? If Jesus displayed His sovereignty on the boat that day with His disciples, He has not changed.

Jesus shows me my Heavenly Father. My God is Sovereign over the storms that may blow in my life. The safest place to be in a time of storms and uncertainty is in the boat with Jesus! He alone has the power to say, “Peace! Be Still!” And bring calmness in uncertainty! He is in control. He is Sovereign and my sovereign God loves me.

How can I lose?

Show Us The Father — Real

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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 — Good Will Toward Men

Posted on by
Reply

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.”
‭‭

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

Posted on by
Reply 
“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

Posted on by
Reply

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)