Paul and Barnabas were really close friends and partners in the Gospel. Barnabas had been instrumental in bringing the newly converted Saul to introduce him to the Apostles in Jerusalem. And later, the pair were commissioned by the Church in Antioch to go out on their first missionary journey together. Here, they were making ready for their second missionary journey, when Barnabas insisted on taking his nephew Mark along again. But Paul rejected the idea, annoyed that Mark had deserted them half way through the first trip. And so they went their separate ways. Now on the surface, we see discord and disunity between Paul and Barnabas…but by parting company, the Gospel was spread much wider by more people. Sometimes we become very comfortable in the little group we’re part of…and God has to stir up the nest to move us out…in order that His work gets done.
Tag: mark
Mark 5:41 ” Little girl, I say to you, get up!”
The Greek word for “get up” has several definitions…all that could apply to young ladies around the world today. Wake up girl, and realize the potentially dangerous position you have placed yourself in all for the sake of popularity. Get up girl, and walk away from the relationships that are wrong…that fill you with fear and shame, or make you feel powerless. Rise up girl, and refuse to believe the lie that you’ll never amount to anything…that it was your fault…that there’s no way out…that you’re not needed or loved. Be mindful, that no one but Jesus will ever love you as much as He does. No one but Jesus will save your soul and give you eternal life. No one but Jesus will always be there for you, no matter what.
Wake up girl, and take a hard look at where you’re at…are you truly happy with your situation, or do you need to make a change? Jesus is waiting.
Mark 7:24 ” Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet He could not keep His presence secret.”
Initially, no one may have known Jesus was in town. But people sensed something different happening…there was an awareness and feeling of hope and anticipation in the air…and they came searching for the source. For the presence of Jesus could not be hidden. Just as the indwelling Holy Spirit can not be hidden in us…it must be allowed to shine forth. As it tells us in Matthew 5:14-16, ” You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Allow that light from within you to shine like a beacon for the lost and searching world.
Mark 10:20-22 ” ‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’ Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ He said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’ At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
Jesus had answered the rich young man’s question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” But when the young man arrogantly stated he had kept all the 10 Commandments from childhood…Jesus stared directly at him. Now Jesus could have called him out on it. He could have run down a list of 100 times this young man had failed…but He didn’t. Rather, Jesus looked into the young man’s eyes and saw his potential. So He gave him an invitation, but within that invitation was also a hard decision. A decision the young man sadly was not willing to make. We all have an Achilles heel…a area of our lives we hold on to, stubbornly clinging to, unwilling to trust it completely to the Lord. But it’s not until we surrender all aspects of our life to Jesus that we can fully follow Him. Jesus told the rich young man, “Trust in Me.” …and He’s asking that of you today.
Mark 8:1-4 ” During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to Him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.’ His disciples answered, ‘But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?’ “
His time on earth was getting short and Jesus wanted His disciples to understand their mission. Everyday He had guided, demonstrated, and shown them what to do…to think outside the box of human nature. For this wasn’t the first time Jesus had fed a crowd with only a few loaves and fish…but the disciples still didn’t get it. The disciples had witnessed and actually helped distribute the food to that crowd…but when challenged to come up with a plan for this hungry group, they quickly reverted back to their humanness. How many times have you sold yourself short by your limited vision of what God could do? We need to be asking for God’s vision in our life, not ours…and we need to be thinking outside our “human” box and seeking God’s unlimited and miraculous vision instead.
Mark 8:34 ” Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’ “
Jesus never said was going to be easy to follow Him. By referencing the cross in this verse, Jesus not only implied how He would die, but he gave the crowd a vivid illustration of the personal cost there was to following Him. The Jews had been introduced to this horrific means of execution by the Romans, who used it as a very effective tool of humiliation and intimidation. This crowd had watched as criminals were paraded through the streets, carrying their own cross, to the place they would be crucified…their execution very public and meant to be totally demeaning. But now Jesus was telling them they’d have to deny themselves to the point of complete surrender and sacrifice just as the criminals they saw in order to walk with Him. Following Jesus will never be easy. It starts with the willingness to give up “self”…our selfish pride and ego as we learn to trust and obey Jesus. It means taking up our cross – our own personal journey – in order to have fellowship with Him. Finally, it means humbling ourselves to the point that when people look at us…they only see Jesus.
Mark 7:24 ” Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet He could not keep His presence secret.”
You can’t quell the glory of God. In Luke 19 the people had begun joyfully to praise God in loud voices when the Pharisees ordered Jesus to rebuke them. Verse 40 says, “I tell you, He replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Rejoicing in the Lord can not be contained…it must burst forth in worship of our Heavenly Father and what He’s done for us. Just like Jesus couldn’t keep His presence secret in that house, our praise and worship of God can’t be silenced or suppressed either.
Mark 7:33 ” After He took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.”
Jesus used His own saliva several times in the Bible to heal. In John 9:6 it says, “Having said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” In Mark 8:23 it says, “He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus asked, ‘Do you see anything?’ ” So why did Jesus do this very primal act? We know that Jesus was fully man but also fully God…and within His saliva was His DNA. DNA that held His chromosomes…His genetic information. But the spit Jesus smeared on these men held something much more powerful… it held within it the very essence of God.
Mark 4:34 ” But when He was alone with His own disciples He explained everything.”
Jesus taught the crowds that clamored around Him with parables…but when He was alone with His disciples, He would explain the meaning behind them. It tells us in Mark 4:10 that, “When He was alone, the Twelve and the others around Him asked Him about the parables.” Reading about God from some author isn’t the same as being alone with God yourself. Solitary time with God and His Word enables you to ask those tough questions you’re confused about. And as you probe deeper into His Word, that alone time with God becomes even more important…for it’s then that He can teach, edify, and exhort you.
Mark 13:13 ” All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be save.”
What a wonderful promise is within this verse. For there’s assurance and hope that as we persevere with faith…as we stand firm to the end, we will be saved. But the world doesn’t understand this faith and trust Christians have in Jesus. For it says in John 15:21, “They will treat you this way because of My name, for they don’t know the One who sent Me.” For Believers though, knowing the Lord, is loving Him…loving Him, is putting our trust in Him…for we know trusting Him to the end will never disappoint.
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