(Sigh.)

"And (Jesus) sighed deeply in his spirit..."

(Mark 8:12)

Those darn Pharisees!  Those religious leaders!  They have "issues" with Jesus and constantly plague him throughout the Gospels.  Much of the time their interactions with Jesus are attempts to test, trick or trap him.  Deep down they're not genuinely interested in knowledge, wisdom, or spiritual insight.

Such is the case in Mark 8.  They come and start arguing with Jesus straight away.  They ask him "for a sign form heaven, to test him."  Jesus, who has all the patience int he world (at least when there's a legitimate inquiry), is not going to play their games.  Mark tells u that he "sighed deeply in his spirit."

Wow.  Subtle.  Powerful.  Telling.

I wonder how often that happens with me and Jesus?  How many times, throughout the course of my lifetime, has Jesus watched me do something (or say something or think something) and then just sighed deeply in his spirit?  "Will Jim ever learn?  Why does he keep doing that?  If only he knew..."  How often do I (knowingly or unknowingly) seek to test, trick or trap God?  (Sigh.)

And yet, I know that God loves me nonetheless.  God wants the best for me - and seeks to guide me along those lines... but His love remains steadfast (despite his sighs!).  And that's GOOD NEWS!

Anger? From Jesus?!?

[From 3/7/12]

"He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart..."

(Mark 3:5a)

What got Jesus angry?  Unbelief?  Doubt?  Sin?  Nope.  He could deal with all those things.  He had boundless patience & grace for those struggling with that.  What really seemed to tick him off was lack of compassion (aka "hardness of heart").

There's a story in Mark 3 where Jesus was at a synagogue on the sabbath.  He saw a man who had a withered hand.  Jesus knew some were waiting for him to do something "improper" - like healing on the Sabbath (which was considered "work," so it was forbidden on the Sabbath).  So before he did anything, Jesus asked a simple question: "Is it lawful to do good or do harm on the Sabbath?"  Despite all of the Sabbath regulations & restrictions, the bottom line was to DO GOOD!  But his detractors couldn't admit this and still hope to entrap Jesus.  So they said nothing.

What struck Jesus was their lack of compassion for the man injured.  They were more concerned about their destructive plans for Jesus than about this man's personal pain.  Their hearts were hard.

Sometimes we get caught up in our own "stuff" (plans, agendas, daily routines, etc.) that we miss the needs of a hurting world around us.  God forbid that we allow our hearts to become hardened beyond softening!  God forbid.

ENDURE!

"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus."

(Revelation 14:12)

The Scripture Journaling schedule that I follow calls for us to get through the Book of Revelation in a mere 5 days of reading.  It's quite an interesting read to go through it all this quickly.  First of all, it can be overwhelming - so many images & symbols!  Most scholars don't even know what they all mean or stand for, since it was intentionally written to be cryptic (to avoid the "powers that be" from being able to decipher it!).

What I took away from today's reading can be summed up in one word: ENDURANCE!  There is a lot going on in this world... both things we can see and other spiritual realities we can't.  Evil exists.  But we, as followers of Jesus, are called to resist evil and be faithful.  The Scriptures give us a pathway to follow.  We're not called to be perfect (everyone sins), but rather faithful (including seeking & receiving forgiveness).  It won't be easy.  In fact, it can be downright overwhelming at times.

BUT FEAR NOT!  God is with us!  Fight the good fight!  Keep the Faith!  Endure!  Endure!  Endure!!!

(Amen to that!)

FREED!

"To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever.  AMEN."

(Revelation 1:5b-6)

I was all set to read the first 4 chapters of Revelation today for my Scripture Journaling (morning devotions), and I got stopped a mere 6 verses into the first chapter. It's one of those "Christianese phrases," the likes of which we've heard countless times before... but today I actually paused to consider its implications.

"To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood..." (v.5b)

It wasn't the "God loves us" part that got me.  It was the next part: "(who) freed us from our sins by his blood."  We usually think of having been simply (or maybe not so simply) forgiven of our sins.  But the author of Revelation talks about being FREED from our sins.  Wow!

The sins of our past... left unforgiven... have deep ties into our souls.  They gnaw at us.  Remind us of our failure.  Pummel our feelings of self-worth.  Even if we've made peace with those we have offended, a dark trail remains.  But  as Christians, we believe all of that can be forgiven.  All of it!  By Jesus' death & resurrection ("blood"), not only are we forgiven, but we're set FREE from the hold sin has on us.  (And who can't use a little more freedom like that?!)

That four letter word...

[FROM 2/26/12]

"Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action."

(1 John 3:18)

"I LOVE YOU!" It's everywhere.  In movies... in books... on cards... in songs... in gifts... in letters & notes... on our lips.  We have countless ways to SAY that we love someone.

The author of 1st John acknowledges this fact.  But s/he takes it a step further.  Love is most powerful when expressed "IN TRUTH AND ACTION."  The action part is easy to identify - it's what we DO, not just what we say.  It's the time we spend with others.  It's the acts of service and caring - especially to those in need.  It's how we use our resources.  That's love in action.

Love in truth - that's a bit trickier, isn't it?  As I reflect on it this morning, I'm drawn back to our words.  Sometimes we say things because it seems like the right thing to say... or we know someone wants to hear it... or we think it'll benefit us.  But these don't always equate with truth, do they? 

What would it mean to speak the truth in love to each other?

The ONE distinguishing mark

[FROM 2/23/12]

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

(John 13:34-35)

It's not whether we wear a cross around our necks... or have a "fish" bumper sticker on our car... or the size of the church we attend... or whether we carry around a bible in our backpack (or have a Bible app on our smartphone)... or listen to a certain kind of music.  The one & only mark that Jesus says is THE INDICATION that we're following him, is if we love one another.

One way of looking at this is seeing it as a call to love everyone, everywhere.  That's not what I want to focus on in this reflection, though.  I want to focus on the perspective of "loving one another" within the church.  Not just the one particular church we happen to attend.  Not just the denomination our church is a part of, either.  But all Christians.  Everywhere.

Too often we say and do things to "distinguish" us from other believers.  Usually it involves some kind of judgmental statement on how they're so different from us.  According to Jesus, there's no place for that.  LOVE ONE ANOTHER.  Genuine, authentic, down-to-earth love.  For all Christians.  No jealousies.  No "I can't believe they call themselves believers."  No theological righteous indignation.  Just love.  Period.

Now, should we (or any other Christians) sin... wait, reverse... WHEN we sin, we need to be held accountable (and hopefully, with repentance, forgiven!).  Loving one another does not equal blessing everything ever said and done.  But love should be the foundation, the bedrock, the first response form our heart.

To all my brothers and sisters in the faith, forgive me for all the times I've failed to respond to you in genuine love.  I pray God will continue to refine and reshape my heart to be more and more like Jesus.

"Tag, we're it!"

[From 2/21/12]

"Jesus said to them, 'My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.'"

(John 7:6)

He was already a marked man.  The Jewish authorities were very upset at Jesus and would have loved to see him "taken care of."  His friends knew this.  They also know that if more people saw what he could do (his acts of power!), they'd be believers too!  So they encouraged him to go to Jerusalem for the Festival of Booths.

Jesus' reply was interesting.  "My time has not yet come," he said.  We've heard him say this before - to his mother in Cana at the wedding.  Scholars have come to see this expression as alluding to Jesus' passion, death & resurrection, when all would see who he truly was.

But Jesus doesn't stop with that phrase alone.  He continues by saying, "...but your time is always here."  I'd never noticed that before.  "Instead of trying to tell me what I should do," Jesus seems to be saying, "why don't YOU go and tell others about me?"

OUR TIME IS ALWAYS HERE.  Wow.  No wiggle room there.  No uncertainty at all.  Maybe instead of trying to plead, beg and manipulate God into changing this world, WE are called (by Him!) to make a difference in the lives of others around us... not on our own power, but in His name!  

Wow...