Ephesians 5:1-2 -- "Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Luke 9:26 -- "If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels."
Thank you for once again taking time to read this message. It means a lot to me. I hope that you are all doing well, and I thank the Lord for the ministry of doing these messages.
Last week, we looked at the fact that the disciples recognized finally that Jesus was the Messiah. He was God and man. That doesn't mean that they were seeing the entire picture of what Jesus' ministry entailed yet. Peter would rebuke Jesus for saying that He was going to be crucified. This drew a sharp rebuke from Jesus who said, "Get behind me, Satan." Jesus said that they were looking at things from a human perspective and not from God's perspective."
In our message today, I would like us to focus on this statement of Jesus about looking at things from a human perspective and not looking at things the way that God sees it. So much of this is going on today in our world.
We live in a world that is fallen. People have rebelled against God and the ways of God. The Bible is clear that we are like lost sheep who have gone astray. Each has gone to his own way doing what he or she deems right regardless of what the Lord has said about it.
The values of our society are completely at odds with the way of the Lord. For instance, think about what the world's view of success is. In this world system's way of thinking wealth, power, fame and prestige are what make for success. However, that is not what counts for having a successful life in God's eyes. In the Lord's view, being a success in life means following Him and turning your life over to Him. It means that you love God and your neighbor. You do unto others as you would have done to you. It doesn't matter if you are rich and famous. The world and all of its fame and treasure is passing away. The Lord Jesus has called on us to build up treasure in heaven where moth and rust does not corrupt and where thieves do not break in and steal.
When Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, this world would have looked on the rich man as a success and Lazarus as a failure. But, Jesus turned things around. Lazarus ended up having eternal life in heaven while the rich man lifted up his eyes in hell.
There are other ways that this world's values do not measure up with the way God sees it. For instance, boasting and calling attention to oneself and one's deeds is very common practice. But in God's view, we are to be people who are humble not drawing attention to ourselves and our supposed greatness. We are to realize that all that we have comes to us by the gracious hand of the Lord. He has given us all that pertains to life and Godliness.
One other area I would like to touch on is becoming more prevalent today especially among some famous people and in some political circles. This belief states that self-interest is the most important thing in life. A person shouldn't "waste" money and time on charity. They should make a lot of money and use it for themselves. What is done for oneself is viewed as right. This is the opposite of the teaching of the Lord.
The Bible says that we are to be concerned for the needs of others and not just for ourselves. We are called to follow the selfless example of Jesus who did not come into the world to be served but to serve. Jesus gave His life for the world. He is the ultimate example of humility, doing good and being a person for others. He is our example.
I hope that you will order your perspective rightly. Look at things from God's way and not from the perspective of this fallen world system. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please pray in regard to my health. I am not feeling well at all. I really need your prayers.
Pray for those who suffered damage in the area north of me from storms. Pray that they will make a full recovery. Also, pray for those affected by the hurricane here in the USA.
Keep praying for peace. Ukraine needs prayers for peace. Keep praying in regard to peace in the Middle East and don't forget about Sudan.
For our prayer focus countries, let us pray for those in the nations of Togo and Benin. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will finish Mark 8. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all.
John 1:3 -- "Through Him all things were made, without Him nothing was made that has been made."
Psalm 19:1 -- "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim the work of His hands."
Thank you for reading this week's sermon. I am glad for the opportunity to post the message again this week. I hope you are doing well.
Last week in our study in Mark, we saw the encounter that Jesus had with a blind man. The man had a partial recover, and then Jesus laid hands on him again and the man was totally restored. We saw this as really happening but more importantly as a metaphor for coming to know more about Jesus and having our understanding about Him fully opened.
In our message for today, we want to look at how this transformation over time happened in the life of the disciples. Like the man who was healed, they couldn't understand or see who Jesus really was at all for awhile. For instance, they did not understand at all what was going on with the feeding of the four and the five thousand. They did not know what Jesus meant about the yeast of the Pharisees. However, as they spent more time with Jesus, they began to see more and more.
That leads us to our passage today. Jesus comes right out and asks them who people think that He is. They responded by saying that some thought he was John the Baptist while others thought that He might be Elijah or one of the other prophets.
Jesus then changes the question. He asks them who they think He is. To this, Peter said that Jesus was the Messiah. They were coming to understand who Jesus really was. His teaching and His message was starting to get through to them.
This is much the same in our current day and age. Many people start their spiritual journey not understanding who Jesus is nor what He did on the cross. They think of Him as a good man or a good teacher, and they leave it at that. But, there are those who over time study more and understand more. They come to realize that Jesus is not just a man. He is God come in the flesh to redeem the world from sin.
Just as Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was, He in essence is asking everyone that question. Who do you say that I am? The answer one gives to that has eternal consequences. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We must turn to Him and trust Him to escape the wrath of God due to our sinfulness. What we believe about Jesus and our relationship with Him makes a difference for time and for eternity.
Now, the disciples still had a lot to learn. Jesus told them that He was going to be crucified and then rise again. Peter still not understanding rebuked Jesus. Jesus said "Get behind me Satan." According to Jesus they had human concerns and were not concerned about the things of God.
I hope that you will consider Jesus. I hope that you will come to realize more and more who He is and what He has done through His death and glorious resurrection. Consider giving your life to Him as Savior and Lord. If you don't understand it all, ask the Lord to show you the way, and He will reveal the truth of Himself to you. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please pray that I will keep be able to do my ministry work and find another job.
Keep praying for peace. Pray for Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan.
For our prayer focus countries this week let us pray for those in Pakistan and Algeria. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue on Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all.
I John 1:5 -- "This is the message that we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."
John 14:15 -- "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
Once again, I would like to thank you all for taking the time to read this week's message. I hope that this week has been a good one.
Last week in our message, we took a one week divergence from out study in Mark. Today, we get back into what the Lord has to teach us from this book.
Our passage for today is one of the turning points in this Gospel. While the events in the story did actually happen, the healing has a deeper symbolic meaning.
First off, after Jesus fed the four thousand, He encountered a blind man who needed to be healed. The first thing Jesus did was to take the man out of the village. He then spit on the man's eyes and asked him if he could see anything. The man said he saw men walking around like trees. Jesus touched Him again, and the man's vision was completely restored at this point. Jesus then instructed him not to return to the village.
As I said, this did happen. However, Jesus performed the miracle in this way to show a greater spiritual point.
We are all like the man who was blind. We have no spiritual sight whatsoever. The Bible says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. We need someone to show us how to see things in a new way. We need our vision transformed.
Jesus took the man out of the village, and he had to be willing to let Jesus lead him out. In order to have our eyes open and our hearts set free, we have to have the desire to move from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His glorious light. A lot of times, a person comes to a realization of the truth of who Jesus is in stages under the guidance and grace of the Lord. By the grace of the Lord, we begin to see more and more what the truth is and that we need a Savior. We begin to want to be moved from darkness to light.
Then, there comes a time when by His grace we come to place our complete faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and His glorious resurrection. We accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord and move completely out of darkness into the light of the abundant life that only Jesus can bring to us.
Once we have come to faith and trust in Jesus, we don't want to go back to the old way of life. We want to keep looking to Jesus who is the author and perfector of our faith. We don't look left nor right. We do not look back. We keep looking to Jesus and we follow the narrow way that leads to life.
Next week, we will see how this miracle was a turning point in the life of the disciples. They began to see more clearly who Jesus was and that revelation would be even more clear when they saw Him risen in power and great glory. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please pray that the rains being predicted in much of the USA this week will not be as bad as forecasted.
Keep praying for peace. Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan all still need prayer.
Pray for an end to Ebola.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in China and North Korea. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all.
John 3:17 -- "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
Romans 12:12-- "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
