Thanks for once again taking the time to read the message for the week. I have been having busy weeks and days with moving and working, but things are settling down a little now. Thank you all for your prayers.
Today, we are getting back in the swing of things and focusing our attention on our continuing study in the Gospel of Mark. In our passage, we see something that seems strange, but I believe that there are important spiritual ideas from this passage for us to grasp.
Jesus healed the people wherever He went. He came into the city and a man who was deaf and unable to speak was brought to Him for healing. Jesus took the man aside, and then Jesus put His figures in the man's ears and on his tongue. Jesus spit, looked up to Heaven and cried be opened in Aramaic. The man was healed and began to praise the Lord.
Why did Jesus do this healing this way? I believe that Jesus placed the man away from the crowd first of all to not make a spectacle out of him. This may have had to do with Jesus' understanding of his personality and what he had gone through in life. Jesus understands us at our deepest level, and He will do that which is best for us.
I think that Jesus put his fingers in the man's ears and on his tongue in order to communicate to the man that He was going to heal him. He wanted to let the man know that He was going to do a miracle and free him from the physical boundary that had contained him.
By looking up into Heaven, Jesus was showing everyone that divine power and not some magical incantation was responsible for the man being healed. All of the praise, honor and glory belongs to the Lord.
I also think that there is another very important insight that we can gain from this text. It is this, we often do not always understand what Jesus is doing and how He is working. We live in this world and pray and rely on the Lord and often we don't get why the Lord is letting x,y or z happen to us. I know this is true in my life. However, we can know this, Jesus is always working things out according to His plans and purposes for us.
I will give you a couple of examples. I know that I have been called to be a minister of the Gospel. When I was younger, I thought that would mean me being the pastor of a church. Then, the very fundamentalist churches of my youth rejected me, and I didn't know what would happen. But, Jesus had it worked out. He led me into writing and evangelism work. He was working things out according to His will even though I didn't understand how it would all work out at the time. Looking back, I see it worked out great.
On another front. When I was a young man, the family dog attacked me for no reason at all. The vet thinks he had a brain tumor. I liked that dog, and I was depressed about the whole thing. However, out of that terrible event which I didn't understand, the Lord led me to my forever best friend Toby. If the one hadn't have happened, neither would have the other. I don't understand what my life would have been without Toby. Now, I don't for a second believe the Lord made that dog attack. However, out of the bad, the Lord brought something great. I didn't see it or understand it, but the Lord Jesus was at work.
I said all that to say this, the Lord works often in ways we don't understand until later. We may not understand until we get to see Him face to face. We can know that Jesus is doing all for our good and will always do what is right. We can and should always give Him the praise and the glory just as this man who was healed in an unusual way did. Jesus knows what He is doing. Let our trust be in Him. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please pray that now that I have found a place to live, I will be able to find a newer car. I don't want anything fancy, just want something that will get me around.
Keep praying for peace. Ukraine and all the Middle East really need our prayers. Sudan needs our prayers for peace as does Congo. Haiti is still experiencing violence.
Pray for and end to Ebola and Cyclospora.
Remember to keep praying for those in Nepal recovering from the natural disaster. Pray that they will get the aid and the help that they need.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in Mauritius and Taiwan. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, I will post the verses on Tuesday and we will continue in Mark. May God bless you all.
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