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Mark 4:41 “And they feared exceedingly and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and sea obey Him.”

Dear God,

I praise Your Holy Name, because of love for me (all); You will sustain and care for me (all).  You will also grant forgiveness for every sin, through the blood of our precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This fills my heart with gratitude.

Father You know my every need, and with gratitude  I acknowledge Your intervention, and remember my urgent requests that certain urgently needed materials would arrive in time for a program I had part in 2 years ago.  After several weeks of delay, suddenly over the week-end the materials, came into Melbourne, but needed to be delivered to Western Australia, by the late morning mail for Monday evening use. You also know how good it is for me, to pray the extended prayer of faith, so I kept praying that their progress would be speeded, and that they would arrive.  The usual time for postal delivery came and went, with nothing delivered. Then at 2:30pm they came!  The ‘postie’ could not account for the fact that she went for the parcels to be delivered, later than usual.  By that time I had articles at the depot, awaiting pick up for delivery to my door.  I believe that You did hear my prayers and knew the need, and moved parcels from the sender end that had been sitting for over a week, and then delayed pick up at this end, so that all urgent prayers were answered, and I thank You for hearing my prayers, and know for me and many others You will answer all prayers in Your timing, by Your might power and love.

Jesus after a busy day departed in a small fishing boat and then fell peacefully asleep at the bottom of the boat confident in Your care and protection, as He took some needed rest.
The winds swept down upon the boats on the water.   These were winds stirred up by demoniac forces, bent on causing disquiet in the least and destruction at the worst.  For the disciples who had not yet developed in their faith in You, God, the Father, the experience was frightening in force and violence and they were absolutely terrified for their lives.  They were not pleased that Jesus slept on in the face of such a cataclysmic time and so woke Him up, and chastised Him, for not caring that they were perishing.  His answer was to calmly rebuke the wind and sea.  Instantly all was calm.  He asked the disciples, “Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?  Even then they were afraid, because the winds and waves responded to His rebuke.

Such times revealing how lacking in faith and often fearful a person can be, are not limited to these disciples.  I (we) as modern day disciples, sadly find I (we) also can react this way.

Please forgive me, and by You Spirit, lead me to rest in You, with faith, knowing that You always care and have me in Your ‘sights’, and will always heed the prayer of faith from one of Your erring children, which in this case is me.

Amen

Mark 4:9 “And He said to them, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Dear God,

Once again it is a joy to greet You on this new day of life that has been granted to me.  My taking in that it was a new day, came much sooner than I wanted, by having the tenure of the day confirmed by the laughter of kookaburra birds, while soft darkness enveloped us all.  My heart stirred in grateful praise to You for their happy tones.  Shortly thereafter, I felt pleasure as I heard the peeping of the little birds.  I wonder why I love hearing them at the beginning of each day; when these very same birds come every year especially to put their beaks into my luscious ripening figs and any other fruit not covered with nets.  Though I know You made us all, and it has always been the way for the birds to seek food where they can, for they too must eat; but I do wish it was at some other eating place in the bush.

Jesus, Your Son, spent much time teaching people about the kingdom of heaven and how to prepare to be one of the people chosen to be taken there.  The teaching of Jesus in Mark 4: 3-8, is followed by an explanation to the disciples in Mark 4: 13-20.  V 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow and it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.”  Birds again, staying alive by helping themselves to food when it was available.  This time the birds represented Satan coming and snatching away the words of truth that You had placed before some people, prior to there being an opportunity for the words to sink in and make a lasting impression in the mind and heart.  Other grain or gospel teaching had fallen on stony ground, for the seed (gospel teaching) had been sown widely and fallen on all the places (hearts) around.  It sprouted with great prospect, but without the availability of nurturing soil, growth could not withstand adverse conditions and just withered away.  We all have seen the stunted plant or Christian experience in such circumstances and noted that promising growth eventually dies.

I choose You again today Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit plan to manifest well rooted healthy Christian growth.

Other seed fell amongst thorns and weeds that eventually choked the worthwhile growth.  While I may not have been snatched away from Jesus at the beginning or even not stunted by adverse conditions; Jesus warns that Satan has not finished with me (us) yet.  V 19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”  In my experience and observations, these influences can check spiritual growth, and are a real threat for us in these days of widespread busyness, increased standard of living realized and aspired for.  Remind me (us) Lord when we are set on this way, and bring us back to a satisfaction in Your simple, spiritually productive way.

Thankfully it is possible to receive Your word and in my mind and actions provide conditions that nurture, V8 “ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty and some a hundred.”  As wheat and sheep farmer’s daughter and home gardener, I have seen and experienced much joy, from a good yield of produce, which guarantees there will be more crops to sow with ongoing new growth, in following seasons.

Praises to heaven and beyond, for You God are occupied in assuring that as many souls as possible will be ripe and harvested, by Jesus when He comes to take His increase to heaven with Him.

‘Oh, I want to be there’!

Amen

 

Mark 3:6 “Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodian’s against Him, how they might destroy Him.”

Dear God,

You are the Almighty God, Holy, Pure, Just, All loving, Righteous, All Creative and Powerful, and yet You still bother with me on earth.  We on earth are to my mind, like unthinking worms, wallowing in dirt and blindness, and for the most part, content with being in this condition, with some people never desiring to come out of the darkness, into Your liberating light.

Please forgive me, if I have attitudes of being content with being in the darkness.  Show me my needs and be my strength to leave the oppression of Satan’s dark familiar world, filled with selfishness and wrong doing.  Be my strength, so that I do not have to be supreme in my sphere, with the need to have my own way, as well as having the last say.  Also take away any fear of stepping out and doing things differently and being content with the ‘status quo’.

Today in the power of the Spirit, I will be buoyed up and strengthened, as I again take courage, in 2 Peter 1: 7 “For God has not given a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. “  It is not surprising that You God give us the gifts of power, love and a sound mind, for You are all loving and compassionate and know our needs better than we ourselves do.  I think also, that You did not want us fearful in any circumstance, for You are our support and answer to fear.  To rely on You, and go tell others  or demonstrate about Your love, is also tied up with the gifts of power, love and a sound mind, that is offered to us, so we need not fear what others think and will do to us, when doing anything for You or in Your name.

As I think about Jesus and the hostile reception He received from the priests, I wonder at it.  For they had witnessed a scope of activities, such as had never been seen before, which were obviously for the good of humanity; for their ‘flock’ or temple members.

They essentially did not care that the sick and suffering were being relieved of their sicknesses and being demon possessed.  Instead they accused Jesus of using the devils power and not that of His Father God, to do all His miraculous deeds.  Then with the devils thoughts in their minds, they went out to plot His death, all the time not perceiving their own lack and needs spiritually, and who actually put their divisive and murderous thoughts in their minds, and whom they actually followed.  For it could not be You, for all through the scriptures, You have said, ‘do not murder another person’ and demonstrated a loving, forbearing and long suffering character.

In Your discernment and strength, God, I determine to follow only You and not the false shepherds Satan will put in my pathway.

Amen

Mark 2: 27, 28 “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Dear God,

How You must long for the day when Your children on earth, will have transformed bodies, at the second coming of Jesus.  You see me with absolute love, even though at this time my ‘soul’ is housed in a sin ravaged body.  You see my body as it was originally meant to be, perfect and made in Your image.  Sadly my present body is not able to reflect Your image.  Sin, suffering and death are my inheritance, because the usurper of Your ownership, Satan, led Adam into sin.  Another consequence of the legacy Adam has passed on, is that I have sin affected thought processes and attitudes, combined with the fact I am much less mentally and emotionally able than were Adam and Eve.

We have other aspects of our character that come to the fore in a way that does not always bring balanced interactions within ourselves and with others.  Also we are now more likely to be selfish, self-opinionated, proud, arrogant, filled with prejudice and criticism, to name just a few of our possible unlovely attitudes.

I do not have to allow these unlovely characteristics to be my usual way of living and responding to people and situations, for You have promised, by the Holy Spirit I can gradually become more like You. I choose today, to humble myself before You , and allow the Spirit to lead me.

In the time of Jesus, we see these attitudes coming out as illustrated by the uncaring prejudice of the priests and leaders in the time of Christ.  The priests had never had or had lost their love for God and their fellow man, in their preoccupation with man invented efforts to live to the letter of Sabbath observance; to the point of making the Sabbath burdensome – for it was not focused on God and His love toward us, and our loving response to Him.  This is why they ‘picked’ on Jesus, when His disciples, plucked some grains of wheat on the way to the temple; because they were hungry one Sabbath, having not yet eaten.  Like cats ready to pounce they frequently waited for Jesus to transgress one of their man made traditions, or additions to God’s commandments.  Mark 3: 1, 2 “And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.  And He said to the man who had the withered hand.  ‘Step forward.’”  In no way was Jesus deterred from undertaking healing and ministry on the Sabbath day.

The religious leaders had missed the point to the message of Your love in the Sabbath wanting to spend special time with them, for they for the main were about observing prescribed performance in themselves and others.

How easy it is for me (us) to have a closed critical mind which leads to being hung up with how I and others should be doing this or that, and thereby miss the point of having a profitable relationship with You, which only comes when my (our) interactions and responses are due to love and not a sense of duty alone.

Please forgive me for any of these transgressions, and send Your Spirit to lead me to You.

Amen

 

 

Leviticus 26 : 13 “I am the Lord your God, who bought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.”

Dear God,

I wish to give thanks and praises again, because I love You, and know that what I do for any other person, or in Your name, will be more worthwhile when Your Spirit attends me.  I have found in the past when I was actively occupied in the community and able to interact with sensitive damaged souls that You put it into my mind, not go without asking that all my attitudes and words to be from You, and not from my sinful, ‘bumbling’ self as had happened at times.  I am so glad I did.

I know Your promises assured to we on earth, can be mine if I am faithful to and walk in obedience to You in all ways.  Your word was given in Leviticus 26:3, 4 “If You walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.”  As an agricultural community, they were dependent upon the harvest of their crops, which spoke of Your provision and love for The Children of Israel.

The Israelites also had Your promise of being kept safe from those who desired to harm them, as well as wild animals.  Leviticus 26:12 “I will walk among you and be your God, and you are my people.”  As with all Your promises, they were and are conditional on them and me accepting You as God, then in love and obedience, doing as You ask.  When so occupied, they and I will not serve another god.   Another god need not be a physical object, but anything that occupies much time and thought; such as money, prestige, people and relationships, which has a place in my heart above my allegiance to You, the One and only true God.

The story in Matthew 19:16 – 26, of the rich young ruler, who came to Jesus, has illustrated this truth, down through the ages until our present age.  The young man had asked, in Matthew 16:16 “….what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”  In His answer Jesus revealed it was not about the good deeds he could do, or possessions owned, but by his obedience to Gods commandments, (vs 17).  Knowing the heart of this young man, and the influence wealth had upon, him, “Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell, what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”  The young man went away sorrowfully.

Lord, You know my heart better than I do.   Am I willing to give all up, to follow You?  Search my heart, and fill me with Your Spirit, so that I love and obey You, truly.

History and personal experience has shown me that many times You bless me (us) with double what we give.  You just love to bless us, and I thank You again.

Amen

Mark 1: 7 “And he (John the Baptist) preached, saying, ‘there comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.”

Dear God,

Thank You God for Your precious word.  Mark 1 is such a rich chapter, in revealing Christ to me – as well as the ministry of John the Baptist.  Though Christ had not sinned, He was baptized by John, thus identifying with all sinners, thereby giving us an example for when we accept Christ and start our converted life with Him.  Those who had witnessed the baptism of Christ received a special blessing, by seeing a dove come down upon Him, as He came out of the water, which signified the Holy Spirit, descending down upon Jesus, verse 10.  John in Mark 1:8 had said that he baptized with water, and then referring to Jesus “but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”.

Mark 1: 11 is a wonderful picture of love, as the Father of Jesus spoke from heaven “You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”  The onlookers that had heard God’s voice from heaven would never forget this scene, which would have filled them with awe, and maybe fear.  Surely for most, their faith in Jesus must have begun to grow, and they would remember this day well, as the ministry of Jesus unfolded before them.  Sadly however, some went away unimpressed; especially the church leaders, with their preconceived ideas unshaken.

Please, God as I read, grow my belief and faith in You, and keep me from allowing these marvelous workings and acts, from becoming ordinary, or be taken for granted in such a way that I feel no need to draw closer to You?

Then the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, for a testing by Satan.  From this Jesus could not be shielded.  Jesus withstood His test without miraculous intervention from heaven, or using any other defense, other than the mighty strength of the Holy Spirit, and He was victorious over Satan.  His public ministry now had begun, through the Spirit; based on His communication by prayer, with His Father in heaven.

Jesus knew His great need of prayer, and again is our example, in that, even after a long day occupied in many aspects of His ministry, such as teaching, healing the sick and casting out demons, Jesus still got up early to go to a quiet place and pray to His Father, as seen in V 35 “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed.”

Please Lord; enable me to get up at Your time for prayer and meditation each morning, after having slept a sweet sleep, in trust and confidence in your abiding love and protection?

Amen

Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Dear God,

How wonderful to meet with You every morning and to be forgiven of my sins, and know that the blood of Jesus will cleanse them all away.  The good news is, that the Holy Spirit comes and equips me and fills me with all He knows I need, to overcome temptation and more than I have prayed for.  The spiritual discernment and blessings given, when I ask the Holy Spirit to be my guide, are most powerful and very precious to me.  Especially when my mind has been much engaged, with other matters and it is only Your wisdom and workings that will answer the needs I have at that time.

Today as I have read in Leviticus 21 and 22, I have been impressed with the need for the priests to be perfectly formed, without blemish, as they represented God in the wilderness temple, as well as being ritually cleansed, before doing any tasks within the outer court, and even more within the temple itself.  The entire precinct was holy, because it was related to services to You, but the place in which You dwelt, the Most Holy Place required special preparation and services, and attendance by the high priest, as prescribed in absolute reverence and awe; because the presence of You, Most High God was there.

I now more fully understand, that the individual body of each priest must be perfectly formed, without blemish, as well as their actions being in perfect obedience to Your requests, for they signified what Christ now does in the Heavenly Temple, of which the earthly one was built as a copy.

Only sin which originated from Satan (who hated Jesus) had produced malformation, defeat and sickness, along with self-willed rebellion in the people of earth.  God and His beloved Son are absolutely holy and unblemished by sin, and so any person in a blemished condition, could not represent Jesus in the temple services or come before God.  The animal sacrifices pointed forward, to the sacrifice of the life of Jesus for our sins, and therefore the animals also had to be perfectly formed, without blemish.  Jesus was our perfect sacrifice, for He was perfectly formed of body, and He never sinned; never having rebelled against God, whilst on earth.

Matthew 28 presents a glorious word picture of Jesus, throwing off death and arising to life again and in so doing he had defeated sin and death, the devices of Satan, to make people miserable, as well as to take all on earth down with him, in the day of God’s judgement.

After Jesus had arose from the tomb, He appeared to the two Mary’s and then to the disciples.  He spoke important words for all who have lived since that time, “All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth”.  His work on earth was now over, and He would return to heaven shortly; not to wash His hands of us, but to take up the new redemptive phase on our behalf in the heavenly temple.

I praise Your holy name, dear Jesus, and in your love, strength and power, I determine to live obediently to Your will.

Amen

Matthew 27:37 “And they put over His head the accusation written against Him: ‘THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’”

Dear God,

In the peace and quiet of this Your Sabbath day, I worship and adore You.  Apart from You I would not be, on this beautiful day, and if I did not have You, I would have nothing of true value and not be truly content with anything.  A worse thought than that is that I would not know You who has always been and always will be. You are also in every place at one time and You know everything, before, now and to come.  You are totally righteous and full of goodness, power and knowledge.  It is Your total love and compassion that caused You to allow Your precious Son, to be our sin sacrifice on earth.  This knowledge means I can always truly trust You, with my life and future.

I cannot think what it must have been like for You to experience watching how You Son was treated upon earth, as He bore our sins, upon the cross and died.  As well as knowing that we who would come after Jesus, would not have treated Him any better if we had been alive and in that place, at that time.

Even though the title had been written and affixed to the cross, ‘King of the Jews’, many Jews themselves had never accepted Him as a prophet, or as the Messiah, let alone their leader or King – even though He fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah and others, about Him, and all in those prophecies about how they would ‘play out’.  I note that all of Your prophecies yet to occur are about the events leading up to and the return of Jesus in the skies to collect His true believers and take them home with Him.

How easy it is to have closed minds, and therefore miss out on the full blessings You have planned for me (us).  Lord, please forgive me for this attitude in the past, and be my strength so I can give You my whole heart today and all days.

Amen

 

February 16

Dear God,

Thank You for Your blessings and answers to my prayers that I receive new every day from You my loving God.

The Romans had crucified Jesus because of the persistence and conniving from the national leaders; and from others of His own people on earth; as had been prophesied.  Matthew 27:50 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.”  Then followed a number of supernatural events, which affrighted the centurion and those guarding Jesus, “…feared greatly, saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!”

Were most of the Pharisee’s humbled or convicted, that Jesus truly was the Son of God?  No, is the sad answer and they have had many who followed this path, down through the ages.

Joseph of Arimathea, now came out from being a secret a follower of Jesus; and the body of Jesus was buried in Joseph’s own tomb.The Pharisees added insult upon insult upon Jesus, by going on their holy day, to Pilate and asking for the tomb to be guarded, saying, “…..the deceiver said, ‘after three days I will rise.’  They were afraid that one of disciples of Jesus would come by night and steal his body from the grave and report Jesus was alive.  They had not believed the prophecies about Jesus that would have told them that Jesus would come alive after three days, and no deception would be needed to give that news to the people for they would hear from eye witnesses.

It is frightening the place we can go to and what we will do, when we go Satan’s way and eventually reject Jesus.  I pray that I will cling to You Jesus, and never depart from loving You and I rely on the promises You gave that tell that You will give me strength to cling to You, I only have to humble myself and ask, and today I do just that.

Amen

Exodus 19:5 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.”

Dear God,

Thank You that Your love for us is all encompassing, even though as God, You order events in all the universe, it is apparent that we the people of earth are not insignificant to You.  For example, You loved the Children of Israel and could not bear to see the oppression they were enduring and it came time to fulfill the promise to bring them out of slavery in Egypt. So to prepare the way for their release, many miracles were performed, revealing Your mighty power.  These miracles were really performed to bring about the release of the Israelite nation from Egypt, by the pharaoh, but also impressed the surrounding nations of the supremacy of the Israelite God, as well.  Your miraculous interventions, continued from the departure of Moses and the people, on through the sea out of Egypt, and eventually to the Promised Land.
In beautiful imagery, You reminded the Children of Israel, of how “I bore you on eagles’ wings and bought you to Myself.”  Then and now, You desire to have a close relationship, with all who love You.  The Israelite’s were sinful, as we are; all of us can only have a continuing close relationship with You, when obedient to Your wishes, contrite for all our sins and keep Your commandments.

You cannot be in a place where sin is, and You abhor sin.  If I willingly and knowingly hang on to my sin, I could not expect You to be in communication with me.  It has always been, that all I have to do is listen to the Holy Spirit prompting me to repent and confess my sins, and my heart will be cleansed and able to have, Your influence in my heart again.

Father, You know how often I and others look upon You with a mind tainted by sin and totally miscomprehend Your purity, majesty and power.  Forgive me and others for unthinkingly treating You without total reverence.  Your glorious not defiled presence kills any who looks upon You.

It is not a helpful alternative to allow Satan fill us with futile pride in our own abilities and ability to run our life, for all through the Bible are reports of the misery he causes people.  Many of us can recount our own experiences of his ploys and deceptions, which have caused us disquiet and problems.

I understand that from early apostolic times after Christ’s death, Christians have been known as Spiritual Israel. I find in the New Testament that we are no less a special treasure to You, than were the Children of Israel, known as the Chosen People.

When I follow the example of Your righteous people in the Old Testament and New Testament, I enjoy Your blessings also; then in gratitude and need, I humble myself before You in prayer and supplication as they did.  I find I can be close to You, and be Your true representative as the Patriarchs, even if to a lesser degree.

Your love begets love within me, needing to be expressed, and I sincerely thank You that this is so.

Amen

Matthew 26:33 “Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”

Dear God,

It is centring to know I am loved always, through all situations – not only me, but all mankind.  So often we think we know ourselves and our hearts, but often I have faced situations, in my own strength and knowledge, and then have compromised my representation of You.   In the past at other times when I (we) have come needing direction, You have directed myself and others with discernment of issues, that stopped us from proceeding unwisely in an association or venture,  because in the end to do so, would not have been to Your glory and purposes: praise Your holy name.

I have been thinking upon the disciples of Jesus, who each believed they loved Jesus absolutely and would always be true to Him, and yet they failed Jesus, because of the possible danger to themselves, by association.  It appears they did not know the true condition of their hearts.  They also did not see the spiritual danger they were in, because the physical risks loomed large.   It seems they had not taken the time to prepare their hearts through soul searching and prayer.  Even though Jesus had said, “all of you will be made to stumble because of Me tonight.”

Jesus the Son of God knew that He must seek His Father in prayer and be fortified by the Holy Spirit each day to withstand the relentless onslaught upon him, in various guises.  To spend time with You and to pray, was for Jesus a special urgency the night before He was about to face the events leading up to His death, and during His time on the cross, as He died His sacrificial death.  He had taken Peter, John and James with Him for companionship and for them to have the opportunity to pray, at the same time He did.  They were all very tired and the disciples had fallen asleep while praying.

They really needed to be awake and praying, lest temptation overcome them; especially Peter, who later denied His Lord three times.  How like us also, to sleep when we are in spiritual danger.

In Your strength and wisdom, I determine to seek You in prayer of various lengths, at various times, in many situations throughout each day.

Your love and mercy toward us is not only profound, it is amazing, and only possible because You are God.  For any truly repenting person, You freely grant forgiveness, which is just what happened for Peter, and will for me and all others.  This is truly “love so amazing and so divine “in action.

Amen