A new beginning ...

-
Mark 1:1-20
This is a new 'beginning'. The prophets had spoken. Now, the Saviour has come. This is good news. John has prepared the way. Now, he stands aside to make way for Jesus Christ, the Son of God' (1,11). Following Jesus' baptism, there was temptation. This was Kingdom against kingdom. Satan's kingdom was under threat. The Kingdom of God had come. Christ triumphed over Satan. In Him, we triumph when, hearing the Gospel declaration - 'the Kingdom of God is at hand' - , we obey the Gospel command - 'repent and believe the gospel' (15). With the command, 'Follow Me', there is the promise, 'I will make you...' (17). Christ's call is 'full of grace and truth' (John 1:14). It is truth - a call to discipleship. It is grace - a call from Jesus. In Christ, we become 'a new creation' (2 Corinthians 5:17). We become 'fishers of men' (17).
Mark 1:21-2:12
Great things were happening. God was moving in power. In all this, we could easily overlook something very important: Jesus prayed (35). He made time for prayer. This was not wasted time. This was time well spent. Jesus was mighty before men - the power of God was flowing freely. Jesus knew where the power comes from - He was humble before God. We long for this - 'they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"' (12). We must pray in faith, bringing people before the Lord, convinced that such prayer 'is powerful and effective' (2:5; James 5:16). "If my people...pray..., I will...forgive their sin and heal their land' (2 Chronicles 7:14). "O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee. Send a revival. Start the work in me. Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need. For blessing now, O Lord, I humbly plead' (Mission Praise, 587).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May God's Blessing Surround You Each Day ...

-
God's Word is "a lamp to our feet and a light to our path." He has "wondrous things" to teach us as we pray "Open my eyes that I may see" (Psalm 119:105, 18, 11). "May God's blessing surround you each day, as you trust Him and walk in His way. May His presence within guard and keep you from sin, go in peace, go in joy, go in love." "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your Name give glory, because of Your mercy and Your truth" (Psalm 115:1).
Read more

More Than A Morning Prayer: Psalm 5

-
“Morning by morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; morning by morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation” (v. 3). These are the words which have led to Psalm 5 being described as “a morning prayer.” It should, however, be noted that this is the only mention of “morning” in this Psalm. This Psalm is not only for the “morning”! Psalm 5 leads us to the Lord. It gives us a profound understanding of His character, It speaks to us about His holiness. In the first ten verses of this twelve-verse Psalm, we see two contrasting pictures. We see the believer before God. We see the unbeliever before God. We see the faithful. We see the faithless, We see the righteous. We see the wicked. We see ourselves standing in the presence of the holy God. Here’s a summary of the Psalm: vs. 1-3, vs. 7-8 - a picture of the believer; vs. 4-6, vs. 9-10 – a picture of the unbeliever; vs. 11-12 – a statement of confident expectancy concerning the rich blessing of God which alone ca...
Read more

Guidance From "A Man Of Macedonia", Guidance From God

-
“During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the Gospel to them” (Acts 16:9-10). Paul’s guidance came through ” a man of Macedonia.” His guidance came from “God.” We look at the human situation. We ask the Lord, “What do You want me to do?”
Read more