The Small Branch

 In Mark 1:40-45, we are told about a leper that Jesus heals.  Of course, there are lots of lessons to take from this incident, but I want to look at one verse.  Jesus tells the man not to tell anyone about what happened, but verse 45 says, "But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere."   Did you see that?  Jesus had to stay in unpopulated areas.  A leper was considered unclean and, therefore, unfit for society.  A person with leprosy had to live in the unpopulated areas.  Now that the man was healed, he could go into the city, the populated areas, because he was now clean (once he had visited the priest and done as the law commanded).  Jesus had been in the towns and cities, the populated areas, but, because He chose to heal this man, He now needed to stay in t...

 I was working on a lesson for the discipleship class I am taking at my church this morning.  The text was from Psalm 1:1-3 -  "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers." The question asked what it meant "his delight is in the law of the LORD."  I like to go back to original language when looking at definitions, so I used my Bible Hub App to look up this verse.  The note from Ellicott's Commentary said that the phrase could be rewritten "the law of Jehovah is his inclination" and that the Hebrew word literally means "to bend."  As I meditated on this, God gave me a beautiful picture.  When you are havin...

 I am a reader.  I love to read and will start occasionally posting some book recommendations.  One of the books I am reading now is called Living Among Lions: How to Thrive like Daniel in Today's Babylon  by David and Jason Benham.  This is a challenging book about living out our faith in a culture that is absolutely against us.  Here is my favorite quote so far: "Christians are to be the chocolate chips in the cookie dough of culture.  We are to mix  in, not blend  in - we keep our form, remaining completely distinct and separate - yet we should make the batch great!"

 Today, I finally got out to shovel some of the snow.  Our driveway is only paved right in front of the garage, so there isn't much to do, but it was a lot of work.  You know why?  Because we had driven on it for weeks.  When you drive on snow, it compacts and pretty much becomes ice.  It is a good illustration of sin in our lives.  When we first notice a sin in our lives, it can be pretty easy to confess, repent, and get rid of.  But do we do that?  Not always.  Sometimes we drive on it for a while, ignoring it or even living in it. Then it gets packed down onto the driveway of our life and we can't seem to get it off nearly as easily.   So the moral of the story?  Sin, like snow, needs to be removed immediately after we notice it.  Otherwise, we make it harder on us and everyone who comes to visit us.

 Matthew 27:13-14 says, "Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"  And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed." Jesus was being mocked, beaten, and accused with lies and half-truths, but He doesn't utter a word in His defense.  Why?  He was in the right.  He hadn't done anything wrong.  Not one. Single. Thing.  He is the only man to ever live to be completely sinless.  Yet He did not defend Himself.  Why?  1 Peter 2: 23 answers for us, " and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;"  Jesus entrusted Himself to God.  There was no need to make a defense because He knew that God's will was what was important here.  Not being right.  Not being revered.  Not being tough.  God's will alone mattered.   How of...

 Earlier this week, I posted about Judas' betrayal.  Today, I want to look at Peter's. "What?" you say,  "Peter didn't betray Jesus!"  Didn't He?  At the end of Matthew chapter 26, we are presented with Peter's three denials. "That's different!" you say.  Well, yes and no.   When we deny belonging to Jesus, deny knowing Him, we are betraying Him.  Think about it.  If your best friend was talking to someone else and telling them that they never hung out with you and didn't know who you were, wouldn't you feel betrayed?  That is essentially what happened with Peter.  He denied his Lord and his Friend.  He was worried about saving his own skin so he said the first thing that popped into his head - "I don't know Him."  So, yes, Peter betrayed Jesus just like Judas did.   On the other hand, there are key differences.  Judas obviously plotted his betrayal beforehand, while Peter's was a spur of the moment thing. ...

 Matthew 26:39 says "And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."   Here, Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane just before He is arrested, begging God for another way, but only if God wills it.  In my younger years of faith, I thought to myself, "Well sure, He is terrified of the pain and agony He will have to go through.  He is fully human and so will suffer so much pain from the torture He must endure.  Of course He wants to avoid that pain!"  But as I have grown, I really think that it not it at all.  Later, in Matthew 27:46, we read "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, Lama sabachthani?" that is "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?""  This, my friends, must be the greatest terror ever known to mankind.  Jesus had all the sins of the world, for all time, laid on ...

 Have you ever been completely over it?  If you have toddlers and preschoolers, you know you have those days.  The days where you hide in the bathroom just for 30 seconds of "alone time" even though they are sticking their little finger under the door.  Sometimes, it just feels like people need too much from us.   Matthew 14:13-14 says " Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick." What had He heard about John?  In the previous verses we are told about John's beheading.  Jesus had just heard that His cousin, the one preparing the way for Him, had been murdered.  So what does He do?  He withdraws to mourn.  Talk about needing some "alone time".  Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, so you know that...

 A few years ago, as I began dealing with teenagers in my house, I read a book called Love and Respect in the Family  by Emerson Eggerichs.  The book talks about how, while both men/boys and women/girls want to be loved and respected, men/boys focus on the respect first and women/girls focus on the love first.  This made a lot of sense to me and I have found it helpful as I deal with my teenagers, but I had an epiphany yesterday about this.  Too often, we are trying to "make" people love or respect us.  This backfires in big ways.  When we are trying to force others to respect us, we become bullies.  When we try to make someone love us, we become needy and self serving.  Behaviors that try to make others love and respect us only serve to drive them away.  Instead of insisting others respect us, we need to act respectable.  Instead of doing whatever it takes for others to love us, we need to act lovable.  When we are acting resp...

 This morning, I was reading in Matthew 26 and came upon this passage -  14-16 "Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.  From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus." This passage is right after Jesus is anointed by the woman (Mary, we are told in John) with the expensive perfume.  Judas was upset because he wanted the money from the perfume in a place where he could steal it (John 12:6).  Historians have told us that Judas Iscariot was a member of a group of zealous Jews who wanted to overthrow Rome and restore Israel to Jewish rule.  He wanted Jesus to be an earthly King.  Judas wanted Jesus to fit into the mold of what he thought was best.  When Jesus wouldn't fit his mold, Judas betrayed Him.   How often do we want Jesus, or God the Father, to fit into our own molds...