Tag: Mark

  • Go and TELL

    Today my Five Minute Free Writing prompt is: TELL     apples

    Go and TELL. What is it that I need to TELL? Who do I need to TELL? Those are questions that need to be answered before I can go and TELL. I have within me Good News. Good News about the One who created me, died for me, and rose again. I can TELL of His awesomeness. His self-sacrificial entire life while here on earth and beyond. When I keep the secret to myself, there are many who remain untold, clueless, and without hope. I don’t want to be a person who withholds information because I’m too busy or afraid of what others may think of me should I share with them the hope that lies within me.

    As I think forward, who in my life remains untold? Who within my reach does not know of this free gift offered by the Creator of the Universe? Jesus, John the Baptist who came before Him, His disciples, etc., all were bold in declaring the Gospel. If they can be a witness, so can you and I (Mark 1).

    Speak to me Lord. As I walk this path, who did you put in my path that needs to hear about You today? Here I am, Lord, send me.

    Thoughts to ponder; questions to consider:

    • Where should I go today?
    • Whom would You have me speak to, be a witness to this day?

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  • Finding Sanctuary in Your Life

    While reading through the gospel of Mark, I catch a glimpse of Jesus’ demanding daily schedule. Not only did Jesus feel it important to mentor His chosen disciples, but throngs of people followed Him from town to town. “At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many,” (Mark 1:32-34). The more miracles He performed, the more people flocked after Him making it difficult to have needed time alone with His heavenly Father.   DSD_0922 [Out West-2011]

    My schedule isn’t nearly as demanding as Jesus’ schedule. Today’s demands take on a somewhat different flavor. There are still meals to prepare, laundry to be cleaned, appointments to keep, and people to satisfy. Demanding either way.

    One thing we do have in common: the need to take the time to reconnect with our roots. To connect with the One who gives me breath and life just as we looked at last time in the book of Mark, chapter 1. Remember those words:

    “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”—Mark 1:35–37.

    I’ve found that the number #1 key to not losing my cool is to stay connected. Get connected. Stay connected. Otherwise, I’m sure to unravel and probably even before 10 a.m.

    •  What’s your solution/key to staying connected?
    •  When is the best time to steal away to a secluded place and lay your burdens down to the God of comfort and healing? Doesn’t have to be early in the morning. What works for you, my friend?

  • Where’s your solitary place?

    C.S. Lewis wisely points out that no one was busier than Christ. “Our model is the Jesus … of the workshop, the roads, the crowds, the clamorous demands and surly oppositions, the lack of all peace and privacy, the interruptions. For this … is the Divine life operating under human conditions.”

    Our lives don’t consist of raising people from the dead, casting out demons, or healing the multitude. We manage challenging schedules while shuttling children back and forth from school, lessons, or sporting events. And then there’s our own schedule … where do we fit into this crazy chaos? Some days it feels like the four-wheel vehicle is your home. It’s easy to think, there’s nowhere to go where I can really be alone. Someone always wants something from me. If only I had a few more hours in the day. If only my spouse would be more helpful or my children behaved?

    If Jesus felt it necessary to carve a piece of His day aside for meditation and prayer, how much more I need this sacred time of renewal.

    “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”—Mark 1:35–37.

    Reflection: Where do you go to be isolated and silent before God?  What keeps you from going there? Jot down several concrete ideas.

  • 2 steps to Decision Making

    Wrestling with a decision?  — 2 steps to help make that decision:

    1. Seek to discover God’s will. Meditate in order to seek answers and direction. Come aside by yourself and quietly wait before God. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Jesus’ schedule was hectic even by today’s standards. People pressed around him continually. He knew what the word busy meant.

    In the gospel of Mark, Jesus and his disciples had just finished feeding the 5,000. You would think the people would be satisfied and would leave them alone for a time, but such was not the case. “Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he [Jesus] said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place” (Mark 6:31, 32).

    2.   Get up and go!  “Arise, let us go from here” There’s a time to contemplate, and a time to do. Don’t linger or daydream anymore. Daydreaming time is over once I know what it is I am to be doing or saying. “But the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commended me. ‘Come now; let us leave’” (John 14:31).

    “Allow God to be the source of all my dreams, joys, and delights, and be careful to go and obey what He has said.” — Oswald Chambers

    Do you have a quiet place where you can be alone with your thoughts and with God? It’s tough to come aside where no distractions bombard your brain. I get that, but you must make a concentrated, deliberate effort to seek out and dwell in this place until your mind is emptied of all but God-thoughts. Then, and only then, can God speak to you uninterrupted. His peace, which passes all understanding, will then guide you to the next step (Philippians 4:7).

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