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A Bible Reading and Meditation guide

(In case you missed them, the last two readings follow this one )

Prayer;

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Lord, open my eyes that I may see wonderful things out of your word. Amen.

Today's Reading:

Jesus answers those who think Him mad or possessed .

Mark 3; 20-30

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."

23 So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no-one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. 28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." 30 He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."

Meditation for the Day

Jesus is causing such a stir, that His family now come and try and restrain Him , treating Him as a madman. Worse still, teachers of the law are arriving from the headquarters of Jewish religious power in Jerusalem and accusing Him of being in league with the devil.

However, Jesus makes it clear that true deliverance cannot come from Satan, and that it is God who is 'tying up the strong man' and setting people free from their bondages. Jesus gives a solemn warning about calling the work of the Holy Spirit ungodly, which is also a warning to us to be slow to call any expression of God's heart, however unusual, a work of the enemy, a trait which, unfortunately, has dogged the Church of Jesus Christ through the centuries.

Prayer;

Are there any expressions of God's church which you find you hard to identify with God's plan? Give thanks for the variety of God's people, and His approval of many different ways of proclaiming life.

Lord Jesus Christ, all power is given to you in heaven and earth to destroy the works of the devil. Please keep me from calling anything evil which is bringing glory to Your Name through the power of the Holy Spirit . Amen.

If you have any questions about today's reading, please send me them on colin@cce.uk.net

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Yesterday's reading

Jesus enlarges His outreach through His mission team.

Mark 3; 7-19

7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve -- designating them apostles -- that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Meditation for the Day

Jesus' mission was attracting people from all over the Palestinian territory; it must have been so tiring, to cope with the constant press of men and women's need. He even uses a boat to prevent Him from being overwhelmed by the crowds. Here we see Jesus severely limited by His physical capacity, even though demons are still being expelled and people healed.

Jesus now retreats to a mountainside, where He appoints His team who will expand the ministry, and give Him some much-needed help. These He designates 'apostles', from the Greek word, apostello, to send out. They are not 'supersaints' or 'big-name Church officers'. Put simply, the Greek term 'apostle' finds a correspondence with the Latin-rooted word 'missionary', which sounds less potent, but is what they were, sent-out ones.

And they were a mixed bunch; fishermen, political activists, former traitors, and one who would prove treacherous at the end. He chose them, first, 'to be with Him' - then to go out. We can really only go when we know how to be with Him. Then we know in whose authority we go to heal the sick and dismiss evil in His name.

Prayer;

Thank God for times of being with Him; highlight in your mind's eye a time when you have felt His presence. Ask God to increase your effectiveness for Him coming out of such times with Him.

Lord Jesus Christ, You have chosen to work through me, a fallible person . May I have times to be with You, so that I can always go for You in the power and authority of Your Word. In Your name. Amen.

Reading from Two Days Ago;

Religious intolerance rebuffed by Jesus.

Mark 3; 1-6

1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."

4 Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.

5 He looked round at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Meditation for the Day

Jesus' run-in with the bigoted, religious thought-police brings him face to face with their intolerance and hypocrisy. Will He allow the dogmas of men to hinder His bringing in of the Kingdom of God? Jesus takes complete charge of the situation, and shames their disregard for God's heart of mercy.

It's important to see here, though, Jesus' attitude to his opponents. First, He was angry; anger is a natural human emotion, given to us to give us power to step in and right perceived wrongs. It gave Jesus the impetus to heal the man despite his critics. However, Jesus is also 'deeply distressed' (Greek has, 'grieved with them') because of their hard hearts - He feels for them as well, not rejecting them as people.

The outcome is an unholy alliance to get rid of Jesus , between the ultra-orthodox Pharisees and the politically liberal Herodians, who were only interested in keeping the peace so that the puppet government of Herod in Galilee was not taken over by the Roman governor, something which had already happened in the southern province of Judea.

Prayer;

Are you angry about anything? Is it directed at someone, or at a situation? Ask God to help you to channel anger contructively, not destructively, to promote justice, but not to judge and attack people whom God loves unconditionally.

Lord Jesus Christ, You felt what we feel. You know I get angry about some things in my life; teach me to work with anger in a positive way, as you did, and keep me from hitting out at people whom you love . In Your name. Amen.

f you have any questions about any of the readings, please send me them on colin@cce.uk.net

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