FEB 23 TODAY’S READINGS IN THE ONE YEAR BIBLE
Leviticus 14:1-57; Mark 6:30-56; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 10:11-12
TODAY’S READING: Don’t just read, feed! Come apart before you come apart! Pursue purity in your heart and your house.
NEW TESTAMENT READING: MARK 6:30-56
Mark 6:31 (NASB)
31 And He (Jesus) said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)
31 And He (Jesus) said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)
Jesus gives an important invitation to His disciples that should not be refused: To come away apart from the busyness of our heavily scheduled lives and spend time with Him.
Come apart before you come apart!
The Lord is mindful of our need to rest, recharge, and be replenished; physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
I hope that each of you are developing a habit of setting aside some time each day not just for READING the Word, but for FEEDING upon it.
By reading through the Bible you are getting a PANORAMA of THE STORY and meeting its HERO. Be sure to spend time with Him and abide in Him.
We need to retreat to A SECLUDED PLACE where we can focus on the Lord of our days and participate in the communion He affords.
Susannah Wesley, with at least ten children in the house, would seek a quiet time with the Lord in spite of the pressing distractions around her. Her sons, John and Charles, who would grow up to be mighty instruments in the Great Awakening of the 18th century, noted that if their mother could not find a room to retreat to, she would flip her apron over her head and create that interior seclusion where she could focus on speaking to the Lord in prayer and drawing wisdom and strength from Him.
We have already observed this principle in the Book of Leviticus. Moses and Aaron needed first to go INSIDE the Tent of Meeting where they could hear from God, bless Him and be blessed by Him before they came OUTSIDE to minister to the people. . They needed to enter into fellowship with the Lord before they could come out and bless them.
Leviticus 9:23 (NASB)
23 Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.
23 Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.
In the gospel of Mark, we see that the disciples did take Jesus’ suggestion.
Mark 6:32 (NASB) 32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.
However, it is doubtful that their time was as restful as they had hoped it would be. The crowds had soon caught up with them. Jesus sees the multitude as sheep without a shepherd and, filled with compassion, begins to teach them many things.
As the hour grew late, Jesus’ disciples suggested that the crowd be sent away to get something for themselves to eat in the surrounding villages.
Jesus responds by challenging the disciples to give them something to eat.
At first the disciples look to their insufficient financial resources. They only have 200 denari in their treasury (equivalent to the pay for 200 days of labor). Then Jesus asks how many loaves they have. They look to the meager supply at hand, replying, “Five loaves and two fish.” Jesus commands them to sit in groups of fifties and he takes the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven He gives thanks and breaks the loaves and the fish and as they distribute the food it is multiplied to feed all. There were 12 baskets full of leftovers. Jesus is teaching them that He is the same person who fed their forefathers manna in the wilderness (See John 6).
God supplied miraculously and abundantly for those upon whom He had compassion. We see that the supply is more than adequate. This is illustrated also in the miracles witnessed by Elijah (1 Kings 17:16) Elisha (2 Kings 4:7,42-44) and the miraculous catches for the disciples (Luke 5:6-7; John 21:6,11). May this encourage us all to make our requests known to God:
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21)
WALKING ON WATER
The Sea of Galilee is subject to violent downdrafts and is known for its sudden windstorms. After the feeding of 5000 men plus women and children, Jesus departed to a mountainside to pray. The disciples were attempting to cross the Sea of Galilee and are caught in a storm trying to reach the other side. Between 3 and 6 AM (during the fourth watch) they see Jesus walking on water. Once again the disciples are challenged as they see Jesus doing something that defies the natural order of things. They had been struggling all night to cross the sea and Jesus, having spent the bulk of the time in prayer, comes ‘walking’. There is no striving, struggling or running in His advance. He is not hindered by the adverse circumstances. He is Lord over the circumstances.
The words that Jesus speaks to His terrified disciples should settle our hearts as well:
"Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." (Mark 6:50)
It could read, “Take courage, I AM, do not be afraid.” The Great I AM is in the midst.
Mark notes that it looked as if Jesus “intended to pass by them” (Mark 6:48)
The ESV Study Bible has a comment in the margin:
“The passage echoes the incident where God “passed” before Moses (the same verb, ‘parechomai’, occurs in the Septuagint of Exodus 33:19,22; 34:6) giving a glimpse of his glory. But it also echoes Job 9, where Job says that it is God who trampled the waves of the sea” (The Septuagint has ‘peripaton..epi thalasses’, ‘walking on the sea’, using the same words as Mark 6:48, and then also says “he passes by me” (Job 9:11). There is an implicit claim to divinity in Jesus’ actions.” (ESV Study Bible) (The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament).
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Leviticus 14:1-57
The Treatment of Contaminated Houses
In centuries past, people have criticized the scrutiny demanded by the Book of Leviticus for the transmission of health problems through garments and buildings.
Today we know that Leviticus was right. The spread of mold and mildew impacts human health. Inspections of walls, ceilings, roofs and garments are not discounted. Detection of mold, asbestos, lead, carbon-monoxide and radon is to be taken seriously.
God is interested in every area of our lives. He is concerned with the health of our bodies, our homes and our relationships. He is concerned with what we wear and how we live.
He recognizes that as people we can easily be corrupted and spread corruption.
Yesterday we learned about the ceremonial procedures for the detection and cleansing of infectious skin disease and polluted garments.
Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, expressed the need for Christians to be on guard with a regular inspection of our lives and those around us. What can we do to save ourselves and our neighbors from potential disaster. Are we ready to take his recommended action to avert the sabotaging influence of inward and outward corruption:
“save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” (Jude 1:23)
A house that is infected with disease needed to be cleansed or destroyed. Mold and mildew in a home can cause lung problems, nausea, sickness and structural problems.
Whatever in our lives that has been affected by the contamination of sin should be either cleansed or destroyed. Some old associations that have proven to be corrupting influences need to be inspected, and if they are not treatable, they need to be torn down altogether. Some relationships, old haunts, and old habits need to be utterly forsaken. The ways of the old nature need to come under the ban of the cross.
A house that is found upon inspection as being free from malignancy is to be publically declared clean in a similar ceremony to that which we observed for the cleansed leper. The priest is to take two birds and cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. One bird is to be slaughtered in an earthen vessel (a picture of Jesus killed in the earthen vessel of His body), its blood mingling with the running water. The live bird is to be dipped together with the scarlet thread and the cedarwood and hyssop, (the redemptive thread linking the act to all creation- from the cedarwood to hyssop). The blood mixed with water is to be sprinkled on the house seven times. The live bird, marked with the stains of the other Substitute’s death, is to be set free outside the city to fly into an open field. What a wonderful picture of both the sinner and his house being pronounced clean through both the death and life of the Substitute Redeemer.
PRAY FOR THE NATIONS-
Let us pray for New Zealand, as its people, particularly in Christ Church, attempt to cope with the disastrous 6.3 magnitude earthquake that brought devastation and death to many. 75 are confirmed dead and 300 people are reported missing. Our friend, Ruby Gilzean, a resident of Christ Church, has had her home destroyed.
Let us continue to pray for LIBYA as the government and protestors are in the midst of a violent clash that is claiming many lives. Pray for a quick peaceful resolve in which basic freedoms will be guaranteed.
Today we are praying for AUSTRALIA.
The Book Operation World gives a helpful list of answers and challenges to prayer. (p. 117-120)
A summary of Answers to Prayer:
Australia’s Christians, particularly evangelicals, are facing the challenges of a post-Christian and multicultural nation with faith, dynamism and considered strategies. Recognizing social change and relative Christian decline, small but growing numbers of ministries and congregations are adapting to become more dynamic in reaching out to the majority population and to become more strategic and missiologically astute in reaching the immigrant minorities, who often come from other faith backgrounds. There is a long way to go, but a transition is becoming visible in Australian Christianity.
Challenges for Prayer
Australia is undergoing many changes, all of which place greater strains and tensions on the nation. (Pray for all those who have suffered in recent floods).
Increasing pluralism and aggressive secularization have taken greater hold of Australia’s public life. A traditionally Christian country, Australia is now characterized more by its diversity of religions under a secular rubric, with increasingly secular laws – especially regarding issues of sexuality, religion and the sanctity of life. Pray that Christian values might not be driven into the margins, but that believers might engage secular society in a productive and relevant manner.
PASTOR DAVID
So, naturally, we proclaim Christ! We warn everyone we meet, and we teach everyone we can, all that we know about him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ. (Colossians 1:28, J.B. Phillips paraphrase)
New Life Community Church, Concord, MA 10742
Meeting Sundays at 10:30 AM at the Emerson Umbrella for the Arts, 40 Stow Street, Concord MA
Mailing Address: Post Office Box Five, Concord, MA 01742
Church Offices: 35 Bypass Rd. Lincoln, MA 01773 978-369-0061
Home Office: 978-371-3176
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