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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 21 March 2023:
Job 10:12, 13 – You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose.
Job knew God loved him and, therefore, could not understand why He was letting him suffer. However, he knew God had His purpose. Romans 8:28 says that God works all things, good or bad, together for ultimate good for those called according to His purpose. In John 17, Jesus tells you what that purpose is.
Job 10:15 — If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace.
Job lived a responsible life and was prepared to take responsibility for His actions, but he did not understand what he had done wrong to deserve his pain. Like his friends, Job could not understand that God was not simply working through a contractual relationship with him based simply on rewards and punishments but rather was trusting Job with affliction for His glory. God’s purposes go far beyond our desires and our comfort. God was using Job for a purpose far beyond life. Job was on a mission he did not choose. Job could not see this and was filled with doubt and uncertainty. Job’s friends were of no help at this point because their vision was worse than his.
Job 10:18 — Why did you bring me out from the womb?
Because Job couldn’t understand what was happening to him and because he had lost his illusion of control, he assumed his life was a failure, purposeless and meaningless; yet he couldn’t have been further from the truth. Do you lose hope when everything seems to go wrong and you lose the respect of your friends in your apparent failure?
Here is a short video overview of the Book of Mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGHqu9-DtXk
Mark 1:8 – I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
God’s people are those who have the Holy Spirit.
Mark 1:12 – The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
The Spirit knows you will be tested, but the Spirit does not leave you alone in temptation.
Mark 1:17, 18 — “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
We all have a choice to make: will we commit our careers and lives to follow Him (do all things in accordance with His will and for His glory), or will we continue to seek what the pagans pursue hoping that God will bless us while we subordinate His Kingdom agenda for the American dream? In Acts 28, we read that Paul worked in order support the spreading of the Gospel, sacrificing all in the process. We cannot serve both God and self. It’s time to leave the nets and follow. Dedicating your career and life to the Lord does not mean to stop working and living. After all, God gave Adam a job before God gave him a helpmate; and then they worked together. There wasn’t a problem until Adam and Eve started working and living for self rather than for God. You were created to work for and glorify God in partnership with others, to love God in love relationship with others while pursuing labors of love. In most cases throughout the Bible, when God called people to work for Him, to join Him in what He was doing, those people had to stop doing what they were doing in order to join Him and serve Him. Are you willing to go where God leads?
Mark 1:18 – And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Obedience is instantaneous. Jesus will call you out of your comfort zone, away from the plan you had for your life. You must be ready to “go” immediately, no looking back. The word immediately is used nine times in Mark 1.
Mark 1:23, 24 – And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”
Sometimes the demons are more responsive to Jesus that we are. James says that the demons believe in Jesus and “shudder”, do you?
Mark 1:31 – …she began to serve them.
A genuine encounter with God leads to service.
Mark 1:35 – And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
For a while it became very popular for people to wear bracelets, shirts, and other clothing items with the acronym, “WWJD,” which stood for, “What would Jesus do?” The general idea was this message would be a visible reminder to help people stop and think at a point of decision, helping them choose to act more like Jesus rather than the way they normally would. The intent was good, but unfortunately, the visible reminder cannot make up for what should have been done before the point of decision. What would Jesus do? He would consistently, throughout his whole life, rise up early in the morning, while it is still dark, to pray. Is that what you habitually do? Do you want to experience Christian power without Christian disciplines? Let Jesus counsel you. Remember the Principle of the Farm mentioned above. What you do at the moment will be the product of what you did consistently before the moment. As Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” You will not trust the Jesus you don’t know that well. You will not obey the Jesus you don’t really trust. Dedicate the “first fruits” of your day to growing in your love and trust in Jesus so that you will be ready to obey when the time comes, and it is coming – today.
Mark 1:38 — Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.
Jesus did not lead small group in a comfortable living room with snacks and comfortable conversation about biblical ideas. He led them into the streets, one day at a time, and showed them how to spread the word. What do you do in your small group? How many people has your group ministered to, led to Christ, disciple?
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 21 March 2023: Don’t hesitate to preach the Gospel to others while you minister to their needs. Tell people about Jesus today. (Mark 1)
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 