Mark 5:21 – Part 1: Jesus is about you

Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.

Luke 8:40 (Amplified Bible)
Now when Jesus came back [to Galilee], the crowd received and welcomed Him gladly, for they were all waiting and looking for Him.

The Preceding Events
It is interesting to note that word again in this passage. A brief look back over the preceding passages of Scripture reveal a great deal to us. Do you recall the account of where Jesus and His disciples were on a boat, and the storms blew and the hurricanes came?

Do you remember Jesus asleep at the time? That is until woken by His disciples, who were (some would ague) justified to wake the Master at this time because that they thought they would drown?

You know the ending. The storm stops, and everything is OK again. The boat carries on, and Jesus meets a man who has so many devils in Him, that even several thousand pigs couldn’t cope with the pressure. You also know this story, Jesus liberates this man – in quite a stylish way it must be said – and then spends a little time ministering to Him.

Jesus then commissions this guy to become and evangelist – well in fact, Jesus just tells this man to tell his testimony to his friends and family.

Jesus and the disciples get back into the boat, and head back to Galilee.

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Comfort Zones/Strongholds

(Thanks to Pete who lead cell when I was in the States and prepared these notes)

Galatians 1:13-15 (NKJ)
“For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mothers womb and called me through His grace.”

Every time I’ve read this before, I’ve always thought that Paul was talking about how God called him and had a plan for his life (Just like he has for us). How He knew what He wanted Paul to do before he was born, which was preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

The NLT and NIV versions say:
15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. (NLT)
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth[a] and called me by his grace. (NIV)

But God spoke to me about how his ‘mothers womb’ could also be Judaism. It’s like Judaism was his comfort zone, his place of safety and protection. But that Paul was in bondage to it, he was bound by the law and the religious traditions of his day. His whole life was controlled by the strict adherence to the law. But He felt safe in that structure and knew where he stood, he knew that in the eyes of his peers he was the best of them. He says he was exceedingly zealous for the traditions of his fathers. Comfort zones can hold us in as much bondage as strongholds.

So was Paul’s aggressive response due to feeling threatened by something that challenged his comfort zone? Was it fear that motivated him destroy the church, which threatened his comfort zone? Was it his feeling of superiority and pride and his sense of tradition?

It wasn’t until that He had his supernatural encounter with God and accepted Christ and experienced that freedom. That He was able to break out of his comfort zone and enter into the call of God on his life.

Questions

1. What are your comfort zones?
2. What are your reactions to things when your comfort zone is threatened?
3. What motivates us?
4. How/Why do they keep us from the call of God on our lives?
5. What can we do to stretch our comfort zones?

3 People, 2 Miracles, 1 Truth

I have mentioned this several times, but using the above techniques, I wrote the following on Mark chapter 5 and called it 3 People, 2 Miracles, 1 Truth for reasons that will become apparent. This message holds a special place in my heart, and I always love ministering it to others. Please enjoy it as a writing, but also look how and what I did to get where I did. I pray it encourages you as much as it did me. Here is the Scripture passage that we will be using.

Mark 5:21-43

21. Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.
22. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet
23. and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.”
24. So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.
25. Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,
26. and she had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all the she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
27. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.
28. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
29. Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.
30. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
31. But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, “Who touched Me?””
32. And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
33. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
34. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well, Go in peace, and be  healed of your affliction.”
35. While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
36. As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.”
37. And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.
38. Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tulmult and those who wept and wailed loudly.
39. When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.”
40. And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.
41. Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
42. Immediately the girl arose and walked for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.
43. But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given to her to eat.

You can see the parallel passages in Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8:40-56

Step 5: Become a Christian Author

This is meditating on paper!

I also call this the “pull it apart and put it back together” method. We touched on this method a little in Step 4, but I want to adapt this to paper. You do learn things a lot quicker if you write them down, so this is what I call meditating on paper.

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Need to know more about marketing your blog?

I have added another link to the “Blogs I like” section – this time I have added a link to the Pronet Advertising blog.

For me – this is a great blog to read about marketing your blog. It has some real practical advice and help and is easy to follow. Definately worth having a look.

Step 4: Meditate on the Word of God

Carrying on with the look at getting revelation from the word of God – this time we look at meditating on the Word of God.

To meditate on the Word of God doesn’t mean to sit there with your legs crossed, make circles out of your finger and thumb and hum quietly.

The word “meditate” means to mutter, to ponder – it is literally to talk to yourself whilst pondering. I think that this is one of the most productive things that you can do with the Word of God.

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Where has all of my money gone to?

Proverbs 27:23
Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds;

I read this yesterday and it kind of sprung out at me. Have you ever wondered where all your money goes too? I have been doing just that recently. I used to monitor our personal finances quite carefully but over the past few months – I have let this slip.

God actually challenged me a few weeks ago to start tracking my finances again (I always do it on the computer)…and I have still NOT done it (muppet!). Every now and then I have thought about it – and said to myself I must put that software back on to the computer…but my thoughts and good intentions left as quickly as they came.

So – when I read this verse yesterday – Wham! Conviction came…I must make a determined effort to do this! Today’s task…start!

First comes repentenance…followed by action rather than repentance followed by a good intention followed by nothing!

Tracking your finances takes consistency more than anything. It takes just a few mintues a day to sort out. Take my advice and do it – regardles of your personal wealth (this is more of a do as I say rather than a do as I do at the moment). Prosperity is about being a good steward with what God gives you. SO don’t be afraid to track your money – it is not anti-prosperity, but will rather enhance your prosperity!

Phishing – how to spot security scams

I had the following email sent to me today, from “smile.co.uk”

Dear Valued Customer,

We are committed to protecting you, with the latest technology to keep your details secure, and dedicated teams to monitor online activity and intercept any suspicious actions. And we do everything we can to protect our online customers, but the steps we take can be much more effective if you work with us to protect yourself.

31 October 2006 our security system detected an unsuccessful access attempt to your online account from IP address that does not correspond to your current address.

Please follow the link below to confirm your Smile.co.uk account details:

Click here.

If you do not confirm your address until 3 November 2006 your account will be SUSPENDED for security reasons.
–
Yours sincerely
Andy Howard
Security Department
Smile.co.uk

It even came with some nice graphics too. Given that these types of scams are quite prevalent on the internet today – how can you spot them?

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