Category: Devotionals

Spiritual Shrinkage

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 2:18-22

It’s hard to forget the episode of Seinfeld that revolved around the term “shrinkage.”  As usual, George was trying to impress a woman; and, as usual, everything backfired on him. While George was taking off his swim trunks after being in the pool, a woman accidentally walked in on him.  She giggled and then quickly left the room.  Immediately, desperately, George yelled out, “Shrinkage!“  Later, in an attempt to salvage some of his male dignity, he asked Jerry, “Do you think she knows about shrinkage?  Does she know…after being in the cold pool…it shrinks?”  

Feasting or Fasting

Long before the relationship woes of George Costanza, Jesus also spoke of shrinkage.  We pick up where we left off last time, with Jesus feasting at Levi’s home alongside tax collectors and sinners.  Evidently, this party took place on a Jewish day of fasting, which was a solemn day of abstaining from food.  Some people noticed they were feasting, while everyone else was fasting, so they asked Jesus, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” (Mark 2:18).

Wedding Symbols

To explain why, Jesus used the rich imagery found in wedding celebrations—quite different from a day of fasting!  He pointed to three items in a wedding, the new clothing, the fine wine, and the invited guests.  As for the clothing, Jesus imagined a scenario where someone wanted to wear his old outfit to the wedding, but had to patch it up a bit to make it look better.  Jesus said, “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.  If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.” (Mark 2:21).  In other words, when it comes to making your clothing better for a wedding, you have to beware of shrinkage!  If you try to fix an old shirt with a new patch, when the patch inevitably shrinks with use, it will tear the shirt apart.  

Then Jesus used an illustration of wedding wine to make a similar point, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins.  If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins.  But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” (Mark 2:22).  In a more dramatic example, the same thing will happen if you put new wine into an old wineskin, shrinkage will strike again!  Even worse, you’ll lose both the wineskin and the wine, having nothing to bring to the wedding to celebrate.

Shrinkage Today

So what’s going on here?  What does shrinkage have to do with either fasting or feasting?  The Bible is teaching us something quite profound, which many Christians need to hear today.  Jesus is teaching us the danger of trying to apply the grace of God to your old way of life.

Your old way of life is the old outfit you wanted to wear to the wedding, but decided to patch up a bit first.  Your old way of life is the old wineskin you tried to put new wine into for the wedding celebration.  The one who tries to add the grace of God to his or her old identity will ultimately come apart.

Again, the old garment and old wineskin represent the old identity projects we all have.  It’s our attempt to look a certain way in order to impress, win favor, and be somebody.  Just as we put on clothing, we put on an identity every time we leave our homes.  It’s how we want everyone to see us and how we seek to justify our existence.  The Pharisees wore an identity of moral performance.  They wanted to be seen and respected for their allegiance to God’s word, even if it meant stepping on those who didn’t line up with them.  There are countless “outfits” we can put on, identities we wear like a jacket.  We can be seen for our abilities, knowledge, reputation, family, heritage, or possessions.  We can also wear a victim’s garment, being seen for what has been done to us; sometimes, when all else fails, at least we can get a little acceptance from being a victim.  

A New Kind of Fabric

Then along comes the grace of God, like nothing we’ve ever experienced before.  The grace of God is his unconditional love for us, which seems to be cut from an entirely different piece of cloth, because it is.  It’s his forgiveness in Christ.  So we take this new kind of cloth and put it over the rips and tears in our lives.  However, there’s a problem: new cloth cannot go on an old garment, for shrinkage will tear the garment apart.  

Torn 

And that’s exactly how some of us feel.  Spiritual shrinkage is no laughing matter, because it causes our lives to come apart.  

Yet, this is exactly how God wants it, for he does not want us simply patching up our old way of life.  The grace of God is not simply a “get out of jail free” card, something to get us out of a bind.  I’ve lived my Christian life like this for a long time, as maybe you have, too.  I had an identity project I was working on, the persona I was putting on for the world to see.  I might have claimed to be doing it all for God, but deep down, I knew it was for me.  My agenda and my name were more important to me than God’s will or Name.  And if I ever messed up, I could use the grace of God to get some forgiveness; but then, I’d continue on as before, living life for myself.  

All the while, my life was tearing apart.  

Can you relate?  

Not Duct Tape

God’s grace in Christ is not merely a superficial fix for sins.  If you treat the grace of God like duct tape, then you’ll make your life worse, not better.  I tremble as I write this, but you have to know it’d be better if you never knew the grace of God at all, than to apply the grace of God to an old identity project.  

The grace of God is supposed to bring your life together toward integration, but when used simply as a bald patch, it causes your life to fall apart toward dis-integration.  The Christian life is not a matter of pouring spiritual wine into your old life, hoping to make it more godly.  If you do that, you’ll lose both your life and the wine!  

A New Identity

How do we avoid spiritual shrinkage?  We must abandon our old identity projects and put on the identity of Jesus Christ.  And it makes perfect sense!  The grace of God will adhere to your new identity in Christ.  The grace of God will not shrink away from the one who is clothed in Christ.

Let’s return to the first response Jesus gave when asked about fasting.  He said, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.” (Mark 2:19).  In those days, weddings were the highlight of the community.  They were full of sensual delights and celebration.  The guests were not there to serve or make a name for themselves; the guests were there to party and celebrate the bride and groom!  In a sense, the “identity” of a wedding guest is wrapped up in the marriage ceremony.  Were it not for the wedding, there would be no wedding guests!

Children of the Bridechamber

But there’s more here, which our modern English translations hide.  The term “wedding guests” is a modern translation for an underlying Greek phrase that actually means “children of the bridechamber.”  The Greek idea of “wedding guest” is deeply rooted with the couple being married, so much so, a wedding guest is technically the offspring of the bridechamber.  The guest’s identity comes from the celebration to which he is invited, rather than the old life from which he came.   

This means a child of the bridechamber can abandon any aspirations of stealing the spotlight, for that would be ridiculous at a wedding.  A child of the bridechamber can leave behind any deep desires to impress or earn a place, for a child of the bridechamber is a beloved guest already.  

Can you see the new kind of identity that is emerging?  A child of the bridechamber can leave his or her old identity project at home and freely attend the celebration as a beloved guest.  

Ask yourself, did you show up to life today to party?  Or simply to please?

Sin Boldly

Counterintuitively, this enables you to be yourself more, rather than less, because you can drop the pretenses of your old identity project.  You can simply be yourself.  You don’t have to hide behind a mask, you don’t have to impress, you don’t have to lie to cover up your mistakes and flaws.  You don’t have to hide your rips and tears, but you can be honest.  If you live from your new identity as a child of the bridechamber, your life will begin to come together, rather than tear apart.  You’ll experience the kind of integrity that can only come when you trade in “performance” for “celebration.”

If you have an identity in Christ, you can be a sick sinner, for, as we learned last devotional, Jesus came for the sick, not the so-called healthy (Mark 2:17).  I think this is what Martin Luther meant when he said, “Sin boldly!”  It means we can finally be ourselves, be real, and be there, for the celebration.  We no longer have to put on a show or be the kind of person everyone else wants us to be.  We don’t have to live up to cultural standards or critiques.  We can simply be saved sick sinners, beloved children of the bridechamber, guests at the wedding party. 

JoJo Rabbit

Our new identity in Christ is for celebrating what our Groom, Jesus Christ, is doing in this world.  He is finding his bride and making her ready.  The wedding guests have no other agenda than that.  

There’s a captivating line in the recent movie JoJo Rabbit, which takes place in Nazi Germany.  In the middle of brutality and despair, even when his dad had already been killed, JoJo’s mother tells him, “Life is a gift.  We must celebrate it.  We have to dance, to show God we are grateful to be alive.”

That’s the mindset of a wedding guest, someone who is clothed in Christ.  We are not here for a pity party, but for a wedding party!  We’re not here to earn ourselves accolades or to earn someone else’s approval.  We are here to dance.  We are here to celebrate the life God is pouring into us, just as wine into a new wineskin.

The Final Test

“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day” (Mark 2:20).  Jesus left us with a test, so we can see if we are truly living as children of the bridechamber or as those who are torn.  When he is taken away, will we mourn?  For true wedding guests, the greatest source of sadness in life is when Jesus is absent (just as the greatest happiness is his presence).  If Jesus is missing, then true children don’t care if their reputation is soaring or their resources are pouring in. 

Again, our greatest sadness is his absence and our greatest joy is his presence, regardless of our worldly circumstances.  

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”  And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins-and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” —Mark 2:18-22

The Breakdown

  1. Can you relate to the idea of using God’s grace just to patch up your old life?  Identify some ways you’re doing this.
  2. Could you give your old “identity project” a name?  What is it trying to do?  What does it want?  What does it fear?
  3. What would it look like if you simply were a wedding guest?  How could you change your life to match your status?  How could you celebrate? 
  4. Is Jesus present in your life right now? Why or why not?

Dr. Jesus and Mr. Levi

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 2:13-17

The crowd couldn’t get enough of Jesus, so the disciples found the largest venue around, which was an open area by the sea.  He taught them for hours and hours.  Afterwards, walking down a busy road, Jesus passed a tax booth, which was strategically placed there to collect as much revenue as possible from the multitude of travelers.  

The riled crowd who followed Jesus couldn’t wait to see what he would do to the tax collector sitting there, who happened to be a guy named Levi, also known as Matthew.  Levi was considered a traitor, because, although he was Jewish, he was working for Rome.  Levi not only collected taxes for Rome, but he would also collect a little extra and keep it for himself; after all, if anyone messed with him, he had the Roman militia to back him up.  Yes, everyone hated Levi, part swindler and part sell-out.  Guys like him were so hated that they were lumped together in the common expression, “tax collectors and sinners.”  In everyone’s eyes, there was no difference between the worst criminal and a tax collector!

So what would Jesus do to make things right?  Would he demand that Levi give back all the people’s money?  Would he flip over Levi’s table and drive him away, just like he did to the howling demons?  Jesus obviously had power and authority, so how would he leverage it against Levi?

The crowd went slack-jawed at what happened next.  Jesus invited Levi to become the fifth of his twelve chosen disciples!  Then Jesus went over to Levi’s home to hang out, as if they’d been best chums since grammar school.  Soon Jesus was at the table with Levi and all his buddies.  There were many tax collectors and sinners kicking back with Jesus.  They told jokes.  Jesus taught them.  They listened.  The only thing to surpass the strength of his belches was the strength of his love for this marginalized rabble sitting around the table.  

Then there was a knock at the door.  Some of the religious leaders of the day, known as the scribes of the Pharisees, heard about what was going on and wanted to put a stop to it.  You see, although they claimed to know God and follow the Scriptures, their hearts were actually very far from Yahweh.  The proof of this wasn’t hard to see, for they rejected almost everyone.  Jesus, on the other hand, seemed to accept everyone!  And this drove them crazy, because they hated the parts of themselves that they had in common with these ordinary tax collectors and sinners, though they never would admit to it.  

But Jesus knew that those who reject others are really rejecting things they don’t like about themselves; put another way, those who do not accept others, do not accept everything about themselves.  For whatever logical or illogical reasons, they have an idea of what a righteous person should be like, so they carefully cull and toss aside the parts of themselves that don’t line up with their idiosyncratic self-glory projects.  

Seeing those rejected parts of themselves show up in others only reminds them of who they really are.  They are trying to make themselves into a manufactured ideal, also known as an idol.  So, truly, the self righteous person is really rejecting God, for all the parts of the self that we reject are actually good gifts from God.  The Pharisees didn’t know that true holiness looks more like wholeness, rather than man-made religion. 

Knocking at the door, one of them said, “Jesus, you glutton and drunkard, are you in there?”  Andrew looked out a small window to see who it was.  “Rabbi,” Andrew yelled across the room, “Your buddies, the church police are here again.”  Jesus rolled his eyes and smiled. 

A scribe at the door shouted inside, “Jesus, why are you hanging out with tax collectors and sinners?  Don’t you know they will make you ceremonially unclean?  Their spiritual sickness will rub off on you!  Don’t you know that a righteous person, as many say you are, would never associate with such unrighteous people? —Unless, of course, you’re just like them!”

Jesus pulled the pork chop away from his lips and licked BBQ sauce from his thumb and forefinger.  The raucous table grew quiet and all eyes landed on Jesus.  He slurped some foam off the dark lager in front of him and wiped his mustache with the back of his hand.  Smiling at the tax collectors and sinners around him, with a twinkle in his eye, Jesus shouted to the religious leaders at the door, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  The motley crew around the table erupted with shouts and applause.  The scribes of the Pharisees gnashed their teeth and stormed off into the night.  

“Jesus,” the disciple named John began to ask in a serious tone, for John had a sensitive spirit, “Is it true that the Pharisees really are righteous?  Yes, they seem to keep all the laws, but they seem to neglect the greatest two commandments, as you taught us, to love God and your neighbor.”  The table grew expectant once again, and everyone focused on Jesus.  

“John, my beloved, the kingdom of God is full of surprises!  In the kingdom of God, those who think they are righteous are actually wicked and those who think they are wicked are actually righteous.”  He paused to let his words sink in.  

James rubbed the back of his neck, then asked, “But how will the Physician make us well?”  Jesus smiled and took another sip of beer.  He paused, then asked Levi to pass him a small loaf of bread.  

He slowly tore it apart.

In the days, weeks, and months ahead, Jesus would tell them about how he would be beaten, handed over, and put to death—and then how he would rise again on the third day.  Then they would realize that Jesus was not only the Physician, but also the Medicine.  In fact, he would become the sick Patient, too, for the infirmities of the world would be laid on him.

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” —Mark 2:17

The Breakdown

  1. Take a moment to read Luke 18:9-14, which is the parable of the tax collector and Pharisee.  How does the parable help explain the idea that those who think they are righteous are actually wicked and those who think they are wicked are actually righteous?
  2. The scribes and Pharisees were prejudiced against tax collectors and sinners; whom do you find it difficult to accept?  Why do you think this is the case?  Could it be that they represent something you don’t like about yourself? 
  3. If Jesus is the Great Physician, how can you be a better “patient” this week?  (Hint: a good patient doesn’t keep his symptoms a secret from the doctor!)

When Your Friends Let You Down

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 2:1-12

Jesus was preaching to a full house!  There wasn’t room for anyone else to hear him.  Suddenly, some debris fell from the ceiling.  Everyone, including Jesus, looked up and saw a man on a cot being lowered down through a newly dug hole in the roof.  Silhouetted against the bright Middle-Eastern sky, Jesus could see the outlines of four proud men, friends of the paralytic, whose faces were beaming with satisfaction.  The paralytic on the mat was very fortunate to have friends like these to let him down!  (Dad jokes rule!)

While there’s much to discuss in a passage like this, let’s focus on the four ideas Jesus said to the paralyzed man. It’s good to know, by the way, in a narrative passage (a historical story), the main point is to be found in the dialogue, especially if the one doing the talking is Jesus.  

The first idea Jesus said to the man is, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5).  The passage does not say the paralyzed man came to be healed.  He and his friends were coming to hear Jesus preach the word of God, just like everyone else, which is what Jesus was doing (Mark 2:2).  Most likely, Jesus was at the point of his sermon where he was announcing the good news of forgiveness.  Seeing the paralyzed man on the mat right in front of him, Jesus took the opportunity to let the man know his sins were forgiven, too.  The paralytic came mainly for spiritual healing, although he left with both spiritual and physical healing, as the story indicates. 

“You are forgiven” is the most powerful and empowering message we could ever hear.  Our sins paralyze our soul, more than sickness or accident does the body.  You can live with a paralyzed body, but you can’t live with a paralyzed soul.  Knowing the reality of your forgiveness is the purest and highest form of freedom.  And it’s a word we need to speak to each other, too.  True friends regularly remind each other of their forgiveness from God.  True friends constantly and authentically say to each other, “You are forgiven.”

The second idea Jesus gave the man was, “Rise!” (Mark 2:11).  Yes, Jesus was telling the paralyzed man to stand up, but Jesus was saying much more, too.  The Greek word behind “rise” means more than just to stand, but conveys the reality of a noble summons.  Jesus could have just said to the man, “Stand” or “You are healed,” but he was much more dramatic.  Jesus was summoning the man to rise up to his new calling.  What was his calling?  Forgiveness.  

Our sins condemn us, leaving us spiritually paralyzed and powerless, but when we are forgiven, we can rise to our calling of forgiveness.  Your main calling from God is, “You are forgiven.”  Now you must rise to your calling and walk in forgiveness, no longer hindered by the weight of sin, shame, and regret.  I am always amazed at how much my past haunts me, reaches out and trips me up in the present, and stifles my future dreams, just because I don’t walk my primary calling of forgiveness.  Along the way, God may give us other callings, vocations, and interests, and we must rise up to those, as well.  But we can’t, so long as we’re still paralyzed by guilt and shame.  

The third idea Jesus called the man to was, “Pick up your bed” (Mark 2:11).  Why did Jesus specifically tell the man to pick up his bed?  It was an act of responsibility.  Man, pick up what you were depending on.  Carry what carried you.  The story of the bed needs to be a part of your new story.  There’s something of your old struggle that needs to be a part of your new calling.  Also, once you realize your new calling, you’re not to relax anymore, but go full out.  In a sense, there is no relaxing, no lying around, hesitating, or waiting.  Now that you know what you stand for, take control and move.  

The final idea Jesus communicates to the man is, “Go home” (Mark 2:11).  Once God puts you back on your feet and gets you going the right direction, go home.  You were lost and stuck before, but now it’s time to go home.  But where is home?  Our home is with God.  Whatever it is that God calls you to do in this life, the direction we are to head is clear: we are to aim at going home to God.  If you’re a musician, then aim your life at God.  If you’re a union worker, then plot your course toward your home with God.  Nobody knows when his or her last day of life will be; nobody knows when this journey will come to an end.  So, we had better be ready to arrive at God’s doorstep.  It doesn’t matter how far along the journey you are right now, but it does matter if you’re heading in the right (homeward) direction.

You are forgiven.  Rise.  Pick up your bed.  Go home.  These are the four pillars of an unparalyzed life.  God forgives you of whatever you’ve done; respond to his calling in your life; take responsibility and get going; and aim your life toward the Face of God.       

Son, your sins are forgiven…I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.

—Mark 2:5, 11

The Breakdown

  1. Which part of Jesus’s message to the paralyzed man stood out to you the most?  Why?
  2. Do you have someone in your life who really needs to hear the words, “You are forgiven?”  How could you let him or her know?  
  3. What does it look like to walk in forgiveness?  What gets in the way?

When Jesus Rolls His Eyes at the Church

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 1:40-45

Our story today is a tender and powerful glimpse into the heart of Jesus for those society despises.  The lowest of the low, a leper, comes to Jesus for help.  In his time, this man was a true outcast.  He was a leper.  He would have been forced to live in seclusion, was banned from all public gatherings, including worship services.  He had to cry out, “Unclean!  Unclean!” whenever he came near anyone, in order to warn them of his diabolical presence.  It’s a struggle to think of anyone today who would be looked down upon as much as this man—perhaps a serial pedofile?  A rapist?  A murderer?  And Jesus reached out his hand and tenderly touched him!  Jesus had strong compassion for him and wanted the man to be healed and accepted.  Today, we struggle to comprehend how much Jesus loved those we hate.  

After healing the leper, Jesus commanded him not to tell anyone about the healing.  Jesus went so far as to tell the man to go to the religious leaders of the day and make it look like the priest did the healing, according to the old purity rituals of the Mosaic law.  Not only did Jesus not want any credit for the astounding miracle and act of compassion, but also, he wanted his enemies to get the credit for it all!  He told the leper to let the priests handle it, “for a proof to them” (Mark 1:44).  The Greek word behind “proof” is usually translated as “witness” or “testimony.”  Jesus actually wanted his miracle to testify to the Old Testament rituals and priests who performed them, even though Jesus came to abolish all of that!  Is Jesus out of his mind?

So what’s going on here?

After the man disobeyed Jesus’s command, telling everyone and his brother that Jesus healed him, we learn why Jesus wanted the priests to get the credit.  “But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places” (Mark 1:45).  Because the man blabbed about Jesus, Jesus’s cover was blown.  He was forced to act secretly and could no longer openly enter a town, because his enemies wouldn’t let him, no doubt, out of envy (Matthew 27:18).  Instead, Jesus had to move around in secluded places, where few, if any, people lived.  

On the one hand, the healed leper was doing true evangelism.  He was spreading the good news about Jesus.  But, on the other hand, his zeal cost Jesus opportunities to do more healing and teaching among larger crowds.  As soon as the man told the first person he saw about the awesome miracle Jesus did for him, can you picture Jesus rolling his eyes?  This man was making life much more difficult for Jesus to minister.

Surely the point of this passage has to do with having wisdom when it comes to telling people about Jesus.  Look, you might have never thought about it this way, but Jesus is absolutely fine with you not telling everyone about him.  Jesus is fine with someone else, even his enemies, getting the credit for his miracles.  Jesus isn’t arrogant or narcissistic.  He doesn’t need accolades and he truly doesn’t need our help.  We don’t have to tell everyone everything Jesus has ever done.  

In fact, to do so may jeopardize the logistics of his mission.  That’s why Jesus, “sent him away at once” (Mark 1:43).  Have you ever thought, perhaps Jesus doesn’t want attention drawn to himself in a particular instance?  Or, perhaps you are not the one to speak for him at this time?  Do you realize, maybe Jesus wishes to be the ghost writer (the uncredited author) in some circumstances?  

Let’s think about this principle for today.  How would it look?  While I’m not saying definitively that these are synonymous examples of what happened with the leper, but perhaps they come close.  Let’s look at some hot topics today, about which Jesus may desire to stay out of the limelight.  

For instance, when it comes to gay marriage, because it’s so controversial, perhaps Jesus is okay with going unmentioned in the conversation.  Again, I’m not saying I’m right, but maybe.  Another issue could be evolution.  Have you ever thought that perhaps Jesus would be fine to give Darwin credit?  Maybe yes, maybe no, but we need to think critically about this principle from the story of the leper.  Other issues that Jesus might wish to stay out of could be: women in ministry, the type of music you listen to, politics, or your stance on alcohol.  Be sure to include issues in psychology, science, and religious pluralism (acceptance of other religions).  

Now, you may gasp, “But these topics you mentioned are foundational issues in Christianity!”  Oh yeah?  They are not any more foundational than the issue Jesus wanted to ascribe to the priests!  The cleansing of the leper was symbolic for the forgiveness of sins, and Jesus was fine with letting the temple priests believe they were the ones to thank. 

The question you need to ask yourself is, “Is my stance making the spread of the core message of Jesus more difficult?”  The core message of Jesus is that God loves us and sent his Son to die on the cross for our sin.  The core message of Jesus is that God accepts you just how you are, even if you’re a despised person, like a leper!  

Think before you open your mouth to tell someone about Jesus.  “Will this cause Jesus to roll his eyes at me?”  We don’t always have to defend Jesus, for he knows how to take care of himself.  

But take heart, if you, just like every other Christian, have been overzealous and made ministry more difficult for Jesus, don’t beat yourself up too much, because he is also able to overcome our failures.  He still loved the leper and I’m sure he was smirking, even as he rolled his eyes at him.

Remember, Jesus told his followers, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).  Among other things, this means that sometimes, the best evangelism is not to say anything about Jesus.

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.  And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. —Mark 1:40-45

The Breakdown

  1. What are some issues Jesus might want to stay out of today?
  2. Instead of telling everyone about Jesus, what could the leper have done instead?  How does this apply to our controversial issues today?
  3. Who are the most despised people in our society today?  How could you reach out to them?  
  4. What would it look like for you to give your enemies credit?

World’s on Fire

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 1:35-39

Don’t think I need to say this,
‘Cause you know what’s in my head;
“F*cked up” is an understatement,
Can’t wait for this year to end.

Mike Shinoda, after the 2017 suicide of LINKIN PARK fellow band member Chester Bennington, begins his song World’s on Fire with these words, which serve as an apt crystallization for what’s going on in our world in 2020, between the global pandemic, murder of George Floyd by police, and resulting nationwide riots. 

The next story in the Gospel of Mark contains some words we’re still saying to Jesus today.  “Everyone is looking for you” (Mark 1:37).  Recall, Jesus had spent the previous day healing those with diseases and demons.  

Long into the night, Jesus fought the devil.  Imagine him confronting people who foamed at the mouth, spit on him, bit him, and screamed their throats raw.  Picture people cutting themselves with rocks, pulling out their hair, gnashing their teeth, and peeling back their own nails.  They threw themselves on the ground, convulsed, and did other tortuous things to their bodies.  Meanwhile, the sick and diseased struggled to catch a breath, bled on Jesus, vomited on Jesus, shook with fever and pain in his arms, and writhed in agony.  Jesus healed them all, in addition to driving out all the unclean spirits.  It was a battle, a war.  By daybreak, he was exhausted and sought a desolate place to pray (Mark 1:35).  He had been face to face with evil for hours and needed to regroup.  

When you watch the video of the murder of George Floyd, understand that’s what kind of evil Jesus was up against.  What Officer Derek Chauvin did to George Floyd was demonic.  What some are doing in response may also be demonic.  Jesus was familiar with it all.  So he needed to get away for a moment to rest and pray. 

That’s when his disciples went looking for him (verse 26).  They found him and said to him what many today are saying to Jesus in their hearts, “Everyone is looking for you” (37).  There was more evil to deal with, more sickness to fight, more demons to expel—more scoundrels to hold accountable.  Everyone is looking for you, Jesus. 

The world’s on fire, all I need is you,

The riot’s on the horizon,

Calling each others’ bluff;

The smoke’s filling up the skies.

Jesus knew what to do when his disciples found him.  And his response will help us know how to respond to our chaos.  Keep in mind, since he was the Son of God, Jesus could have called upon armies of angels to help him and fight against evil.  But he wanted to respond as a real human, as we, too, could respond.  He could have used physical violence, but he chose a deeper violence.  He chose to use the violence of proclamation.

And he [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out” (Mark 1:38).

Jesus told his disciples the reason why he came, which was to preach the truth.  As we learned from Mark 1:15, he preached the gospel, which is the kind of violence the world needs right now.  

Here’s the message Jesus Christ began to introduce to the world, preaching in town after town, having the power to undermine racism.  The gospel is the message that those who think they are entitled will be put to shame and those who are bowed low in shame will be given power and glory and honor.  Those who think they are better than others, because of their race, class, education, position, or morality, will be condemned by God for their self-righteousness.  But those who think they are inferior or have been told they are inferior, who are poor in spirit, who are bowed low and can’t even lift their faces to heaven, depending on God alone for their salvation, will be lifted up and made righteous.  

Jesus didn’t come to rid the world of all of its evil, but he did his part. He came to give us the precious gospel message, so that we could do our part.  In the aftermath of great evil, we learn from Jesus to return to prayer and the gospel.

Maybe the blaze will take this away,

I shine the earth below;

Tell me to breathe,

You still believe,

Closing my eyes I know.

The world’s on fire.  The gospel is our greatest weapon to put it out, for it can heal both victim and perpetrator. 

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.  And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”  And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”  And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. 

—Mark 1:35-39

The Breakdown

  1. After confronting great evil, Jesus went to a desolate place to pray.  Have you done this?  If not, instead of continuing to engage with evil, take some time to engage with God in prayer. 
  2. Why, do you think, it was so important for Jesus to preach the gospel?  Again, what is the gospel? 
  3. Why is the gospel something our world needs especially right now?

Jesus Is the Essential Worker

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 1:29-34

Jesus left the synagogue and went home with Simon and Andrew, bringing James and John along, too.  Unlike the religious leaders of his day, who stayed in synagogues and temples, Jesus went to the simple homes of ordinary people.  If you lived in that time and place and asked Jesus to come to your home, he would have done so, no matter who you were, how little you’d accomplished, or the mistakes you’d made. 

Simon’s mother-in-law was sick, so they told Jesus about her.  Jesus went to her room, took her by the hand, lifted her up, and the fever left her.  The word about this miraculous healing somehow got out and soon there were many people at the door asking for Jesus.  “And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons” (34).  Jesus was the essential worker of his day.  

For the past few months, our country has been shut down because of COVID-19 restrictions.  As you know, most have stay-at-home orders from their governor.  If your business is not essential, then it cannot be in operation.  If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus, then you must isolate yourself for fourteen days.  We have to wear facemasks, abide by social distancing rules, stop going to church, and so forth.  We won’t bore you with the rules you already know.  But what you might not know is laws like these are nothing new.

For the people of Israel, there were many similar rules.  However, their rules differed from ours in three general ways.  First, their rules were not temporary, but permanent.  Second, their rules did not originate from fallible, elected governors, but from God himself.  Third, breaking their laws had much greater consequences, including death.  You can learn these laws, if you’re curious, by reading the book of Leviticus.  There are 613 laws Israel had to obey, or else.  Many of these laws had to do with ritual purity, or what to do if you came into contact with various diseases and evil spirits. 

Imagine Jesus going home with Simon and Andrew, entering the house of a diseased woman!  Right away, according to the law, Jesus had become ritually unclean.  The Son of God became impure for us!  

There he is, placing his holy hands on sick and sweaty bodies, making them well.  He’s bent down over people on dirty mats, placing his body against theirs.  He has his fingers and palms in their wounds.  He places his lips on theirs.  He rubs infected skin.  He traces swollen gums with his knuckles.  He spits on his hands and massages it into their eyes and ears to bring sight and hearing.  He does this, again and again and again, until everyone who had come to the door gets some of Jesus rubbed off onto them and can leave having been made whole again.

No religious leader or physician had ever tried a stunt like this before.  Jesus is the Essential Worker.  As we’ll discover in the Gospel of Mark, he heals, feeds, provides income, stimulates businesses, cares for the dead, visits the elderly, reaches out to the homeless, challenges the government, and brings “church” right to your door.  He never wears a mask, he never follows social distancing laws, he doesn’t stay at home, and he keeps on working, day after day, night after night, until the only way to stop him is to kill him.

The writer Mark would later include these words from Jesus, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Did you notice the time of day people brought the sick to Jesus?  “That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons” (Mark 1:32).  Notice the repetition of the time of day.  It not only says, “that evening,” but also it adds, “at sundown.”  The repetition is for emphasis, but why?  The types of people who came to see Jesus were not the types who were supposed to be out in public.  They were diseased and demon possessed.  They had to sneak into town to find Jesus under cover of night.  To go out was illegal.  But, as they would soon find out, when it’s late and nobody else will see you, Jesus is there for you.

What would you risk in order to see Jesus?  When no one else is willing to take you in, Jesus will.  When no one else will listen to your story or hear your cries, Jesus will.  When no one else will get close to you or your wounds, whether physical or emotional, Jesus will.  Whether you’re on house arrest or home restriction, he is your Essential Worker and he never stops laboring for you.  “But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working’” (John 5:17).

This story captures the heart of Jesus for our broken world and how he started to make things right.  One day, his work will finally be done, but until then, you’ll find him in ordinary homes throughout the world, ministering to mother-in-laws and doing what nobody else is willing to do for you. 

Without Jesus, there would be nobody to pay the penalty for our sin, nobody to give us unconditional acceptance, nobody to give us a second chance, nobody to silence our demons at night, and nobody to grab our hand and lift us up on the last day.

Jesus is the Essential Worker.    

And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.  And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.  That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.  And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. —Mark 1:29-34

The Breakdown

  1. How is Jesus like us?
  2. How is Jesus not like us?
  3. If you had to come up with a definition for “love” based on this passage, what would it be?

The Devil’s Formula for Trashing Your Identity

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 1:21-28

Matt and Tim talked about identity in Episode 29, The Adorned Identity, so we thought we’d take a few minutes here to see what the Gospel of Mark has to say about the subject of identity.  There are striking truths to learn from what we’ve covered so far in chapter one of Mark, but we’re going to concentrate on our most recent passage of Scripture, Mark 1:21-28, which is very important for understanding identity.

The Setting

There was a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue the day Jesus showed up to teach.  Because Jesus taught with authority, the unclean spirit in the man immediately recognized the Lord.  Read these verses carefully, paying particular attention to the pronouns “he/him” and “us” and “I.”

“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?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are—Holy One of God.’  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!”  And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.”  

He and Us

The Bible states he was “a man with an unclean spirit” (23).  There was a difference between this man and the thing that afflicted him.  He was a man and the unclean spirit was with him.  He was not his problem, in other words.  This is a crucial observation when it comes to discussing our identity: you are not the thing that afflicts you, though it may be with you.

However, the unclean spirit wants you to believe that you are your problem.  The demonic spirit wants you to make the affliction your identity.  Can you see how the demonic spirit does this?  Look at the pronouns (thank God for grammar!).  There was a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit, and “he cried out.”  Who cried out?  The unclean spirit is doing the talking here.  The unclean spirit (he) cried out, “What have you to do with us?”  Did you notice the switch in pronouns?  The unclean spirit turned “he” into “us,” as if the man were one with the thing that afflicted him.  

That’s what demons always want!  They always want you to lose your identity as a unique individual and become a generic “us,” in which you can’t think of yourself apart from your problem.  They want you to merge your identity with them.  

The unclean spirit continued, “Have you come to destroy us?”  Again, the unclean spirit, using the voice of the man to speak, wanted the man to think Jesus would destroy him (the man) along with the demon.  The demon wanted the man to fear Jesus had come to destroy him, because, after all, the man had an unclean spirit.  But Jesus didn’t play along, for Jesus did not come to destroy sinners, but save them.  Jesus knew the sinful man was not the same as his demonic problem.  Jesus knew the identity of the man and the identity of the demon with him. 

Jesus Doesn’t Fall for It

Did you notice the demon let down his guard when he switched pronouns again?  The demon said, “I know who you are” (24).  By switching to “I,” the demon showed it was really the demon doing the talking, rather than the man.  So, Jesus spoke directly to the demon, rather than to the man, when he said next, “But Jesus rebuked him [the demon], saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him [the man]!’”  Jesus rebuked the demon, not the man.  Even though the demon tried to merge the identity of the man with itself, as indicated by the pronoun “us,” Jesus knew the true identity of the man.  

After convulsing the man and crying out some more, the demon came out of him (26).  Jesus was able to separate the unclean spirit from the man, releasing the man from the demonic spirit that wished to absorb the man into his problem.  Surely this is an appropriate way of understanding being absorbed by issues in life!

Unclean Means Rejected

What exactly is an unclean spirit, you ask?  The word “unclean” reminds us of the laws in the Old Testament, concerning clean and unclean things.  Clean things were acceptable and unclean things were not acceptable.  The unclean things somehow made a person unacceptable before God in worship, so they were forbidden.  For our purposes in Mark 2, an unclean spirit is an “unacceptable” spirit, which tries to separate you from God.  It plays on your mind, emotions, and experiences.  It’s goal is to get you to think you could never be accepted by God.  It’s goal is for you to absorb rejection into the core of your identity, so you become that which afflicts you.  And it’s goal is to get you to believe God wants to reject and destroy you.  How does it do this?  Again, by merging your identity with it, going from “he/she” to “us.”

The Formula

Thus, the simple formula of the demon goes something like this: 

Individual (I) + Rejection (R) = Rejected Individual (RI)

or 

I+R=RI

But, as you can see, it doesn’t take a math wizard to notice demons are bad at arithmetic!  Because, I+R never equals RI.  Remember our man from the story; he was an individual (I) with (+) and unclean spirit (R).  But that doesn’t mean he was a rejected individual (RI), for Jesus accepted him and got rid of the thing afflicting him.  Jesus never thinks of you as a problem; but, he knows you have some problems he can fix.  

How It Looks in Our Lives

However, we human beings believe in the devil’s math every day of our lives.  Here are ten examples of how this plays out in our lives.

  • Your parents failed to show you love, so you believe you’re not worthy of love.  “I am unlovable” is your identity.
  • Your friend is mad at you, so you believe something is wrong with you.  “I’m a bad friend” is your identity.
  • You fail to get good grades or a good job.  “I’m a loser” is your identity.  
  • You struggle to overcome a sin or addiction.  “I’m unforgivable” is your identity.
  • You’re not in a relationship, so you think you’re unattractive.  “I’m pathetic” is your identity. 
  • You struggle with a physical or mental affliction, so you think, “I’m inferior to everyone else.”
  • Your mom was always angry, so you think, “I’m a problem.”
  • Your dad was always uninvolved, so you think, “I’m not worth pursuing.”
  • Your neighbor abused you, so you think, “I’m guilty.”
  • Bad things keep happening to you, so you think, “I’m cursed by God.”

Can you see the devil’s math, turning you into the thing that afflicts you?  I+R=RI.  The unclean spirits that afflict us cause us to be unable to separate ourselves from what the world around us says about us.  “Me” is turned to “We.”  Your life is absorbed into the trauma of life around you, so that you become, by some magical force of the universe, a problem to be erased.  “Have you come to destroy us?” (24).  

Gollum’s Voice

But you are not the environment you grew up in or the hardships that afflict you or the ways you’ve failed.  You are not even the good things you manage to do.  Your identity is still you, not “them.”  You don’t have to sulk around like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, referring to yourself and your rejection in the first person plural, “we.”

Just like the unclean spirit used the man to give it a voice, so do our afflictions wish to use us to give them a human voice.  Our afflictions wish to speak louder than our individual identity.

Archie Williams on AGT

I just saw an incredible story of a man who refused to let his demons steal his voice, taking ownership of his identity.  On America’s Got Talent last night, Archie Williams shared his tragic story of being wrongfully accused of a crime.  He spent 37 years of a lifetime sentence in bloody Angola prison, before DNA proved his innocence and he was released.  Speaking of his story prior to singing on AGT, Williams said, “Freedom is of the mind; I went to prison, but I never let my mind go to prison.”  Can you see how he fought against the devil’s math?  The devil wanted him to believe he was cursed or shameful or unloved or rejected, just because of his affliction, but Archie Williams wouldn’t let the devil absorb his true identity.  He wouldn’t let his “me” become a “we” with his experience of rejection. Somehow, he maintained his true identity. 

The devil consumes our liberty by assuming our identity.  

Our Deepest Identity

In reality, you are an individual with an affliction that God can heal in this life or the next.  There’s another place in Mark 1 that speaks powerfully of our identity.  It’s Mark 1:11 at the baptism of Jesus.  When an unclean spirit is trying to take control of your voice, remember another Voice.  The Voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved.”  True, the Father first said these words to Jesus, for he was God’s Beloved.  However, this identity does not just belong to Jesus, but it can belong to us all.  Those who put their faith in Jesus become the beloved children of God.  You are not the object of God’s condemnation, but of his love.  While the devil tries to steal your identity and absorb it into that which afflicts you, God rescues it, embraces it, and loves it.  The devil wants only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), but God wants to heal, fill, and enjoy.  

God still wants us to take ownership of our afflictions, as we’ve seen so far in Mark, through confession and repentance, but he does not want our afflictions to take ownership of us!

You can tell you’re believing the devil’s math when you start thinking of yourself in terms of your affliction or when you think God wants to destroy you because of your affliction.

“Cast all your burdens on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).  You are not your affliction, for you can separate yourself from it and give it to God.  When you look in the mirror, you are looking at the face of God’s beloved.  That’s who you are. 

The Breakdown

  1. What are some of the things afflicting your life right now (whether caused by you or someone else)?  Write them down, be thorough.  Ask God to help you name them. 
  2. Because of these various forms of rejection, how has your sense of identity been affected?  What names do you call yourself when nobody is listening?  How about when people are listening. 
  3. On a piece of paper, write down the heading “I am God’s beloved.” Then below it, write down at least 10 implications of this truth. If you have trouble thinking of them, then ask for some guidance on our Holy Ghost Notes Facebook Group page.

Jesus Is Disturbing

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 1:21-28

How long had the demon-possessed man been in the synagogue before anyone noticed him?  Years?  Decades?  He had probably been there a long time, but nobody knew he had a demon.  Then “immediately” (there’s Mark’s favorite word again!), Jesus went into the synagogue, which was like a church, and began to teach.  Jesus taught like none other.  

Everyone was astonished, because he taught with authority, unlike the other teachers.  Almost instantaneously, as soon as the man with the unclean spirit heard the teaching of Jesus, the demon surfaced.  It cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?” (1:24).  The demon was threatened by the authoritative teaching of Jesus.  

Then the demon-possessed man made the first public declaration of the true identity of Jesus, saying, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”  This declaration came from a demon-possessed man, rather than a disciple or religious leader!  How did Jesus respond?  “But Jesus rebuked him” (1:25).  Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to exit the man, which it did, convulsing him one last time.  Everyone was amazed, saying, ‘What is this?  A new teaching with authority!  He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’” (28).  Put another way, it’s equally amazing that the unclean spirits did not obey the other religious teachers of the day!

Of Men and Mice

It’s like the mice in my shed.  Since I don’t go into the shed during the long winter, it remains undisturbed.  In the spring, I finally open the doors of the shed and expose the rodents living inside of it.  As the light shines in for the first time in months, I’m able to see their nests, droppings, and terrified eyes!  They immediately scurry out of sight, for they recognize me as an enormous enemy.  I usually shout at them a few times, as if they understood English, “Get out of here, stupid mice!” before I begin to clean up the mess they left.  Then my shed can begin to be used for what it was meant to be used for, rather than a Motel 6 for mice!

Again, how long had this man been sitting in the pews of the synagogue before Jesus showed up?  The demons, like my mice, were quietly gnawing away at him, completely undisturbed.  But before they could devour him altogether, Someone showed up who actually spoke the truth with authority.  The kingdom of God arrived and the kingdom of his world shrieked and fled.

Powerless Churches

Have you ever heard anyone speak with authority?  Maybe it made you want to get up and leave?  Or you got scared?  Or offended?  I wonder how many people there are with unclean spirits in our churches, who remain completely undisturbed because nobody is teaching with authority?  The antonym for authority is “powerlessness,” which makes one wonder about the teaching going on in our churches today.  

If we want to see our inner demons surface and flee, then we have to expose ourselves to the authoritative word of God, not the powerless babbling we’re used to hearing.

“Authority Song” 

What’s more important to you, the veracity of a teaching, or the authority of the person who speaks it?  Don’t answer too quickly, because we’d like to believe we’re objective and are able to measure a teaching on its own merits; but, most often, we decide on a teaching before we even hear it, because of the trustworthiness of the speaker.  Would you rather hear a confusing and difficult message, from someone you trusted completely, or hear a teaching that makes complete sense to you, but it comes from somebody you do not trust at all?  Our present political climate should make this obvious.  The media won’t agree with certain politicians, no matter what they say!  The majority of the time, we listen to people we trust, who speak with authority, even if their messages don’t make complete sense to us yet.  We tend not to listen to those we don’t trust.

Since Jesus spoke with authority, people trusted him and listened to what he said, even if they didn’t understand at first.  

Disagree to Agree

Let’s face it, even though we tend to trust Jesus, he said some pretty crazy things!  In fact, let’s be real here, we would be shocked if you agreed with everything Jesus said.  We’ll go one step further, those who agree with everything Jesus said are completely out of touch with themselves.  After all, some of his words were meant to offend.  His words stir us up.  His words shine a light into our hearts, causing all the rodents in there to scurry.  He wasn’t always easy to listen to.  He said some extreme things.  He condemned really good people and he praised really bad people.  Again, if you agree with everything Jesus said, then you’ve not been paying attention.  He spoke not just to comfort the sinner, but to disturb the self-righteous.  The words of Jesus are like the Ten Commandments, nobody measures up to them!

Expose Yourself

Regularly expose yourself to the teachings of Jesus, in order to get your inner demons to surface.  You might not know they’re there, just like nobody knew about the undetectable demons of the man.  In fact, the better the job the demons do, the less you’ll even notice them. It takes the word of Jesus to expose them.

And maybe this little devotional on Mark 1:21-28  is raising your ire, kindling some furry, because you don’t want to admit that you have demons or darkness or secret places or doubts. Maybe it’s exposing something you really need to see right now.

The most dangerous part about us is not our most wicked thought or disgraceful deed, but it is our unknown one.  

Fully Known

“But,” you protest, “How can I ever know it, if it’s unknown?  How can I ever be conscious of my unconsciousness?”  That’s exactly why we need to expose ourselves to the words of Jesus, because they cause the unknown parts of us to reveal themselves.  You might not know how to fix you, but Jesus does.

Has Jesus disturbed you?  If not, don’t worry, he will!  Don’t think you have any demons?  Just spend some time with him and the demons will come shrieking out of you.  We all have unclean spirits inside of us, hiding in the neglected corners of our being, the parts we don’t like to talk about. 

Yes, Jesus is disturbing, but he has the authority to disturb you. 

And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.  —Mark 1:22

The Breakdown

  1. What stood out to you the most from Mark 1:21-28?
  2. What are some of the teachings of Jesus you find difficult to agree with?  
  3. What are some ways you can expose yourself regularly to the word of God?
  4. Are there areas in your life you haven’t addressed in a while?  Spend some time in prayer, asking God’s Spirit to search your life and reveal the neglected parts.  Then ask Jesus to teach you his word about these areas.

Living Large

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 1:16-20

Stories of Being Little

Josh grew up in a home with a mother who was often sick, so he had to act as a caretaker for his four siblings.  Whenever he wanted to do something for himself, his parents would lay a guilt trip on him, asking him how he could be so insensitive when there was much to do and his mother was too sick to do it.  As he thinks back to his childhood, the refrain in his head is, “My needs don’t matter.”  As an adult, he continued to live out these words like a prescription, to the point where his lack of ability to care for himself cost him his job and friendships.

Ken’s father had a temper that was out of control.  One year, when his Ken’s baseball team won second place in the State tournament, after the game, his father, “Wrapped the second place trophy around a telephone pole in front of all my friends,” as Ken put it.  Because the team did not finish first, his dad smashed their prize.  Ken vowed never to be angry like his dad.  As an adult, Ken seems to be cool and calm, but he’s never figured out how to process all his emotions in a healthy way.  He has addictions, instead. The message he hears in his head is, “Conflict and emotion are bad.”  He struggles to be whole, rather than compartmentalized.  He pretty much reacts the same way to good news or bad, making him seem robotic. 

Maggie’s mom was an alcoholic, so Maggie had to take control of her family’s life.  She constantly had to rescue her mom, care for her siblings, and be a support to her dad.  As an adult, it’s hard for Maggie to accept when life gets out of control.  She will become the hero once again and attempt to manage every aspect of life, but it’s exhausting and her whole family walks on eggshells.  If they don’t do exactly what she wants, there’s hell to pay.  Maggie lives by the unconscious voice in her head that says, “If I don’t have everything under control, then my family will be embarrassed and people will be hurt.”  

How about one more? 

Adam grew up in a Christian home.  His church and family taught him a lot about “spiritual” matters, but they ignored talking about sex.  By what they did not say, Adam gathered that sex was a shameful thing.  Being sexual was something to hide from, as if it were “beneath” a good Christian.  Even though his church taught sex was a gift from God, the way everyone tiptoed around it and failed to celebrate our physical, sexual nature, sent Adam a very different message.  As an adult, he doesn’t know how to have a healthy and balanced sexual life; he tends to abstain as best he can, then when he can’t resist anymore, binges on sexual indulging. 

Magical Thinking

What about you?  What are the messages you learned as a child that you’re still living by today?  We all have them.  As a child, they were very useful; in fact, we needed them to survive.  But now that we’ve grown, these statements don’t help us, but hinder us, keep us stuck.  My needs don’t matter.  My sexuality is something to be ashamed of.  If I don’t have everything under control, then my family will be embarrassed and people will be hurt.  Some others could be, “I can’t be vulnerable” or “I’ve got to be perfect” or “Kids get in the way.”

We continue to think these messages from our childhood will help solve our problems today.  And when they don’t work, ironically, we keep trying them!   This is called magical thinking.  Somehow, magically, we think things will turn out differently this time.  Instead of abandoning our magical thinking, we double-down and continue to trust it.  

Follow Me

After Jesus ushers in the kingdom of God by proclaiming the gospel, he begins to take an ordinary walk along the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16).  The sea often represents the soul of a person.  Imagine Jesus, walking right alongside your soul.  He usually doesn’t intrude, but he gets awfully close.  As he walks, he woos.  What does he say?  Follow me!  

“Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’  And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (Mark 1:16-18).  

Jesus sees the brothers, Simon and Andrew, and he commands them to follow him.  They were fishing in a boat the moment he called them.  When they heard Jesus’s invitation, they dropped their nets and came after him.  

The same thing happened in the next story.  “And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.  And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.” (Mark 1:19-20).  Jesus found two more brothers, who were mending their nets in the boat next to their dad.  But they didn’t hesitate to leave him and follow Jesus.

Immediately

Perhaps the most intoxicating word in these true accounts is “immediately” (verses 18 and 20).  We’ve already seen this word twice so far in Mark 1:1-15.  The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus immediately when he was baptized (1:10); the Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness (1:12).  The writer Mark loves to use the word “immediately,” it appears about 40 times in his account!  What is the significance?  

Let’s think of the word “immediately” as the ticket out of magical thinking, and the portal to something new.  It’s for those who finally wake up and accept the fact that what they are doing is not working.  The brothers in the boat immediately followed the call of God.  Think of all they left behind!  They left their jobs, family, security, and reputations in that boat.  I’m sure they could hear the voice of their father calling to them as they left, commanding them with the old family cliches to get back into the boat.  But they dropped their nets and followed the Voice.

(Safety) Net

How about you?  What is your (safety) net?  You’re not holding onto a fishing net, but you are still clinging to other things that make you feel secure.  Maybe your safety net is magical thinking.  But you’re only avoiding taking the call of Jesus seriously.  You think the old family ways in the boat are better.  You don’t trust the rabbi walking along the edge of your soul, peering down into it like a concerned physician. 

We hold onto and continue to mend the old fishing nets, giving them yet another tired try, fishing nets such as self-pity, resentment, alcohol, reputation, career, anger, control.  We feel safe with these.  Yet nothing changes, because it’s all been magical thinking.  We keep lingering, not realizing the power and potential of “immediately.” 

The Voice

We wish to hold onto our old world, but get new results, but that’s madness.  The only way to get new results is to follow the voice of Jesus, who wants to woo you out of the old boat.  Most people live life responding to the demands of the world.  We act like rats in a maze, going for the next bit of cheese the world leaves for us.  Our motivation is “what is the world demanding of me next?”  A degree, better car, bigger house, better job, family, and so forth.  

But there are some who dare to get out of the boat in order to find out what God and their soul are up to.  

Fishers of Men

Do you know why Jesus told the brothers he’d make them “fishers of men”?  Because Jesus knew there was another fisherman out on the lake, an evil one, who wanted to destroy people.  The enemy wants to catch souls, cut them, char them, and then consume them.  But Jesus calls others out into the world to catch people first, before the enemy can get them into his net.

When they woke up that morning, the disciples thought they would only ever be fisherman, just like their fathers.  Religious work was exclusively for special members of society, who were a part of elite groups called Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots.  Simon, Andrew, James, and John would spend most of their lives on a boat, doing what was handed to them by their ancestors.  But Jesus thought they would make great ‘fishers of men,’ so he called them out of their boats into the great drama of redemption, in order to fish people out of the enemy’s nets of destruction.  

When we follow the voice of Jesus, rather than the voices that haunt us, we enter into a larger life. “Living Large” is about discerning the lies that have been keeping you small and following the voice of Jesus to the truest and most useful version of yourself.  The voice of Jesus will tell us that our needs matter, that our sexuality is very important to him, that we can make mistakes and don’t have to have everything under control, that we can show our emotions as whole human beings, and that we can serve him wherever we are in life.  If you start to listen to the voice of Jesus, your life will start to get larger, immediately.

It may seem scary, but nothing meaningful is safe.

The Breakdown

  1. What are some voices of the past that are still speaking to you today?  Are they holding you back?  What are they saying? 
  2. If Jesus were to speak directly to your soul, what would he tell it? 
  3. What do people expect of you?  What safety nets do you cling to today? 
  4. How can you “live large” today?  (Remember, you only need to take small steps in being honest with yourself and following Jesus).

You Are a Kingdom

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 1:14-15

In the last devotional, we learned the arrival of Jesus (and the exit of John the Baptist) meant the transition of one age to the next.  The former age of the law became the present age of grace, also called the kingdom of God.  Today, we’re going to learn more about the kingdom of God from Mark 1:14-15.  We’ll examine the kingdom of God through the five W’s (and one H), Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.  We can’t wait for you to learn more with us about the kingdom of God!  We hope you will be blown away by what you discover within you! 

Who?

Who gets to be in the kingdom of God? Is the kingdom of God reserved only for angels, spirits, fat cherubs, and the Almighty?  Or do only pastors and priests get to be in the kingdom of God? Absolutely not! The kingdom of God is for greasy swindlers and the unwashed rabble.  It’s for the misfits and malcontents. 

When Jesus spoke these words, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15), he was speaking to those who only had one thing to offer, their sins. He was speaking to those who responded to the call of John the Baptist to confess their sins and repent. These were not holy people, not even close. They were self-declared sinners.  

Most are too embarrassed of the implications of this truth, for they know it means the kingdom of God is for pimps, pedofiles, prostitutes, and prisoners.  This is truly amazing! If you were a king, and could have any kingdom you wanted, which citizens would you choose to be in it? Would you choose you? 

One more thing, it’s not just that the kingdom of God is for sinners, but it is also that sinners are the kingdom of God! Revelation 1:6 says that God made us sinners into a kingdom.  “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom…”  The kingdom of God is a ruined and redeemed people, who contribute their sins and collect his grace.

What?

What is the kingdom of God?  The kingdom of God is not something made up of bricks and mortar.  Fundamentally, the kingdom of God is a relationship between an individual and God.  The kingdom of God is a sinner’s submission to Jesus Christ as his or her King.  It’s the relationship of Creator and creature.  However, the kingdom of God is not the relationship itself, but, more accurately, it is the relating.  

What do we mean by this?  It helps to think of the kingdom of God not as a noun, but as a verb.  It’s the relating of the relationship between you and God.  It’s the sparks, the fire.  You see, it’s not stagnant, like a noun, but it’s living and active.  It’s growing and expanding, getting higher, wider, longer, and deeper.  

Just think of some of the parables Jesus told about the kingdom of God.  The kingdom of God is like a farmer who went out to sow; the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that a man planted in a field; it’s like yeast a woman took and mixed in her dough; it’s like a treasure hidden in a field that a man found; it’s like a net that was let down in the water to catch fish; and it’s like a merchant in search of fine pearls.  

Can you see the pattern?  The kingdom of God is action, a verb!  The kingdom of God is not the stuffy, old home you inherit from your granddaddy that reeks of cat urine and mildew.  It’s not a thing, but a movement.  Again, it’s not just the relationship between you and God, but it’s the relating.  Why is this so important?  Because the kingdom of God within you is dynamic, it can grow and shrink.  In other words, it’s not something you inherit from your parents, culture, or church, but it’s a relationship you must pursue and fan.  It’s not a relationship to settle for.  

The formula is simple, God pursues you and you pursue God, like two wild lovers, like the ones we read about in the erotic book of the Bible called Song of Solomon.  Even the Lord’s prayer demonstrates the verbal action of the kingdom of God, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.”  Do you see?  When you pray for God’s kingdom, you pray for it to come, advance, and threaten your so-called sovereignty at every moment.  The kingdom of God is the reality of the relationship between you and God that forcibly seeks to express itself through you (yes, sinful you!), into the world, every day of your life, especially the lousy ones.  “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

When?

When does the kingdom of God happen?  By now, you’ve probably realized the kingdom of God, which is also called the kingdom of heaven, does not happen just in the future, but it is happening now.  Actually, as we learned in our last devotional, the kingdom of God began with the arrival of Jesus Christ in this world.  Remember, Jesus clearly said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15).  Put another way, the kingdom of God is right at your fingertips.  The past age of the law has given way to the present age of grace.  One day in the future, this present age of grace will give way to the new heaven on earth, which we commonly think of simply as “heaven.”  

Again, the implications of this reality are colossal.  If the kingdom of God is happening right now, then there’s no time to lose.  You must take responsibility for your life today, because you don’t know what the next moment will bring.  You must stop being the pawn of others, pushed around or silenced.  You must let the kingdom of God within you erupt around you.  If you’re waiting for a time when “more of God” will show up, then you are deceived.  You have all the God you need right now.  You have enough kingdom of God within you right now to deal with sin, impact your community, fight the devil, and strengthen your relationships.  

The writer Mark chose his words very carefully when he recorded, “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand’” (Mark 1:14-15).  When Jesus proclaimed the gospel, the kingdom of God arrived.  And this formula is not just true of Jesus, but of all citizens of the kingdom of God.  Whenever you proclaim the gospel, the kingdom of God shows up.  The more good news of Jesus you share, the more life the kingdom of God will take over.  The more you show and share the love of Christ, the sooner the kingdom of God will come in full.  

Yes, it’s happening right now!  God looks into your searching eyes and tells you to forget the mistakes of the past and stop fearing the future, for the kingdom of God is yours to live in and enjoy right now.  

Where?

Where is the kingdom of God?  Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is at hand,” which not only shows the timing, but also the location.  The kingdom of God is near both in time and space.  Where is it?  It’s wherever you are.  Jesus boldly said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21, NKJV).  Allow those words to settle in your soul for a moment.  The religious leaders of Jesus’s day wanted to know where the kingdom of God was, probably so they could manipulate it, but Jesus refuses to give them something they could twist for their own purposes.  Instead, Jesus tells them the kingdom of God is within each believer.  

Again, the kingdom is not a noun (person, place, or thing) with an address, but it’s an action with an actor, which is you!  Have you ever felt as if you were living too small a life?  Have you ever felt something stirring within you, which you couldn’t quite label, but you knew it wanted out?  Most people walk around in shoes that are too small for them, if you know what I mean.  Most don’t realize the enormous capacity of their souls, big enough to enclose the kingdom of God!  Yet, we continue to feed our souls the breadcrumbs of the kingdoms of this world, when they were meant for the feast at the table of the kingdom of God.  What is the kingdom of God within you demanding of you right now?  It is only as large in you as the decisions you entrust to it.  

Why?

Why the kingdom of God?  Why does the kingdom of God exist how it is today?  Why is it here?  Why is it now?  Why is it in our tired, broken world, rather than in some other kind of shiny, fixed one?  To put it simply, it’s because of you.  You are the “Why.”  To see what we mean, read these two short stories (parables) Jesus told about the kingdom of God in Matthew 14:44-46: 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” 

Most likely, when you read those parables, you put yourself as the subject of the action.  Most of the time, this is how these two parables are taught to us.  We’re told something like, “The kingdom of God is worth so much, so you better be willing to sell everything you’ve got in order to get it…Do whatever it takes to make it yours!”  However, there’s another, much better, way to understand Jesus’s two parables.  After all, as we learned above, if the kingdom of God is within you and if you are the “who” of the kingdom of God, then why would you need to go searching for you?  That makes no logical sense!  Instead, the “man” in these parables is Jesus, not you.  And, guess what he’s searching for?  He’s searching for you.  Here are the parables again, but with some clarifications added: 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure [YOU!] hidden in a field, which a man [JESUS] found and covered up.  Then in his joy [HEBREWS 12:2] he goes and sells all that he has [ON THE CROSS] and buys that field [IN REDEMPTION].  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant [JESUS] in search of fine pearls [FALLEN HUMANS], who on finding one pearl of great value [YOU!], went and sold all that he had [ON THE CROSS] and bought it [WITH HIS LIFE].”  

Amazing, isn’t it!  Can you see?  You are the treasure; and you are the pearl of great price.  Jesus is the man who sold everything he had to purchase you.  Jesus is the merchant who sold all he had to buy a pearl such as you.  Why?  For the joy of finding you!  You are the reason for the kingdom of God.  “Worthy are you…for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

How?

Finally, how does the kingdom of God begin in your life?  If the kingdom of God is to be understood as a verb, the action of God relating to you and you relating to God, then Jesus gives us two verbs, perhaps the greatest two verbs in the Bible, repent and believe, with which we are to make it ours.  Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “repent and believe in the gospel.”  So what do we need to repent of?  And what do we need to believe?  

You need to repent of your self-righteousness.  According to Wikipedia, “Self-righteousness is a feeling or display of moral superiority derived from a sense that one’s beliefs, actions, or affiliations are of greater virtue than those of the average person. Self-righteous individuals are often intolerant of the opinions and behaviors of others.”  This may surprise you, but, in a manner of speaking, it’s not really your sins that condemn you, but it’s your self-righteousness.  Do you know how you can tell if you’re self-righteous?  You won’t embrace your flaws, or those of others. You won’t be kind to your faults.  You won’t accept your failure.  You always play it safe.  You can’t let go of your missed opportunities.  For some reason, you act more like a god than a normal human being.  Normal humans fail, but you refuse to accept that reality.  Jesus calls us to repent of our self-righteousness, so that we might depend on his righteousness, which he freely gives to us by faith.  The proof you’ve accepted Christ’s righteousness is that you’ve repented of your self-righteousness and accepted your sinful humanity, warts and all.  Remember, your sins don’t prohibit the kingdom of God from growing in you, but your self-righteousness does.  

What do we need to believe?  Of all the doctrines of the faith, there’s one that’s most important for you to believe in.  When Jesus called us to repent and believe, he called us to believe in the love of God.  You must believe God loves you. The gospel is Christ’s righteousness and love given freely to you.  God is our heavenly Father, whose heart breaks when his children believe he does not love them.  The first thing you must know about the kingdom of God is that it’s a world of his love for you.  His love is behind every stone and in every gust of air in the kingdom of God.  You’ll never be able to repent until you believe in God’s love for you.  You’ll never be able to change, accept yourself, move forward, have hope, or find joy, apart from the love of God.  Sin entered this world, not because Adam and Eve did something wrong, but because they doubted God’s love for them.  Think about it.  If you have trouble seeing the love of God in your life, then look at the cross of Jesus Christ.  “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).    

There’s a connection between repenting of self-righteousness and believing in God’s love, and it is this.  As you acknowledge and accept your shortcomings and sins, your knowledge of God’s love for you will increase; however, if you hold onto your self-righteousness, then the knowledge of God’s love for you will diminish.  Those who truly realize the greatness of God’s love for them are those who do not depend on their self-righteousness.

The kingdom of God is the doing of the relationship between Creator and creature in the present world that begins within every person who repents of self-righteousness and believes in the love of God in Christ for him or her. 

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” —Mark 1:14-15

The Breakdown

  1. When you think of the kingdom of God as a verb, rather than a noun, how is your relationship with God affected?  
  2. Who is it hardest for you to accept?  Why?
  3. In what areas of your life do you need to take more responsibility?  Why is it a struggle?  Are there fears?  What is the kingdom of God within you asking of you?
  4. Spend two minutes thinking of the ways God has loved you into being (include all the people, events, opportunities, obstacles, and gifts he has put in your life).