Mark
3 – 4
Verse 3:5 shows Jesus has emotions and sometime ones we
today call “negative”:
Jesus was furious
as He looked out over the crowd, and He was grieved by their hard hearts.
Jesus (to
the man with the withered hand): So be it. Stretch out your
hand.
The man stretched
forth his hand; and as he did, it was completely healed.
I think of this and the WWJD (What Would
Jesus Do) wrist bands and I bet not one person though getting “furious” was an
option. I like it though since in this case he heals a person’s hand. So when
wearing the WWJD band don’t get “furious” and act, if you don’t follow it up
with an act of compassion. See in this case Jesus got mad, but he also did
something amazing at the same time. I know when I get mad, its most often used
as a bad example … also it is most often for selfish reasons.
I wanted to make a quick comment on verse 5:22 where the
scribes accuse Jesus’ powers “by the power of Beelzebul—the
ancient Philistine god—the prince of demons.” We read this and think a
false God, but I question if there is not a demon called Beelzebul. We seem to
dismiss the idea that all those fallen angels with Satan may have been these
false gods.
Also, this made me think of a movie
Beatlejuice, where then messed up calling for Beelzebul. Instead they get this
humorous character who eventually does good. I wonder if this was not
Hollywood’s evil calling Satan in a roundabout way. Think about it if Satan
where before you, he would most likely not be noticed and maybe attractive. In
the end the family welcomed Beatlejuice into their home, don’t make that same
mistake!
Verses 4:18 & 19 is where I feel I am
sometimes:
18 Still
others are the seed tossed among weeds and brambles. The word has
reached them, 19 but the things of this life—the worries, the
drive for more and more, the desire for other things—those things cluster
around close and choke the life of God out of them until they cannot
produce.
This does not happen slowly for me, no I
get caught up fast and sucked away from God. I have found my daily reading and
this ramble is the only thing that keeps me centered on God. Otherwise I tend
to wander and go astray quickly, following whatever butterfly Satan puts before
me. I like to think the word is in fertile soil, but honestly I have to wonder.
I feel like I am pulling weeds and hacking thickets with my machete all the
time.
I argue creation often with evolutionists,
but wonder if I am doing it to find proof in God and not just live in faith. I
can take any of the possible scenarios and show God’s hand, or is it to satisfy
my doubt? Evolution can be shown to be God inspired and if creation just
happened I can show old earth and young earth models that prove both having
Genesis 1 100% correct. My latest is praying to see “behind the veil” into the
“second heaven”. I know of a few that can do this and believe it would help my
ministry, but at the same time the “I” and “mine” are still too prevalent in
this discussion. So my question to myself is do I have strong faith or do I
just have strong justifications for my beliefs, while waiting for indisputable
proof?
I can say over my life that have been so
many odd events that I can say that there is as close to 100% belief as one can
have. But I still want that .00001% proven! I want a vision, I want God’s
voice, I want a burning bush, I want … I want … stronger faith! That is where
reading the Bible over and over has helped, I see every time the intricate
details that only God could have inspired in these 66 authors!
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