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Devotional Reading, Jan. 19, 2025

Ecclesiastes 7:19

This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright,

but they have sought many evil schemes. 

This is the puzzle. Though we know what is right and good, we do not do it. We follow the passions of the flesh and  the things that please us. And we make a mess of everything. All of the destruction and evil in the world are birthed in these two things. What a wonder and paradise this would be if it were not so.  But God allows us each to turn toward the good of loving him and his design and loving our neighbors as ourselves. May Your design for me become reality in my life.  

Devotional Reading, Jan. 14, 2024

Ecclesiastes 1:2

“Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher.

“Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!” 

Step back and look at life and history and things look bleak for any thinking person. There is no reason or direction for life.  But life is difficult to live when there is no sense. That is the problem Solomon addresses in this book. That is the question we face in life. The answer is God. We may not understand what God is doing, and that was far more the case for Solomon than us, but we can trust him. 

And we have one more thing. We have Jesus. God entered life as we know it and his joining with us gives us the confidence that life makes sense. Life has a direction. 

When I get into an existential funk, I Iook to him, and life looks hopeful.     

Devotional Reading, Jan. 12, 2025

James 4:3

Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God?[  So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy. 

What is friendship with the world? Perhaps the first word is the clue: adulterers. Unfaithful. Loving two opposing things. Double-souled. The good news for all of us who are double-souled is that the Spirit of God is jealous for us. He does not abandon us, but pursues us. And he gives grace to forgive and to overcome the division of our hearts. Thank you, Lord.  

“God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” 

Devotional Reading, Jan. https://youtu.be/QeUUmuwZIRs?si=w4-K6bCfDS6WCL_p10, 2025

James 3:17-18

 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical. 18 And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace. 

I think I have always valued wisdom, Even when I was captured by other things, I knew wisdom was where it was at. The wisdom books of the Bible have always attracted me. But what is wisdom? What is the life that is wisely lived? James makes the difficult plain.  Purity. Peace. Gentleness. Accommodating.  Merciful. Impartial. Genuine. 

We yesterday put the body of President Jimmy Carter to rest. As I remember back, as I visited his hometown of Plains, as I walked through the simple museum in his honor (not the Presidential library), I was struck by who this peanut farmer was and what he did.   I think I was looking at wisdom. I hope that my life reflects some of that wisdom and the faithfulness in which he pursued God's calling.   

Devotional Reading, Jan. 2, 2025

2nd Timothy 4:3-4

3 For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. 4 And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths. 

This is the time, if there ever was a time. On every level and in every venue and discipline there has been deception building. It has become very difficult for people in early 2025 America to know what is true and what is not. I think it is unprecedented. And this deception has insinuated itself into religion and the Christian community.  In my lifetime, opposition to the faith founded upon the Bible and affirmed by the Holy Spirit has been under attack from secular scholars in all the media. And Christians are being fed myths, deceptive myths that do not stand scrutiny but which few Christians are prepared to refute. So, it is more urgent that we attend to Paul's warning than ever before. 

As an old man reading the last words of an old man, I resonate with his passion and message. In 2025, read Paul's final message to us in 2nd Timothy.  

Devotional Reading, Dec. 28, 2024

John 20:22,23

 22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” 

Often we read these two verses separately. But if we read them together it is the fact that the apostles were living under the control of the Holy Spirit that they could have the wisdom to determine whom to forgive and whom not to forgive. We too often make those decisions on other bases. (Perhaps we unless we are in the place of one needing to decide should not make them at all.) Our decisions are too often human decisions. 

But there is another thought here. It is that there are some who should not be forgiven. A story coming from Irenaeus about John that there was one man, a heretic, whom John did not forgive and would not even stay in his presence. But there is another, a young man who had left following Jesus to take up with robbers. That young man John sought out and forgave and brought back to faith. 

Lord, give me that discernment when it is necessary. 

Devotional Reading, Dec. 27, 2024

John 17:11

Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. 

Jesus is praying - reflecting back to the Father - not what the Father wants but what the Father will do and has determined from eternity to do. We can be certain of our safety in the Lord Jesus. He will complete the work of salvation , sanctification,  and glorification that he has begun in us. We can rest in  confidence in that. We can apply ourselves to Him in confidence that he is doing this work in  us. And I do. 

Devotional Reading, Dec. 21, 2024

John 17:6

6 “I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word. 

To reveal the name is to reveal the person. And that is what Jesus did. He revealed the Father to those who God had given him. That means not only the twelve, though they received greater revelation than most, but it means to ALL the Father has given him.

I have enjoyed tremendously God whom the Lord has been revealing to me in these last few decades. My only regret is that I spent so much of my earlier Christian life not knowing God as I do now. 

Devotional Reading, Dec. 20, 2024

John 16:13

13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come. 

The Spirit of truth.  How valuable he is. I read every day those who share their opinions about the scriptures. I come away with the sense that they have no truth in them. They are wandering in a foggy darkness and do not know it. But when the Spirit of truth guides me I have the quiet and powerful sense that THIS IS TRUTH. He speaks to my soul and spirit. I do not need to think it through. It is a powerful and moving experience. I only wish that I could remain in that place hearing the Spirit of truth. But the Spirit moves me to act on the truth the Spirit speaks. And when I do, I find the joy of his presence turns to thanksgiving for his doing through me. 

Devotional Reading, Dec. 17, 2024

John 14:7

7 If you have known me, you will know my Father too. 

And from now on you do know him and have seen him.” 

Though this chapter is often read and quoted, it is theologically deep and reflects the theology of the Word becoming flesh in chapter 1. The Word and the Son are so intimately merged that they canot be separated, but so is the Word and the Father. They are so perfectly one that to see Jesus is to see the Father. In fact since God (Father, Word, and Spirit) is spirit, he is invisible to us. Therefore, the only way we may see God is in the Son Jesus. 

I confess this has been a difficult truth to get my head around for many years and is only now becoming something I am becoming to understand. It is not that I did not know the doctrine; it is that I could not get a grip on them. But now I am, and I am delighting in what God is revealing. So, if there is a "to do" in all this it is to stick at it. God will reveal himself deep down when you are ready for it. 

Devotional Reading, Dec. 14, 2024

John 12:48-59

48 The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day. 49 For I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.”

John continues to include things that Jesus said that support the Preface in which the Word became flesh. Here what that means is that what Jesus said is what God the Word says. But there is more. Jesus says that the words he says, words that are God's words, result in eternal life for those who receive them. 

I know that when I become overwhelmed by the storm of words and ideas that come to me as they do for all of us from the many sources of news and opinion, the words of Jesus speak peace and refreshment. They connect me with the Eternal One and to truth. Thank you, Lord.

Devotional Reading, Dec. 11, 2024

John 11:14

14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. 

I wonder what Lazarus thought. He knew as well that Jesus could heal him. We are not told, but we know what Martha and Mary thought. They were disappointed and troubled. 

That is what we sometimes feel when bad things happen because we too know that God could have saved us from the trouble. This story reminds us that God has reasons for not saving us FROM the trouble. It is that his solution -- the raising of Lazarus in this case -- would bring much more good than a trouble-free life.  It may well bring faith in  those who see what God does. 

This story  is a dramatic example, but it is not unique. I have had difficulties that God has solved in  really miraculous ways. When I have the chance and tell about God's provision or protection, others may be moved to faith. That is my prayer.  When that happens, I am satisfied to have borne the trouble.  

Devotional Reading, Dec. 4, 2024

John 8:26

36 ...the things I have heard from him I speak to the world.” 

The incarnation is one of the greatest mysteries. How is it that God the Word could so indwell the man Jesus that he and God are one and yet fully man so that Paul in Phil. 2 can say thet Jesus was exalted to the highest place?  My mind cannot get fully around that, but I can believe it - even without full understanding.

In believing it, I find great peace. God knows my weaknesses, for he walked inn my shoes. Yet he loves me and receives me because of Jesus' sacrifice for me. And that is enough. Thank you Lord God.  

Devotional Reading, Nov. 29, 2024

John 6:8,9

 8 One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what  good are these for so many people?” 

Of course, five loaves and two fish were entirely inadequate. That would be the case literally, but as a symbol of the adequacy of human ability they are also inadequate to sustain LIFE -- which is the thesis of this little episode. 

Devotional Reading, Nov. 28, 2024

John 5:28,29

A time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and will come out—the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.

I am often asked why I would want to live forever. The simple answer is because God provided for it and promised it. But there is also  a  built-in delight in life. I believe that is God's doing.  If he has created me with that delight, will he not satisfy it?  I look forward to that wonderful blessing. 

Devotional Reading, Nov. 26, 2024

John 4:34,35

“My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Don’t you say, ‘There are four more months and then comes the harvest?’ I tell you, look up and see that the fields are already white for harvest!  

Devotional Reading, Nov. 25, 2024

John 3:6

 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

That is the difference. It is the one thing that distinguishes the one who belongs to God and the one who does not. The one born of the flesh is controlled by the flesh and its appetites. He is fleshly and soulish. And he cannot understand spiritual things, nor can he understand God in anything but an intellectual way.

The one born of the Spirit, however, understands God deep down in his spirit. God is not simply an idea to be wrestled with on an intellectual level -- though we can do that -- God is a person with whom we can relate on a spiritual level. And that makes all the difference. I am so thankful for that personal relationship that is the anchor to my soul.       

Devotional Reading, Nov. 20, 2024

John 1:4

4 In him was life and the life was the light of mankind.

This was not a theoretical or philosophical idea. It was very practical and real. There was something striking about Jesus. It an intimation of LIFE I long for. It was the revelation of life, and by that John  means eternal life in the person of Jesus.  It was hard to explain and still is, but it was mesmerizing. He drew men to him because of the life they saw in  him. 

He does me as well. I can't explain  it. But in him is the life that I long for deep down. It is not long life but life that connects with the fundamental truth of God and is the one thing that totally satisfies.   

Devotional Reading, Nov. 19, 2024

Psalm 1:3

[The man who does not walk in the way of the ungodly] is like a tree planted by flowing streams;

it yields its fruit at the proper time

and its leaves never fall off.

He succeeds in everything he attempts. 

The psalm goes on to say that he mediates on the Law both day and night. That is the secret to not walking in the way of the ungodly. That is the secret of a spiritually productive life. I desire that. 

Devotional Reading, Nov. 18, 2024

Psalm 9:7-10

The Lord rules forever;

he reigns in a just manner.

He judges the world fairly;

he makes just legal decisions for the nations.

Consequently the Lord provides safety for the oppressed;

he provides safety in times of trouble.

Your loyal followers trust in you,

for you, Lord, do not abandon those who seek your help.

I sometimes fret over the injustice around me. But then I read this psalm and take heart. God knows what he is doing, and he will end the oppression and repay the injustice. Thank you, Lord.  

Devotional Reading, Nov. 15, 2024

Judges 18:1

In those days Israel had no king. 

This phrase is repeated throughout Judges. It is the lesson God would have Israel learn. When there was no one to guide them, chaos reigned. It is true today as well. If we do not look to the Lord to guide us, chaos reigns. And it is as I have known it. We are as close to self-destruct on the dial as we can get. But there is an answer: Repent and return to the old paths. I pray we will. 

Devotional Reading, Nov. 12, 2024

Judges 15:20

20 Samson led Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.

There was never a man to lead Israel like Samson. And there was never a time when such a man was needed. He was a bull of a man, a man driven by his own passions and as ungodly a leader as Israel ever had. Yet he rose to the position of leader because of his passions not despite them. He saved Israel from a slow slide into compromise and assimilation by the Philistines. But he was hardly a role model. 

The scripture says that God empowered him in his conflicts with the Philistines. He saved Israel from the Philistines, yet he did not save Israel from themselves. His leadership only prolonged the agony of their spiritual chaos. 

Samson is an anti-hero not deserving the honor of preserving Israel but stumbling into it and destroying himself in the process. 

If that was the end of the story, Israel would have destroyed themselves. But Samson is not the only name that is associated with the time of the Judges. There are three others: Samuel, Boaz, and Ruth. Boaz and Ruth tell us that in the midst of moral chaos there were some who maintained spiritual and moral integrity. Samuel reminds us that God had a plan for Israel that was not moral and spiritual chaos but the leadership of a man of integrity -- and ultimately the leadership of a man who stands out in the OT as a man after God's own heart

It is not hard to see parallels between Samson and our present leaders in America.  It is not hard to ask, "What in the world is God doing?" But the end of the story mitigates hopelessness. Though the power and leadership of men today, as then, will fail. God has a man in the wings who will appear at the right time to end the chaos and restore righteousness. Even so, come Lord Jesus. 

Devotional Reading, Nov. 11, 2024

Judges 13:24, 25

24 Manoah’s wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the Lord empowered him. 25 The Lord’s Spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. 

The announcement by the angel of Samson's birth sounded so hopeful. The reality of Samson's life seems almost the complete opposite. If there ever was a man who did not fit the picture of godliness or even a keeper of the Law, it was Samson. Yet, God used him. 

Despite his behavior, God used him and empowered and controlled him by his Spirit. Samson should not be a role model for anyone, but he is a reminder of God's grace for everyone. We all fail to one degree or another of measuring up to the full measure of godliness God desires. Some, like Samson, fail miserably. Yet God used him, and at the end of his life Samson seems to recognize that and commits himself to save Israel even in his death. That gives me hope. 

Devotional Reading, Nov. 9, 2024 

Judges 11:30-31

30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 31 then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites—he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”

This is another strange verse. It was written without comment from the writer, but it is clearly an example of the craziness of the time and the ideas about God the people held. The writer apparently thought the reader would notice the craziness. That is the point of the writer: everyone did what was right in their own eyes. 

It is a reminder that people who believe in God can get pretty far off in the practice of their faith when they do what they think is right. We are blessed to have the scriptures in their completeness. We can determine right and wrong. But recent "Christian" activities in America prove that we can also go astray when we listen to ungodly men and do not use the scriptures as our guide. 

Thank you, Lord, for your word. 

Devotional Reading, Nov. 8, 2024

Judges 10:16

16 They threw away the foreign gods they owned and worshiped the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much.

This is a strange verse to those of us who are convinced theologically of the impassibility of God. (That means God is without passions that humans have and is unchangeable.)   In other words, God could not "grow tired of seeing Israel suffer" because his purpose toward Israel is unchangeable. But Judges was written before theologians came up with that doctrine. Judges was written from a human rather than purely divine point of view and often casts the passions of humans upon God. To the one who wrote Judges, it seemed very reasonable that God would have gotten tired of the Israelites'  suffering. If he cared, wouldn't he have? 

If so, wouldn't he also have gotten tired of their returning continually to their idols? Or of my continually struggling with sin. "Get it right, guy, or I am dumping you. I'm tired of this back and forth." 

But we have the whole of the written revelation, and the writer of Judges had very, very little. With that revelation, we understand that God is unchangeable and without the passions that drive humans as the wind drives fallen leaves. He loves us, and nothing will change that. But he still chastens us. 

It is not that he has changed his attitude toward us, but that chastening is an act of love that corrects us and directs us back to him. When that chastening has done it work and turned us back toward him, he is pleased. It is what he determined all along. 

I thank God for his impassibility. His love never fails.  

Devotional Reading, Nov. 5, 2024 

Psalm 1:3

[The godly one] is like a tree planted by flowing streams;

it yields its fruit at the proper time,

and its leaves never fall off.

He succeeds in everything he attempts.

The simile of the tree speaks to having deep roots that go down to the water of the stream providing life that reveals itself in fruit and leaves. The roots are essential. Grow deep into the Lord. If I do, the fruit is natural and normal. I remind myself of this truth daily. 

Devotional Reading, Nov. 4, 2024

Judges 6:10

10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God! Do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living.” But you have disobeyed me.’”

We read this warning often in the Bible. But today for many it has little connection with our lives because we don't see ourselves as worshipping other gods or any gods for that matter. We don't connect "worship" with our consuming passion for other things, yet we live as if there is no life without them. They are the de facto gods for Americans. 

And I have been tempted to worship these gods as well. It is easy. Everyone is doing it. Even Christians.

 Getting old reduces some of that. We cannot do what we used to do. But we replace those things with something else. Serving the Lord and making him first in our lives can still be displaced by some new god. 

I continue to search my heart that I not put something in the place of God in my devotion, in my time, in how I spend my money, in what is most important. May you, Lord, be first place with nothing even a close second. 

Devotional Reading. Oct. 31, 2024

Judges 2:10-11

10 That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.

11 The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals. 12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods

This is the transition point that foreshadows the sorrows to come for Israel in the rest of Judges.  Though there would be heroes like Gideon, there would be many more failures. One of those brought to my attention this last week was Jephthah. He was a successful warrior, but he was an awful leader who after a rash vow to the Lord carried out what in everyone's mind was the awful sacrifice of his daughter. 

And what was the reason for Israel's disasters? It was that the generations following Joshua had not experienced the Lord's presence personally. That may be read as not having seen the miracles the Lord did for them in the dersert, but it means more. It means they were not walking with the Lord nor trusting in his presence and protection. They turned to other gods. 

That is not unlike the church in America. We have turned to other gods. That is no better seen in the turning of many "evangelicals" to a leader who is everything a Christian should not be. And why? Because he promises a return to conservative political and economic values. That amounts to valuing those in place of God. 

Why? because this generation has not experienced God's presence. They have experienced economic and military success but not God. Those successes had betrayed us into valuing them above God and holiness.  I only pray that we may repent and return to our spiritual senses and to God who alone is our protector and ruler. 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 27, 2024

Mark 13:34

34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves in charge, assigning to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 

Fatigue. The best and the worst passions of men eventually succumb to fatigue. When that happens to me, I go fishing. There is something primal and soothing about being on a mountain lake fishing. I am feeling the need for such a lake right now as I feel fatigued with the election debates. I take hope in the fact that the God I know and serve neither grows weary nor sleeps. He is always alert.

But he calls the doorkeepers be alert as well. It has been 2000 years since Jesus spoke these words. There have been many doorkeepers over those years. And they have come and gone while the return of the owner of the house delays his return. 

Today it looks more and more like his return is immanent. And the calling urgent.  But how long can we hold the urgency of being faithful to our calling as doorkeepers? I am just being honest. But my commitment to the calling God has given me remains. Weary or not. I will remain vigilant. 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 26, 2024

Mark 12:10,11 and  Psalm 118:22,23

The stone that the builders discarded

has become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s work. We consider it amazing.

 This Psalm might not have been understood as a Messianic psalm before Jesus made this reference. But the reaction of the Pharisees indicates that they understood his use of it. As prophecy, it was a type of the rejection of Jesus by the leaders of the Jews. The Jewish leaders could see the type. But this and the parable were also a declaration that Jesus was the Son whom Yahweh had sent. 

Spoken by Jesus just before his arrest and trial, this parable was a declaration that the Son would prevail and the question of what the owner would do is a rhetorical question that the Jewish leaders must have seen as a declaration of retribution to come. 

Altogether the parable and interchange indicate that Jesus knew exactly what was ahead for the leaders. And it turned out so when the city and temple were destroyed. For us it testifies to the fact that all that happened was God's plan and purpose in giving the vinyard to others. 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 25, 2024

Mark 11: 29-33

Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from people? Answer me.” 31 They discussed with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From people—’” (they feared the crowd, for they all considered John to be truly a prophet). 33 So] they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” 

Jesus is declaring judgment on the leaders of the Jews. Like in the fig tree episode he is saying that they had their chance. They heard him. They saw him. But they chose not to believe him. They were like those who had nothing, and what little they had would be taken from them - Jesus would not present himself to them again that they might believe. 

I wonder about the many I encounter on YouTube and the blogs. Are they beyond the point of return?  Not all were, because there were many of the leaders who later believed, but the group as a whole only got more determined in their opposition to Jesus. So, I should not judge. before the Lord does. But may who oppose Jesus today are beyond the point of return. Should I spend my time with them? 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 24, 2024

Mark 10:1

Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan River. Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.  

He taught them. This is a theme in Mark. In this instance he taught them about divorce. He referred them back to God's order of creation in which marriage was for one man and one woman for life. That was not only the command of God but the ground of society. It is as we have abandoned that foundation that families suffer, and children do not receive the instruction from their father essential to godly living. I among them, coming from a broken home where I received no real godly instruction for living and little example of living that followed God's design. 

America has suffered more than we know from this failure. I am grateful that Connie and I made marriage for life our commitment, though I am sorry that I did not realize how important that was for our daughters and did not spend more time teaching them the principles of a godly life. 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 23, 2024

Mark 9:8

8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more except Jesus.  

We might read this transfiguration episode as the stamp of approval upon Jesus. Moses and Elijah by their presence indicate their approval of Jesus as the prophet to come like Moses. God affirms Jesus as his Son and urges the apostles to listen to him - listen, for a prophet comes to speak.  

The serious question for me and for us all is whether we listen. Sometimes we revere Jesus and consider what he did for us while paying less attention to what he said. LISTEN. 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 22, 2024

Mark 8: 29.30

29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 

30 Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

The Messianic secret again. Why did he not want the disciples to tell people who he was? Because they did not really know. Their understanding was still forming. "Messiah meant for them still what it meant for many others, that he was a national savior. But the context implies that one thing they did not yet know was that he was the suffering savior - and that those who would follow him would need to be prepared for suffering as well. That brings me to the question: Am I? 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 21, 2024

Mark 7:36-37

36 Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But as much as he ordered them not to do this, they proclaimed it all the more.[37 People were completely astounded and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” 

The messianic secret again. Why did Jesus not want people to tell about the miracles he had done? Perhaps because he did not come to DO miracles but to teach about the kingdom of God.  Fascination with the miracles actually distracted from his message. People sought him out for the miracles. The miracle meetings that are sometimes held these days if there is there is no message or if the message is not the primary part actually distract from the truth Jesus proclaims. So, what is the message. he had to tell them? Turn to God. 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 15, 2024

Mark 5:43

He strictly ordered that no one should know about this, 

You've heard the joke about the Christian on his way to church driving his car that had a fish symbol on its bumper. He was driving faster than the limit and was pulled over by a cop. The cop asked him about the fish symbol, and that embarrassed the driver: he had been a poor example of what the symbol stood for. That is the problem with declaring that Jesus is Lord but not showing it in our lives. It results in a disconnect. 

Better to show Jesus is Lord by what we do and then explain it by what we believe. 

Devotional Reading, Oct. 13, 2024

Mark 3:4,5

4  Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent. 5 After looking around at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, 

It was not that the Sabbath was not important, though for many it may have become a habitual practice rather than a matter of the heart. It was that people mattered, and compassion for people was more important than any religious ritual observance. In fact, compassion since it is God's heart toward his creatures, reflected God and honored him more than any ritual could. The lack of compassion for the Pharisees was evidence that they were not living in  tune with God.