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I just love some of the small passages in scripture we usually just skim over, thinking that we “know” what they say; that would teach us so much if we just stopped to think about them! I was reading one this morning from Mark 10 – the healing of Blind Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus used to sit on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem; not a bad spot for a blind beggar to sit. The wealthy lived in Jericho where the weather was a bit better and Mark tells us that this blind man used to sit along the side of the road just outside of the city. Obviously it was a good spot to tug on the heartstrings of the rich as they faced toward Jerusalem.

As Jesus and the crowd around Him leaves Jericho we’re told of what happens as they approach Bartimaeus; knowing that it is Jesus of Nazareth who comes, the beggar begins to shout:

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47-49)

It’s important to notice that Blind Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus as God’s Messiah that’s why he calls Him “Son of David”. Even though he cannot see Jesus he has heard of Him! He knows that “Jesus of Nazareth” is God’s Anointed One, the promised Messiah, and he refuses to be quiet irrespective of the reaction from those around him! Jesus hears his cry and calls him over.

“Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:50-52)

Don’t miss the fact that as soon as Jesus calls Bartimaeus; the beggar throws aside his cloak by which he was recognized as being a blind man who was dependant on the generosity of others! It’s his statement of faith, if you will, as he knows that because Jesus has called him he won’t need it anymore!

More than that though, Bartimaeus is willing to let his old way of life go. Yes he wanted to be healed, but truth be told he could have seen it as the way he earned his living! He could have had some attachment to that cloak that identified him for who he was, but without hesitation he throws it off “jumping to his feet”

There is no way I would believe that Jesus didn’t already know what the blind man wanted and yet He asks Bartimaeus to confess his need with his lips before He heals him. I love what happens next, because once the man is healed we’re told that he begins to follow Jesus “along the road”.

When Jesus calls you, you need to be ready to leave behind the familiar cloaks of your old existence. He will give you a new way of looking at things as you closely follow Him along the road of life! All you need do is ask Him!

Blessings on your day,
Michele
© March 27th, 2010

Jesus has the most remarkable way of saying in one short sentence enough to bring you up short and change the direction of your life! One of my favorite scriptures is found in Luke 9:62 where Jesus says:

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

The truth of this became evident to me when we lived in Botswana, Africa where frequently dry and dusty fields would be plowed the old fashioned way with the plow being dragged behind an ox. Such a plow needs the guiding hand of the farmer to ensure that the furrow runs straight. Once the farmer puts his hand to the plow he cannot look back over his shoulder at where he “came from”, as that movement of looking behind will change the position of his hand on the handle and it will throw him off course. The same is true of the Christian.

As you follow the Lord you need to be “forward looking”, with your eyes focused on Christ if you really want to be useable in His Kingdom. Looking back with longing for the life you once lived will throw you off course and it’ll change your direction!

Hebrews 12:1-2 says “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith …” (NIV)

Similarly, to keep looking back with regret for past sins, even though you have been forgiven, is also going to interfere with your work for the Lord. Learn to leave the past where it should be … in the past! Now that you are forgiven focus on Christ and move forward! “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Blessings on your day,
Michele
© March 19th, 2010

Have you ever struggled to hear the Lord? Ever struggled to really know what it is that He’s saying to you?

Mark 7:31-37 tells us about a man who couldn’t hear… “Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Him to place his hand on the man.

After He took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!” ). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more He did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (NIV)

This says so much to me because the miraculous takes place separate to the crowd, in an intimate moment with Christ. We feel so desperate at times to “hear the Lord” or to be able to “speak His truth” to others and yet are unwilling to take some time out from the noise of the throng to really seek Him!

He desires that we come away with Him and leave the crowd behind, for it is there that He will open our ears… and once He does it will be impossible for us to be quiet!

Sometimes His methods may seem unorthodox but it’s there in that quiet intimate place alone with Him that He opens ears. The challenge is am I willing to allow Him to take me aside, away from the noise of the crowd, so that He can heal my deafness and put words on my tongue?

Blessings on your day,
Michele
© February 26th, 2010

Have you ever felt so disapproved of that you can’t hold your head up? It is horrible to be falsely accused, but even worse when you know in your heart-of-hearts that the accusations against you are true. We always want to give our side of the story, to justify our actions, but what about when there’s really nothing to say and we feel crushed, humiliated by others who would “never have done” what we are guilty of?

In John Chapter 8 a woman was brought to Jesus early in the morning by the Pharisees who threw her at His feet accusing her of adultery, saying she’d been caught in the very act. The scripture tells us that they were trying to trap Jesus by asking Him what He thought should be done. The Law they upheld said that anyone caught in adultery should be stoned to death; and they believed Jesus couldn’t keep the letter of the Law (as He should) and still be the kind, gentle person loved by the ordinary people who followed Him. They thought they had Him, for He would either prove Himself to be disobedient to God’s law; or unmerciful toward the people He ministered to!

Of course, the question that comes to my mind is that the Law demanded the life of both adulterers and yet the man wasn’t brought to Jesus. Somehow he had managed to elude capture, which is quite remarkable seeing as the Pharisees had said they’d caught her “in the act”! Seems suspicious to me!

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.” (John 8:6b-9 NIV)

I wonder what He wrote in the dust? Was it a list of her accusers’ hidden sins?
The scripture doesn’t tell us; all it tells us is the effect it had on those around Him! For when He suggests that whoever of them is without sin throw the first stone, they all back away! It took a while for them to “hear” Him, for their own guilt to sink in, but eventually it did; and I love the fact that it was the older people who were first to realize that none of them were guiltless before God.

This story isn’t so much about judging others as it is about the fact that we all need a Savior. On our own we’ve all broken God’s Law at some point and our sin deserves death, but God has made a way for us to be released from the penalty!

What happens next is so important. The woman is still lying in the dirt, but the crowd is gone and we’re told: “Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared.” (John 8:10-11a NIV)

Do you realize that out of all those who had been gathered around her that day Jesus was the only one who WAS without sin! Legally He was the only one who could’ve condemned her in accordance with what He had said, and yet He chose not to! The sinless One offers her undeserved mercy!

He doesn’t just leave it there though. After He forgives her and releases her from the penalty she should suffer, He tells her “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

That’s also what He says to you and I! Once we are forgiven and set free by our Savior we too need to leave behind the way we once lived! So “… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” (Hebrews 12:1)

Forgiveness sets us free to run!
Blessings on your day,
Michele
© February 4th, 2010

Man cannot fully keep the commandments of God no matter how hard he tries he always falls short at some point. I’ve fallen short and so have you. No matter how good we’ve tried to be, no matter how hard we’ve tried to justify in our own minds what we’ve done, there’s always something that doesn’t match God’s standard! In the New Testament James had really hard words to say about partial success in this area, saying: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10) So there’s no room for error or even saying “Well I did my best” which seems harsh to us, BUT GOD has always provided a remedy!

Our shortcomings, our disobedience, our sin separates us from Him and although the Bible says that the penalty for sin is death, from the beginning God made a way for our friendship with Him to be restored. There is a theme of blood sacrifice that runs throughout the Bible; although the penalty for sin had to be paid, God allowed that the innocent could die in place of the guilty. Although the law demanded the life of the law-breaker, that price could be paid by another; one who was innocent of all accusations.

Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22 tells us that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” for it is in the giving of life’s blood that the debt of sin and rebellion against God is seen to be paid. In the Old Testament a lamb would die in the worshipper’s place, guilty of no sin of its own. Perfect in every way this innocent sacrifice would willingly die in the place of the worshipper, as a foreshadowing of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who was to come. John the Baptist recognized this truth when seeing Christ approach one morning, “John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Like that sinless lamb of Old Testament sacrifice, Jesus had come to die on our behalf; the punishment that was ours would be born by Him on the cross! The sinless one would willingly give His life for the guilty! Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the story of Barabbas.

Jesus had been arrested and taken to Pilate the Roman Governor, who could find no valid reason for the charges against Him. Pilate did not want to put Christ to death and tried to release Jesus, but he also feared the Jews. Unrest had the potential to ruin his career and so, being loath to dismiss the charges against Christ out of hand, Pilate attempted to release Him some other way.

It was the Governor’s custom to release a prisoner at Passover. “At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.” (Matthew 27:16-18)

Both Mark and Luke tell us that Barabbas was a murderer who had taken part in a rebellion. It didn’t make sense for the crowd to choose him to be released over Jesus. However, persuaded by their leaders, that’s exactly what they did and Barabbas was set free. God’s purposes were fulfilled painting a physical picture for us to understand a spiritual truth.

Barabbas, the guilty one who deserves to die for what he has done is set free because Christ, the sinless one, will die in his place. The most wonderful thing is that Barabbas, being an Aramaic name, actually means “son of the Father”. No accidental play on words, I think. For here the Lord God underscores the fact that in a spiritual sense Barabbas truly was enabled to become a “son of the Father” that day, because Jesus (the true Son of the Father) died in his place! The punishment that should have been on Barabbas was placed on Christ.

I see myself in Barabbas. Oh, on some days I like to think of myself as “not as bad” as him, but then I remember the words of James “….whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” and I realize I need a Savior every bit as much as Barabbas did!

There is a way for you to be made a “child of the Father” and that is through the blood of His Son, your substitute! If you haven’t done so already, ask Jesus to be your Savior; that His blood should count as payment for your penalty. Then, like Barabbas, you too will be set free to become a child of God!

Blessings on your day,
Michele
© January 23rd, 2010

Sometimes I am way too focused on what I perceive to be my greatest need and I keep nagging and nagging Jesus to “fill my water jar” as it were. If you go back and have a look at the story of the woman Jesus met at the well, you’ll see that filling her empty water jar had become the main focus of her day. After all her day must’ve revolved around that task, as it seems she wanted to avoid all of the other women by going to the well in the midday heat when no one else was usually there. No wonder, when Jesus tells her that He can offer her living water that will quench her thirst forever, her mind immediately goes to that dreadful, empty water jar she holds in her hands.

She says to Him “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:15) Like me, she is absolutely convinced that if she can just get that one physical need met her life is going to be different and she’s going to feel free, but there’s a root problem that Jesus wants to address. You see, He knows why that water jar is so important to her!

Instead of filling her jar, He says to her “Go, call your husband and come back.” She answers that she has no husband and Jesus then begins to reveal that He knows everything about her … He knows about this latest man, as well as the five she’s been with before him! Despite acknowledging that Jesus must surely be a prophet to know what He does, the woman tries to wriggle away from Him by changing the subject. She speaks of unimportant, contentious issues of the day; disagreements between Jews and Samaritans. He won’t let her go that easily though, and finally unable to escape Him , in essence, she blurts out in frustration “Well I don’t understand all of these disagreements, all I do know is that when the Messiah comes, He’ll settle everything and lead us in the truth.” To which Jesus replies “I who speak to you am He!” … At that point I think it is as if time itself stands still! The Messiah the Promised One; God’s Anointed, looks into her eyes and she knows He is the One they’ve all been waiting for.

Something quite powerful happens next, “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.” (28-30) Notice two phenomenal things happen. First, she leaves her water jar … the thing that was the very focus of her life up until that point is left at His feet and not only that but she goes to speak to the very people she’s been avoiding for so long to tell them of this remarkable man who knew everything about her and yet still offered to quench her thirst!

Let me tell you, as much as Jesus loves to meet our every need, quenching your thirst has really got nothing to do with merely filling today’s water jars, however many you have. Jesus wants to address the very issues that make us focus in on the wrong things. Sometimes I think He doesn’t want to provide a temporary fix, simply because He’d rather go deeper with us; addressing what lies beneath, those things that motivate us to act the way we do. The question is, when He does, will we try to keep the conversation with Him superficial; doing a sort of spiritual backstroke, keeping things shallow? Or, recognizing Him for who He is, will we let Him reach in to touch us at the very depth of who we are? It’s only then that unfilled water jar seems to lose its importance!

Blessings on your day,
Michele
© January 12th, 2010

Has there ever been something you’ve tried to keep hidden from God, thinking that there’s no way He’d ever want to know about it? I certainly have. It’s like the unmentionable thing you keep carefully tucked behind your back when you approach Him … IF you approach Him at all! This woman in John 4 had something with her that she didn’t think Jesus wanted to look at or even touch. For her it was her water jar, but it symbolizes so much more for us!

If you get out that Bible you were using last time and look at John Chapter 4 you’ll see that Jesus begins the conversation with the woman at the well by asking her for a drink and she immediately responds, horrified, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”

You see she knew that according to Jewish custom at the time, He would have become unclean if He so much as touched the water jar that she had touched. (If you find that hard to understand, go and read about the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans, in my last post to find out why).

Her shocked response really speaks to me though, because in my own life I know that there have been times that I have held off bringing something to Jesus because I’ve felt that if He knew about that thing in my past (or my present), He’d surely be offended. He would not want to touch it, but is that the case for this woman? No! Beyond her wildest expectations Jesus not only wants to touch her water jar, He wants to touch her heart as well. He knows everything she’s ever done, as we’ll go on to find out if we read on in the text, but that still doesn’t stop Him from reaching out to her. He wants her to be able to live a life free from guilt and free from shame and He wants that for us too. He wants us free to live new lives; lives that even we find hard to imagine possible.

When I first read this story I thought it only applied to those who had never met Jesus before; that it applied to only those who were far from Him and who didn’t know Him. However, over the years, I’ve come to realize that even those of us who have walked with Jesus a while may still have something hidden behind our backs; something we don’t want to talk to Him about; something we’re sure is better kept separate from Him, but that is not the case. He knows everything about you and yet He still wants to be with you, to put His arm around you!

If you’ve been keeping something to yourself like that, talk to Him about it. He won’t be shocked, it won’t somehow make Him “unclean”, He’s here for you … I know that because He has been here for me and just the act of choosing to turn over to Him all of the unclean, emptiness I’ve carried with me has not only changed me, it’s set me free!

Blessings on your day,
Michele
© January 6th, 2010

As I sit here at the beginning of another year and another decade, the obvious thing on my mind is new beginnings! Most of us have had numerous fresh starts in life, whether at the beginning of a new year, at the start of a new job or even at the start of a new relationship.

There was a Samaritan woman in scripture who also had had several fresh starts during the course of her life and because of that she immediately comes to mind as being one whose story has something to teach us. Male or female, young or old, what we can learn from her applies to all of us!

You see the woman mentioned in the Bible in John chapter 4 had had several new beginnings in her life. Unlike ours perhaps, her fresh starts had mostly been in the area of new relationships as she had been married five times and by the time Jesus met her she was with her sixth partner, though not married to him. We don’t know why she had been in so many different relationships, the Bible doesn’t tell us, but I think whatever her reasons, whatever her circumstance, whatever her desperation, there had certainly been heartache and disappointment along the way with each fresh start ending badly. In John chapter 4 we find her alone and humiliated, avoiding the people who knew her in the town she lived in.

In any village certainly the well was the meeting place for the women who would go there in the cool of the day to draw water. The scripture tells us though that this woman chose to avoid them by going to the well during the heat of the day when no one else would be there. On this day she goes to draw water at midday, or the sixth hour according to how time was calculated back then. However, today there is someone else there, Jesus and this is no random meeting.

You see, John tells us that Jesus had been in the south of the country in the region of Judea, but that He decided to go up to Galilee in the north and we’re told in verse 4 of John chapter 4 that to get there “ …he had to go through Samaria”. Most of us don’t realize that this is actually a very strange thing to say, because at that time Jews would avoid travelling through the Samaritan area as they had such a dislike of the people who lived there. Samaria was on the western bank of the Jordan River and Jewish people would avoid it by going out of their way to cross over the river and travel north on its eastern bank, outside of Samaritan territory.

Why? Why did they hate them so much? Who were these people?

Well, hundreds of years before after King Solomon’s death the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms with 10 of their twelve tribes living in the region north of Jerusalem as one kingdom called Israel; and the other two tribes living in Jerusalem and the south in a separate kingdom known as Judah. During the time of this division both kingdoms were ruled over by different kings and because they did not follow the ways of the Lord they ended up in captivity, being ruled over by other nations. The northern kingdom was the first to fall, to the Assyrians, followed by Judah which fell into captivity 136 years later under the Babylonians.

During the captivity of the Northern Kingdom, not all of their people were taken off as prisoners, some were left behind and when the Assyrians flooded in to live in the land they had conquered those of Israel who remained intermarried with the foreigners giving birth, if you will, to the race of people known as the Samaritans. The Samaritans were regarded with contempt by pure blooded Jews because they were seen as being the sons of traitors.

The feelings of hatred were mutual though and to give you some idea of the tension between the two groups, Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century, reports an incident that took place around A.D. 6 – 9. According to him, the Samaritans gained access to the Temple in Jerusalem one night, and scattered human bones on the porches and all through the sanctuary causing the most terrible desecration!

To travel through Samaria took about three days, but during that time a Jewish traveler could count on no help being given him at all by way of food or shelter, from the local inhabitants. No wonder the Jews avoided going through the region! So why does the scripture say that Jesus “had to go through Samaria”? He had to go because there was someone He had to meet!

This woman had chosen to go to the well when no one else would be there, but Jesus was there and He’d gone out of His way to meet her. He wanted to give her a fresh start she would never have dreamed possible and He wants to do the same for us too! You are not reading this by accident; Christ wants to use this venue to speak to you and to touch your heart as He did hers. I hope you’ll check this blog again soon when we’ll continue with her story, in the meantime you might want to get hold of a Bible (or go to an internet site like Biblegateway.com) and read her story in John chapter 4 from verse 4 through to verse 42.

Blessings on your day,
Michele
© January 4th, 2010