As you may know, but if you don’t, I really don’t like to get behind. Since the last posting regarding the Daily Read, I had work on Thursday and Friday nights (my normal reading time) and a full day of soccer on Saturday. By last night, I was just out of gas and today we had church and family obligations. So I am doing my best to get caught up tonight and I probably will since I have finished the Purpose Driven Life and can concentrate on my Bible reading. I am going to read The Art of the Start, but I am going to get on that hard tomorrow.

Previously in the Daily Read, Mark recounts the final days of Jesus. As far as the story, it is essentially the same as Matthew, with fewer details. It is interesting to get the perspective of an author that is not a disciple. I could focus on the differences in details, but instead I wanted to focus on one of the stories in this passage.

I don’t know why this story came to me the other day, but I felt as though I wanted to discuss the story of Judas. Just about everybody in life has dealt with a Judas, somebody who you might think is a friend or at least somebody you are friendly with, but they end up betraying you. In the case of Jesus, Judas turned him into the chief priests. While at the time, this was awful and everybody involved was shocked and dismayed. But, in the long run, it was the plan of God and for the best of everybody as it was how Jesus would be crucified and rise for our redemption.

Getting back to my personal experience, I had a situation like this at a place of work that I enjoyed very much. I loved the company and wished to work there for a long time, but with a change of management came a new guy who went out of his way to become friendly with me. That is until he had to make moves to save money when he was not doing his job. At the point, he put me on a bogus improvement plan and I found myself having to make some very painful decisions. In addition, I was hurt and betrayed after all of the hard work that I put forth for this company to be pushed out by this new guy. I could stay and deal with a “improvement plan” (which was created to be impossible) or leave.

After a very painful weekend of thinking and praying, I decided to leave the company. It was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but after working at another company with other struggles, I moved on to my home based business and I have never been happier. While is not easy to be a business owner, for me, the time with my family, near to church activities and the chance to make my own decisions and lead my own team (eventually) far outweigh the challenges that I had to face to get here. It’s because of those decisions that I was forced to make that I am living the life that I am. Had I not had my own personal “Judas”, I probably wouldn’t have made those choices at the time.

The point is, we are going to come across those difficult people and situations, but the challenge will make us better and it is all a part of God’s plan for us. With His help, we can learn from these experiences and become the people that He wants us to be. I am thankful to be studying His Word to help me out with it now. Read on…

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Previously in the Daily Read, we had a chapter of powerful lessons from Jesus and a chapter letting the disciples know a bit more about the End of the Age. But, what stuck out during this read is why these stories are told four times in the first books of the New Testament. I am telling you that it is so you can find the meaning of them, because they are so important. A couple of times I found myself thinking, “Why didn’t I see that last time?” I am sure that it will happen more often than not.

In chapter 12, Jesus gives the parable of the tenants (take that chief priests and teachers of the law), outwits the Pharisees and Herodians with their questions about paying taxes to Caesar (give him what is his and give God what is His), outwits the Sadducees when they ask about marriage after death (there is none), answers if Christ is David (David called God ‘Lord’, so how could he his son?) and the widow who gives her offering (she gives all she has while the wealthy give what they can making the widow closer to heaven than the rich). But the one that sticks out is the good teacher of law who asks Jesus about the greatest commandment. I don’t know that I pointed it out well enough (or if Mark opened my eyes to it better), but I wanted put it in:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

What is interesting is that the teacher answers wisely, Jesus tells him that he is close to the kingdom of God and nobody asks him any more questions. And for good reason. What really stood out was Jesus’ response to the teacher in this reading. If we are open to it, we can be in the same boat.

Finally, in chapter 13 Jesus tells his disciples about the end of age and it can be summed up simply with the last word of the passage “Watch!” Be alert and do what you can before it comes, but don’t focus on when it is coming. With that in mind, I found it interesting with some those say that it is near with some of the natural disasters and wars that have taken place recently.

Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name , claiming “I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars or rumors of war, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of the birth pains.”

The message goes on to say that the disciples should ‘be on their guard’. But my point is this, since the death of Christ there have been countless wars, disasters and famines. The ‘birth pains’ are going to go on for years to come. It is not until will fulfill our mission of gathering enough believers that it will come. So don’t listen those that claim ‘The end is near!’ because we still have a lot of work to do. So let’s keep doing His work and read on…

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Previously in the Daily Read, Mark recounts several stories, at a quick pace of course, that we have read in Matthew. It begins with Jesus’ take on divorce (God made them one, you shouldn’t make them two), children are first in heaven, it’s hard for the rich to get into heaven, Jesus predicts his death again, James and John ask a favor of Jesus (it’s not his call), blind Bartimaeus receives his sight from Jesus, he returns to Jerusalem, clears out the swap meet at the Temple, withers a fig tree and has his authority questioned by the Pharisees.

That is a lot information for two short chapters! But after reading the Purpose Driven Life last night, it brings up a couple examples of sharing my life message. First is children. They truly are our most precious resource as evidenced by this passage from Jesus:

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15

You should never be too busy to help out a child and in fact, you should be seeing life through their eyes. I love kids, always have and always will, so this really hasn’t been a problem for me, but I must remember to remind those around me of this. If I see it not happening, it is my job to help those adults remember this.

Also, I love being in business for myself and with that, I am around a lot of people that are pretty well off financially. But those that worship wealth have the most difficult time getting into the kingdom of heaven. In Mark 10:23, Jesus asks, “How hard is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God?” The answer:

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:25

Many times in life, we are envious of those that have wealth, but we forget that sometimes they are really the poorest of us all. When I run into these folks, I need to make sure that they have what is right in their hearts. As Rick Warren writes in Purpose Drive Life, to turn them from ‘Wealth Builders’ to ‘Kingdom Builders’. As he writes, it’s alright to gather wealth, just use it to do His work. For a good example, check out the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Finally, in this passage, brothers James and John ask Jesus a special favor that in heaven the be at the right and left of him. While he told the boys that it was not his decision to make, he uses this experience to demonstrate an interesting view of power and authority that we struggle to see today. Jesus says:

“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43-45

In life, many of us are working towards being at the top of the organizational chart. And that is alright, as long as we realize that we are still serving those at the very bottom of it. That is why we are there. To look out for those people, not to have them look out only for you. They are not there for you, you are there for them. So rise to the top and use any power that you might have to serve all, not just you. It is a difficult task, probably the most difficult, but one worth undertaking.

Wow, I really rambled on there! Thanks Randy for your comment. It pushed me a bit to really push myself on this post. Read on…

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Previously in the Daily Read, this is the original Fast and the Furious with Mark. He moves quickly when telling the story of Jesus. But, in this passage, there were many concise tips from Jesus on how we must continue the story and how we are made better once we have found him. Here are just a few:

Tip #1: We are blind until we see Jesus. There are several instances in Jesus making blind people see. Essentially, we are all blind until we find him and take him into our hearts. Then, when we do, we can see what is right an must do his work. We must help open some eyes ourselves.

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened , his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Mark 8:25

Tip #2: Be a servant to all and you will be first in heaven. It’s not about us, it’s all about Him. Be humble and serve all around you and your reward is waiting for you.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant to all.” Mark 9:35

Tip #3: When the disciples saw a man trying to drive out demons in the name of Jesus, they told him to stop. But Jesus says we are all on the same team and if we are doing work for him, it’s alright. Even though he was still alive, he wanted everyone out helping to do his work. It is still our mission today. Get out there and work miracles in the name of the Lord. Don’t be afraid, it’s what we are here for.

“Do not stop him,” said Jesus. “No one who does a miracle in my name and in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.” Mark 9:39-40

Not surprisingly, I got done reading Day 36 of the Purpose Driven Life and it was about getting out doing our mission of telling everybody about Jesus. It was a great read for this in Mark 8 & 9. Funny how that works out, eh? Nothing happens by accident. It’s all part of His plan. Read on…

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Previously in the Daily Read, we get another recap of stories that we have read in Matthew: Jesus coming home and not getting respect, Jesus sends the Apostles out with healing powers, John the Baptist is beheaded, Jesus feeds five thousand with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, only clean goes out and only unclean can come out of man, the faith of syrophoenician woman and the healing of a deaf & mute.

Again it is interesting to me about the writings of Mark. It is much more concise and the stories are just pouring out. It is fascinating to hear the writings of an outsider, although it is said that the stories were told to him by the apostle Peter. What is really amazing is how close the stories are. Have you ever played that game where you have circle of people and the first person says something and then it needs to travel the circle and you see how it turns up at the end of the circle? It’s usually not the same statement that was started. But unlike that game, these two books are identical. That is amazing!

Finally, the application of today is to be pure of heart. I love the clean/unclean story it is my favorite of this passage. It doesn’t matter if you wash your hands or eat bad food, that does not make you ‘unclean’. What you say and what you do is what makes you unclean. Be clean, do good. Have a great day. Read on…

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Wow, what a day of great experiences today. It started with serving the kids of our soccer family with being a referee and two games of coaching. I then went off to church to serve on the audio team and it was fantastic. The fact that I am now caught up and can do one reading makes it that much better.

Previously in the Daily Read, we got some of the bigger stories from Matthew with some new stuff from Mark. It’s kind of like finding bonus DVD features on your favorite movie, but it is more than that. It’s was also interesting to get Mark’s interpretations of the stories that have been read previously.

I could recount the stories that have been told again, but I am wiped. The two points that stick out in this read are these, one new and one from Matthew: first, a Lamp on a Stand. Jesus asks if you will put a lamp under your bed or on a stand. Of course you will put it on a stand to see.

“For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” Mark 4:22

Second is the recount of the synagogue ruler’s daughter who is dead and he comes to Jesus for help. The ruler has great faith and Jesus goes to help his daughter. Upon reaching the home, the ruler’s servants run out and say, “She’s dead, why bother the teacher anymore?” (Mark 5:35b) But Jesus responds with:

Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:36

This wasn’t in the Matthew story and I just love how it is phrased. Can’t we all use this today? Read on…

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I am officially caught up and posting for the next day! That is cool, especially since we had a family day today and I am wiped out. Speaking of which, we went up to Sedona and it is amazing to see God’s workmanship up there. The beauty was unbelievable and He must have had fun creating it, as it is a splash of color in this world. It was awesome.

Previously in the Daily Read, Mark recounts several stories of Jesus’ healing that we learned about in various parts of Matthew 8-12 including the healing of the man on Sabbath, the story of the paralytic in greater detail, Jesus’ baptism by John, the calling of the first disciples, the calling of Matthew (referred to by Mark as ‘Levi’) and his appointing of the twelve apostles. In fact, in Matthew, they are only referred to as disciples, but in Mark he calls them the Apostles. It is interesting to see the differences in the writing between Mark and Matthew. Matthew was one of the Apostles and I believe that it gave him greater insight, as Mark is like the Cliff Notes of these stories. Not bad, just concise. Also, it is again like I have mentioned that we have multiple accounts of the same events that prove that they really did happen. Like a scientist needs multiple facts to prove his hypothesis, God has the many accounts of the events of his Word to prove them correct.

One thing that Mark focuses on in his writing is fellowship. A great example is the story of the paralytic, where many come with him to Jesus and four carry him to the roof and drop him down to Jesus because the room is too full to get him in the door. There are multiple examples of the power of numbers in faith as evidenced in:

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, you sins are forgiven.” Matthew 2:5

It was by the power of all of their faith that he was healed. They believed and it helped their friend to walk again. Great stuff. Let’s all go out and have faith together this weekend! And thanks to Pastor Greg for pointing this out in one of his messages! Greg’s off the hook! Read on…

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Man, another book read. It seems like they are coming fast and furious now, but this was the best so far. An interesting side note, I am reading the Purpose Driven Life now and I can’t tell you how many quotes have been from Matthew! It is fun to recognize the verses that I have just read in my daily study.

Previously in the Daily Read, Judas figures out what he has done, throws the money back into the Temple and it is used to buy land for the dead. The land Jeremiah bought from his cousin for this very reason! Wow, it is incredible to read the plan of God written by so many authors and be so concise. Amazing!

As for the death of Christ, we all know the story without reading it. It is judged by Pilate and taken away when all the chief priests convince the crowd to vote against him. He is mocked by the guards and belittled by the citizens. It’s not pretty to read, but he then rises from the grave and meets with his disciples. The mission is on: disciples, go out and increase the flock and teach what Jesus gave you. Good stuff, now on to Mark’s take. Read on…

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