Category: Devotions

Thankfulness leading to your miracle

Mark 6: 41 “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.”

When the head of the Church looked up to heaven with thanks for what was in His hand you knew something was going to happen.

When the Church looks to heaven with gratitude for what it has and not what it doesn’t have, for the people it has, then something is going to happen.

Gratefulness is everything.  What did Jesus say in his prayer of thanks? Let me suggest some things:

Thank you for the boy who willingly gave me his lunch.

Thank you for the 5 loaves and the 2 fish.

Thank you for the 5,000 men plus women and children sat before me.

Thank you for the power of heaven touching earth.

Thank you for the symbol of brokenness, they don’t see it now but they will later.

Thank you for the disciples you have given me.

Thank you for the miracle I am about to do.

Each one of those lines could easily be turned around from gratefulness to a request or a complaint.

Here lies the problem. The problem of how we approach the situation we are in.

I wonder if miracles are birthed in thankfulness not complaint. I wonder if gratefulness is more powerful than we believe.

3 keys to strategically solving a problem

Mark 6: 39-40 “Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.”

Jesus worked strategically. And He shows us that whatever problem or miracle we need then we too should approach with the same manner as Jesus:

1. Sit down: Keep the situation still. Stop everyone moving around. Calm things down.
2. On the green grass: Keep the situation comfortable. They will be sitting for a long time so make it as nice as possible for them.
3. In groups of 100s + 50s: Keep the situation manageable. Don’t try and manage 5,000, try and see that number through smaller groups.

Crumbs

Mark 6: 31- 44  “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” ³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. ³³ But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. ³⁵ By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. ³⁶ Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.” ³⁹ Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

 

5 loaves and 2 titbits of fish which were no more than a garnish to cover the bread compared to the gigantic problem of 5,000 men plus women and children.

In comparison to the need it was small, mere crumbs, but never under-estimate what Jesus can do with the crumbs of life!

You may describe your life like crumbs today for whatever reason; you are the left-overs of a better past but God specialises in using cast-offs and left-overs.

God will build with whatever and whoever you have become.

You may be going through the process of becoming like crumbs today. It may be for you that God wants you to be a picture of crumbs. You may need to surrender, to give up, to let go so that he has freedom to work in your life.

Are you broken?

Never underestimate the power of crumbs.
Crumbs can feed 5,000.
Miracles occur after brokenness.

Someone asked me the other day: I am in bits, can God use me?

The answer is: He only uses bits.

The Question mark

Mark 6: 12-13 “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them …

Mark 6: 29 “On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb”.

Mark 6:30 “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught”.

 

So in between the event of the apostles being sent out to preach, deliver and heal the masses and then returning with their joyful reports, John the Baptist was killed and placed in a tomb. What is Mark trying to tell us? What does God want us to know?

The question mark ???

Can you continue to be focused and do the work of God even though it feels like life goes wrong?

Can you be trusted with a question mark or do you need all the answers?

Can you leave things with the story of God knowing you must complete your own task in life?

It seems compassion-less perhaps. But don’t slow down, back-off or become so engaged with someone else’s story that has nothing to do with you to the detriment of what you are meant to be doing. Learn to carry the question mark. You won’t know everything. You will never carry all the answers and reasons to this life.

The consequences of the dance

Mark 6: 21 – 29 “Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.”²³ And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” ²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. ²⁵ At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸ and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹ On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

 

Be careful who dances before you.

I mean, be careful who creates a grand impression on you, who captivates and who you become transfixed with. Be careful of seeing the gifting above the person, the charisma not the character and be careful who you give freedom to come into your private world.

Enter Salome. The dangerous dance:

1. The Pleasure. The dance pleased Herod and the others. There was a unity of pleasure. Just because others agree doesn’t mean it is good for you.
2. The Promise. The dance moved Herod so much he wanted to give back to her and in a fit of passion and ego he made a ridiculous promise. It was a signed blank cheque.
3. The Pride. The dance would lead to a death. The death of the man Herod loved listening to, John the Baptist. But Herod was too proud to say no because he had promised publicly. Always break a promise when the promise is ridiculous and given with wrong motivation.
4. The Pain. The dance initially gave Herod pleasure but this soon turned to pain. Those who enamour you now by the end of the evening may have become an enemy to your soul.
5. The Parting. The dance was powerful to make Herod do what he would never have done. John’s disciples came and buried their leader in a tomb. John the Baptist didn’t lose his head because of his message. That just created enemies, namely Herodias. No, John the Baptist parted from this world because of the dance before Herod. The dance may be electrifying and enthralling but soon it will lead to you losing what you had, even your relationships.

The love of God costs.

Mark 6: 17 “ For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.”

John the Baptist had found a way into the centre of the royal family. God had made that way possible. It was actually God’s mission, John may not have even thought of it. The way was made possible because he had been arrested and placed into jail. It was from there that he was regularly being called by Herod to speak to him and to witness and every time he would remind him that his marriage to Herodias was unlawful according the to the law of God. Because of this Herodias wanted him killed.

Can God place a servant into a place of difficulty for the gospel? Could He get that man arrested and put into prison so that the royal house could hear the gospel? Could He take all of the man’s freedoms and ambitions, dreams and hopes away? Could He give that man an uncertain future or even a certain future of death? Could He? Would He do that?

Yes if He found a willing servant.

Yes if He found a messenger who so believed in the coming King of Kings he cared nothing for his or this life.

Yes if that man had a burning passion for Jesus.

Yes because the love of God for this world is worth dying for.

So often we hear people praying for God to come, but if He comes, will He find any John the Baptists?

We want the gospel to get into the most difficult of places, but if God wants that, will He find a servant to take the message there?

We want revival. But will we pay the high price for it?

 

 

The Royal family

Mark 6: 17-20 “For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰ because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.”

Yesterday a Pastor called me to ask if it would be permitted to bring to one of our regional camps a family that were not married and possibly a couple that would be seen as scandalous in the cloisters of some church people. Having granted permission I thanked God that this Pastor had her sleeves rolled up and was getting involved in the brokenness of this world. This is where church should be seen more and more. But let me come back to this in a bit …

Antipas was his name and Herod (King) was the title. His father, Herod the Great, had 8 wives. Antipas was the Herod of Jesus’ lifetime, living in Jerusalem.

Antipas’ heart was in Rome, with his niece, who had been left fatherless by her grandfather (Herod the Great) who ordered the strangulation of her father, Aristobulus and her uncle Alexander. The Great then had her married to another uncle, not Antipas, but Philip.

Antipas visited Rome in AD26  and fell in love with his niece Herodias. They agreed he would divorce his wife, Phaesalis and she would divorce Philip.

So hand in hand they come back to the holy land; Divorced Uncle Antipas and his divorced niece Herodias, very much in love accompanied by his great niece Salome. A picture of family happiness!

The Jews however thought this whole story an abomination and they had the Scripture to support them in Leviticus 20:21 – “‘“If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonoured his brother. They will be childless.”

Right in the middle of this royal scandal is the gospel messenger, John the Baptist. He had found a way into the hearing of the most important man in Jerusalem, the King. He had managed to gain favour with Herod.

• Herod feared John.
• He protected him from Herodias who wanted John killed.
• He recognised John was a good man and could be trusted, that he was different to any other man he had known.
• He was disturbed by John’s message but loved listening to him.
• All of these positives towards John who did not hold back from the truth of saying, “Herod you are breaking the law of Moses and of God.”

 

1. We need to find a way into the broken families whether royal or not, no matter how scandalous they may be.
2. We need to find favour and actually be attractive to the broken and scandalous.
3. We need to do all of that and still hold to the truth and not compromise the gospel message.

Are you not tired of hearing people say ‘oh it is so difficult today sharing the gospel with such broken and disturbed people’? The only difficulty is the prejudice that prevents the move towards such people.

If John the Baptist could find a way into this scandalous family story then so can any of us, especially 2,000 years later. That is where the church should be.

The continuous Kingdom of God

Mark 6:14-16

“14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” 16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

Imagine what King Herod was feeling?!

Presented with a few options of who Jesus could possibly be, he chose option 1.

He was obviously wrong. But there was a part truth. The truth of continuity.

Herod removed John the Baptist but Jesus came.

Jesus died , raised and ascended but the Church was born.

The Church throughout the generations have seasons where it seems they lose ground but the Spirit comes again and breathes new life as He did on day one and the Church rises again.

It’s a kingdom principle.

The enemy will never stop the kingdom advancing.

Remove a worker and more will be raised up. God’s Kingdom is continuous.

Imagine how the King Herods of this world feel when they realise this?!

3 important keys to being sent

Mark 6: 6-12 “Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷ Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. ⁸ These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” ¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

 

They did it. They went. Jesus sent them. Just as the Father sent Him, He sent them. There was no reluctance.

Jesus made sure there was accountability in place going with another, two by two.

Jesus made sure they would be focused by taking only a few items. The Jewish rabbis would not permit anyone entering the temple area with a staff, shoes or a moneybag because they should not be seen with other distractions from the focus of the Temple.

Jesus made sure they would be free of rejection. The Jews walking through a Gentile city would shake the dust off their feet because they didn’t want to take anything from that city. Similarly Jesus instructs not to take any rejection from a Jewish city with you.

We have been sent and these 3 important keys of mission still apply today.

Are you accountable?

Are you focused?

Are you free of rejection?

 

A son of the house comes home and receives a strange welcome

Mark 6:1-6 “Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.² When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? ³ Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” ⁵ He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶ He was amazed at their lack of faith.”

 

Jesus left Nazareth as a carpenter and returned as a rabbi with disciples following.

There had been a significant development in his life. But that could not be said of his home town.

Some people never want you to progress. They want to keep you just exactly where you were even many years ago.

“You are the carpenter. You make things; that is what you do.”

Whilst they were impressed by his teaching and the miracles they were struggling in not being able to fit him into a box and control him. They do try. They refer to what is probably a derogatory term used many times, “You are the son of Mary.” A reference to what they knew of his illegitimacy, which was probably used on many occasions in the past. They know his family history very well and the children that were born later. Above all they became offended.

They were offended because they had remained in their understanding of who he was and not what he had become.

They were offended because of their refusal for the teacher to become teachable.

Their dishonour of this ‘new Jesus’ brought to them offence which became a barrier against a move of God that could have been a huge blessing to the town. Instead Jesus has to move on. He no longer has a home town.

The same is true today. We need to protect ourselves from being offended.

If people ‘rise above their station’ (if they try and be what we think they are not) we get offended.

When sons become fathers (the moment a young Pastor preaches lifestyle changes to an older church) we get offended.

When we try and bring the present back to the past so that we can handle these upstarts we dishonour. Dishonour has become so normal that when honour is demonstrated it is a wow moment. Social media is full of dishonour. Those occupying great positions in the world of Church and Politics dishonour others all the time to reclaim ground. When dishonour doesn’t work, offence is born. Offended hearts end the show. The lights are out. Nothing is going to be done.