- Mark 6 opens with Jesus in the town of Nazareth. This is the place where he grew up and evidently His family still lived there. In verse 4, Jesus comments about the lack of respect that He has received in His hometown. Nazareth could have and should have been a village where a great Messianic revival took place. After all, Jesus spent more time in Nazareth than any other place on earth, an estimated 28 years of His life. But as the saying goes, "familiarity often breeds contempt". I see this same problem in the Church today. We often do not respect the presence of Christ in our local gatherings. Many consistently fail to see Jesus working among us and we have a mentality like the old saying "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence." Jesus is always moving powerfully somewhere else, but not at our Church. There often is a lack of respect in our fellowships for the leaders and the gifts of the Spirit that the Lord gives to a local Church. Some in the Church have developed a superstar-type mentality toward some leaders and they flock to go hear, see or be touched by them. Others have developed a super-outpouring mentality that a certain move of the Spirit will happen in a particular place and be distributed throughout the world. But, First Corinthians 12 teaches us about the power of the Spirit that God has already distributed within the Body of Christ, where every joint can be connected, nurtured, healed, strengthened and all the different dynamics and manisfestations of Christ can be expressed. Men often try to consolidate power for their own purposes, but God has clearly distributed His power to the saints to accomplish His purposes. This brings me back to respecting Jesus in our midst. First Corinthians 12 and James 5 talk about the anointing and power of the Spirit being resident within the local Body and the local leadership that Christ has put in place. Scripture teaches that Christ works within the people we know, trust and are connected to. Obviously, we are not limited to our local fellowship, but this seems to be the normal way in which Christ desires to work in His people and their communities. What would happen if we began to believe that the same Jesus Who is in the Gospels, lives in every true believer, including you? What if we believed that everytime we gathered together in the name of Jesus, He is there in glory and power? Is our unbelief about Jesus in our midst, hindering a great revival that He desires to bring to our communities and local fellowships? Is Jesus marveling at our unbelief just like He did Nazareth's?
- In Mark 6:7, Jesus sends the disciples out to minister the Gospel in word and in power. Why do you think He sends them out "two by two"?
Friday, October 24, 2008
Mark 6
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3 comments:
On Track and enjoying my walk.
I think we are as a whole weak Christians, with many believing that things spoken of in the Gospels happened when Jesus was on the earth, but not now. I disagree! I have seen the power of Jesus move supernaturally and know what He can do through those that are willing and believe. I am not talking about a superstar church, but I believe what God's word says, and I believe as believers of Christ that we should be using the power he left with us as He wills. We should have enough faith that WE can cast out demons in His name, WE can command the lame to walk in His name, WE can lay hands on the sick and they will recover, WE can even tell the dead to raise, and with the Power and Authority of His name it can happen if that is His will. First we must believe the almost unbelievable, and then watch things come to pass as we follow in Jesus' footsteps. We are told that we can do these things, and greater things by the authority of His name. Has anyone tried lately? Believe only. That's what Jesus would say to us. Then we can see the same miracles happening. I imagine that in the beginning the disciples might have had a little doubt, but they believed Jesus when he told them they had the authority of His name to make these things come to pass. I think he's wondering, "if I gave you the power then why aren't you using it?" Are we afraid it won't happen like he said, the we will be embarrased? I would rather be made a fool for Jesus than a wiseman for the world.
To Sweetteaqueen and everyone:
Thanks for your input. I agree!
Question: If we as a whole are weak Christians, what makes us strong? Remember, in the Gospels and in Acts, Jesus gave His power to people who were "following Him" and walking in His footsteps. When the New Testament uses the word "believe" it refers to much more than just a mental thing. Believe speaks of a faith that encompasses our walk of obedience. Could it be that Jesus is holding us out to protect us from our lack of commitment to Him? Jesus will not allow us to use His Name or His power like "good luck charms" that we use to make our lives better. God's power is to be used to bring glory and honor to the person of Jesus Christ. If we are not living our lives in this fashion, what makes us think we will be able to use His power properly? We must understand what has been imparted to us by Christ. But the key does not lie in our "belief" only. It lies in our "walk of faith", a life of obedience, service and commitment to Christ, His Word, His Kingdom, His will, His family, His ways. In one place, Jesus talks of being faithful in the unrighteous mammon and He would give us the true riches of the Kingdom. This test of faithfulness is part of what is taking place in the Church today. I'm afraid, as a whole, we are not passing the test. But it's not over, yet. This is why we are saturating ourselves with The Gospels of Jesus. We must clearly see Jesus and follow Him - His will and His ways. When He authorizes us to use His power, we will use it as He would and in the way that He would. Interesting to note, those who claim to walk in Jesus' power have lost "the way" of Jesus. Think of how Jesus mixed authority, power and humility. He was extremely powerful but made Himself of no reputation. When we get surges of power in the Church, we can't wait to start the propaganda train and make a reputation for ourselves. Many using this power to raise money, gain a following or start a movement. Thank God He does not wait for us to be perfect in all these things. But the current perversion of unbelief, abuse and misuse cannot be tolerated by our Merciful Savior either. Lord, teahc us Your ways. May we be like Jesus in character, word and deed. Walk in His Footsteps!
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