I Healed the Sick & Spoke of a Great Harvest

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 6, 2012   I Healed the Sick & Spoke of a Great Harvest

Page 75-76   Matthew 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-39; Luke 4:38-44, Matthew 9: 35-38

In the US we tend to ‘super-size’ everything. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average home size in the United States was 2,700 square feet in 2009, up from 1,400 square feet in 1970. Comparatively, the average home size in the UK is approximately one-third those in the US. For most of the rest of the world, the homes are even smaller. In Capernaum there is a church built over the ruins of a home dating to the first century. Tradition holds that it could have been Peter’s home and I estimated that it has approximately 100 square feet of floor space. Great crowds of people came to Peter’s house when Jesus was healing the sick. When I was visiting churches in Cuba, our meetings were in small house-churches where we gathered to proclaim the Good News and pray for the people. Great crowds filled every space in the house and they stood four deep by the open doorways and windows. When people hear God may be at work, they come.

Jesus left Peter’s house and pressed on with his mission because he wanted to tell many others about the coming of God’s Kingdom. In speaking with his disciples, Jesus also makes clear that the work of proclaiming the Gospel and setting the people free is more than any one man, including the Messiah, can do. He instructs his disciples to “pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matthew 9:38). Because Jesus was preaching to the choir - the disciples were already with him, helping with the harvest – I believe our prayers for more workers will be ineffective until we have first prayed, “Here I am. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

                                                                        

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 7, 2012   I Reminded My Disciples that They Would Fish for People 

Page 76-77  Luke 5:1-11

November 5, 2012 I Cast Out Demons

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 5, 2012   I Cast Out Demons

Page 75        Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31-37

Tours of the Holy Land include several stops around the Sea of Galilee, including Capernaum. There are ruins of a synagogue in Capernaum that is similar in style and location to where Jesus was teaching in the text we are reading for today. When I visited Capernaum I took time to ponder what it was like that day when Jesus cast the demon from the man who was possessed by an evil spirit.

Jesus demonstrated he was the Holy One of God, the Messiah, by teaching with authority and by exercising authority over unclean, or evil, spirits. The religious leaders at that time would quote Moses, or one of the Old Testament prophets, as the authority for their teaching. Jesus said, “I tell you.” (The phrase ‘I tell you” appears 153 times in the Gospels.) The religious leaders were powerless in the face of evil. The evil spirits submitted to Jesus, the Holy One of God.

Through his crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus has defeated the forces of evil, sin and death, and Jesus has delegated his authority to the church: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:17-20).

As Jesus began teaching in Galilee, he announced “The time has come” (Mark 1:15a). Jesus didn’t mean time, as in looking at a clock; he meant God’s time had come, a new era was beginning. This era continues through today. The people of God are called to live in the truth that the authority of Jesus has been passed on to our generation, the truth that the forces of evil have been defeated by Jesus, and the truth of Jesus’ promise, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

How different would your life and your church be, if you sought to live each day in the truth of Jesus’ victory?

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 6, 2012   I Healed the Sick

Page 75-76   Matthew 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-39; Luke 4:38-44

I Called Fisherman to Fish for People & News about Me Spread

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 2, 2012   I Called Fisherman to Fish for People & News about Me Spread         

Page 71-72   Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Matthew 4:23-25

Several years ago, during a drought, the Sea of Galilee receded several feet and exposed an old fishing boat. The boat was raised out of the mud and placed in a museum near Tiberias. Carbon dating revealed the boat was over two thousand years old. Possibly, it belonged to Peter, or Zebedee. After my visit to the museum, I had the opportunity to stroll along the water’s edge, and as I looked out across the Sea of Galilee, I thought about Peter and Andrew and James and John leaving their nets and boats to follow Jesus. My thoughts then turned to when I heard Jesus call me to follow him. I don’t mean my call to the itinerate ministry. When did I hear Jesus call me to be his follower, his disciple, a Christian?

I recalled bits and pieces, starts and stops, youth groups and college classes. I remembered a friend inviting me to church. I also remembered a Sunday evening, alone, after I had been reading the New Testament. I sensed the presence of Christ in my life. I knew then I wanted to be his disciple. I knew he was calling me.

As I look back, I am thankful for all of the starts and stops, funerals and weddings. All of the places where I heard bits and pieces about Jesus and the love of God were used by God as His prevenient grace to prepare me for the most important day in my life: the day I heard Jesus call my name.

News about Jesus spread and large crowds began to follow him. However, at the end of his ministry there were just a few who remained faithful. Some stood at the foot of his cross. Others huddled nearby in Jerusalem. Those who remained all had one thing in common; each had heard Jesus call them by name.

Like the psalmist, my cup runneth over with blessing upon blessing from God. The greatest of my blessings, now and for all time, is the day he called me to be his disciple.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 5, 2012   I Cast Out Demons

Page 75        Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31-37

I Was Rejected in My Home Town

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 1, 2012   I Was Rejected in My Home Town

Page 71        Luke 4:14b-30

I remembered the old church expression, “You’ve gone from preaching to meddling” after reading today’s passage. As the great preacher Fred Craddock noted, there are two kinds of preaching people won’t listen to: bad preaching and good preaching. Bad preaching wasn’t the issue in Nazareth.

History reveals that the Jewish people were longing for God to rescue Israel from the oppression of their enemies. Jesus announced he is the Messiah, the One whom God has sent to save Israel. What was so offensive about Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah? It’s all about control. Jesus was saying the Messiah was coming to proclaim God’s grace for all people, including the Romans, the enemy of Israel. The people very much wanted God’s grace, but just for Israel, not for other nations. The people wanted to control God’s agenda, to be the ones who determined which nations were redeemed and which were not.

The people in Nazareth wanted to be like God. That’s a familiar theme, not just for first century Jews. In our world today, we still suffer from the sin of wanting to control God’s agenda. The foundation of the Christian faith rests on two imperatives: “Love God with all that we are, and love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.” Yet we struggle as much as the Nazarenes with wanting to determine who our neighbor is.

In the process of loving God and our neighbors, we are transformed to become like Jesus. In today’s reading, Jesus demonstrated he clearly understood God’s mission, God’s purpose for his life: “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:21b). One of the most accurate measures of our maturity in Christ is in the clarity with which we can articulate God’s mission, God’s purpose for our life.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 2, 2012   I Called Fisherman to Fish for People & News about Me Spread         

Page 71-72   Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Matthew 4:23-25