S - Mark 6:49-52 (NIV): "but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened."
O - The closest friends Jesus had struggled (often without their knowing it) with hard hearts. If their hearts had not been hard (pwrovw : to become calloused, petrified, to render stupid or blind) I wonder if would they have been less amazed, less terrified or both when he climbed in the boat? Frankly, when Jesus is "Jesusing" I think that we, in spite of our best hearted efforts, will often be amazed and terrified. Perhaps the most essential question for followers of Jesus is more about is he still "Jesusing" in, around and through our lives? He is the only remedy for the hardness of heart which produces the stupidity and blindness of a world (religious and secular) gone mad while claiming to be both sane and sound. Jesus comes and tells us to change the way we think (repent), to open our hearts and minds to the nearness of God's kingdom and person and to welcome Jesus' presence, transforming power and miraculous activities on a day by day and moment by moment basis. Maybe, if we get this right, we'll be less terrified and more amazed … either way we will be filled with and spilling over with the life that is really life here and hereafter.
A - I admit that my heart is a prime candidate for the same hardness described in this passage. I can pass out the food, eat my fill, pick up the left overs and still not have an open and soft heart. The beauty of being near Jesus is that he is not only fully aware he is fully prepared and wanting to see my heart being changed and transformed into the likeness of himself (Romans 8:29). So, when I'm terrified I need to take courage. When I'm "helping with the chores" of following I need to pay attention. Above all else I need to come near and stay near Jesus so that his Jesusing will not only take place around me or through me but in me. He said … follow me and I will make you. Today I am relying on him making me as he would have me to be according to his irrepressible and vibrant life.
P - Lord who lives and who freaks me out,
Thank you for wanting your life to live in me and thank you for freaking me out … for working in and through and around me. Thank you for calling me to not only join you in your work but for wanting to do your work in me unto the beauty of your image conformed and growing in me. Today is my opportunity to be near, to believe, to follow and work with you in that which you already have in mind to do. Thank you for always starting at love, leading with mercy and then addressing the facts of our lives. Lord, I do love you back and I am saying yes to you … unto new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and that which is too wonderful for me … and unto a heart that understands!
Asking for ongoing heart-help,
Steve
O - The closest friends Jesus had struggled (often without their knowing it) with hard hearts. If their hearts had not been hard (pwrovw : to become calloused, petrified, to render stupid or blind) I wonder if would they have been less amazed, less terrified or both when he climbed in the boat? Frankly, when Jesus is "Jesusing" I think that we, in spite of our best hearted efforts, will often be amazed and terrified. Perhaps the most essential question for followers of Jesus is more about is he still "Jesusing" in, around and through our lives? He is the only remedy for the hardness of heart which produces the stupidity and blindness of a world (religious and secular) gone mad while claiming to be both sane and sound. Jesus comes and tells us to change the way we think (repent), to open our hearts and minds to the nearness of God's kingdom and person and to welcome Jesus' presence, transforming power and miraculous activities on a day by day and moment by moment basis. Maybe, if we get this right, we'll be less terrified and more amazed … either way we will be filled with and spilling over with the life that is really life here and hereafter.
A - I admit that my heart is a prime candidate for the same hardness described in this passage. I can pass out the food, eat my fill, pick up the left overs and still not have an open and soft heart. The beauty of being near Jesus is that he is not only fully aware he is fully prepared and wanting to see my heart being changed and transformed into the likeness of himself (Romans 8:29). So, when I'm terrified I need to take courage. When I'm "helping with the chores" of following I need to pay attention. Above all else I need to come near and stay near Jesus so that his Jesusing will not only take place around me or through me but in me. He said … follow me and I will make you. Today I am relying on him making me as he would have me to be according to his irrepressible and vibrant life.
P - Lord who lives and who freaks me out,
Thank you for wanting your life to live in me and thank you for freaking me out … for working in and through and around me. Thank you for calling me to not only join you in your work but for wanting to do your work in me unto the beauty of your image conformed and growing in me. Today is my opportunity to be near, to believe, to follow and work with you in that which you already have in mind to do. Thank you for always starting at love, leading with mercy and then addressing the facts of our lives. Lord, I do love you back and I am saying yes to you … unto new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and that which is too wonderful for me … and unto a heart that understands!
Asking for ongoing heart-help,
Steve
Thanks so, Pastor Steve, much for sharing these. I have missed your voice in life.
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