Morning Musing: Mark 5:6-8

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“When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. And he cried out with a loud voice, ‘What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!’ For he had told him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Everybody has somebody they respect. We all have heroes. We all have people to whom we look up with admiration and imitation. We all have people whose authority we acknowledge. Now, some folks are genuine egoists who truly don’t do any of that, but those are the exceptions to the rule. For most of us, though, we have people under whose authority we are comfortable sitting. The thing is, though, that’s a personal designation. My recognized authorities aren’t the same as yours. But there are some people in positions whose authority is pretty much universally acknowledged; people who command respect from everybody. Jesus is one of those people. And His authority isn’t simply recognized by every person, but by all of creation. That’s a very good thing and Mark gives us a reason why here.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 5:2-5

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“As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore–not even with a chain–because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We’ve talked before about the interest people have long had in the spiritual world and specifically the demonic. There is enough out there that is nothing more than wishful thinking and unhelpful. When we encounter real information in the Scriptures, then, it is worth our time to try and learn what we can from it. When Jesus and the disciples arrived in Gentile territory they were met by a demon-possessed man. Let’s talk about how Mark describes this scene.

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Good Habits

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Last week we confronted the uncomfortable reality that we are often not fine in this life. This week we start to explore a solution. How can we keep the hard emotions that so often bring us down at bay before they have a chance to do their dirty work? We learn the secret from something Paul wrote when he was in some pretty dark times himself. Check this out with me.

Good Habits

I am a man of habits. It’s just part of my personality. I operate best in conditions that are customary and repetitive. Maybe you’re the same, maybe you’re different, but that’s simply my personality type. And when it comes to personality types, there’s no one type that’s particularly right or particularly wrong. At least…that’s what I keep telling myself. No, each personality type comes with advantages and disadvantages. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses. For me, when something is a habit, I’m dependable. Now, I’m sometimes forgetful, but once something is locked into a habit, you can count on my doing it. On the other hand, I can be boring; especially if you have the kind of personality that prefers a bit more variety.

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Morning Musing: Mark 5:1-2

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“They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Often today the Christian life appears as something rather mundane and boring. You do all the normal things you might otherwise do, you just do them a little nicer than everyone else. Or, worse yet, you don’t get to do many of the “fun” things the people around you get to do. You just sit around and pray or read your Bible all the time. Who really wants to be a part of that? Well, no one…if that’s really what the Christian life is supposed to be. What we see here is a reminder that following Jesus is an altogether more adventurous affair.

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Morning Musing: Mark 4:30-32

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“And he said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We love underdog stories. The greater the odds are stacked against the eventual winner, the more we cheer for them. Underdogs always start out small. That’s why they are underdogs. But the growth they show is always beyond what anyone might have suspected. Jesus says this is what the kingdom of God is like. Check this out with me.

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