intense ministry

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

Matthew 9:35

Jesus really had an intense ministry. It is like nothing else we read of in the Bible. Matthew’s summary description of it here shows a four-fold work taking place:

1.  Jesus traveled to cities and villages. He was always on the move, taking His ministry and message to new places. He was sent to a people (Israel) and connected with them by going to where they were.

2.  Jesus taught in the synagogues. He worshiped with those to whom He was called. And as a rabbi, Jesus was allowed to teach at their gatherings. He operated within the means of worship and instruction that everyone expected.

3.  Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom. He had a new message of hope. He proclaimed salvation to Israel. He pointed the people to Himself and a new way of God transforming hearts that only His work would bring.

4.  Jesus healed diseases and afflictions. People were physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually afflicted. Jesus had mercy and authority over sickness and demonic possession. He healed in order to show that power and authority. And it was no doubt His miracles that brought the crowds to Him as He did what only God could do.

All of this intense ministry was fueled by an authentic and unique love for the crowds… something the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not display. He saw the crowds as harassed and helpless, in need of a gentle shepherd (Matthew 9:36). And Jesus would call all His disciples to love and to serve with kingdom intensity like He did (Matthew 9:37). May His church today carry on with authentic intensity as Jesus continues to empower and enable us to travel, teach, preach, and see Him heal lives!

singing praises in the pressure

…for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

Psalm 63:7

One biblical strategy for not being overwhelmed by stress and anxiety is to truly worship God. Psalm 63 was written in a stressful time for David as he fled from Saul in the wilderness of Judah. There was an entire army bent upon following Saul’s orders. They wanted to “destroy” David’s life (Psalm 63:9). David had reason to fear but chose to fight fear in faithful worship of God.

David acknowledged that his circumstances INCREASED his thirst for God (Psalm 63:1). So an immediate action when given to fear is to see how the painful circumstances call out for desperate faith. Crave God when you feel like caving in to fear!

That thirsty craving led to expressive worship engaging David spiritually and physically. His eyes looked upon God to behold His power and glory. His lips praised God for His steadfast love. His hands were lifted up in praise (Psalm 63:2-4). Choose to fight fear with your whole person — soul and body!

David directed his soul to remember God… even in nights when it was hard to sleep (Psalm 63:5-8). He remembered God as he turned in his bed. He made those nights time to worship and to meditate upon the God Who satisfied him, sheltered him, and held him up in the stress-filled story. He chose to make sleeplessness worshipful.

The last word for David in response to anxious stress was this: “,,,the king shall rejoice in God.” Worship in the hard times can have its own unique joys… if we will only discipline our souls to see them and choose to embrace the gift of songs in such stresses.

Jesus the Healer

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

Matthew 8:17

Mark 8 emphasizes Jesus as the Healer. A simple survey of the chapter yields these insights about how He heals:

• Jesus heals a leper - Emphasis: Jesus wills it so (Mark 8:1-4).
• Jesus heals a centurion’s servant - Emphasis: Jesus has authority at a distance (Mark 8:5-13).
• Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law - Emphasis: Jesus meets needs before we even ask (Mark 8:14-15).
• Jesus casts demons from many - Emphasis: Jesus fulfills scripture (Mark 8:16-17).
• Jesus calms a storm - Emphasis: Jesus commands the physical world (Mark 8:23-27).
• Jesus heals two demon-possessed men - Emphasis: Jesus commands the spiritual world (Mark 8:28-34)

Lord Jesus, 

You are the Great Healer. You have borne all our hurts, our sorrows, our pains, and our illnesses. You have the will to restore us and make us whole. You have all the authority so that nothing… not time, distance, our emotional responses, our fears, or any opposition can change what You will to do for us or what You will for us to be. You see the need we have before we even come to You. You fulfill all that has spoken in scripture concerning You. You command the forces of nature. You command even demons to flee from us.

There is nothing broken that you cannot fix. There is no distance You cannot by grace and power bridge. There is no evil stronger than Your power to command it to cease. My life then is Yours to heal. My broken relationships are Yours to renew. My anxious and weary heart is Yours to calm and mend. My oppressive circumstances are Yours to break. My storms are Yours to still. You are always my Healer!

Amen

From wicked to righteous

The wicked are estranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

Psalm 58:3

All people are born wicked. We are born in sin. From the womb we are sinners through and through. Our sin will lead our first steps astray. Our first words will be lies. That is our natural state. This is why we are answerable to a holy God before Whom we deserve to be cast in judgment. This is why we need Jesus to save us. All of us, each of us, every one of us is wicked at birth.

Scripture is clear that this lost condition is endemic to us all. And we are held accountable before a holy God. We are born into sin. We do sin. We need a Savior. None of us, born as we are in this desperate and depraved condition, have the capacity to please God or make amends for our wickedness. We remain estranged. We walk further away with each lie we speak, each disobedience we choose, each sin we selfishly commit in disregard of a holy God.

God judges wickedness. There are two methods for this. One is in a life that ends in eternal punishment by a just God. The other is in faith that trusts that Jesus bore that punishment for our wicked nature on the cross, and then rose from the dead that we might eternally live cleansed by His redeeming blood. And this is the “reward for the righteous” from the “God Who judges on earth” (Psalm 58:11). In Jesus we know the forgiveness for sin, the restoration of our estrangement, the righteousness that holds us close to a loving God, and the truth that erases all the lies! Praise Him for the way He turns the wicked to be His holy ones!

with all I am

Awake, my glory!

Awake, O harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

Psalm 57:8

With all I am

I will praise You

With all my mind

I will seek You

With all my soul

I will worship You

With all my heart

I will love You

Glorious God You deserve

All I have

With all I am

I begin today

With all my mind

I take in the splendor of the dawn

With all my soul

I entrust my life to You

With all my heart

I will feel You near in glory

Saving God I am Yours

With all I am

far from sand

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Matthew 7:26

Lord,

My prayer today is simple: Let me live solidly built on the rock secure foundation of hearing AND doing what You say. May Your authority not only pique my interest but also control my choices. May Your wisdom be more than a thought, but also in my actions. Will You please help me to do what You say?

Your own warning tells me that just because I read Your Word does not mean my life will be stable. Just because I say I am Christian is no guarantee. I must be a man who does what I say I believe, lives what I trust, and puts into practice what my Lord preaches.

The expectation from You, my Lord, is that saving faith is a living faith. This I know, my God. And I will seek to be among Your wise “doers” of all that You say!

Amen

lip service failure

And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:23

On a future day

some will say

     “Lord, Lord…”

Surprise declaration

of rejection:

“Depart from me!”

“Workers of iniquity!”

“You said what you do

but I never knew you!”

It isn’t enough

to say verbal stuff

if with the will of the Father

you never seem to bother.

Many can falsely claim

to believe in The Name

while living such a lie

will fail them when they die.

In the now

it has to be how

     Jesus is Lord.

Obedience shows

more than I know.

I seek to obey

what Word and Spirit say

“Well done!” I want to hear

from the Lord I love and fear.