16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"
25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
38 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Meeting Life's Demands by Ray Stedman
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (Mark 1:35).
After this full day—and what a full day it was, what a heavy ministry our Lord had that day with all the healing He did in the evening!—Mark records that early in the morning, before it was daylight, Jesus went out on the mountainside, and there, by Himself, He prayed. But even there He was not safe. His disciples interrupted this communion, told Him that everyone was looking for Him. And Jesus reveals the heart and substance of His prayer in what He says in reply: "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also." This is what He was praying about—that God would lead Him, doors would be opened, and hearts prepared in the cities to which He would go next.
Why did Jesus seek the Father's face like this, in these hours of pressure? The only answer we can come to is that He wants to make clear that the authority He had was not coming from Him. This is what our Lord is trying to get across to us so continually in the Scriptures—that it was not His authority by which He acted; He had to receive it from the Father.
I do not know any more confusing doctrine in Christendom today—one that has robbed the Scriptures of their authority and power in the minds and hearts of countless people—than the idea that Jesus acted by virtue of the fact that He was the Son of God, that the authority and power He demonstrated were due to His own deity. Yet He Himself takes great pains to tell us this is not the case. "The Son can do nothing by himself" (John 5:19). Why do we ignore His explanation and insist that it is He, acting as the Son of God? He tells us that "it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work"(John 14:10). And all the power that Jesus manifested had to come to Him constantly from the one who dwelt within Him.
Jesus stresses this because this is what He wants us to learn. We are to operate on the same basis. Our response to the normal, ordinary demands of life and the power to cope with those demands must come from our reliance upon Him at work within us. This is the secret: All power to live the Christian life comes not from us, doing our dead-level best to serve God, but from Him, granted to us moment by moment as the demand is made upon us. Power is given to those who follow, who obey. The Father is at work in the Son; the Son is at work in us. As we learn this, then we are given power to meet the demands and the needs that are waiting for us in the ministry yet to come.
Thank You, Father, that the same power is available to me today, making me ready so be your instrument in any and every situation in which demand is laid upon me.
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1 comment:
I Jn 2:1-6 "My little children, these things write I unto you, so that you would not sin. And if any man sins, we have One who can plead for us with the Father, The Messiah the righteous one. And He is Himself the atoning sacrifice for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And this is how we may be assured that we know Him, by obeying hereby we do know that we know him, by obeying His commands(given Him by Our Father).
He that says, i know Him, and does not keep that which He commanded is a liar, and The Truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of GOD is truly perfected. In this way we know that we are in Him. He that says he abides in Him ought himself live even as He Lived."
For such to be:
The "I" Must Die!
In as much as i can 'see',
That which is of the 'I' in me,
So it is i yearn, and to Our Father cry,
For deliverance from all that is of the 'I'.
The 'I', born of "imag"ination and selfish desire,
As lust, greed, and pride, stoked a consuming fire ;-(
A fire burning out of control, as 'I' leads the way,
It's smoke concealing the fleshly mind that leads one astray ;-(
Yet even in the smoke, searing heat, and blindness of 'sight',
Truth can pierce the blackness of darkness, revealing "The Light"!
And nothing can hide from "The Light", so "Light" reveals the "I",
Allowing one to "see" clearly, and clearly the "I" must die!
But to live, yet die, seems an impossible task,
And so we need of "Our Father", the impossible to ask.
Help me to "deny myself(die to self)(die to 'I')" Father!
And as HE Helps, HE reveals more and more of "The Selfless One", The One Who leads His Brethren on "The Way to The Truth of The Life". He Who was, and is The Messiah, The Son of The Only True G-D, Father(Creator) of ALL!
And as The Messiah desired above all else, so also will His Brethren desire above all else, "Father, not my will, But THY Will Be Done".......
The poem above was begun in Creel, Chih, Mexico in '92, a time when i sought to live and experience a simple and spiritual life and it was there that i received and embraced Simplicity. Left Mexico in '93, yet returned in '04. Then on 1/26/05 the poem was completed, and 'completion' is near for each and every one of us. And for "the poor and needy", thankfully so.......
Translated, "corruptible to incorruptible" indeed and Truth.......
Home at last.......
Forever free from The "I".......
All Thanks, Praise and Glory Be Unto "Our Father".......
And while there is breath(spirit) there is hope many will "see",
"see" The "I" for what it is, and then desire to be set free!
And that Spirit that was in The Messiah shall "set you free, free indeed"!
So, There Is Hope!
For Miracles do happen.......
Hope is there would be those who experience The Miracle that is receiving "a love of The Truth" for they will "see" The Light that is The Messiah, they will "see" that The Life is of The Spirit(not seen with the natural eye), and most certainly not of the flesh or fleshly mind("I").......
Peace, in spite of the dis-ease(darkness) that is of this world and it's systems of religion, for "the WHOLE world is under the control of the evil one"(1Jn5:19) indeed and Truth.......
The Truth is forever, lies never existed and never will.......
(Returned to this place called the u.s. of a. in June of '05, yet a return to the simplicity that is rural Mexico would be welcomed, however, i realize that in all things it must be "Father(Creator) not my will, But THY Will Be Done.......)
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