Mark 11:12-25 ~ Rabbi Look

Mark 11:12-25

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have [are receiving] received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses].”

Jesus spoke in parables on many levels. He spoke of problems. He spoke of mountains. If we look for more proof of literal mountains moving, confirming even the history of the Tower of Babel, we see Pangea and, also, the movement of the North Pole. It's comfortable and easy to debunk Genesis. It's important to remember the context.

Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Trouble comes and goes in the world. Change is both good and bad. Whatever our circumstances, whatever is the news, we can be assured God is in control.




Pangea

 

Abba, Father

We need You, Father.

Please Dwell in me.

Dwell in those I love.

The Truth is we cannot do 3,000 pages of Scripture. 

We do not do what we ought and we do what we ought not. 

Bless the innocent,

Lead us to protect the innocent.

Restore us in Jesus Christ, we pray.

No human being in the Bible ever did all You wanted of them. 

We need Jesus. Jesus, we need Your Grace. 

We need Jesus not just to fulfill the iotas and dots of Scripture,

 we need Jesus as our Shepherd. Daily.

Father God, with the Help of Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

 I will not suffer You to be my Waiter. 

You have said You are not human and our ways are not Your Way. 

We need Your Way, Your Life, Your Truth. 

We need Abundant Life to have the Joy, Faith and Hope

 to have all Your Fruit to live lives abiding in You.

Help us to seek You first

and finish well.

Help us to 

always

be in Your Plan.

Our Father
Who art in Heaven
Holy is Your Name.

Your Kingdom come
Your Will Be Done
on earth as in Heaven.

Give us this day!
Our daily Living Bread.

Please Forgive us our Trespasses,
as we forgive those who Trespass against us.

Lead us Not into Temptation.
Deliver us from evil.

For Thine is
The Kingdom
The Power
and the Glory.

Amen and Thank You 

for Jesus Christ.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Isaiah 32:15 ~ The Spirit is poured upon us

 

Isaiah 32:15

 The Spirit is poured upon us 

from on high, 

 and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, 

 and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. 

16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, 

 and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. 

17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace, 

 and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. 

18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, 

 in secure dwellings, 

and in quiet resting places.

When you read about plague recovery, it's very war oriented. So many people were murdered for simple and unbelievable reasons of fear, worry, anxiety creating a need for violence. Almost a Punch and Judy look at History. During the Pandemic, young people were seen crying in public, wearing the first masks seen in our lifetimes.

So many adjustments are made in the economy. Towns dependent on oil sit with empty hotels and malls and restaurants. The news is at times just unbelievable, sometimes because this is fake and sometimes because it should be fixed immediately and nothing changes.

Philippians 4 

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 

5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, 

and the God of peace will be with you.  

Paul has said many times in the Bible, imitate Christ or watch Paul. 

Peter couldn't claim Philippians 4 or Andrew, James, Philip, Bartholomew/Nathanael, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas the Greater. They spent too much time being worried, confused, having what the Gospels call terror.  Yet, not one of the Disciples would deny that this Peace is real.

John, the Beloved Disciple, wrote of peace 5 times. Not as many as Luke the Physician, the peace impressed one. Luke would be the one impressed with peace, seeing human reaction to illness and death. John comments on the Peace Jesus brought to the New Covenant, facing His death and His Joy in Life. Then the Peace Jesus wished upon, the fallen away on Good Friday, Disciples. A no small amount of forgiveness there.

The mercy of Jesus is continually astonishing.

Abba, Father,

Father God, we abide in You. 

Knowing apart from You 

we have no good. 

You are the Vine, we are the branches. 

Father, please, each day grow us to be the people dear to You. 

Each day, provide us the path 

You would have us to travel and journey along. 

You are the Light of the World. 

Dwell in us, please, Father.

Dwell in those we Love.

Help us to seek You first.

In Jesus Christ, we will finish well.

To see

to bring

to be

more daily

Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done

on earth

as in Heaven

In Jesus Christ is 

Our Love, Joy and Hope.

Thank You for Jesus.

We ask this in the Highest Name You've given us;

 Jesus. 

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yay Lord Jesus 

Psalm 134 ~ Bless the Lord

 

I missed Saturday, July 15, 2023, I woke up just sick during the night and have been in bed today with two naps.  And yet, here we are for evening prayer.  As a child, I loved to be outside to see the day become twilight and become the evening noise of summer song. When I have been ill, I notice I usually feel better as evening arrives.

Psalm 134

Behold, bless ye the Lord, 

all ye servants of the Lord, 

which by night 

stand 

in the 

House of the Lord.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, 

and bless the Lord.

The Lord 

that made heaven and earth 

bless thee 

out of Zion.

Abba, Father,

Father God, we abide in You. 

Knowing apart from You 

we have no good. 

You are the Vine, we are the branches. 

Father, please, each day grow us to be the people dear to You. 

Each day, provide us the path 

You would have us to travel and journey along. 

You are the Light of the World. 

Dwell in us, please, Father.

Dwell in those we Love.

Help us to seek You first.

In Jesus Christ, we will finish well.

To see

to bring

to be

more daily

Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done

on earth

as in Heaven

In Jesus Christ is 

Our Love, Joy and Hope.

We pray for our Nation

and for the Love of 

Jesus

to prevail as Light of the world.

Light of mankind.

Thank You for Jesus.

Help us to be the Joy

the Hope

and the Love, Jesus is

and was

and will be.

We ask this in the Highest Name You've given us;

 Jesus, 

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yay Lord Jesus 

Hebrews 1:3 ~ He is the radiance of the glory of God

 

Capernaum in antiquity 

Peter's House and Synagogue 

Shores of the Sea of Galilee in Capernaum

Beatitude Mount, outside of Capernaum

looking at the Sea of Galilee

Lately, I have been thinking about Jesus walking on water. We can look to Scripture and see glimpses of Heaven. The Lord places a lot of shining water descriptions of Heaven.

Let's consider the Exodus.

Exodus 14

15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, 

when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Psalm 139:12

even the darkness is not dark to you;

    the night is bright as the day,

    for darkness is as light with you.

Pregnancy happens in the water, and it's rather dark inside the child's mother. Psalm 139 considers this:

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

    and the light about me be night,”

12 even the darkness is not dark to You;

    the night is bright as the day,

    for darkness is as light with You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;

    You knitted me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

    my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in Your Book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me,

    when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

Mark 6

45 Immediately (after feeding the 5,000) He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. 

46 And after He had taken leave of them, He went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, 

and He was alone on the land. 

48 And He saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw Him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out,

 50 for they all saw Him 

and were terrified. 

But immediately He spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. 

And they were utterly astounded

How did Jesus walk on the stormy water? We will know for certainty in Heaven. Jesus has probably answered the question quite a few times by now. We know He didn't walk by parting the water.  

When you consider the paraplegic lowered to Jesus, who could walk after years of paralysis. When Jairus child had died and Jesus raised her. When the man at the Pool of Bethesda was healed after 38, yes Thirty Eight Years, Jesus wasn't just applying a little bandage. These miracles required Jesus change one substance to another.  When people come out of a coma, they have to slowly heal. This wasn't the nature of the Jesus miracles.  The word immediately occurs surrounding Jesus quite a lot. Immediately is used in the Gospels, 35, 14,12 and 2. John's beautiful Gospel is not astonished by the immediacy of Jesus Christ. More the Steadfastness.

Hebrews 1:3

By His own mighty Word, He holds the universe together. 

After the Son had washed away our sins, 

He sat down at the right side 

of the glorious God 

in Heaven.

Genesis 1

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

2 Now the earth was formless and void,

 and darkness was over the surface of the deep.

 

And the Spirit of God 

was hovering over the surface of the waters.

We cannot say as God Himself would explain, but I'd consider the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one. And think, when Jesus walked on water, He traveled as the Holy Spirit did over the surface of the deep.

Proverbs 8

When He established the heavens, I was there;

    when He drew a circle on the face of the deep,

28 when He made firm the skies above,

    when He established the fountains of the deep,

29 when He assigned to the sea its limit,

    so that the waters might not transgress His command,

when He marked out the foundations of the earth.

Now we know that the skies above also have circles that do not transgress His Commands. 

Ephesians 3:17-19 ~ grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

The annunciation to Zechariah, Mary and the Shepherds is also an arrival from Heaven. Like walking on water...

Hebrews 1:3

He is the radiance of the glory of God 

and the exact imprint of His nature, 

and He upholds the universe 

by the Word of His Power. 

After making purification for sins, 

He sat down at the right hand 

of the Majesty on high

With God all things are possible.

Abba, Father,

Blessed Be the Name of Jesus

and those who call upon Him

Blessed be those who have

their hope in You

Thank You for hearing our prayers

and answering us

as our Father.

In the Highest Name of

Jesus, Alleluia,

Amen

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yay Lord Jesus