Verse of the Day 2/1

Through the Bible - Isaiah 28-29, Mark 7:1-13

 

Good morning,

When do you pray?  In hard times, during the storms of life?   How about in good times, when things are going well and sleep comes easy?  How about the in-between times?

 

For today's verse we'll go to Luke chapter 6.  Jesus had just performed some miracles of healing and had confrontations with the Pharisees about healing on the Sabbath and other things.  He was about to go and choose the 12 Apostles.  In this in-between time, Jesus took time to pray.

 

It should be a reminder for us.  Seek God after we've come through storms and triumphs.  Seek Him also in preparation for what comes next.

 

Luke 6:12 In these days  he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.   ESV

I never get the picture that Jesus rushed from one thing, one place to another.  We also see that He took time to "be at one" with the Father to return for Him for a time of peace.   Do you, will you, take the time to be yourself with God, to be more "grounded" in who we are and whose we are?

 

Commentator Henry Wansbrough writes, "Following Jesus, every Christian yearns for the moment when passing worries are put aside, and we face with awe and wonder the deepest of all realities, whom we call God.  It is a moment of reverence and fear, but a moment also of confidence and trust, a moment of losing self and of finding self again, enriched and enhanced."

 

I read those words, both the verse on the comments of Wansbrough and thought, wow!, I need that.

 

It's not going to come from rushing from one thing to another, even if they are "good" things.

 

Read the words to the hymn "Take Time to be Holy" below.  It is not about being self righteous but about losing yourself and finding yourself again.

 

1. Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
   Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
   Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,
   Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
2. Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
   Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
   By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
   Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
3. Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
   And run not before Him, whatever betide.
   In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
   And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
4. Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
   Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
   Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
   Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

 

Take time in the good times, the hard times, and the in-between times to turn to Him for a time of peace.

Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV
Luke 6:6-16

 

A Man with a Withered Hand

 

6 On another Sabbath,  he entered the synagogue  and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees  watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath,  so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But  he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come and stand here." And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, "I ask you,  is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?"  10 And  after looking around at them all he said to him, "Stretch out your hand." And  he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with  fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

 

The Twelve Apostles

 

12 In these days  he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came,  he called his disciples  and  chose from them twelve, whom he named  apostles: 14 Simon,  whom he named Peter, and  Andrew his brother, and  James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and  Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called  the Zealot, 16 and  Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
ESV