Travel Light! - Get Fueled on December 5th

In Mark 6 Jesus sends out the twelve.  He sends them on a mission to share the good news, show compassion to people and to make disciples.  At this point these men transition from addicts to dealers! They have been learning from the rabbi what it means to be a disciple and now they are sent to teach others to do the same.  They begin to, "sell what they are smoking".  We, who call ourselves disciples, are called to follow their example.  It is significant that when Jesus sends out His disciples, they are told to bring only a staff.  Jesus knew the heart of men, how easily distracted we can be and how heavy our cart can become.  We are easily weighed down.  He knew that when we get weighed down, the forward progress of the gospel is impeded.  What is weighing you down? Is it your past, work, a strained relationship, keeping up with the Jones family, an idol (we do have idols in our culture, they just aren't carved out of wood and they don't sit on our mantles), an addiction?  What layers do you need to shed? What healing do you need to seek?  How do you need to refocus your mind, so that you, as a disciple, may be on the mission that Jesus has called you to?  Just a staff, the gospel and compassion!

Let's Show People the Real Jesus

Since the birth of my daughter, I have thought about this Dove commercial many times.  I have a strong desire for her to find her worth and beauty in the person she is and not what she looks like.  My prayer is that God will use myself and April to show her how truly beautiful she is inside, and as a daughter of Jesus, and that she will value this above her outward beauty!

This commercial is also a great picture of how people can get an inaccurate picture of a person's true identity!  This is true of Jesus in our culture.  Many people have an inaccurate picture of who He really is.

Mark 5 describes the powerful encounter between Jesus and a man possessed by demons.  Right after Jesus calms a literal storm, He encounters a man dealing with an internal storm.  Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee and upon walking on shore is approached by a demon possessed man who is naked, cuts himself with stones, and is strong enough to break chains.  This was a scary man living in a part of town that most people probably avoided; a part of town with a graveyard that children most likely told tales about and avoided at all costs.  This man approaches Jesus and the demons inside of him beg Jesus not to harm them!  Interesting, that among the confusion about Jesus' identity, the demons are very aware of who Jesus is!  The man falls on his knees before Jesus and the demons call him "Son of the Most High God".  Jesus then casts the demons out of this man and the same one who was naked and chained is now clothed and in his right mind.  The possessed psychopath is now a Bible student wanting to be with Jesus.  True encounters with Jesus bring about transformation!  As a result of this transformation, the people are afraid and ask Jesus to leave their region.  So He decides to leave and the transformed man begs to go with Him.  Jesus tells him to stay and tell the people what God has done for him.  He obeys Jesus, stays and shares his testimony.  Because of his obedience, the passage tells us that the people who heard him were amazed at Jesus!  This man transforms the thinking of the people in his region from fear ("afraid") to faith ("amazed") because he is obedient to Jesus.  I believe that we can also transform how others see Jesus by how we live and teach about Him.  In a culture that often sees Jesus as, "just a good teacher" or "a nice man, but not God", we can clarify what Jesus really looks like and who He really is: The God Man, Emmanuel, Anointed One, Creator, Comforter, Counselor, Deliverer, High Priest, Judge,  Bread of Life, Savior, Scapegoat, Second person of the Trinity, Lamb of God, The Word,  Rabbi, Redeemer, Resurrection, Rock, Refuge, Truth, Light, Life, Lord of the universe who walked among us, but now sits enthroned in heaven.  As we live and tell people about Him, they too will be amazed by Him!  May we give people an accurate picture of Jesus, not a photoshopped image!