Jay's Sunday Morning Message

We just finished our small church service here in our house. We have just a few adults and some teenagers coming. It's not much, but Jay's teaching is better than ever.

Mark 7: 31 - 37 tells the story of Jesus healing the deaf and dumb man. I believe that the stories of the gospel are explanatory of God's character. I especially love the stories of how He dealt with people because I think they transport us directly into the heart of God. Jay's teaching did that for me this morning. It also convicted me and gave me a serious reminder.

In memory of our old Bible studies where we discussed Jay's teaching, I thought I'd share some thoughts with you in response to the message this morning. You'll probably want to read the passage so that you can track with this blog today.

Background: Jesus is returning to Galilee; His own country, where He was aware that people were turning away from Him in their hearts. Their lips said the right things, but their hearts were far from Him. They seemed enthusiastic, but they're missing the heart of the matter.

As soon as He arrives, some people bring their friend to Him to be healed since he could not hear or speak. They beg Him to heal their friend. This miracle is unusual because the people thought of dumbness as the ultimate incapacity. If you could not speak, in their minds, you could not even pray for God to heal. They saw this as the ultimate straight jacket so at the end of the passage it is obvious that this miracle uniquely astonished them with Jesus' power. Nobody had caused a dumb man to speak before. This man could do nothing to bring himself out of his illness at all.

The isolation this man must have experienced was probably intense. He could see, but probably did not fully grasp all that was going on around him. Jesus takes him away from the multitude.

The multitude here was a circus. They wanted Jesus' handouts, but didn't much care for Him personally in any way. They were excited and amazed and enjoying the possibilities of what Jesus might do for them. At the end of the passage, Jesus tells them to keep quiet, probably in hope that they would take a moment to think about Him and realize who He was. He wanted a more intimate connection with these people, but they wouldn't stop. In their excitement about what He had done, they couldn't listen to Him. They couldn't contain themselves. They got busy publicizing the event and proclaiming the great thing Jesus had done, but they missed Jesus Himself. They missed the Big Event of their lives while they were right there with Him, and even while they enjoyed it. How amazing is that thought? It is truly necessary for us to take some time alone with God and allow our encounters to sink deeply into our hearts where we build a relationship with Him personally. That is what He longs for. Their sin was simply ignoring Him. They weren't hostile. They weren't even neutral or unresponsive. They just didn't care about Him.

...so He took the deaf and dumb man away from the multitude. That must have been some effort! This was a big multitude of excited people. They may have gone a few hours away, but in any event, it is obvious that Jesus wanted to get this guy away from the craziness and be alone with him.

Jesus always heals differently, because we are all different. We have different specifics in our lives and God is so unbelievable in that He meets us right where we are. Here is a man who had lived in isolation and probably didn't have much ability to figure out what in the world was happening to him that day. He could not tell Jesus what he wanted. He could not even walk in faith for himself because he may not have known why his friends brought him. This is why they believed that dumbness was the ultimate straight jacket.

Jesus has a very intimate encounter with this man. It says he "shoves" his fingers in his ears. It is not a "touch," but a jamming of the fingers. He then spit and touched his tongue. How much more intimate can you get than that? This healing is much more than a physical healing. It is Jesus trying to reach into this man's darkness and pull him out of it to intimacy with Himself.

In vs. 34 it says, "...looking up to heaven, he sighed..."

Why did Jesus sigh? We sigh because we're burdened. What was burdening Jesus that day? And why did He sigh just when he was about to bring this man out of darkness? Wouldn't He be smiling? ...Not if the most important thing to Him was a relationship with this man.

Nowhere in this passage do we see anyone actually interested in Jesus Himself. They wouldn't listen to Him. They wouldn't stop and think. They wouldn't spend time with Him. He already knew that their hearts weren't really with Him. They just wanted what He had and what they could get from Him. He sighed, but He still healed. He still wanted to give a blessing and to love the man who needed so much more than healing.

We don't know what happened to this guy later. There's no record of anything past this point, which suggests he probably just went on with life. He probably spoke about the great thing Jesus did for him until he died. But did he ever really make the intimate connection with Jesus that Jesus craved?

In the beginning of the story we see people imploring Jesus. He listens to them and does what they ask for. At the end of the story, we see Jesus "charging them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; and were beyond measure astonished, saying, 'He hath done all things well; he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak."

Wow, even while they were complimenting Him, they were disobeying! They justified this, I'm sure, by a feeling religious self-righteousness, like we do so often. They probably thought the best thing to do was to "publish" it for Jesus: get the word out, tell people about the great thing Jesus had done "well." But what Jesus really wanted was their hearts, which for some reason, they were not willing to give.

We are in danger of offending Jesus in the same way today. Our churches are full of TV cameras that "publish" the great things that are going on. We are very media driven, bug crowd driven, enthusiasm for good driven. But are driven to make an intimate connection with Him today?

We might be surprised by what He actually wants us to do. I believe He wanted them to quietly go home alone that day. I think we can see clearly that He probably would have liked to break up that crowd and pull each person away by themselves with Him. That is exactly what He still wants to do, and we are literally living in the midst of an ongoing crowd via our media. Can we wrench ourselves away and get alone with Him? I hope so.

I was convicted with the depth of this sin and how easy it is to convince myself that I'm actually serving Him, when I'm not listening to Him at all. That is a scary thought. And it's a very sad picture of how much distress we can bring to Jesus.

With all the "published" news of Jesus today there is not shortage of crowds like this one. They can be deceiving.

It's Sunday today. Can you take some time to be with Him? If you have trouble doing this, I'd love to talk about why. Let's encourage each other.

In Christ's deep love,

Monica

Humility Required

Usually I am inspired to write in response to something I've read. I think that's because my own brain is mush. I need His thoughts to spark something of value (or something at all). Then a chain reaction gets going and I actually have a good thought. The last few days I keep seeing Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail saying, "Just blank..." when describing how she couldn't respond with come backs when insulted. I'm just blank most of the time, but I can't even say that line charmingly.

This morning I read Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, though. I went ahead and read the evening because I'm not disciplined enough to follow the rules. The June 3 evening entry says,

"He humbled himself." -- Philippians 2:8.

...While on earth, wasn't He always stripping off first one robe of honor and then another until, naked, He was fastened to the cross, and didn't He empty out His inmost self there, pouring out His lifeblood, giving up for all of us, until they laid Him penniless in a borrowed grave? How low our dear Redeemer was brought! Therefore, how can we be proud?

Now, this is a very spiritual way of looking at life. The trouble with me is that I don't think very spiritually. I tend to think on a very material plane, which makes suffering extra hard. The battle is mostly in the mind and how I think determines how I will do in the battle. So it is very important that I find those spiritual thoughts to guide me through.

There's a right way and a wrong way to do everything - even suffering. Suffering includes shame. Americans don't think much of suffering. In fact, I would say that it is diametrically opposed to the American dream and an offense to most Americans - so much so that we look with suspicion upon anyone who is truly suffering, myself included.

Maybe it's also not natural to the human, prideful psyche. But I also think that the American church is turning away from humility now en mass. Seeker churches are promoting "Life Coaching," and it seems that every Christian feels "entitled." There is now just a feeling in the air that success is the right and godly thing to do - or at least we must live a "peaceful" life. I'm not saying that success is wrong, or that anybody who is successful is not spiritual. I love being around successful people. It makes me feel successful, too. Please don't misunderstand my thoughts here if you happen to be in a trend of success right now (Congratulations!). I'm simply pointing out that the environment in the church is changing.

I believe every kind of suffering brings shame with it because suffering is essentially weakness of some sort - or meekness. There will always be mockers and those that look askance at suffering. There are those that are so afraid of suffering themselves that they cannot bear to see someone else's shame. Suffering is a lonely place to be, and that's why we so often find Christ there. We have fellowship with Him in suffering because He is the only One who can truly empathize and relate to our pain.

When I look at Christ's humility, I understand the battle that is going on inside of me when I am faced with weakness or the need to be meek. (Meekness is strength denied - you have the power to act, but you don't. That is a good word for married women to add to their vocabulary because it is called "beautiful" in 1 Peter 2.)

If you're suffering today, accept the weakness and shame or the need for meekness as his plan, and know that you are given the opportunity to understand more of His character. Ask Him to give you spiritual thoughts about life. The most spiritual thought I can think of here is that we are in a battle.

Here are some more spiritual thoughts for the day: He never takes His eyes off of us. If He knows every hair on our heads, He certainly knows where we find ourselves today. Now, that's just logical thinking.

God bless your fellowship with Him today,

Monica

Finally! I just need to do this.

To all my dear sisters in the Lord whom I miss so much, and to those that I may meet for the first time through this endeavor,

I have wanted to write for about four years, but I draw a blank every time I think about it. I just decided to dive in today and do it. It's reckless, I know, but I've just got to start somewhere and here seems good.

I'm in the middle of a knock down, drag out dog fight with the enemy. Just one skirmish in a long line of them dating back about four years. (Gee, I wonder where this started. Anyone want to hazard a guess?) I was foolish enough to ask God to teach me how to "war" a few years ago. I realized that I was a SPIRITUAL WIMP, and I didn't want to be a wimp in the Kingdom of Heaven so I asked Him to change that. I had just discovered the magical truth that I am absolutely powerless to change myself, but that if I simply ask God to change me, He will - and can. I just didn't count on Him actually taking me to war. Funny thing how that worked.

I have to constantly remind myself that I asked Him for this. He is faithful, you know? I think I must have prayed according to how He saw it because He didn't waste much time in delivering.

It's good to remember, though, because if I forget that I asked for battles I start to think that life just stinks. Oh yeah, this is a battle in the Kingdom of God, and I'm a soldier fighting on the side of eternal good - actually kinda cool. I wanted to be tough so I need to start enjoying this.

Anyway, I came across this poem today in a book by Kay Arthur entitled, As Silver Refined:
(Good book, so far)

"Disappointment -- His Appointment";
change one letter, then I see
that the thwarting of my purpose
is God's better choice for me.
His appointment must be blessing
though it may come in disguise;
for the end, from the beginning,
open to His vision lies,

"Disappointment--His Appointment."
Whose? The Lord who loves me best,
understands and knows me fully,
who my faith and love would test.
For like loving earthly parents
He rejoices when He knows
that His child accepts unquestioned
all that from His wisdom flows.

"Disappointment--His Appointment";
no good things will He withhold.
From denials oft we gather
treasures of His love untold.
Well He knows each broken purpose
leads to a fuller, deeper trust,
and the end of all His dealings
proves our God is wise and just.

"Disappointment--His Appointment";
Lord I take it then as such,
like clay in the hands of the potter
yielding wholly to His touch.
My life's plan is all His molding;
not one single choice be mine.
Let me answer unrepenting,
"Father, not my will, but Thine."

--Anonymous

I have absolute confidence that His will is best, and even that He has a grand, master plan for my life. I just can't see it most of the time, and that freaks me out. I'm walking blind, mostly, but I have a really good "seeing eye God." I just have to trust that He's taking me to a safe place.

I thought someone out there could maybe use that poem today, and that's what got me on the computer finally. I think about all of you so much, but find it hard to make small talk when so much is constantly going on internally with me.

I'll post some pictures of interest at some point. The kids are really growing up, and they're doing very well. I like 'em. God has done many, many miracles, but they often get lost to my sight. That's another reason I decided to write. Someone said something that I can't remember right now that had to do with remembering what God has done. (Oh boy, am I in trouble!) I decided right then and there to start writing for that purpose, if nothing else. (We'll see how this goes.) I did try to write something that day. I sat down and drew a blank and walked away.

So somehow this poem got me going and I had to run with it. I think that if I chip away daily (or, maybe bi-daily) with little thoughts and memories I can do this.

My mission is to stay in touch through fellowship on this blog, to remember what God has done, to encourage anyone I can, to share what I've learned and what I'm learning with anyone who is interested, and to see what God might want to do.

I had some plans for starting a yahoo group for this purpose, but moderating it is beyond my time capacity right now. I would get so into it that I'd never see my family again. I have also had some plans to start a web page that could accommodate our fellowship, but that is a huge undertaking (which I want to do, and by God's grace I shall someday), but I decided that it would take too long, would overwhelm me (and boy you do not want to do that. I cry like a baby when I'm overwhelmed), and I would never get back in touch with everyone if I waited around like that.

So, welcome to my blog...

One reason I have never done this is that I hate the idea of a blog. It just seems so self-absorbed, and I'm already much too self-absorbed. That scares me, frankly. However, I know that my interest is a sincere desire to offer much needed fellowship that might encourage not only me, but others as well. The desire to do this just won't go away.

If I can think of some pithy scripture I'll put it here in the future, but for now,

I hope this begins a long and glorious avenue of fellowship.

God bless you gals,

Monica