In Christ We Have All That We Need

Today we return again to the blog with the unusual name, More than Useless, written by Thom Fowler. Also, I finally spent enough time at the blog to find out why it has the name it does. It’s taken from the lyrics of a Reliant K song.

And sometimes I think that I’m not any good at all
And sometimes I wonder why, why I’m even here at all…

…But then you assure me
I’m a little more than useless
And when I think that I can’t do this
You promise me that I’ll get through this
And do something right
Do something right for once

As always, click the title below to read this at source.

More than Enough

^{NLT.Mark 4.35} As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” ³⁶ So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). ³⁷ But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

³⁸ Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

³⁹ When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”

One story that sticks in my mind from when I still lived at home, was my father, who was a minister as well, was out checking the situations with some families who were in need in our community. In particular, he was helping determine what, if any, foodstuffs they needed.

In one home, as he was inspecting their pantry, he found numerous cans of soup. He asked why they weren’t eating it, their response? “We don’t have any crackers.” They weren’t trying to be smart or silly, in all seriousness they thought they couldn’t eat the one without the other. In their ignorance, they had underestimated what they could do with what they had. The soup was more than enough to meet their need!

In today’s passage, Jesus is in a boat with his closest companions, they had been with Him from the beginning. They had seen Him perform miracle, after miracle, after miracle. But when they ended up in the middle of a very scary situation – and remember several of them were seasoned fisherman – they began to panic! They knew the serious danger in which they found themselves.

And where was Jesus? Sleeping! He was exhausted – so much so that even the “high waves breaking in the boat” as “it began to fill with water” didn’t even faze Him!

When they woke him, he immediately – to their absolute amazement – brought the stormy sea to a “great calm” with a simple command of “Silence! Be still!”

And they just weren’t amazed, they were terrified! Exclaiming, “Who is this man? Even the wind and waves obey him!”

They really had no idea with whom they were dealing! They didn’t realize that with Jesus they could handle any situation. They weren’t limited because of what they didn’t have – in Jesus they had everything they needed. They had underestimated what He was capable of. They may not have known what He could do! But they found out in a hurry!

Lord Jesus, do we underestimate what Your power can do in our lives? We know You, to a certain degree but do we truly trust that “For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible”? (Luke 1:37 AMP) Do we cling to false hope? Do we have as our mindset that we will just have to tough it out?

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:29-30 AMP ,Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”

Savior, help us to cling to true Hope – You! May our grasp never falter and even if it does, may we take solace in knowing that Yours never will! You will always be more than enough!

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Here’s the Reliant K song referred to in the intro complete with lyrics. (It really rocks out; remember we warned you!)

The Woman Who Jumped the ‘I Need a Miracle’ Line

Once again we’re back with Carol Hatcher whose blog is titled Sheep to the Right.

When Someone Gets in Front of Your Miracle

He was desperate.

Yet in that despair came a glimmer of hope. He’d heard stories of the one they called Teacher. He’d never seen any of the miracles, but there was talk of him healing the sick and even raising the dead.

So with a modicum of faith, Jairus went in search of Jesus to help his daughter. When Jairus found him, the pomp and circumstance that usually accompanied synagogue leaders such as himself, crumbled as he fell at Jesus’ feet. In despair he cried, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” (Mark 5:23 NIV)

So Jesus went.

The Bible states it simply. Christ didn’t ask questions. He didn’t give instructions for the disciples to pass out tracts while he ran on his miracle errand. He just went.

Jairus must have been thrilled. I imagine him trying to move briskly in the direction of his home suppressing the urge to break into a sprint. But there were all those people. I would have run, shoving men and women as I went. Shove now, apologize later. There was a life at stake after all.

Then this woman showed up – hoping for a miracle of her own. The embarrassment over her “unclean” condition was perhaps what motivated her to touch Jesus in secret. She probably thought, I’ll keep my head covered and just touch his clothes. He is so powerful, even the fibers woven to adorn his body will be enough. No doubt, she intended on slipping out of the crowd as soon as she was healed, but Jesus was aware of her presence.

He knew that power had gone out from his body. (v. 30)

“Who touched me?” Christ asked, wanting to look upon the face of the woman with such faith.

Let’s freeze that moment and talk a minute about those around Jesus and what they were thinking. We know the disciples were thinking their Lord was loco (crazy). The Bible doesn’t tell us their tone, but one can only imagine.

After Jesus’ question, their response was, “You see people crowding against you, and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” (v. 31) I can almost see the sarcasm dripping from the words.

What I want to know is what is Jairus doing? This man is desperate for his daughter to be healed and is afraid she is going to die. If it were me, I might have been silent on the outside, but I’d be screaming on the inside, “Let’s go! Okay, okay. She’s healed already – besides the fact she totally jumped in the ‘I need a miracle’ line. Let’s go!”

Back to the situation at hand.

In terror, the woman came forward and collapsed at Jesus feet. The same feet Jairus gazed upon mere minutes before. Her story came spilling forth, and instead of criticizing her, Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

But before Jesus can even finish speaking these words, some men from Jairus’ house approached Jairus with the nightmare he had been trying to avoid. “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore?”

Can you imagine the agony? He succeeded in getting Jesus to come only to have his daughter die before they could arrive. Once again, the Bible is silent on Jairus’ response, but we can infer from Jesus’ next words that Jairus was upset.

“Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’” (v. 36)

Can I share with you the words that struck me? “Ignoring what they said…”

How many times have you heard the worst? Perhaps the doctors have given no hope. Maybe your family laughed when you shared your dream. You thought you heard the voice of God, but now you are not so sure.

Take Jesus’ advice – ignore what they said. Then don’t be afraid. Just believe.

Sometimes in order to achieve the impossible, we have to disregard the obstacles. When God is in it, all things are possible.

You see, Jesus went on to Jairus’ house, telling the people there the girl was asleep. And guess what the people did? They didn’t fall down and worship. They didn’t even run in her room and place a mirror under her nose. Instead, “they laughed at him.” (v. 40)

But Jesus went into her room and brought the child back to life. She got up and had a fruit snack. (Just a guess. Dried figs would qualify as a fruit snack, right?)

So today I ask what impossible task are you facing? Perhaps you need to ignore the discouraging words and the laughs.

Then don’t be afraid. Just believe.

Jesus to the Blind Man: Did that Work?

Mark 8:22ESV And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Despite the familiarity of the story, I’d never thought about the idea that Jesus asks the blind man if it worked. It’s almost an “Are we there yet?” type of question, especially given this is a two-step healing process. Brad Blocksom writes at Think Theology and is part of the Vineyard denomination. Click the title below to read this at source.

Blind Eyes Opened! (In More Ways than One)

They land on the Northern shore of the Galilee at Bethsaida (v. 22). Similar to the previous healing of the deaf man, Jesus takes the blind man away from the crowds (out of the village), again perhaps to establish communication with this outcast from society (but Lane is not so sure). Again similar to the deaf man, Jesus establishes contact and enters into the world of this disabled man through the seemingly (to us) application of saliva to his eyes (he couldn’t see but he could feel what Jesus was doing). Then He does something without parallel in the gospels, though popular with us folks in the Vineyard movement: He asks, ‘So, did it work? Did anything happen?’ (v. 23).

Now I want to go on record as not speaking exegetically here, but there is something freeing about asking this question after praying for a person for healing: How do you feel? Is anything different? There is also great risk involved. In my previous experience in Pentecostalism you just didn’t ask this question. For one thing that would be to doubt and doubt is bad! The fact is that if they answer, “nothing” then you have to deal with that thorny ‘what if they don’t get healed’ issue. This is where a good solid “already, but not yet” tension in our theology of the kingdom of God (applied to healing) can be so helpful. As Steve Nicholson says: ‘we need a theology of failure’ and ‘never embellish the story.’ In my mind it kinda takes the pressure off me, ’cause ultimately its God (whose reputation is no the line, not mine) who needs to come though here.

OK, sorry about that experiential excursus… and now back to our text! And so the man responds, ‘well, I can see, but not so good’ (i.e. not quite 100%). The man’s description of his partially restored condition would seem to indicate that he has had some previous experience with sight (“people… like trees, walking” – v. 24). And again Jesus does something unprecedented, He lays hands on the man again!

Again this is something we like to do in the Vineyard: if there seems to be a partial healing taking place, we keep at it (keep praying)!

The text is pretty clear that now the healing is a complete restoration of his sight (v. 25)!

The parallels with the previous healing of the deaf man are strong and both infirmities are mentioned (blindness and deafness/mute) in Is. 35:5-6. But the immediate context is Jesus declaration of the disciples’ hard hearts and ‘eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear’ (Mk. 8:17-18).

But His blind followers are about to see! Exactly who Jesus really is, is about to be revealed (Mk. 8:27-30). And the glory of the Christ – the Son of God – will be seen (Mark 9:2-13). But the road ahead for a disciple is paved with suffering, and at the end of the road (Jerusalem) they will witness the death of their Messiah (Mark 8:31-38)!

It’s easy for us current day followers of Jesus to pass judgment on the 12 – “How can you guyz miss this!” Who hasn’t heard (or said them self): “Oh, if only I could have been there to see the miracles of Jesus, to walk with Him, to have talked with Him.” But it would seem that given human nature, once the first wave of suffering or persecution comes, our faith can begin to falter. The nation of Israel had only recently risen out of the “valley” of the Red Sea crossing when they first “grumbled against Moses” about the bitter waters at Marah (Ex. 15:22-24).

Are you ready for the journey to Jerusalem? Am I ready to see the glory of God, but uninterested in drinking the “bitter waters” of suffering as a disciple of Jesus. What has been some of your experiences of “trusting God no matter what” (i.e. through difficult circumstances). I know one of the things that I have been struggling with lately is the fact that I basically want my nice middle class life to be trouble free and filled with all the comforts of home. And yet I claim to follow a Messiah who was destined to suffer, die and rise again (v. 31). And He invites me to come after Him, take up my cross and follow Him to Jerusalem, and in so doing find life (v. 34-35)?!? Are you ready? Will you join us, join the Twelve, on our continuing journey:

“come, follow me” – Jesus (Mk. 10:21)