Daily Digest

1 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” 4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” 5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. 6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

I was talking with someone recently about the Old Testament name for God ‘Jehovah Jireh’. This name translates to mean ‘God will provide’ or ‘God will see to it.’ Not even just that God can provide, but that He will. 

We see this characteristic of God in this passage through the actions of Jesus. When Jesus was surrounded by the disciples and the people who were following Him, He was already aware of their hunger & their need for food to eat. He knew before they even got to that point that they would be in this situation, stomachs grumbling.  He knew that the need was great – that there would be lots of mouths to feed – but that His ability to see to it and provide was greater. In this instance, Jesus met the hunger of these people in a very real, tangible, and miraculous way, and showed both His incredible power & deep compassion for them at the same time. I wonder what it would have been like to taste and eat the food that Jesus had multiplied? To know that the bread you were eating, in the natural sense, should not have been able to exist?

This is what is so great about the fact that God will provide. It’s not just that He did provide for people in the Bible, like in this passage. He will, and does, continue to see to it for each of us. He knows the situations we will face before we even get there. We too can ‘taste that bread’ when we see what God is able to provide – what God will provide – even when we feel that the situation is too big, too hard, or even impossible. 

God, I am so grateful that you are in control, that you are already aware of all the situations I will ever face in life. I thank you that your desire is to see to it, and that you use your incredible power and compassion to provide for me every day. Help me to continue to place my faith in your goodness & provision for my life. Amen. 

Written by Madelaine Tarasenko

24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

What a strange passage, and one of many examples where Jesus responds in a way that I do not expect. 

This woman has come to Jesus desperate for His help, and yet He seems to be putting her off in what may sound like rudeness to us. His reference to taking the “children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” reflects the belief of the Jews at the time that gentiles were not worthy to receive from God. Perhaps Jesus was testing her to see how she would respond to this?

Well done to her – this woman passed the test! I think the key to the outcome in this passage is that she displayed two things that Jesus loves – humility and faith.

The woman did not argue with Jesus about whether she was worthy to receive from Him. She just humbly asked again in faith. And Jesus makes it clear that the response that she gets from Him is directly related to the way that she replied to His challenge.

Which makes me think, how do I respond when I am challenged? Do I get angry and demand my rights, or do I respond in humility and faith?

Today I choose to come back to these two basics in my relationship with God – humility and faith. None of us actually deserves anything from Jesus, but He loves to give grace to the humble, and faith is the key to receiving from Him.

Written by Shelley Witt

1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” 6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” 9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)—12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” 14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

Jesus does an amazing job in this passage reminding us that our attitudes and the way we think matter just as much as what we actually do. It’s not just what we say but what we think about saying that God hears. The disciples were focused on Jesus and what He was saying and doing so they didn’t do the traditional things that were expected of them. The Pharisees were watching just waiting to catch every little thing they did that wasn’t in line with what was expected of them as the disciples of a teacher. Who would you like to be more like – amazed, fascinated by Jesus or taking a critical eye to everyone and everything around you? I know what means I am a nicer person to be around.

Becoming more like Jesus each day includes Jesus changing the way we think, a little each day, so that our first response in a situation is the loving response. Engaging with God in that process helps us to see the changes, to be more receptive to change, to notice when our first reaction is not what we would like it to be so that we can keep working on our values, beliefs and attitudes. Ask God today to show you one thing where your attitudes need to adjust to become more like His.

Lord thank You that You care about us so much that You want us to understand love – how much You love us and how we should love others and ourselves. Thank You that You want to help us make use of that understanding of love to treat others and ourselves well and that to understand what is important to You. Help us to keep learning throughout our lives to respond how You would like us to in every situation.

Written by Therese Manning

45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. 47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Oh the difficulty with our hearts! The disciples could not understand what Jesus was doing, and who He was, because of their hard hearts. Faith could not rise in them, because of their hard hearts. How often do I pray – God make your ways, your will, your plan more obvious to me – without even beginning to think, ‘Lord, first, soften my heart towards you, where it may be hard.’

These disciples had Jesus with them, every day; here He was, walking on the water, calming a raging sea. And still they did not understand him. Perhaps my inability to see God’s ways, will, and plan is more to do with the state of my heart than it is to do with the state of His activity on my behalf!

Lord, soften my heart towards you, where it may be hard. Show me where hardness of heart is preventing me from hearing from you, seeing you at work, understanding what you’re doing, and knowing what I must do in response. Amen.

Written by Ps. Rob Waugh

14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” 16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” 17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. 21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” 24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. 25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

John the Baptist was undoubtedly a good man. In Matthew 11:11, Jesus states that there has not been a man greater than him!

So what do I do to be like John the Baptist?

–          Eat Locusts and Honey

–          Wear camel hair clothing

–          Be homeless

–          Be very outspoken against the religious majority

–          Get beheaded

I don’t know about you, but this list doesn’t seem to be all that desirable. As I think about it, I ask myself a few questions:

1)      Do I conform to social norms to just fit-in and avoid standing out in society? Is that God’s plan for me?

2)      Have I judged others and categorised them as nutters, when really they were a lot more like John the Baptist than I am?

Lord, thankyou for the revelation that I need to be prepared to grow in ways that I sometimes might not expect. 

Written by Ps. Justin Ware

1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6a He was amazed at their lack of faith.

There is an interesting interplay here between Honour and Power.  Jesus, who normally had considerable power to perform miracles found it difficult because of the lack of faith expressed by the people.  How was this lack of faith expressed, it was expressed in familiarity to the person, rather than recognition of the authority of the teaching.  The gathered people recognised that the teaching was ‘out of the box’ but the person who taught them was familiar and this, at least for some, perhaps many of the crowd impacted the ability of the truth to drive deeply in to the souls of the men and women.  They did not honour the person bringing the truth nor did they honour the truth for being the truth.

Where are the times when the ‘packaging’ of something has interrupted my reception of it?  Where have I limited my faith expression based on the person or situation a God given opportunity presented itself to me?

Father, help me keep a soft heart to you and in so doing not be more concerned with the wrapping as with the present within.

Written by Ps. Richard Botta

24b A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

I love this well-known story of life changing miraculous healing. It speaks to me on so many levels – courage, faith, God’s power and forgiveness.

Forgiveness? Yes. My NIV study bible says the Greek word for “healed’ actually means “saved”. She is blessed by Jesus to “Go in peace (spiritual healing) and be freed from your suffering “(physical healing). God wants us to be fully restored.

I am challenged by the vulnerability displayed by the sick woman. Her public display of faith meant she was vulnerable to religious and cultural condemnation, at a time when it was believed she was ceremonially “unclean” and therefore those in contact with her were likewise. This is why she was trembling with fear when Jesus sought her out (v33). She risked much when she reached out in faith to touch Jesus’ cloak.

Through her faithful actions the power of God is displayed – for all those present and the generations afterwards who have read her story. God’s power was flowing through Jesus for her, right at that moment, in her moment of need and faith.

Her example makes me reflect on my attitude when I face seemingly insurmountable problems. My options are my own strength or activating my faith. Self reliance or reliance on God. Acknowledging I need God’s power to transform my situation may make me feel vulnerable, others may see I don’t have all the answers. That is a great moment when God comes alongside and restores me, and my relationship with him.

Thank you, God that when I am vulnerable in my faith your power is displayed. I want to testify to your power in my life whenever I can. Give me the words to say. Amen

Written by Claire Moore

1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!’ 8 For Jesus had said to him, ‘Come out of this man, you impure spirit!’ 9 Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘My name is Legion,’ he replied, ‘for we are many.’ 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. 11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, ‘Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.’ 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. 14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

It is clear from this passage that an encounter with Jesus is powerful and life changing. This man had tried everything he knew, even the people around him had tried everything worldly wisdom provided to help relieve him of his problems but nothing had worked. The man was destined for destruction. But the encounter with Jesus changed everything. What no man could do was more than possible for the Son of God.

What can I learn? No matter how strong a grip something has on my life or how desperate my situation can be, bringing it to Jesus can completely turn things around and set me free. Secondly, an encounter with Christ does not necessarily mean a call to separate myself from the world. The possessed man in his freedom was called to service in the same area he had experienced his greatest bondage. The call of God on our lives looks different for each one of us.

Heavenly Father, I give my life to you. Help me to surrender everything to you. Help me to be obedient to all that you have called me to. May you be glorified by the way I live. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Written by Christine Knight

26 He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces corn—first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 As soon as the corn is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’ 30 Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.’ 33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

What kind of farmer sows seeds and then is surprised when it grows? Surely every farmer knows that what you put into the ground and care for will grow?

Yet this is not the case with the “kingdom farmers” Jesus is talking about. Jesus describes them as sowers that don’t understand what’s happening underground. 

Sometimes I don’t feel very effective for Jesus.  You share your faith where you can, openly declare that you’re a follower of Jesus and try to conduct your life to honour him but somehow that “sowing” doesn’t seem to be very effective. What an encouraging passage this is from Jesus! When we think our tiny efforts for God’s kingdom are insignificant and useless, God will make it grow. He will miraculously take the “seeds” of our lives and the conversations we have about the gospel and use them to slowly grow faith in others. 

I need to keep sowing in faith! God will make something grow in others whether I’m aware of it or not. 

Jesus, thanks so much for this encouragement. Please take my “mustard seed” efforts and turn them into something great – for your glory and pleasure.   Amen

Written by Boudy Van Noppen

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, ‘ “they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”’ 13 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.’

Upon first reading, it can seem a bit hard to understand Jesus’ explanation of why he spoke in parables. It can sound like Jesus is trying to keep the truth from people by hiding it in parables “lest they should be converted and their sins be should be forgiven”.

But if we think a bit harder about human nature and our own experiences, we realise that often people (including myself!) are resistant to hearing the truth. 

So when Jesus used parables, He didn’t start by stating a truth. Instead, the parable was like a doorway. Jesus’ listeners stood at the doorway and heard Him. If they were not interested, they stayed on the outside. But if they were interested, they could walk through the doorway and think about the truth behind the parable and what it meant to their lives.

As one commentator puts it: “Jesus didn’t use parables to blind people, but because they were blind. Therefore Jesus used the parabolic method, not in order to blind them, but in order to make them look again; not in order to prevent them from coming to forgiveness, but in order to lure them toward a new attention.” (Morgan)

I want to be one who is open and willing to hearing truth – even when it reveals something in me that I’d rather not see or acknowledge. 

God help me embrace Your words and to walk through the door to dig deeper to find Your truth.

Written by Shelley Witt

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

It was hard for the disciples to understand who Jesus was. It must have been even harder for his family – they had seen him growing up as the first-born son in their family. But he is also the first-born son of God’s family.

Clearly his human family is worried about him. I’m not sure if they really thought he was out of his mind (3:21) or if they were trying to protect him from the accusation that he was demon possessed (3:22-30). Now they have come to take him back to the safety of his family, and away from all this.

When they lost him as a boy in Jerusalem (Luke 2:36-52), Jesus couldn’t understand where they would expect him to be other than his Father’s (God’s) house, immersed in his Father’s word. But he obediently went home with Joseph and Mary. Now he’s immersed in his Father’s works, speaking his Father’s word. How could any of God’s children do anything else? Especially God’s first-born son.

Mark just leaves the tension hanging. How will it be resolved? (Spoiler alert!) We know that this time Mary and his brothers followed Jesus (and James became a leader in the Jerusalem church).

But the question hangs there for me, too. I’m also a member of my human family and a member of God’s family. The only safe place for my human family is in God’s family. I need to allow God to be the father in my family too. He’s a much better father to my sons than I will ever be. I will be best father I can be when I do it in partnership with him.

Father, I give my family to you. Speak your truth into our lives. Do your works in our hearts, today and every day.

Written by David Cornell

13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

When I’ve read this passage before, I focussed on the twelve appointed to preach and cast out demons, but I missed the significance of what comes first.

It begins with Jesus calling some of his followers and them coming to him. He appoints them, first of all, to be with him, and then, second, to do the things that he was doing. Doing what Jesus was doing is the natural consequence of doing life with him.

I like that Jesus gave so many of them nicknames. They knew each other well. Jesus saw who they could become, but not on their own. “The Rock” (Peter) crumbled when Jesus was arrested. The “sons of thunder” were silent at the cross (John) or absent (James). The other Simon was zealous at running when they came for Jesus.

When he sends them to the ends of the earth to be witnesses for everything that he’s doing, he tells them to wait for the Holy Spirit to come first (Acts 1:4-8). He promises to be with them “to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:16-20). Being with Jesus remains the core of speaking out the truth about him. Working in partnership with him remains key to acting with his authority. They could only achieve their destiny when walking with God.

Jesus, it’s easy to slip into doing things for you, instead of doing things with you. I’m sorry that I slip into asking you to be part of what I’m doing rather than being part of what you’re doing. What are you doing today? I want to go with you. Can we do it together?

Written by David Cornell

1 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Jesus is continuing to change the mindset/worldview of those following him – in this case the Pharisees and those in the Synagogue – ones who knew the scriptures, ones who were supposed to know God.  Jesus is re-framing their understanding of the Sabbath and God.  The questions Jesus asks only have one answer – answers that the Pharisees knew to be right but have become so restricted & rigid in keeping rules and trying to be right, they couldn’t bring themselves to respond … sadly, they miss the heart of God, miss the humanity of helping another in need.

The challenge afresh to me is: am I still open to Jesus showing me where my thinking, understanding or life has become narrow or restricted in the ‘way’ my faith is lived?  Do I miss the heart of God for others because of my need to be right? Am I really following Jesus in the way He would have me go?

Lord, I want to keep my heart soft to your ways and your heart and not restricted to legalism.  Help me not miss ways in which I can help others into your presence, healing and rest.

Written by Suzie Hodgson

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” 19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. 21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Here we read two different scenarios where Jesus is being questioned – why aren’t your disciples fasting (the way they’re supposed to) and why aren’t your disciples keeping the Sabbath (the way they are supposed to)? Jesus was ushering in a new way of following the Spirit rather than the law, and it was uncomfortable for the religious people of the day.

Sometimes we too can find ourselves (especially as we get older) wanting to do things the way that we have always done it in the past. Staying with what we know and with what we are comfortable with can feel like a safer option.

Following God’s Spirit involves being willing to do things His way and in new ways- not playing it “safe” by doing what we have always done.

Accepting challenges and change is a choice that we need to continually make if we are going to keep in step with Jesus. It’s my goal and dream to live all the days of my life right to the very end as a person who is always willing to say ‘yes’ to the new thing that the Holy Spirit is asking me to do.

I encourage you today to join me in asking God what is the “new thing” he is asking me (you) to do and being willing to say yes to Him!

Written by Shelley Witt