From the Kitchen Table

Mark Day 32

And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Mark 11:13-14

There’s an interesting thing that happens in Mark 11.  Jesus walks into the temple, looks around and the next day brings judgment into that same temple.  Jesus sees a fig tree in leaf but with no fruit and judges the fig tree to death.  God doesn’t accept what is fake, foolish and doomed to failure.  Jesus came with judgment on what He saw, and He will come again bringing the same.  The Lord does not rely on what man says but judges what man does.  Faith without works is dead.  The Bible tells us that our Father sees in secret. (Matthew 6:4-18)  We judge by what we hear and how we see is dependent on what we hear.  But Jesus IS the way, the truth, and the life and He sees truthfully.  How He sees is how it really is.  And He will bring judgment on what He sees.  Did you ever think about that?  He sees our heart.  He sees the motive of our heart.  He sees our lives and He sees how we live this life.  Our only hope is to believe His word and let His word shape our lives.  Where faith is working there will be a change in what God and everyone else sees.  We can’t keep love hidden and we can’t keep faith a secret.  What we believe will shape what God, others, and ourselves see.  What is God seeing in you today?

Mark Day 31

And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! ¹⁰ Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

Mark 11:9-10

Praise Him, for He comes with salvation, healing, and deliverance in His hands.  His kingdom is great and wonderful.  He is worthy of praise.  But understand this, that Jesus brings with Him judgment on all that is deceptive, rebellious, and manipulating.  Jesus doesn’t come just to deal with the sin of sin.  He comes to deal with the system of sin.  We must be ready for that judgment.  His kingdom, His system, does not deal in dishonesty and delusion.  We must be ready and willing to accept and accompany His system for living.  In this last week before the cross, Jesus will expose the hearts and hands of those who deceive and deter people from the kingdom of heaven.  Praise belongs in the mouth of those who truly trust Him.  Praise belongs in the mouth of those who don’t just want judgment on sin but who want judgment on the systems of sin.  It’s the kingdoms of man and hell that keep us living in sin, sickness, and sorrow.  The heart of God is for true love, true life, and true liberty.  Praise brings all that home.  Trust Him enough to tell Him!

Mark Day 30

Read:  Mark 10:35-52

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”                 Mark 10:43-45

A heart after God is a heart of mercy.  Finding mercy and following in mercy, that’s the heart that beats for God.  Jesus had said, “I desire mercy, not a sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13; 12:7)  In mercy, we find the mighty hand of God and with mercy, we serve Him.  Blind Bartimaeus cried out for mercy, and finding it followed Jesus.  In mercy, Jesus came to die for our sinful lives and in mercy He gives us new life by rising from the dead.  In mercy, we find Him and with mercy, we follow Him.  In mercy, He leads us to life and with mercy we lead others to live in Him.  It’s not just what we know but how we live that changes the world.  Those who have found mercy serve with mercy and see the power of God’s mighty arm.

Mark Day 29

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²² Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Mark 10:21-22

Following Jesus is a matter of the heart and then the head.  The head s focused on doing but the heart is filled with being.  Where there is agreement there is authority.  But the heart will walk away from treasures and things to possess true love.  That’s why we must have the heart of a child, wanting to be loved.  It gets more difficult as we get more experienced in life and we start to figure out what treasures and things can do for us in the here in now.  The Bible says that the rich young ruler went away disheartened and sorrowful.  His head had determined what he must do but his heart wanted what he could be with Jesus.  The head thinks about what we must do to find life but the heart focuses on what we can be in God’s love.  The heart that seeks the love of God rather than the leverage of man, lives in the power, passion, and promises of our Father in heaven in the now and in the forever.  When we live in God’s love we BECOME His children living in what He can do rather than what we must do, now and in the age to come.  Don’t just believe in Jesus, fall in love with Him and let your heart take you where only He can go and into what He can do.

Mark Day 28

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.        Mark 10:15-16

We all need the heart of a child to make the most of this life.  Children are so ready to believe and to receive the love of another.  That’s what makes them so vulnerable and so valuable at the same time.  They are ready to receive and respond to love.  We were all there at one time or another but then life happens in a fallen world.  Pretty soon people are shewing us away rather than showing us in.  After a few bad voices and wrong messages, the door of our heart becomes guarded rather than open.  When our heart becomes hard to enter, our head becomes harsh toward anyone who would enter.  Relationships just don’t work with a hard heart, not loving relationships.  Life becomes difficult and deserted with a hard heart.  Run to Jesus!  The only way to enjoy a soft heart is to believe.  Run to Jesus!  Let Him take you, hold you and speak over you.  That experience will melt the hardest heart and let you live in love.  Run to Jesus!  When He speaks it won’t sound like some sort of love, it will be real love.  When He touches us, it won’t be some sort of love, it will be pure love.  But we must be willing to receive His love by being willing to humble our hearts to come to Him who is waiting for us at each and every moment in this life.

Mark Day 27

But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ For the one who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.    Mark 9:39-41

Hear this!  There is power in the name of Jesus and that power is revealed through those who truly believe.  Don’t be an interruption to those who believe and don’t let the pleasures and problems of this world interrupt your belief either.  The name of Jesus rules.   Deal with the things that get in the way of your belief and do not dilute the power of Jesus name.  It would be better to cut off your wondering foot, your wicked hand and pluck out your wrongful eye that to dilute the power of the name of Jesus.  Live in the pleasure of His name rather than the pleasure of your game.  Lift up His name over your pleasures and problems and preserve life rather than poison it.  Lift up the name of Jesus over your tests and trials and He will preserve you.  As you and I live in the power of His name we are not only preserved but we will preserve life in this world too.  Lift up His name and see His power in this life.  Hell is real and we don’t have to die to start living there but heaven is real too and in the power of Jesus’ name we start living in heaven today.  In order to see the power of Jesus’ name we must first hear that there is power in His name.  Hear and see.

Mark Day 26

And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” Mark 9:35-37

We must hear to see in the kingdom of God.  There must be death for there to be life and there must be service for there to be leadership.  To be an adult we must become like a child.  It’s not that we see and understand but that we hear and believe.  Hearing must happen for there to be seeing.  So, we must choose who we are going to listen to first.   Faith is trusting in the One who is talking.  We can’t understand the kingdom of God until we first hear the king.  His kingdom doesn’t fit into our understanding.  But there will be understanding as we trust in the One who is talking.  The kingdom of God is contrary to the kingdom of this world.  The kingdom of this world takes while the kingdom of God gives to those who will receive it.  We receive from God as we hear and trust in the One who is talking.   This life in this kingdom of God is about receiving His love, light, life, and liberty to live according to what we hear Him saying.  Those who hear Him, have Him as their Lord, Savior, Healer, Deliverer, Provider, Protector, Miracle Worker, and so on.  It’s not who we are but who He is.  It’s not where we are but where He is.  Learn to listen to Him.

Mark Day 25

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

Mark 9:7

It’s not what we see but what we hear that matters.  Peter, James, and John see Jesus transfigured on the mountain top, a glimpse of Jesus’ heavenly body.  Jesus would defeat death by rising from the dead.  They would see Him again in His glorious state.  But we don’t get to the glorious things by what we see but through what we hear.  The disciples would have to hear Jesus in order to walk with Jesus.  Like the man with the demonized boy, the disciples would have to believe and trust in Jesus’ words and power.  The easiest way to miss God’s will and work is to base our lives on what we see rather than who or what we hear.  Our enemy is proficient in the visual, he needs us to be moved by what we see.  Hell is limited to fear because there is no hope, help, or healing in what hell has to say.  God speaks to us.  “Listen to Him.”  Listen to Jesus.  Don’t let what you see scare you, let what you hear strengthen you.  Do you believe?  Ask the Lord to help your unbelief.  Ask Him to open up your ears to hear what He is saying.  This isn’t about saying religious things but hearing and believing real things.  When we hear what real, we will see what’s real too.

Mark Day 24

“Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Mark 8:33

Just because we see Jesus or see what Jesus is doing doesn’t mean that we agree with Jesus.  To agree with Jesus there will need to be a change in the way we think.  Peter had seen the work and walk of Jesus but he could not see the will of God.  Unless there is a death, there will not be new life.  This life in Jesus isn’t about reforming the old man but dying to the old man.  When we don’t agree with Jesus we find ourselves like Peter, agreeing with Satan.  So, by the way, Satan is real and our greatest battle will be refusing his thoughts.  Satan is the catalyst of man’s thoughts.  Listen, God doesn’t want to reform the old you, he wants to birth a new you.  And this new you will be able to think like Jesus.  When we die to the old self we die to the old self’s way of thinking, believing and feeling.  This is important because Jesus is ushering in the kingdom of God and only those who think like Jesus will really see it.  That kingdom is coming with power to break the thoughts and terror of the enemy.  Living in the power of the kingdom of God will require a new mind, one that thinks and loves like Jesus.  Don’t live ashamed of God’s word but live in agreement with God’s word and you will see the glory of God in the here and now. 

Mark Day 23

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.” Mark 8:25-26

We need to see clearly.  We don’t need to see clearly to live under the rule and rulers of life, but we need to see clearly to live in the revelation of God.  To live by the rules, we don’t have to understand the reason for the rules.  But to rule over our own life, we need to see clearly.  To see clearly, we need the continued touch of Jesus on our eyes.  Where there is no or little understanding we need to continue to let Jesus touch our eyes.  You see, not only do we need to get past the rules and rulers of this world but we need to get past the recognition of our own minds.  The disciples could not understand the situation involving the bread and the message Jesus was speaking to them.  They couldn’t recognize what Jesus was saying and doing.  They could not understand.  Then Jesus heals the blind man.  After the first prayer, the man sees people as trees; it’s all a blur.  After the second prayer, the man sees clearly.  What was happening to the blind man was what was happening in the disciples.  Then Jesus told the healed man to go home and not to the village.  Why go back to the rules, reasons, and rules of this world when God has given you the right to see clearly.  The disciples, like us, will continue to let Jesus change our recognition of what’s real, right, and revelation.