trust – Page 4 – John Markum

My Personal Devotions: Mark 6

Posted on July 19, 2011 by johnmarkum

Mark 6:1-13

Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. ² The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” ³ Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

⁴ Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” ⁵ And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶ And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. ⁷ And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. ⁸ He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. ⁹He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

¹⁰ “Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. ¹¹ But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

¹² So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. ¹³ And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.

My Thoughts:

People underestimated Jesus, some will underestimate me as well (v. 1-2)
Proximity to life change does not equal personal life change (v. 4).
My faithlessness limits God’s willingness to work through me (v. 5).
Jesus was consistent with what he taught (compare v. 8-9 to Luke 12:22-31).
Don’t be discouraged by the people who won’t listen to me (v. 11).
God will make my successful in everything He has called me to (v. 12-13).

Blessings,

John

“You Asked For It!” beginning this Saturday

Posted on July 6, 2011 by johnmarkum

Relationships. Faith. The Bible. Church. Culture. You have questions. We have answers… hopefully. Join us for 4 weeks as we deal with the things that YOU asked about. Begins at our Saturday night service this Saturday at 6 pm. But we’re not stopping there. This series is also happening at our youth service, Elevate, every Sunday at 10:45am. Hope to see you this weekend!

If you still have questions you want to ask, submit them here:

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Blessings,

John

God took my lollipop!

Posted on June 24, 2011 by johnmarkum

My kids like lollipops. But not nearly as much as they love ice cream. And that only makes sense. No kid in their right mind would ever pick a lollipop over ice cream. I remember one occasion when Emilee, my 5 year old, had helped herself to a sucker from a bag of candy after dinner. I had already headed toward the fridge to get her an ice cream fudge pop for finishing her food, but I was not going to let her have both. Before presenting her with the ice cream, I insisted that she give me back the sucker she taken (without permission, by the way). I had to convince her that I had something better for her before she trusted me enough to give up her sucker.

I find that we are often the same way as my 5 year. We will hold onto what we have now, instead of letting go and trusting God to deliver something better for us. It happens all the time:

– A single person stays in a dead end relationship from fear of being alone. They miss out on someone more equally yoked.

– A married couple gets themselves tied up in debt. They miss the opportunity to invest in the kingdom of God.

– A student stays with the same bad influences and tries to pretend they’re not pulling him down. He misses the chance to have true friends.

– An alcoholic refuses to accept that his drinking is out of control. He misses out on his family, friends, career, and finances.

Isn’t it ridiculous when I refuse to let God take my lollipop, because I think He doesn’t have something better for me?!? God has always cared more about me than I have for myself. As long as I fill my hands with my insignificant, fickle infatuations, God will not fill them with His much richer blessings. Allow God to remove the things from your life that are keeping you from experiencing all that He has for you.

Only by trusting God to remove the comfortable and familiar do we have the chance to see how much better of a provider He is to us than we are to ourselves.

“‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,’ says the Lord, ‘thoughts of good, and not evil. Of hope and a future.'” Jeremiah 29:11

“So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:7

Blessings,

John