Month: April 2018

Even though we list the reading from the Old Testament first each day, let’s turn first to Mark 4. This is our second time through Mark, and I want to point out something about the format of Mark and chapter 4 in specific . When we went through Mark the first time, I didn’t point out Mark’s gospel is more action-oriented, and focuses more on Jesus’ healing, exorcisms and other miracles than on His teaching. But in Mark 4 nearly the whole chapter is devoted to Jesus’ teaching.  That’s why I want to focus on it today.

First, we read the Parable of the Sower and Jesus’ explanation of it. This parable helps us understand each of us responds to Jesus’ message of salvation differently, and some never respond.  Even those who respond to the message and grow, don’t all produce the same amount of fruit. If you think that isn’t fair, you’re right. God loves each of us, but He gives us differing amounts of talent and ability. He is God, so He gets to do that. By human standards of fairness and equality, God’s ways don’t always make sense.  We need to get over that if we are going to let God rule in our lives, and become everything He created us to be. Comparison always leads to either pride or depression among us, so let’s be grateful for who God created us to be, and live our lives to His glory.

Jesus comments next about putting a lamp on a stand. The obvious point is we aren’t to hide who we are in Him, but to let others know, so they can know Him, too. Jesus tells us the measure we use in life is the measure we receive. That’s so vital. I always say we can’t control everything in life, but we can always control our allegiance, our attitude, and our effort. If we align ourselves with Jesus, live with the attitude that we “get to” follow Him, rather than “have to” follow Him, and give 100%, our lives will be blessed even in the hardest times. I don’t mean we’ll always get what we want, but we will always know God’s favor and presence, even when we don’t feel them.

Next Jesus tells the Parables of the Growing Seed and the Mustard Seed. Many of Jesus’ parables focus on the agrarian culture in which He lived. While we can still understand them, they must have made an even greater impact when virtually everyone who heard them was a farmer of some. Both of these parables remind us God’s work is beyond our understanding. We don’t know how a seed grows, but God does and He provides the growth. Even a tiny seed, such as a mustard seed, can produce results far beyond our expectations. That’s the Kingdom of God, and we get to experience it hear and now, because of Jesus’ presence through the Holy Spirit, and one day, we’ll experience it fully.

Mark closes out chapter 4 with an amazing sign Jesus performed: the calming of a storm.  I’ve always loved this account, because it reminds me the events in my life that seem catastrophic, that seem like they will drown me, are nothing more than opportunities for a nap for Jesus! I might think I need to shake Him awake, but as always He has it, whatever it might be. I still find myself stressed out far more often than necessary, but the one who calmed the storm, can certainly handle our stressors.

In Exodus 18-20, we find two significant events: 1) Jethro’s visit; and 2) God’s visit! Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law visited Moses and during the visit helped Moses see he needed to set up a system of judges to mediate disputes among the Israelites. Jethro rightly saw Moses would wear out both himself and the Israelites, if he tried to decide every dispute. Jethro’s model didn’t help only the Israelites. It’s a helpful model for any group with more the twenty people to understand the importance of sharing leadership.

In chapters 19-20, God has Moses get the people ready for His visit to them, which took place on the top of Mt. Sinai. When Moses and God met on the mountain, God gave Moses what we call the Ten Commandments. These were the primary laws for the Israelites, although God would give them more than 600 more. The Ten Commandments are called “apodictic” law, which is a fancy way of saying they are absolutely true in every case. Such laws start with “You shall…” or “You shall not…” The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God, while the final six deal with our interactions with each other. We would expect apodictic laws relating to God, but it is important to remember God told us how we are always to act, and never to act toward each other as well. We will see through the remainder of Exodus and then in Leviticus and Deuteronomy as well, God adds many casuistic or “case” laws. They are commonly described as “if…then…” laws. As in, “If a man does ‘x’, then the punishment is ‘y.'” Some of the casuistic laws applied in the wilderness environment and in the establishment of the nation of Israel. Some of the laws were specifically reinterpreted by Jesus, and we’ll address that from time-to-time as we see it.

Some have asked me, “Do the Ten Commandments still apply, because we are under grace, not under law?” The short answer to the question is: Jesus said they apply and made them even more stringent, so they do apply. Honoring God, our parents, and not killing are always mandated in our lives. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins, so the eternal penalty of them is gone, but we live with the consequences of breaking these commands, because they break our relationship with God and others at least on a temporary basis, and often they hold legal consequences as well. While we are under grace, not under law, the Apostle Paul reminded us in Galatians 5 we ought never use our freedom as an opportunity for our sinful natures.

In Exodus 15-17 we read of the Israelites first experiences on the freedom side of the Red Sea. The first act of the Israelites as free people was to offer a song of deliverance to God. They remembered what God had done for them. This was a high point for the Israelites. When God delivers us, blesses us, provides for us, the appropriate response is praise.

Unfortunately, the people of Israel didn’t get it right for long. Soon after their praise service in the wilderness, they came across a pool of water that was bitter. They complained.  God made the water safe to drink.  Next the Israelites complained they didn’t have meat to eat. God provided quail and manna. When the water ran low the Israelites complained again. God provided water.  Are you sensing a pattern.? The Israelites had seen the amazing power of God through all the plagues in Egypt, through the parting of the Red Sea, and now as He provided time after time for each of their needs. Yet, every time they face a problem, they complained. What can we learn from this?   Don’t complain.  Easier to say than to do, isn’t it? God promises when we put Him first, He will provide for our needs. The Israelites in the wilderness are an incredible example of the truth of that. Let’s not learn from pattern of complaining at every turn, but from their praising God when He provided!

In Exodus 17 God showed the Israelites and us an important lesson as the Israelites fought the Amalekites. The lesson doesn’t come directly from the battlefield, but from Moses, who watched the battle from a vantage point above the conflict. When Moses held up his staff the Israelites prevailed, but when Moses grew tired and lowered the staff, the Amalekites did. Finally, Aaron and Hur stood beside Moses and held up his arms so the staff was always raised. The Israelites prevailed!  What’s the point? At least two come quickly to mind: 1) Intercession is vital; and 2) We all need help. Moses’ intercession for the Israelite soldiers had as much impact as those who were  in the middle of the conflict. We need to remember the spiritual component of every conflict in our lives. We can’t see it, but there is always a spiritual battle going on around us, and our intercessory prayers are vital to victory.  Aaron and Hur ultimately became as important to the victory as Moses. He couldn’t bear the staff alone. Many times we want to be “Lone Rangers,” but even the Lone Ranger had Tonto!

As we reread Mark 3 we are reminded of Jesus’ interaction with the religious leaders on a Sabbath, which as usual was negative. The religious leaders were more concerned about observing their traditions, than with a man being healed.  As we remember this moment, it’s vital for us to remember never to let our traditions or pre-conceived ideas get in the way of letting Jesus work in our lives.  Massive crowds continue to follow Jesus as His teaching, preaching, healing and delivering ministry continues to impact the region of norther Israel.  In the midst of all the activity Jesus takes time out to select the twelve disciples. Mark tells us Jesus called them first that they might “be with” Jesus. Interesting, isn’t it? Jesus needed to train the twelve to take over when He left, but the first thing they needed to do was simply be with Jesus, to be in relationship with Him. This helps us see how important it is for us to have others with us in relationship and in training for future ministry.  As Jesus continues to minister, He has another run in with the religious leaders who say He is able to cast out demons by the authority of Satan. Jesus responds by pointing out that no kingdom or house divided against itself can stand.  Finally, Jesus’ family gets involved. They think He might be crazy. When some in the crowd tell Jesus His family is looking for them, He tells the crowd anyone who does His Father’s will is His mother, and sister and brother. What a helpful reminder that Jesus ultimate goal was to bring each of us into His family, a family that will continue forever!

Exodus 12-14 offers us one of the most amazing events in the entire Old Testament: the parting of the Red Sea. Yet before it happened we are read of Moses instructing the Israelites not once, but twice how the Passover was to be observed every year forever in Israel’s history. God’s deliverance of the people of Israel from slavery is an amazing “redemption” story. After all, redemption is freeing slaves by paying the cost of their freedom.  The Passover foreshadows Jesus’ redemption of humanity through His death on the cross. Many have noted the Israelites were to put the blood of the Passover lambs over the tops of their doorframe and on the sides. If you “connect the dots” it forms a cross. Jesus told His disciples of the New Covenant He was about to establish through the shedding of His blood at a Passover celebration. The connection is obvious and intentional.

We read when the Israelites left Egypt they numbered 600,000 men, and of course the men had wives and children, so the population of Israel had multiplied from 70 people when Jacob went into Egypt to about two million 430 years later! God’s promise to Abraham was being fulfilled, and it had taken place through many storms. The storms weren’t over, as we read in chapter 14. As the Israelites left Egypt God had Moses lead them by a circuitous route rather than the direct one, because He didn’t want them to face battle against the Philistines. God knew His people, and even though they looked like an army as the left Egypt, they were not battle tested. As we start to see even in chapter 14, the slaves were leaving Egypt, but the slave mentality of Egypt was still in them.

When Pharaoh changed his mind and sent soldiers to attack the Israelites, the Israelites were literally stuck in the middle. The Red Sea was on one side and the Egyptian army on the other. They cried out in panic to Moses, but Moses’ words of reassurance are some of the most incredible in the entire Bible. Even though you have already read them, let’s read them again together: ¹³But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. ¹⁴The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Exodus 14:13-14 (NLT)  Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today…Just stay calm. How many times we need to hear and heed those words.  Most of us are activists. We live by the old adage, “Don’t just stand there, do something!” Many times this is good advice. But there are times when God says, “Don’t just do something. Stand there. I have this.”

I’ve been going through a bit of that this past week with the death of Cheryl Marshall, my sister-in-law, who was like a second mother to me. I spent most of my summers with Tom and Cheryl from the time I was eight until I was in my early teens. When I received the call that Cheryl had experienced a major stroke, I drove to Ohio immediately to be with the family, but what could I do? The outcome was literally in God’s hands. I spent Thursday night next to Cheryl’s bed, and occasionally she would open her eyes, and she recognized me, but the stroke had paralyzed the right side of her body and taken away her ability to speak. She tried several times to say something, but she couldn’t.  What could I do? Again the answer was nothing.  I prayed with Cheryl. I quoted Scripture to her. And I sat and waited through the night.  The next morning the doctors told us what we already knew.  Nothing could be done for Cheryl. Tom and Lee Ann (Tom and Cheryl’s daughter) decided to have Cheryl transported to a facility in the Dover area where they live. That couldn’t be arranged until the next day. Once again, we stood (or sat) and waited.

The next day, which was Saturday, as Cheryl was being transported to Dover from the Cleveland Clinic, she made the transition every follower of Jesus longs to make one day. She died to this life, and as the Apostle Paul reminds us, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Many times in the days ahead we will grieve our loss. Cheryl won’t be with us any longer. But we will also stand and wait, knowing God is in charge, and in the big picture, our day of being with Cheryl and all those who have gone before us in the Lord is coming soon, very soon from an eternal perspective.

In the case of the Israelites, God delivered an amazing miracle, parted the Red Sea, saved the Israelites and destroyed the Egyptians. Wow! What an amazing God.  In our case, God destroyed sin and death, and created a home for us with Him forever. Wow! What an amazing God.  I drove out to Ohio again yesterday to invest the day with Tom. I helped him clean up the house in preparation for the guests who will be coming on Wednesday and Thursday for Cheryl’s funeral. We reminisced about Cheryl, and at times we simply stood and waited. This storm is devastating from our temporal perspective, but we will get through it, because we know that God is good, and He ultimately has this, just as He has every moment in our lives whether we perceive the moment to be good or bad, regardless of what we are stuck between in our life.  Pray for Tom, Lee Ann, and the rest of our family, because while we know the ultimate truth that God is good and Cheryl is better off, we grieve one who has been so important to us for so long.

As we read Mark 2 again, we’re reminded how early in Jesus’ ministry the Jewish religious leaders came against Him. They couldn’t accept His power to forgive sin, or His choice of disciples, or His lack of observance of the religious rules.  At every point, Jesus reminded them He was Lord – Lord over sin, over disease, over people’s destinies and over the Sabbath. I am so grateful that Jesus has this, whatever the “this” may be in our lives right now!

Exodus 8-11 shows us  eight more plagues on the people of Egypt and the prediction of the final plague: the death of the firstborn.  As we read Exodus 8-11 we see over and over again Pharaoh tells Moses if he relieves Egypt of the current plague, he will let the people of Israel go into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD.  Each time once the plague ends, Pharaoh goes back on his word. The interesting thing is sometimes we read that Pharoah’s heart was heard or remained hard, and at other times we read God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  So, which was it? Was Pharaoh’s heart hard, or did God hardened Pharaoh’s heart? We have to read out of the text what is there. The text tells us both, which means Pharaoh’s heart was hard and God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  Which came first? God had told Moses he would harden Pharaoh’s heart in order to show His power to both the Israelites and the Egyptians.

Some have concluded that makes God unfair. After all, if God hardened Pharaoh’s heart then how could Pharaoh be held accountable for having a hard heart? It’s a great question.  I’m not going to defend God, because He doesn’t need me to defend Him.  I will say Pharaoh started out with a hard heart as every person does. We are all sinners. None of us are righteous. Are hearts are hard.  Does God further harden some hearts, so they can never become soft? It appears that way as we read the Bible from cover to cover, but never more so than with Pharaoh. Yet, repeatedly we see both that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.  The ultimate answer to this question remains for us to learn when we see Jesus face-to-face one day. For now, the application I take from the situation is when God offers His grace to us, we do well to receive it. When we harden our hearts over and over again, God shows us in His word that He eventually gives us what we want. That is our hearts become hardened to His grace. Does that mean the longer we wait to respond to God’s grace, the less likely it is we will respond? In practice, that’s exactly what it means. God’s grace is available in each of our lives, until we die. But the clear message of the Bible is the sooner we respond to it, the better!

Today we turn to Mark 1 again. As we continue through the 1 year plan, we will repeat gospel readings at times. My purpose in having us do this is I want us to become familiar with the “outline” of each of the gospels over time. As we become more and more familiar with Jesus’ life story, it will become more and more part of our minds (heads) and our souls (hearts). Mark 1 offers us a great deal of action that covered a relatively short period of time.  We read first of  John the Baptist  preparing the way. That likely took place over a matter of months, and certainly not more than a year or two.  Jesus’ baptism and temptation took place over a period of forty days. (We know that from Matthew and Luke’s gospel, which is why we need to learn the outline of each of the gospels.) The calling of first four disciples, seems to have taken only a matter of minutes.  Jesus teaching in a synagogue and driving out an evil spirit took a few hours at most.  Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and the healing of  many of the townspeople took an evening.   Jesus praying in a solitary place took a few hours. When His followers came to find Him to take Him back to serve the people He served the day before, it took  Jesus only minutes to tell them they were going somewhere else.  Finally, Jesus’ healing of a man with leprosy took only moments.

This brief chunk of Jesus’ life reminds us that important, even vital events can take place in moments, although sometimes they take longer. Jesus’ entire ministry on earth was only about three years, so we don’t have any examples of Jesus waiting for years for something He prayed about to take place. That makes sense, though, doesn’t it? Jesus didn’t come to invest a lifetime on earth, and to show us every possible scenario for our lives as His followers. Jesus came to live a perfect life, die a sacrificial death, rise from the dead, and return to heaven, from where He would send the Holy Spirit to His Church. As we read Mark once again, let’s remember Jesus’ purpose was to seek and save the lost. The examples of teaching, preaching, healing and delivering we read about, show us the power of God in Jesus’ life and the power He offers us as His followers. What one thing you read about in Mark 1 will you apply in your life today?

Exodus 5-7 reminds us of Joseph’s early days in Egypt. God was with Joseph, yet Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers; served faithfully as a slave in Potiphar’s household, but was falsely accused of rape; and ended up in prison, where he was a model prisoner, yet wasn’t released for a number of years. Similarly, when Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to demand he release the Israelites from slavery, Pharaoh immediately increased the work load on the Israelites. This does not sound like God delivering the people from slavery, does it?

When the Israelite leaders went to Pharaoh to complain about their increased work load, Pharaoah’s response was, “You must be lazy. Otherwise, why do you want to go out into the wilderness to worship your God.” In other words, “It’s your fault that you’re undergoing this increased work load. When the Israelite leaders left Pharaoh they saw Moses and Aaron. Immediately, they told Moses and Aaron it was their fault that this increased burden had come to the people, and they weren’t going to listen to them anymore.

Can you imagine being Moses and Aaron? They had done everything God told them to do. The result was their people were in a far worse condition than before they had done anything. Or at least it seemed that way. If you have been following Jesus for any length of time, you have probably experienced this principle:  When you commit yourself to serving the LORD, life often gets harder, before the deliverance comes.  I don’t know how many times over my life I have deepened or renewed my commitment to follow Jesus, and soon afterwards, if not immediately, life got harder.

I can go all the way back to my teenaged years when I committed to asking our basketball team to pray together and dedicate the season to the Lord. The other four starters said, “Yes.” We got down on our knees and prayed to God and dedicated the season to the Lord. The result? Our team went 4-17 (for those of you who aren’t familiar with won-loss notation, that’s 4 wins and 17 losses.) We were one of the worst teams in the history of our high school from a win-loss standpoint, and we had a lot of other problems. In the middle of the season my brother Kenn had the cornea of his eye torn at practice.  It didn’t seem that God answered the prayer at all.

Yet, if you know my story, you know it was that injury to Kenn’s eye that led to several key events: 1) God healed Kenn’s eye through the prayer of Pastor Andy Weigand; 2) I experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit; and 3) God called me to serve Him as a pastor.  I wish I could say, that was the beginning of everything going wonderfully. But as we will read in the rest of Exodus and on through Deuteronomy, the Israelites continued to go through a series of challenges and deliverances.

As we turn to Mark 16, we read the account of Jesus’ resurrection. Mark’s account is the shortest account of Jesus’ resurrection, and the earliest manuscripts of Mark include only verses 1-8. Thankfully, even the shorter version of Mark tells us of the empty tomb, the angel’s announcement of Jesus’ resurrection, and the promise of Jesus meeting the disciples in Galilee. The longer ending reminds us Jesus called us to go to the ends of the earth with the good news of His salvation. No one’s life is ever the same after experiencing the resurrection power of Jesus. In the short-term, that difference will include some roadblocks and problems. In the long-term it means victory and eternal life!

As we move to the Book of Exodus, chapters 1-4 introduce us to the Israelites being enslaved by the Egyptians. It’s amazing that any king of Egypt could ever forget what Joseph did for his nation, but this one did, and assumed the Israelites who had grown greater in population than Egypt, would one day side with Egypt’s enemies and escape the country. The king’s response was to enslave the Israelites and put restrictions on their ability to continue multiplying, by killing the male children born to the Israelites.

One of the amazing results of the Egyptians’ decree that the Israelites had to kill their male children, was when Moses was born, his mother kept him alive for three months, and then made a small boat out of reeds and put Moses in it, and set him adrift in the Nile River. As God’s providence would have it, one of Pharaoh’s daughters found Moses, and decided to adopt him. That meant Moses lived for forty years as a prince in Egypt.

Somehow Moses knew he was a descendant of the Hebrews, and one day when he saw an Egyptian slave driver mistreating one of the Hebrews, and as we read, he killed the slave driver. The next day two Hebrews were fighting with each other, and Moses attempted to intervene. One of the men asked whether Moses was going to kill them as he had killed the Egyptian. When Moses realized his murder of the Egyptian was known, he took off into the wilderness.

Again, God ordered his steps and he “happened” to come across some Midianite shepherdesses. He helped them with watering their sheep, interceding between them and some shepherds who were harassing them. As a result, the women’s father gave one of his daughters to Moses as a wife, and gave Moses the job as the shepherd of his sheep. While this might not seem important at first glance, Moses had forty years of leadership training as a Prince of Egypt and then forty years of training leading sheep. It seems the combination would be great experience for his next vocation: leading the people of Israel out of Egypt.

God called Moses in a most unusual and supernatural way: He appeared to Moses in a burning bush, but although the bush was on fire, it wasn’t consumed by the fire. Amazingly, instead of going along with God’s plan right away after such a clear and powerful demonstration of His presence, Moses argued and debated with God about his lack of qualifications for the task. He also told God he would lack credibility with both the people of Israel and the king of Egypt. Eventually, God got tired of Moses’ excuses and told him to just do it!

I don’t know whether you have ever been called by God to do something, and argued with Him about it. I have. In fact, my call to serve as a pastor came when I was seventeen. It wasn’t as dramatic as Moses’ call, but it was dramatic. Even so, I told God flat out I would not become a pastor, and struggled against becoming one for five years. Eventually I gave in, but I didn’t become a whole-hearted servant of Jesus until long after that. It comforts me to realize one of the greatest leaders of the Old Testament era, and one of the greatest leaders in all history, begged God not to put him in a leadership position. It helps me, and all of us to see we don’t have to feel qualified to serve God for Him to call us to serve Him!

In Mark 15, we read of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, His condemnation by the people (and not Pilate!), and Pilate’s agreeing to have Jesus crucified. We also read of Jesus’ crucifixion, and how the people mocked Jesus and challenged Him to come down from the cross to prove He was God’s Son. He could have done that, but He would not derail His purpose of paying the penalty for the sins of humanity for His own benefit. When Jesus died, one of the Pharisees, named Joseph, asked Pilate for permission to bury Him in his tomb. Pilate agreed, and the stage was set for Jesus’ resurrection. Not a single person believed it was going to happen. Otherwise, the women wouldn’t have come to the tomb early on Sunday morning to finish embalming Him, and every one of the remaining disciples would have been camping outside the tomb on Easter morning to get a first glimpse of their risen Lord.

Jesus had told His followers a number of times, at least three that are recored in the Gospels, that He was going to be handed over to the religious leaders and the Romans, tried, convicted, and crucified. But they were not to worry, because He would rise on the third day. Each time they heard the message the disciples, the women, and the crowds were either confused, misinterpreted it, or ignored it. It’s easy for us to wonder why, because we live on the resurrection side of Easter. We know Jesus rose from the dead. But had we lived in His day, believing would not have been so easy.

Thankfully, Jesus didn’t need an audience to rise from the dead, although I’m sure the angels of heaven witnessed it! More about that tomorrow.

As Genesis comes to an end, so do the lives of Jacob and Joseph. While the “patriarchs” of Israel are considered to be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, without a doubt Joseph’s contribution to Israel’s history was great. As we read the accounts of such men, we might think, “What is my role? What kind of legacy will I leave?” Few leave the kind of legacy Joseph left. He saved at least two nations, and possibly more through his work as a leader in Egypt. Not bad for a man who was sold into slavery by his brothers and spent thirteen years as a slave and a prisoner.

As we look at the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we see they contributed in differing degrees to Israel’s formation and history. Obviously, Abraham’s position was prominent, because God gave the promise of founding a people set apart for Himself through Abraham.  Abraham’s faith is remembered in three books of the New Testament, and he is mentioned in others. Not only Christians, but also Jews and Muslims consider Abraham to be their spiritual “father.” Abraham’s imperfections were overcome by his deep and abiding faith, which is why we remember him thousands of years after his life on earth.

Isaac wasn’t as prominent, and in truth contributed little to the legacy of Israel except his two sons: Esau and Jacob. The younger would become both famous and infamous for his intimate struggle and relationship with God, for his twelve sons and for moving his family to Egypt, where Israel was “born” in the sense of their becoming a sizable nation. As we read of Jacob’s “blessings” on his sons, and two of his grandsons, we see Jacob didn’t pronounce only good over his sons. That makes sense, because some of Jacob’s sons were rebellious, and none of them were perfect. When Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, he took a page from his own life, by giving the greater blessing to the younger, rather than the older as the cultural tradition would have expected.

As we consider our own legacies, remember, no one knows the full extent of her or his influence on others in this life, nor how that influence might impact another’s eternity. Until we get to heaven, we will never know the full extent of our influence. That’s where our legacies will count the most. Perhaps, in what we considered to be a casual conversation, someone came to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord, or at least took a first step, or a next step in that direction. A small offering we gave to a missionary might have been the resource necessary to lead someone to a saving relationship with Jesus. As long as we point people to Jesus through our words and lives, we will leave  legacies that matter in eternity.

Mark’s gospel reminds us not all legacies are positive. In chapter 14, we read of Mary anointing Jesus at the home of Simon the leper. During Jesus’ time there, Judas left to betray Jesus to the Jewish religious leaders. At the last supper, Jesus told the disciples one of them would betray Him. Each one asked, “Is it I, Lord?” No one was so sure of himself as to say, “I won’t!” Jesus told Peter before the night was over, Peter would deny ever knowing Jesus three times. We all know it happened, but Peter couldn’t imagine it happening at the moment Jesus spoke the words. Thankfully, Peter’s legacy doesn’t end around that campfire where he denied Jesus three times. Our lives are filed with opportunities to speak up for Jesus or to remain quiet; to live out our faith in Jesus toward others, or stand in the shadows doing nothing. How we respond day-by-day forges the legacies we leave behind on earth, and much more importantly the legacies we forge in heaven.

As you and I go about today, which is the only day we’re guaranteed to experience, let’s build into our eternal legacies by representing Jesus faithfully, in the power of the Holy Spirit!

As we continue Joseph’s story in Genesis 45-47, we see the ultimate fulfillment of Joseph’s teenaged dreams: his whole family bows before him. Joseph’s leadership in Egypt saved the Egyptians and then the entire people of Israel, which at that time numbered only 70 people. As Jacob travelled to Egypt, he stopped in Beersheba to offer sacrifices to God. God spoke to Jacob and promised his family would “multiply” in Egypt. How true that promise was! When the Israelites left Egypt 400 years later the people of Israel numbered 600,000 men, most of whom had wives and families. We can assume the total number of Israelites must have been at least two million people. God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled generation by generation, and it was Joseph’s hardships that led to the open door for the Israelites to travel to Egypt, where that promise would be multiplied.

One of the most challenging tasks we face in life is to determine when we are being blessed and when we are being cursed. The reason it’s a challenge is God often takes the tests, trials, and temptations we face and uses them for good. In Romans 8:28 we read: In all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  It doesn’t say all things are good. It wasn’t good that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, or that he became a slave in Potiphar’s house, or that he was falsely imprisoned. None of those realities were good, and Joseph could easily have seen them as curses from God. Instead, Joseph saw God’s goodness remaining with him in each situation. Ultimately, they led to Joseph becoming the second in command in all of Egypt. We would certainly consider that a blessing.

As Jacob and his family travelled to Egypt, they must have been overwhelmed by God’s blessing in their lives. Rather than living through a horrible famine in a land without resources, they were moving to the best land in Egypt. Best of all for Jacob, he was being reunited with his favorite son, Joseph. It was a blessing for Jacob and his family. Yet, hundreds of years later the blessing turned a curse, as a king came to power in Egypt who forgot about Joseph. He enslaved the Israelites and they would suffer under harsh conditions for many decades. During that time the people multiplied. So, even in the time of slavery, God was with His people.

We do well to learn from these examples, because each of us face times of “blessing” and “cursing” in our lives. How we respond to the times will be determined by how we view God’s presence in our lives. Jesus promised He would never leave us nor forsake us. In Mark 13, He told us what it will be like as the time of His return draws near. Many read Mark 13 and think, “All the signs are taking place!” That is true. The signs have been taking place throughout history. What I take away from Mark 13 is Jesus is with us, and Jesus will return to be with us in all His fullness one day. In the meantime, we are to rely on His promises to be with us always, and to never leave us nor forsake us. We are also to be ready when He returns! While many invest (spend?) most of their time trying to determine when Jesus will return, our time is better invested by living in the power of His Spirit through the blessings and challenges, and even the curses of life, with a constant readiness for His return, and a focus on helping others come to know and serve Jesus so they can be ready, too.

If Jesus comes back today, the best thing for us will be for Him to find us living faithfully in His presence, and being ready. That way, whether He returns today or not, we will live today to the fullest. Joseph could have moaned and groaned day after day from the moment his brothers turned him over to the Ishmaelite traders. Instead, he lived each day with the expectant hope that God’s promises are true, and God was with him. He never lost the dream God gave Him, and thirteen years and many hardships later it came true. God is faithful whatever experiences we may be facing right now, so let’s live in His presence and to His glory every moment!

Genesis 41-44 show us God was, indeed, with Joseph! When Pharaoh had two dreams no one could interpret, the cupbearer remembered Joseph. Joseph was brought to interpret the dream, and you have to love his honesty. When Pharaoh told Joseph he had been told that Joseph could interpret his dreams, Joseph said, “I can’t do it.” Imagine, being set free from prison to come before the King of Egypt, and given the opportunity to gain your freedom if you could interpret a couple dreams. Would you say, “I can’t do it.”? Joseph followed up the comment by saying God would do it. And God did it. Joseph’s interpretations proved correct, and resulted in him becoming Pharaoh’s right-hand-man.

When the famine spread to neighboring lands, Joseph’s brothers left Israel and travelled to Egypt to see whether they could buy grain. Just as God had shown Joseph, his brothers knelt down before him. The drama of the situation must have been intense, because it certainly reads that way! As we close out today’s reading, Joseph is about to reveal himself to his brothers, but the experience of having them all with him was overwhelming. God’s grace in Joseph is so powerful he holds no animosity toward his brothers. He strings them along for a time, but his ultimate intention is to save them and his entire family.

What would you have done in such a situation? Would you be able to forgive such a plot against you? The short answer is: only if God were with you. God’s presence in Joseph’s life throughout his time in Egypt was never more obvious than in his interactions with his brothers. We often say, “I don’t get mad, I get even,” but Joseph held no such intentions. We can learn so much from his response to his brothers.

As we turn to Mark 12, we see Jesus interacting with the religious leaders. Jesus knows His time on earth is short, His crucifixion is near. Yet, He takes the time to tell a parable about the impending death, and the implications of it. Then He shows the Sadducees and Pharisees that none of their questions can trap Him. He demonstrates the reality of the resurrection, and the ultimate authority of God. Finally, He stumps the religious leaders with the question of how the Messiah can be both David’s son and Lord.

Chapter 12 ends with Jesus pointing out to the disciples the faith of a poor widow who gives her last two pennies to God. Jesus reminds the disciples the woman’s gift is incredible, because it was all she had. The quantity of our gift isn’t the measure of it, but the quantity of the sacrifice involved in  the gift. As we give our time, talents, treasure and touch as Jesus’ followers, we do well to remember the widow’s example, and Jesus’ response to it.

Today’s readings from Genesis 37-40 show us biblical accounts don’t always flow in a “straight line,” that is Genesis chapters 37 and 39-40 tell us about Joseph, while chapter 38 diverges to an account of Joseph’s brother, Judah, and his encounter with Tamar, who was his daughter-in-law,  but ends up becoming his wife! There’s nothing illogical or unreasonable about the insertion of the account of Judah and Tamar in chapter 38, but it does take us away from the flow of the account of Joseph’s life, which dominates most of the rest of the book of Genesis.

The account of Judah and Tamar and its placement shows us that at times the biblical writers included information than seems tangential to the main flow of their book.  Some biblical scholars believe this is because the writers were using different source materials and they simply inserted material from a different source at that point.  That is possible. Luke tells us in chapter 1 of his Gospel that “many” had undertaken the important matter of writing an account of Jesus’ life. Then he tells us that he had reviewed the accounts, and interviewed eyewitnesses to write his account. Thus, Luke used different sources. That does not eliminate the underlying truth that God led each of the biblical writers in their writing through the Holy Spirit. For whatever reason, God wanted us to have the account of Judah and Tamar, and so it is included within the account of Joseph.

The account of Judah and Tamar is another reminder that God’s people didn’t always act as God would have had them act. The account of Judah’s sexual immorality was not included to show us how to live. Quite the contrary. Throughout the Bible sexual immorality is condemned. The account ultimately shows us how the lineage of the tribe of Judah flows, and that is vital to the overall message of the Bible, because both King David and  Jesus were from the tribe of Judah.

In chapters 37, 39-40 we read of Joseph’s “rise and fall,” as it were. As a teenager, Joseph dreamed he would one day rule over his family. The dreams were from God, but Joseph’s method of presenting them to his brothers, and then his parents led them all to be critical of his claim. The dysfunction of Joseph’s family manifested itself in the brothers selling him into slavery. As readers, we think, “Oh, no. God can’t fulfill the dreams now.” If chapter 40 were the end of the story, we would be right, but as Joseph ends up first as a slave in Potiphar’s house, and then in prison, we read the words, “God was with Joseph.”

We might think when God is with someone that person’s life will be blessed. In a manner of speaking, Joseph’s life was blessed in Egypt. He was the chief slave in Potiphar’s house, and had great freedom. Even when he was falsely accused of rape and imprisoned, he quickly became the warden’s right hand man, and once again experienced great freedom. This is nothing compared with the blessing Joseph would eventually experience, but the greatest blessing in any situation is to have God’s presence in our lives. Joseph was freer as a slave in Egypt than his brothers were back home in Palestine. We must always remember when God is with us whatever our circumstance, our lives are better than if we were “free” or “rich” and didn’t have God in our lives.

As we turn to Mark 11, we find Jesus triumphantly riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. For a brief moment everyone acknowledged Jesus for who He was: the King of kings. But the moment wouldn’t last. We see Jesus’ authority demonstrated in the cursing of a fig tree that withers, and in His driving the money changers out of the temple, but even after all this evidence the religious leaders question Jesus’ authority. They want to know what gave Him the right to do the things He did. Jesus didn’t answer them. He changes the subject to the source of John the Baptists authority. He asked the religious leaders whether it was from God or man? The religious leaders realized they couldn’t answer without putting themselves in a jam, so they said, “We don’t know.” This gave Jesus the opportunity to respond, “Neither will I tell you, where my authority originates.”

The tension is obvious, and as we’ll see in the remainder of Mark, Palm Sunday led to a week of confrontation and ultimately Jesus’ crucifixion. Thankfully, just as God was with Joseph during his time of slavery and imprisonment, Jesus being God’s only Son, experienced His Father’s presence through the week leading to the crucifixion. The key in each of our lives is not what happens to us at any given moment, but that we rely on God’s presence in those moments. God will give us the strength to endure whatever we face, when we put Him first in our lives. Joseph and Jesus are two of the best examples of that reality!