Knowing God - Mark 1:27

They were all amazed,

and they kept on asking one another,

"What is this? A new teaching—with authority!

He commands even the unclean spirits,

and they obey him."

Mark 1:27

 

One of them more frequent words associated with Jesus' ministry was "new," and in the Gospel of Mark, the first "new thing" was his new teachings.

 

Jesus has so many new and wonderful teachings that even a few non-Christian religions call him a prophet. But ... don't mistake Jesus' main contribution to be adding a little more wisdom to the world. The most important words in this passage are "with authority."

 

In fact in the verses surrounding Mark 1:27, Jesus wasn't really teaching at all. He was simply saying to the evil spirits, "25 Be silent and come out." As I said, that's not a teaching. It's a command. In other words, what was new about Jesus was not the words ... but the power!

 

So what's new about this for your new year. Here's an idea for a resolution: Don't look for just the wisdom and teachings from the scripture. Seek to see God and faith more clearly as a source for real power! Try speaking to your doubts and objections, saying, "be silent and come out." And see if you might discover more hope, joy, peace, and power, by embracing truth.

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants

to be amazed

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I sometimes wonder if I am slowly going crazy. In my mind is an almost constant argument - if you read this blog with any regularity, you have read some of this argument I have.  In the past month or so, I have come to realize just how much this happens in my mind.  I have had many hours of discussions with Pastor and have had almost as many hours of arguing against when he says. Arguing against scripture. Arguing against what I know yet do not believe.  I have wished for a mute button. Prayed for long term memory loss. (or brain damage to quiet the arguments)  Sometimes they are so loud that I want to scream.  They have been so intense during bible studies that I find myself scribbling so hard on the paper that it tears.  Or ripping pages into tiny pieces. When the arguments are present during sermons, I find myself reciting the times tables, states in alphabetical order, anything to not let the argument surface.

if only it was as easy as commanding the thoughts to 'be quiet and come out'  Thing is - they always return ... even louder than before. so why bother?