Mark 1:27-28 - February 12, 2010

Mark 1:27-28 “The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching-and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.”

The moving of God’s power through an anointed life is manifold in its impact. When Jesus stepped into his public ministry and began to demonstrate the power and authority that were upon his life he didn’t have to have slick marketing nor did he have to hire a promoter to plan his schedule. The quality and power of his life moved people to tell people! When you give people hope that their life can be better they will tell still other people about you! And when the people talk… the doors open.

Jesus left people amazed. His life got them talking. “What is this?” What are we seeing? This is different than what we have been used to. This man has a message we have not heard and a power we have not seen. The life of Jesus gave people faith to believe God. When a generation has endured without a manifestation of the Spirit of God their faith grows dim and the world notices when the Spirit of God begins to stir again. People want to see what it is all about. People want to hear what is being said. The presence of the power of God marks that situation in such a way that even unbelievers notice. Some people come as skeptics, seeking to disprove what they have heard. Some people come with an open heart and a secret hope that this time they will see something that is real, something of substance. Still others come with a desperate faith that is reaching out in need of a miracle.

When people saw Jesus, the open hearted were turned to God, the desperate were met with mercy and power and the skeptics were many times only hardened in their unbelief. But in every case the people who came, the presence of Jesus with even more to say than before. And because of this the whole region was affected. Because of this people came from far and wide. Even the controversy surrounding Jesus’ life and ministry became a tool that God used to expand Jesus’ audience. For those who are seeking to build a ministry, don’t focus on trying to gather a crowd. Focus on attracting the presence of Jesus and let the power of that presence be what attracts the crowds. If God is with you when you minister, He will build the ministry.

After the resurrection of Christ, the disciples had no trouble sustaining the ministry that had been entrusted to them because the presence of God was with them. The power of God was upon them. And they were marked as those who “had been with Jesus.” Their ability to sustain the work of God and to continue to impact the communities where they ministered was not diminished. In fact because of the presence of the Holy Spirit that accompanied them, just like He did with Jesus, they were known in Acts 17:6 as men who had “turned the world upside down.” KJV Remember this fact. The greatest source of advertising you have is the power and presence of God.

Mark 1:25-26 - February 11, 2010

Mark 1:25-26 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.”

Mark 1:25-26 “Is a powerful introduction to the authority of Christ! Jesus has been teaching in the temple, the demonic spirits that have been inhabiting one of the members of the audience speak up and begin to reveal themselves. They are declaring the Son-ship of Christ but they are also creating a disruption that is hindering the message that Jesus is trying to teach the people. What would you do if this happened to you? How would you react if a member of your audience began to shout out and create a tension in the atmosphere that was distracting people from your message? Can you discern the difference between a demonic interference and a distraught human? Can you recognize when it is more than a natural disruption?

Jesus does not delay in His response to this shouting man. He does not hesitate because He immediately recognizes that this is not a human confrontation but a demonic manifestation. From that moment on this story becomes a clinic in handling demonic manifestations! The people have been marveling that His teaching comes from one who has authority they have never seen before and now He is given the opportunity to demonstrate that authority. We must learn to recognize when God is giving us the opportunity to demonstrate the kingdom in the same manner that Jesus did. Whether it is sickness, demonic oppression or some other need that raises its head to disagree with the Word of the Lord, we must be prepared to demonstrate the authority of God over that arena of need.

Jesus does not stop and kindly ask the man to sit down and be quiet. He speaks with a stern voice of command and orders the demon to be quiet and leave the man. There is no negotiating. There is no discussion. He takes the authority that is His and commands the spirit to obey Him. The results of his command are immediate and dramatic. The man shook violently as the demonic hold in his life is broken and with one last cry of defeat the demon shrieks, using the man’s mouth, as it leaves him and the man is set free.

We must learn this same lesson. Don’t negotiate with the devil! Rebuke him. Both Peter and James teach this same message in their writings. Peter begins in 1 Peter 5:8-9 by saying “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith,” James takes the matter and strengthens the lesson in James 4:7 where he says “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” We must understand clearly Satan’s agenda to steal, kill and destroy and become confident resistors who live submitted to God and consistently resisting the works of the devil everywhere they become evident within our sphere of influence. Remember the commission of the Apostle Paul as your battle cry; Eph 6:10-11 “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.” Take your stand and become the victorious Christian you were created to be!

Mark 1: 23-24 - February 10, 2010

Mark 1:23-24 “Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God!"

Jesus is in the middle of teaching the people in the local synagogue. The people are listening with rapt attention. They are amazed at the authority of his message. They are in awe of the contrast between the empty words of the religious leaders and these words of power and life that are coming from Jesus. But they are not the only ones listening. There is an audience in the spirit realm as well and the words of Jesus are creating waves of unrest in that realm as also.

This passage is rich with insight into the unseen realms of the spirit world. Jesus is speaking with spiritual authority that He has received from his Father. He is speaking words of life that He has learned in the presence of God. These words of “spirit and life” are provoking the demonic powers that are at work in the region. They know this man Jesus. They know him as more than a carpenter. They know him as more than the son of Joseph. They know him for who He is in heaven! The message of Jesus provokes these demonic inhabitants to surface and reveal their presence. They cannot withstand the power of these anointed words that are being spoken. They have to speak. They have to acknowledge the Son of God.

This passage demonstrates the measure of the authority of Christ’s words. This passage reveals the power of anointed lips! Even though men have spent centuries arguing about Jesus, it only takes a short while for these demonic powers to acknowledge Him as the Holy One of God. All men have a tendency to judge others by what they can see with their eyes and hear with their ears. But these demonic forces know Jesus on a different level. They know for who He is in the realms of the spirit. They know that they will stand before Him for judgment and the power of His words fills them with fear that their time of judgment is at hand.

This little portion of Mark chapter one brings each one of us to a place of needing to ask the same question. Who am I in the spirit world, the heavenly realms? You will not be judged after the flesh. You will stand before God and be judged for who you are in the spirit. Your good looks and material success will mean nothing, they were a gift. The opinions of others will mean very little in the courts of God. What will matter, the measuring rod of your life, will be who you are in the presence of the Father! How are you known there? Do the demons know who you are? Do the angels know your name? Are you God’s boast the way Job was as the Father pointed to Job when Satan came to accuse God’s children? Live in such a way that you have a reputation there that is greater than your reputation here on earth! Let it be your goal to be known in the courts of heaven!

Mark 1:21-22 - February 9, 2010

Mark 1:21-22 “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”

This passage in Mark one reflects the tension that is constantly present between those who have information and those who have experience. At the time of Christ there were many bible teachers within the culture. Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and more all had a public platform to teach within the community of Israel. They were well educated, groomed by the generation of scholars that preceded them but there was one overshadowing problem with all of them. They were men who had taught theory and principle but they were not men who had experienced the very things they were teaching.

When Jesus appeared on the scene within the regions where he ministered there was an immediate reaction from amongst the people. Here was a man who was more than a good teacher. Here was a man who transcended the scholars of the day. Jesus spoke in such a way that moved the hearts of His hearers like they had never been moved before. He spoke as one who had authority. The religious leaders of the region spoke as men who had opinions based on study. Jesus spoke as a man who did not simply have beliefs about God, He spoke as a man who knew God! People marveled at the authority he spoke with. They saw the difference between His life and message and the life and message of those who had been teaching them the rest of their lives and this difference captured their hearts and filled the people with a sense of expectancy so that when he made statements like Mark 1:14-15"The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" the people’s hearts burned with faith and expectancy and many were moved to repent of their sins.

The secret of this authority that Jesus spoke with, the foundation of this authority was the life that Jesus lived in the presence of God. In John 8:38 Jesus identifies the nature of his message “I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence.” Jesus lived in the presence of God and spoke from that place. His words came from the Father and were a manifestation of God himself. Jesus revealed to his disciples why his words carried so much power to move the heart and to bring change in the lives of people in John 6:62-63. He confidently affirms to them “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” The authority that Jesus spoke with was the very power of the voice of God himself, speaking through His son!

This principle carries an even more profound implication when we consider Peter’s words in 1 Peter 4:10-11 “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.” Every believer has a mandate to speak with the same authority that Jesus spoke with. Every believer has a mandate to speak from the same place of experiencing God. Do not be content to simply repeat principles that you have read in a book or heard in a message. Abandon yourself in the presence of the Father until you are speaking from the same wellspring of experiential Christianity that was the power behind the ministry of Christ. Get your own experience of God. Begin today!

Mark 1:16-20 - February 08, 2010

Mark 1:16-20 “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 18 At once they left their nets and followed him. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”

When Jesus calls you, how what kind of answer do you give? This brief passage is a portrait of a whole hearted response. Jesus sees these four young men, each fully invested in the pursuits of their life, each faithfully laboring in the midst of their routine. They are used to hard work. They have been seasoned by the rugged life of a Galilean fisherman. They have family ties to their work and they are financially bonded to these family businesses with a sense of the family inheritance that is connected to their work. It is in the midst of this predictable and demanding life that the call of Jesus Christ imposes itself upon their lives.

Jesus sets his eyes on these quality young people and suddenly their lives are disrupted by the call of God. They don’t know the impact of their decision to follow. None of them can predict the full measure of the consequences associated with this decision. But each one of them lays down the life they have always known with an immediacy that is startling and follows the call of God. There was no warning. There was no dream in the night that is ever indicated as this moment of costly decision is thrust upon these men. “Follow me… now!” And their lives are changed forever!

Jesus calls these young men on a journey of personal transformation; “follow me and I will make you…” something you are not! Are you prepared to follow with the absoluteness that these four young men demonstrated? Can you quickly separate yourself from the entanglements of your busy life when Jesus passes by? This is the miracle of these verses. Jesus looked into the hearts of these young men and saw people who would say yes! Consider the rich young ruler in Mt. 19:16-21. He was given the same invitation to follow. Jesus saw the quality of his holiness but this young man’s attachment to his natural life was greater than his hunger to follow. Instead of laying everything down with the same fullness that the four fishermen demonstrated, the greatness of his wealth became the prison that separated him from complete surrender to the calling of God.

What is it that you cannot let go of? After witnessing this inner conflict in the life of this young ruler Peter inquires of the Lord. “We have left all to follow you,” he says, wondering what is in store for them with the standard of God being set so high in response to the disappointing response of the young ruler. Jesus comforts Peter in his confusion by affirming the reward that awaits an abandoned life. Truly the cost of following is high but the reward is also great. In Luke 18:29-30 “Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life." Remember this when Jesus passes by your life. Remember this when the call to follow comes. Remember this when sorrow over what must be left behind tempts you to stay in the comfortable routine of what you have always known. In that moment, count the cost and follow. In the end it will be worth it all!!!!!