365 Reflections

Are you the kind of person who longs to hear from God's Word? Or are you the kind of person who kind of appreciates it? I would suggest that to the extent you long for His Word you experience His presence. Conversely, the less you long for it, the less you experience Him. God is looking for people who want to hear what He has said. This is the great testament of Scripture itself. And when we get to the climax of Elihu's speech to Job, we find a man in Elihu who LOVES and LONGS for the WORD of GOD.  Job 37:1–4 (ESV) “At this also my heart trembles and leaps out of its place. 2 Keep listening to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. 3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth. 4 After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard. What does your heart leap for? Elihu's heart lept for God's voice. And he called Job to listen....

Deuteronomy 29:2–9 (ESV)   And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. 7 And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all t...

There is no more sinister character in the Gospels than Herod.  He is THE pompous, arrogant, self-centered, egotistical, murderous, adulterous king of the heathens.  His puppet reign keeps Israel from becoming true to itself and so coalesce with their Roman occupiers.  He persecutes his own, and at the drop of a hat murders the most revered prophet of the day at the whim of a teenager. Some king. But it is with great curiosity that we read something of Herod that seems an asterisk on his legacy: Mark 6:20 (ESV) Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. Notice: He feared John.  Not enough to eventually murder him for of course he feared his reputation more.   He knew John was righteous and holy.  He kept him safe.  Apparently, John has an unseen advocate amongst the "powers that be." Ev...

I had to consult a popular commentary from the get go on this verse in Mark.  And what I found was well worth my short search: Jesus says in Mark 4:22–23 (ESV) For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Nothing is first hidden, Jesus says without the express purpose of later being revealed.  Remember that Mark emphasizes the "Messianic Secret" in his Gospel.  That Jesus continually commands people to NOT say who He is.  Here is a clue as to why God brought about His redemptive act through His Son in such an in auspicious manner.  God loves to thrill us with discovery! If you have children over ages 3-10 you will know this to be the truth.  I loved playing hide and seek with my oldest children during those years.  The purpose of the game was to hide oneself SO THAT you are discovered.  It's actually an interesting game in that i...