- Mark 11 & 12
- Romans 6
- Psalms 11 & 12
- Proverbs 6
Friday, July 30, 2010
Hey everyone! For those of you who are participating, here's our scheduled reading for today:
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Mark 6
(Jamie)
I was on a walk about a year ago with my kids, and spotted an obviously-homeless guy coming towards me and my pack of kids. We would pass on the sidewalk. He had long, brown, dirty shaggy hair and a nasty unkempt beard....and his clothes were "homeless-person" clothes. Instinctively I lifted my head and made sure to make firm eye contact (like a mother bear, really) and keep my pace brisk. As soon as he passed us, one of my boys said excitedly, "Mama! Was that Jesus?????" You see, we watch "The Jesus Movie"---their name for The Gospel of John dvd---at home fairly often. They know what "Jesus" looks like, and this guy was the closest anybody has ever come to looking like him! Immediately I felt the quiet yet tender rebuke in my heart as I realized that I may not recognize Jesus even if he walked right by me.
It was true for untold numbers of folks. Mark 6 unfolds the story of when Jesus was in His hometown. It says specifically in verse 3 that they were OFFENDED. Why were they so offended? Because he didn't look, act, smell or talk like the kind of Messiah they were expecting. He was a dirty, blue-collar guy who came from a family of what amounted to construction workers. The dirt under his nails bothered them. He was NOT what they expected. Or wanted. He was common. His commonness offended them and they did not recognize Him. Somehow we think that we would have been different had we lived back then. Surely we would have known Him!? The thing is, He did not hang out in palaces and did not seek out the white collar "good people." He went to theWalmart on Blanding low places and reached out to the ones who were swimming in the cesspool of their own sin, and knew it. I think of this often when I find myself in Walmart on Blanding places where I am around people who I am "better than." It's painful to me to realize that He came and sought out people like that woman with nicotine-stained fingers who yells profanities at her kids. And the construction worker caught up in porn who drinks his weekends away and wishes he could patch up his marriage. And the woman in the ghetto selling her body every night for the next drug fix and selling the food stamps that were supposed to feed her kids. It really bothers me that He sought out people like this. Why does this pain me? Because they do not deserve Him. And somehow I think I do. The people of Jesus' hometown were offended because they did not know what He was like---they did not know Him. How often have I missed Him, and written off what He was doing simply because it didn't look like what I expected......and been offended.......
I will end with that, and I'll end the day asking Him to remind me of my own deep poverty and the dangerous place that my pride has placed me in thinking I somehow deserve Him........ And how beautiful He is that He would descend so far.......so very, very far.......and how His lowliness brings Him to ME. Even tonight.
I was on a walk about a year ago with my kids, and spotted an obviously-homeless guy coming towards me and my pack of kids. We would pass on the sidewalk. He had long, brown, dirty shaggy hair and a nasty unkempt beard....and his clothes were "homeless-person" clothes. Instinctively I lifted my head and made sure to make firm eye contact (like a mother bear, really) and keep my pace brisk. As soon as he passed us, one of my boys said excitedly, "Mama! Was that Jesus?????" You see, we watch "The Jesus Movie"---their name for The Gospel of John dvd---at home fairly often. They know what "Jesus" looks like, and this guy was the closest anybody has ever come to looking like him! Immediately I felt the quiet yet tender rebuke in my heart as I realized that I may not recognize Jesus even if he walked right by me.
It was true for untold numbers of folks. Mark 6 unfolds the story of when Jesus was in His hometown. It says specifically in verse 3 that they were OFFENDED. Why were they so offended? Because he didn't look, act, smell or talk like the kind of Messiah they were expecting. He was a dirty, blue-collar guy who came from a family of what amounted to construction workers. The dirt under his nails bothered them. He was NOT what they expected. Or wanted. He was common. His commonness offended them and they did not recognize Him. Somehow we think that we would have been different had we lived back then. Surely we would have known Him!? The thing is, He did not hang out in palaces and did not seek out the white collar "good people." He went to the
I will end with that, and I'll end the day asking Him to remind me of my own deep poverty and the dangerous place that my pride has placed me in thinking I somehow deserve Him........ And how beautiful He is that He would descend so far.......so very, very far.......and how His lowliness brings Him to ME. Even tonight.
Our aim
(Jamie)
By way of introducing this blog, let it be known it was "born" out of weakness and need, and a yearning to feel alive on the inside as we touch Truth. There is no sense of "we have something," but rather, we WANT something (Someone). We want reality to be alive in our hearts, and we want to live as if Jesus' words are true (can you imagine someone really living as if they believed Him??) :0) Lofty aspiration, but there you have it---our aim. We are aiming for real connection and a present-tense relationship with a real Man.
Today's Mark 5 passage comes to mind, where the woman with the issue of blood, in desperation and for lack of other options, pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. I feel that way. Not that my life is in the place of ruin hers was (not by a long shot). But there is something in me that constantly cries out that if I cannot touch Him, if I cannot reach Him and make connection with His heart, then I am NOT OKAY. So this blog, this Bible reading plan, is an expression of the reach of my heart (and Lindsey's) in the direction of the One who made me for Himself, without whom I am NOT OKAY.
So read with us if you want. Or pick it up here and there (we will keep a semi-current post of reminders of where we are so it will be easy to jump in at any point). The invitation is out there. Maybe we will press through the distractions and cares of life together and touch the hem of His garment.
By way of introducing this blog, let it be known it was "born" out of weakness and need, and a yearning to feel alive on the inside as we touch Truth. There is no sense of "we have something," but rather, we WANT something (Someone). We want reality to be alive in our hearts, and we want to live as if Jesus' words are true (can you imagine someone really living as if they believed Him??) :0) Lofty aspiration, but there you have it---our aim. We are aiming for real connection and a present-tense relationship with a real Man.
Today's Mark 5 passage comes to mind, where the woman with the issue of blood, in desperation and for lack of other options, pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. I feel that way. Not that my life is in the place of ruin hers was (not by a long shot). But there is something in me that constantly cries out that if I cannot touch Him, if I cannot reach Him and make connection with His heart, then I am NOT OKAY. So this blog, this Bible reading plan, is an expression of the reach of my heart (and Lindsey's) in the direction of the One who made me for Himself, without whom I am NOT OKAY.
So read with us if you want. Or pick it up here and there (we will keep a semi-current post of reminders of where we are so it will be easy to jump in at any point). The invitation is out there. Maybe we will press through the distractions and cares of life together and touch the hem of His garment.
Welcome everyone! Here's a tentative schedule for this year (having begun on July 25th, 2010). Please feel free to jump in if you're ready on today's scheduled readings! OR, make up your own schedule and read at your leisure!...there's no right or wrong way to read through God's word and the point of this blog is simply to encourage us to stay IN it!
Just to clarify: The schedule you will find on this blog is made up of four lists. You will read an average of 6 chapters total (which will include both the Old and New Testament) daily. This schedule suggests that you read 2 chapters from the Gospels, 1 chapter from the Epistles, 2 chapters from Psalms and 1 chapter from the Books of Wisdom. If that explanation only confused you, please email me at CLSRMLA@Gmail.com and I'll try to explain further. :-)
- Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts)
- Epistles (Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians, Philipians, ect)
- Psalms (read continually throughout the year)
- Books of Wisdom and then on to the Prophets
Now, on to the "fellowship" part! We would absolutely love it if in between folding laundry, changing diapers, homeschooling or carpooling your children, feeding them, bathing them, cleaning your house and loving on your hotty hubby, you could leave a post and share with us a revelation you had while reading your daily passages! We could learn so much from one another!
Happy reading!
Today: Mark 5 &6, Romans 3, Psalms 5 &6, Proverbs 3
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