First the disciples feared the storm, then they feared the One whom the storm obeyed. Their fear was rightly placed when realigned, but I wonder if they—if I— would have followed Jesus’ calm lead in the first place, what more they/I might learn.
This stood out to me the most also. Sometimes we can feel as if He is doing nothing as we beg of him to do something…all the while, He is not worried…knowing no harm will come to His children and He is in control.
I am enjoying reading everyday.., I really love reading the stories that I grew up with but only part of it but now I am reading them now in its full true version… love how different it is.. always knew the story about balaam and his talking donkey but the last few days is the whole story.. so interesting…
But at the same time I am having a hard time putting all the reading is order… I feel like it’s all little stories after stories… I feel like they don’t connect although I know they do… but I am missing it..
May we also be jealous for the Lord for the worship of our own souls. We should flee from the idols of this world and recognize the dire state of our souls without Christ.
Did anyone else notice the word “Unicorn” is used in the place of the word “Ox” in 23:23? This says the version they are using is KJV. I looked in my KJV Scofield Bible and Unicorn is not the correct word. What is going on here??
Prayed for you Elizabeth. Stay in the Word and He will meet you there… even if emotions don’t lead into or follow. Sometime it is just a discipline… like physical exercise. God wants us to trust & follow Him… again, even if we don’t feel like it. He is a rewarded of those who seek Him! We will reap what we sow. God, help us to follow You and help us to Want to follow You.
Please pray for me… I’m in a strange season in my life where I don’t want God. I pray to want to want him. I feel him calling, but for some reason my heart isn’t moved sometimes. Please pray I can worship him no matter how I feel, at all times.
I am currently in a season of my life filled with fear and anxiety. The passage in Mark is so impactful and yet so hard to put into practice. Prayers are much appreciated!
Jesus we pray that just as you calmed the sea with a word, that you would bring peace into Julia’s life. I pray that she would have a sense of security, being tucked under your wing, even though the storms of anxiety and fear rage around her. Please show her the way forward, please give her ways of dealing with these thoughts and emotions. xo
Can anyone comment or provide teaching: Balaam was meeting with God and hearing his voice, but not a part of Israel. Moses met with God in the tent of meeting. A holy and set apart people and place. I will look in commentaries, but it’s a curious situation to me.
The Bible shows us many people who knew the Lord without the benefit of being raised in the faith of the Jews. Melchizedek, Noah, and even Abraham knew God before all of the commands were given to Moses. I guess Balaam met God the same way. Check out the book “Eternity in their hearts” by Don Richardson. It goes deeper into the subject of God revealing himself to people throughout the world who had never even heard of the Jews.
I just wanted to acknowledge that we have now completed 25%! While a lot of these verses are familiar to me, some are new, and I am proud of all of us for devoting our year to this!
“So let go, my soul, and trust in Him – the waves and wind still know His name….” These verses in Matthew remind me of my favorite song. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j4taAN4QtbI
23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” The prophet declares God’s truthfulness and faithfulness. What He says will be accomplished.
Some people say that Good Friday only brings despair, but we should be happy. We should be overcome with thankfulness for what HE did for us, when we in no way deserved it. HE loved us when we said, “crucify him!” Our joy for what our savior did, and love for him, gets us through life.
Amen Brenda! This is what I wrote in my journal too – that we would be so much less consumed with others opinions and way MORE consumed with saying exactly what the Lord wills us to speak. Amen.
I found it interesting that the disciples, even after following Jesus for a while, questioned who He was. “Who is this, that the wind and waves obey Him?” The more they chose to follow Him, the more they learned about who He was.
Maria, I’ll pray for your son, along with all the rest of our young people today who grew up hearing the gospel, accepted it, but have now decided that they can get along without it. I know I had a rebellious time at that age too, but God brought me back. I pray that our children will hear the Holy Spirit and return also.
His faithful character fuels his promises.
He is never sleeping, his power, glory and faithfulness reign over his creation and created people. I cAn thank him for I know that he is someone (and the only one) I can humbly submit to because in his character I can trust!
27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Our job is to sow the word. Period. Not help people do something with it or force anything on them. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. Only after there is growth, do we stick our “sickle” in to do anything – discipleship.
Love that. We have no business worrying whether people are getting what we are sowing. We sow and then we wait.
I loves these verses today; that the seed is the word and it just grows all on its own and all we have to do is plant it! I have to remember to plant the word daily – it doesn’t return void!
“Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”. Interesting that Balak’s only interest was to kill the Israelites. He didn’t care what God said period! It even says he took Balaam at different spots to possible get him to see things better. How many times are we only interested in our answer only, and feel it would do God justice if He listened to us. Maybe we are looking too much to fixate on the problem, rather solving the problem. Pondering and deep thoughts personally for me…
That goes back to the beginning of Mark 4 when they were ever listening and seeing. Balak has heard the word of the Lord several times, but just wouldn’t accept it. He had it in his mind how it would play out. No matter where he went or how he tried to make it look like. God’s Word never changed.
Praying for your son Daniel Maria. Thanks for everyone’s comments, I agree. I am impacted by the different passages. How God loves His people, and they are protected from their enemies, yet they still face hardship because of the idols in their lives. I am impacted by Jesus’ word too that the kingdom of God is so powerful yet my faith is so small like the disciples that sometimes I can’t see His power in this earth. Give me a larger faith Lord
I like numbers 23 19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
To me this shows God is in total control. He truly is the perfect human being. He speaks no lies, and always fulfills his promises.
I like those verses also Kelly. And this in Mark;
28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
It shows me God IS God and He does not operate in human – worldly- ways. Balak could not control God anymore than a farmer can control the growth of a seed. ‘All by itself’ the Word says, the seed grows and matures. It is God that causes the growth! The Farmers job is to be patient and be prepared for when the harvest comes.
My 24 yr. old son Daniel loved God and served Him faithfully since a young boy. His faith in God was real, building water wells in Africa and ministry to the unreached in East Asia. Yet now he currently describes himself as a ‘new atheist’. He is being deceived. Several family & friends that know him ( from his past) would declare him as having whole -heartedly received Christ as his savior.
These passages encourage me that nothing changes in heaven.. God is STILL in control. So thankful that He is faithful and true and high above worldly ways. Please pray for Daniel.
Praying for your son. I’m in a similar situation myself, and my heart breaks for these people. I’m trying to remember that God is in control, and only He can see their hearts, and what’s truly going on.
I said a prayer for Daniel. This reminded me of a friend I have. He loved jesus and served him but became a Mormon. He was even out on “missions”. However, the lord got ahold of him and showed him the Truth. Praying the same will happen for your son.
I like how Daddy God sees us differently from how we see ourselves, as seen in what Balaam said when the Spirit came on him:
5 “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,
your dwelling places, Israel!
6 “Like valleys they spread out,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from their buckets;
their seed will have abundant water.
“Their king will be greater than Agag;
their kingdom will be exalted.
19 God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
I like how the nature of God is written here for us to read and know. We can have full assurance that Daddy God cannot lie, He is not fickle-minded and He is a man of His word.
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Perhaps you benefit from a book like God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Robert’s who lays out the entire storyline of the Bible.
Jesus calming the storm is one of my fav stories.
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God asks us to trust and have faith in him when all circumstances show us otherwise
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First the disciples feared the storm, then they feared the One whom the storm obeyed. Their fear was rightly placed when realigned, but I wonder if they—if I— would have followed Jesus’ calm lead in the first place, what more they/I might learn.
❤️
12And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
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Love this! So encouraging
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Jesus does care that we are perishing & He saves us
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Balaam is an awesome example of listening to God! Even when he was offered riches of this world
“Why are you so fearful? Do you still have no faith?”
This stood out to me the most also. Sometimes we can feel as if He is doing nothing as we beg of him to do something…all the while, He is not worried…knowing no harm will come to His children and He is in control.
always have faith-ellie
25%
I am enjoying reading everyday.., I really love reading the stories that I grew up with but only part of it but now I am reading them now in its full true version… love how different it is.. always knew the story about balaam and his talking donkey but the last few days is the whole story.. so interesting…
But at the same time I am having a hard time putting all the reading is order… I feel like it’s all little stories after stories… I feel like they don’t connect although I know they do… but I am missing it..
May we also be jealous for the Lord for the worship of our own souls. We should flee from the idols of this world and recognize the dire state of our souls without Christ.
We’re having crazy wind again. Jesus is lord of it all
Did anyone else notice the word “Unicorn” is used in the place of the word “Ox” in 23:23? This says the version they are using is KJV. I looked in my KJV Scofield Bible and Unicorn is not the correct word. What is going on here??
http://creationtoday.org/why-does-the-bible-mention-unicorns/
Thank you, Dana!! :)
Prayed for you Elizabeth. Stay in the Word and He will meet you there… even if emotions don’t lead into or follow. Sometime it is just a discipline… like physical exercise. God wants us to trust & follow Him… again, even if we don’t feel like it. He is a rewarded of those who seek Him! We will reap what we sow. God, help us to follow You and help us to Want to follow You.
Please pray for me… I’m in a strange season in my life where I don’t want God. I pray to want to want him. I feel him calling, but for some reason my heart isn’t moved sometimes. Please pray I can worship him no matter how I feel, at all times.
Elizabeth, praying for you right now sweet girl. Thank you for being so brave as to share this. Grateful for you.
– Stormye
Praying for you girl! Please pray for me as well I’m in the same boat!
I am currently in a season of my life filled with fear and anxiety. The passage in Mark is so impactful and yet so hard to put into practice. Prayers are much appreciated!
Jesus we pray that just as you calmed the sea with a word, that you would bring peace into Julia’s life. I pray that she would have a sense of security, being tucked under your wing, even though the storms of anxiety and fear rage around her. Please show her the way forward, please give her ways of dealing with these thoughts and emotions. xo
Can anyone comment or provide teaching: Balaam was meeting with God and hearing his voice, but not a part of Israel. Moses met with God in the tent of meeting. A holy and set apart people and place. I will look in commentaries, but it’s a curious situation to me.
The Bible shows us many people who knew the Lord without the benefit of being raised in the faith of the Jews. Melchizedek, Noah, and even Abraham knew God before all of the commands were given to Moses. I guess Balaam met God the same way. Check out the book “Eternity in their hearts” by Don Richardson. It goes deeper into the subject of God revealing himself to people throughout the world who had never even heard of the Jews.
Also Rahab and Ruth are examples of “outsiders” (Gentiles) God used, even to bring about the birth of His Son.
Thank you ladies! It was that ability to hear God directly that kind of threw me off. I appreciate your responses! And the book suggestion!
God does not change his mind! (Num 23:19) His promises will be filled.
I wonder how I would have reacted in the boat – would I place my faith in Jesus, or would I panic? I like to think I would place my faith in Him.
I would totally panic.
I just wanted to acknowledge that we have now completed 25%! While a lot of these verses are familiar to me, some are new, and I am proud of all of us for devoting our year to this!
Amen! Thank You.
I want to listen to the Lord’s every command even in the face of opposition just as Balaam!
**Mark I mean, these verses in Mark!
“So let go, my soul, and trust in Him – the waves and wind still know His name….” These verses in Matthew remind me of my favorite song. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j4taAN4QtbI
I was thinking of this song as I was reading the passage in Mark! One of my favs too.
Way way behind. :)
I’m with you Erica!
Anyone else this behind? :/ Trying my hardest to catch up!
Yes :)
Yes!!! Yes!!!
Way behind!
Even further behind!
23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” The prophet declares God’s truthfulness and faithfulness. What He says will be accomplished.
Maybe one of Lee Strobel’s books like “The Case for Grace” would be good for Daniel. It is really touching my heart.
Some people say that Good Friday only brings despair, but we should be happy. We should be overcome with thankfulness for what HE did for us, when we in no way deserved it. HE loved us when we said, “crucify him!” Our joy for what our savior did, and love for him, gets us through life.
12 He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth? ”
Great Word for today!! “Say what the LORD tells me to say.” Praying HIS Word in my mouth is what will come out of my mouth!
Amen Brenda! This is what I wrote in my journal too – that we would be so much less consumed with others opinions and way MORE consumed with saying exactly what the Lord wills us to speak. Amen.
I pray Daniel find a real relationship with God that is not based on what Daniel does and is based on who God is.
Amen. Thank you.
I found it interesting that the disciples, even after following Jesus for a while, questioned who He was. “Who is this, that the wind and waves obey Him?” The more they chose to follow Him, the more they learned about who He was.
** “Even the wind and waves obey Him”
Jesus is the expressed image of God.
Thank You Jesus!
Maria, I’ll pray for your son, along with all the rest of our young people today who grew up hearing the gospel, accepted it, but have now decided that they can get along without it. I know I had a rebellious time at that age too, but God brought me back. I pray that our children will hear the Holy Spirit and return also.
Thank you for the prayers & encouragement Suzanne.
His faithful character fuels his promises.
He is never sleeping, his power, glory and faithfulness reign over his creation and created people. I cAn thank him for I know that he is someone (and the only one) I can humbly submit to because in his character I can trust!
Mark 4:14, 27-29
The farmer sows the word.
27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Our job is to sow the word. Period. Not help people do something with it or force anything on them. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. Only after there is growth, do we stick our “sickle” in to do anything – discipleship.
Love that. We have no business worrying whether people are getting what we are sowing. We sow and then we wait.
I loves these verses today; that the seed is the word and it just grows all on its own and all we have to do is plant it! I have to remember to plant the word daily – it doesn’t return void!
Amen!
Amen!
“Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”. Interesting that Balak’s only interest was to kill the Israelites. He didn’t care what God said period! It even says he took Balaam at different spots to possible get him to see things better. How many times are we only interested in our answer only, and feel it would do God justice if He listened to us. Maybe we are looking too much to fixate on the problem, rather solving the problem. Pondering and deep thoughts personally for me…
Moni, your comment reminds me of Luke for when satan took Jesus to some different spots
Interesting correlation. Thank you for pointing this out! I will have to go back and read it again, with this perspective in mind.
I never thought about that parallel!
That goes back to the beginning of Mark 4 when they were ever listening and seeing. Balak has heard the word of the Lord several times, but just wouldn’t accept it. He had it in his mind how it would play out. No matter where he went or how he tried to make it look like. God’s Word never changed.
Praying for your son Daniel Maria. Thanks for everyone’s comments, I agree. I am impacted by the different passages. How God loves His people, and they are protected from their enemies, yet they still face hardship because of the idols in their lives. I am impacted by Jesus’ word too that the kingdom of God is so powerful yet my faith is so small like the disciples that sometimes I can’t see His power in this earth. Give me a larger faith Lord
Thank you! And ditto – ‘enlarge my faith Lord’
I like numbers 23 19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
To me this shows God is in total control. He truly is the perfect human being. He speaks no lies, and always fulfills his promises.
I like those verses also Kelly. And this in Mark;
28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
It shows me God IS God and He does not operate in human – worldly- ways. Balak could not control God anymore than a farmer can control the growth of a seed. ‘All by itself’ the Word says, the seed grows and matures. It is God that causes the growth! The Farmers job is to be patient and be prepared for when the harvest comes.
My 24 yr. old son Daniel loved God and served Him faithfully since a young boy. His faith in God was real, building water wells in Africa and ministry to the unreached in East Asia. Yet now he currently describes himself as a ‘new atheist’. He is being deceived. Several family & friends that know him ( from his past) would declare him as having whole -heartedly received Christ as his savior.
These passages encourage me that nothing changes in heaven.. God is STILL in control. So thankful that He is faithful and true and high above worldly ways. Please pray for Daniel.
As the Israelites turned their hearts back to you God, I pray that young Daniel will turn his heart back to you.
Amen! Thank you.
Maria, praying for your son. Thanks for sharing.
Praying for your sons eyes to be opened to The One True God!
Amen. Thank you!!
Thank you for the prayers & encouragement Suzanne.
Praying for your son. I’m in a similar situation myself, and my heart breaks for these people. I’m trying to remember that God is in control, and only He can see their hearts, and what’s truly going on.
Praying for Daniel and you too. Thanks for sharing your heart.
I said a prayer for Daniel. This reminded me of a friend I have. He loved jesus and served him but became a Mormon. He was even out on “missions”. However, the lord got ahold of him and showed him the Truth. Praying the same will happen for your son.
I like how Daddy God sees us differently from how we see ourselves, as seen in what Balaam said when the Spirit came on him:
5 “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,
your dwelling places, Israel!
6 “Like valleys they spread out,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from their buckets;
their seed will have abundant water.
“Their king will be greater than Agag;
their kingdom will be exalted.
19 God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
I like how the nature of God is written here for us to read and know. We can have full assurance that Daddy God cannot lie, He is not fickle-minded and He is a man of His word.