Help! I Need a Doctor

“And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

Mark 2:17, ESV

We get ‘schooled’ when we try to figure out Jesus.  It is a radical adjustment to process His thoughts and motives.  We watch and try to understand.  Jesus dictates a certain level, and we as His disciples will need to adjust.  Jesus declares that a select group will not need a doctors ministrations.  But the doctor does have a role.  There will be the ‘sick’, who need his attention.

The reality is that many are diseased and ill.  It is something that links and connects us to each  other.  We are desperately sick, and we have no medicine.  Jesus steps forward and intervenes.  He takes us and ministers to us in our desperate condition.  The diseased will be made healthy.

Jesus reaches ‘the sick’.  That is who He wants.  He makes the choice and that choice is us, full of infection and pain.  His Kingdom consists of those who understand their illness.  He bypasses the strong and the healthy.  He spends little time with them.  His heart is set on us who are broken and twisted.  Our cancerous bodies have absolutely nothing to give Him.

His Kingdom is full of sick people.  It, in a sense, is full with the ‘terminally ill’.  It is we who have ‘attracted’ Him.  Yet He has intensely sought us out.  We gather like little chicks to his protective wings.  We honestly do not have the ability even to protect ourselves.

Jesus declares that He has come for us.  Sin is very near to us.  We have the infection and we are completely vulnerable.  We are not strong spiritually.  There are many who excel before us.  We can make no claim to anything of significance.  But He has chosen us.  Sovereignly and specifically.  Strongly and decisively.  He has collected us and brought us to His heart.

*

ybic, Bryan

 

 

Light – A Poem of Truth

Pr. Lowe is having a little computer trouble, so I’m helping out and shining a little light into his world and yours today.

Light

The Light of life
Piercing the darkness
Illuminating truth
Clearing away strife

The Light of the world
Displacing hopelessness
Radiating pure grace
His majesty unfurled

The one true Light
Savior of the lost
Shining in the darkness
To the blind giving sight

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (NIV).

Blessed?

 

“Blessed … Blessed … Blessed … Blessed …”

Matthew 5:3-10

Extract all the blessings from Scripture, and you would be left with very little.  Remove the promises and it would become a poison to the souls of men.  We are in such a feeble state that we would be desperate for anything that would ease our pain.  Being crushed on the wheels of life without any hope is a grim prospect.

That is why He gives us the promises and blessings embedded in the Bible.  They are like diamonds in the clay, which must be released in order to make them ours.  The blessings of the Word await those desperate enough to abandon lethargy and to dig.  One time a treasure chest was buried in a field, and a poor man who knew went and sold everything.  He scraped all he had and purchased that property to gain access to the wealth within.

Some will never make the effort.  The blessings of scripture are never gripped and seized with any real alacrity or desperation.  Those vital promises swirl by their hearts, but are never comprehended.  They are so close to glory, but they will not reach for it.  The issue is not with the Bible, it is the folly and darkness of the human heart.

Having God’s blessing is a state of grace that elevates us to reality.  If you are “poor in spirit”. or if you mourn, you are in that state of blessed truth.  You might say that the Beatitudes are keys that will open the doors of truth.  They are not optional, we must receive them and the richness they give us.

There are those who will harden their heart.  That is a given.  They have a calloused mind and a stiff neck.  But the promises and blessings of God continue to call out, but if they are spurned they will become the property of a more receptive and eager heart.

 

ybic, Bryan

 

The Quiet Power of Jesus

“The master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.  He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside.”   John 2:9 

Jesus Christ performs the first miracle of his short ministry.  He will perform thousands of them in his brief work on planet Earth.  This miracle was done silently, there was absolutely no fanfare or hoopla. (What a contrast for ministry today!)

Silently, quietly, much like he does today, he touches the hearts of thousands of men and women.  I wouldn’t have done it this way, I would’ve advertised, had the 12 disciples out doing some PR work, maybe some autographs and definitely make it quite the show!

He is not in the storm, or the fire, or an earthquake.  That is not the way he operates (but he can). He comes quietly in a still, small voice to our confused hearts.  Silently help comes to us, and silently the answers to our prayers glide down to us.  Not a shred of ostentation; no gaudy bows or ribbons.  When Jesus is ministering to someone who is in a horrible fix, he does it peaceably–quietly and calmly.  He is infinitely gentle.

It is significant that “the servants who had drawn the water knew”.  Often those who minister for Christ get to see his omnipotence and his power, they know it first-hand.  As a young man, I worked as a full-time evangelist in San Francisco.  I saw God change people! Addicts, gays and transvestites would often come for the Bible studies, and God would work and they were changed.  As you and I mature and step into service, we are privy to the work of Jesus.  We are no longer strangers but friends, and he lets us see his wonders for ourselves.  I have been allowed to see up close his workings in a twisted heart of a lost soul.  The water is turned into wine. I simply stand in awe.

The master of the feast did not know what had happened.  Is this not the same with us quite often?  We cannot explain where the blessings come from.  It happens quickly and quietly.  Look, over there, see the confused woman as she desperately seeks an intervention.  She sobs out in prayer, imploring the Lord for mercy.  Suddenly, through faith something happens, and it is completely supernatural.  And no trumpets sounded, for these are common, regular everyday miracles.

We drink the wine, but we don’t quite grasp the miracle.  But that’s okay.  Our limited understanding handles these quiet miracles and we will step into the light that grace leaves behind.  The water has become wine and we are changed as well, forever, by the quiet power of Jesus.

ybic, Bryan