July 8-12

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. - Mark 7:24 ESV

Jesus Knows Your Greatest Need
Joe Louis was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 until he retired in 1949. In 1946 Louis prepared to defend his title against a skilled fighter named Billy Conn. Louis was warned to watch out for Conn's great speed and his tactic of darting in to attack and then moving quickly out of his opponent's range. In a famous display of confidence, Louis replied, "He can run, but he can't hide." (Today in the Word)

Jesus couldn’t hide from the needs of people. In this last section of Mark 6, Mark describes two healing miracles that take place in Gentile territory. Both of the healings indicate that Jesus came for all people Jew and Gentile alike. Mark says Jesus went into a house to get away, most likely to rest, but He could not be hidden. Jesus could not be hidden because His love and compassion for our greatest needs could not be hidden. From human suffering, God cannot withdraw Himself. He cannot be hidden. In each of the healings, He does not deal with symptoms merely, but with the dire root of the disease and the greater needs.

Reflection
There are times when God may seem far away but He never is. Sometimes, God uses the process of us looking for Him to grow our faith and hunger for Him. When was the last time you felt like you had to go looking for Jesus?

Praise/Prayer
Thank God for His promise to never leave you nor forsake you. Ask God to grow you through the process of trying to find Him and where He is at work.

But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” - Mark 7:28-29 ESV

We Need to Live by Faith Instead of by Fear
I have asked for salt, butter, meat, etc.  But I have never said, “Please pass the crumbs.” Think about it; would you rather have a biscuit or the crumbs? Crumbs generally get thrown away. We have a toaster with a crumb tray. It gets emptied and put right into the garbage. I remember eating at an upscale restaurant, and one of the waiters came and scraped our table after we had eaten bread to get rid of the crumbs. (PrescottPreacher)

The woman in Mark 7:28-29 begs Jesus for even the crumbs of His blessings. Jesus was not being unkind, but making a theological point—His first priority was the Jewish people. “Yes, Lord,” the woman replied, “but even the puppies under the table get some crumbs.” In other words, “What you’re saying is true, but I don’t need the full meal. Just a few crumbs will be sufficient.” Can you sense this woman’s faith? Jesus did. “Woman,” He said, “you have great faith!” (Ed Dobson) This woman’s faith was greater than her fear of being rejected by Jesus or ridiculed by others.

Reflection
Desperate people do desperate things. When you’re desperate you don’t care what people think, nor do you give up easily. When was the last time you were desperate enough for God to be satisfied with even a crumb of His power?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for the power He has, even in the crumbs of His blessings. Ask God to give you faith that is greater than any fears you are currently struggling with.

And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” - Mark 7:37 ESV

We Need to Hear With Our Hearts Not Just With Our Ears
A husband read an article to his wife about how women use 30,000 words a day to a man’s 15,000. The wife replied, “That’s because we have to repeat everything to men.” The husband turned to his wife and said, “What?” (Source Unknown)

We are all born with spiritually defective hearts that don’t hear well. Jesus does all things well. He doesn’t just fix our hearing, He also fixes our hearts. Making the deaf hear was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and spoke of Jesus' greater mission to redeem us from our sins. The crowd's astonishment implies that some of them were beginning to understand who Jesus was and the significance of His mission.

Reflection
Have you ever been accused of being hard of hearing? Do you think there are times when you aren’t listening to God speaking?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for the physical gift of hearing but more importantly the spiritual gift of healing your heart. Ask God to give you ears to hear from Him in any areas where you have been resistant to listen.

In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.” - Mark 8:1-2 ESV

We Need to Learn Eternal Truths More than Earthly Lessons.
I had a football coach who would often say in practice, “Let’s go! We need reps guys we need reps.” The reason we needed repetition was because practice makes you better and helps you learn.

Mark starts by saying in Mark 8:1, “In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered.”  Why does Mark say again? He is emphasizing that we have a second large crowd that had nothing to eat like the crowd of 5000. But more importantly, the disciples still had lessons to learn that they didn’t learn the first time Jesus fed a large crowd.

Reflection
What lessons has God had to remind you of over and over again? Why do you think you are slow to learn in that area?

Praise/Prayer
Thank God for His patience and longsuffering in your life. Ask God to help you learn His simple lessons without having to go through the same situation over and over again.

“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” -Mark 8:20-21 ESV

We Need to Learn Eternal Truths More than Earthly Lessons. Part 2
On a crisp Minnesota fall afternoon, my four-year-old son was helping me rake leaves in the front yard of our farmhouse. I glanced up just in time to see a flock of geese flying over and pointed out how they flew in a formation shaped like a "V". He patiently watched them as they disappeared over the horizon and then turning to me asked, "Do they know any other letters?" (L. Scott Martens, Reader's Digest)

The disciples were always in school and learning eternal lessons when Jesus was around. In Mark 8:21, they are still slow to put together the pieces of the puzzle so that they can see the full picture of Jesus and His enemies! In Matthew 16:12, “Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” There Jesus clearly tells the disciples that He was not speaking of literal bread, but of the leaven-like influence of the religious leaders. Jesus was teaching He was the Messiah who was coming to die for their sins while the religious leaders of the day were teaching a sinful doctrine of salvation by works and manmade rules.

Reflection
Do remember one of the first Bible lessons you ever learned as a child? Do you have a greater understanding of that lesson today than you did when you first heard it? Hopefully, you have not just physically matured but you have also spiritually matured in your understanding.

Praise/Prayer
Thank God for helping you to grow in your understanding of spiritual truth. Ask God to continue to allow you to grow as long as you are alive and to share with others lessons of eternity.