God Speaks
John the Baptist is Beheaded; Jesus Feeds Five Thousand; Jesus Walks on Water; Jesus Predicts His Own Death
Verse of the Day: They [the disciples] went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. (Mark 6:12-13 NIV 2011)
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Watch TBR Day 290
We Respond
Matthew 14
Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding each chapter of Matthew 14:
1. What does this chapter tell me about God?
2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?
Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.
1. As the disciples acknowledged, Jesus truly is the Son of God.
2. People respond to Jesus when they see demonstrations of His power and love.
Prayer:
3. How might I pray regarding Matthew 14?
Truly, Jesus, You are the Son of God. Holy Spirit, You are with Your people, like John the Baptist, when they are imprisoned and face death because of the whims of wicked, evil people like King Herod and Herodias. You comfort Your saints. You also comfort those who mourn their deaths, like Jesus in the desolate place; however, even in the midst of grieving, Jesus, You had compassion on people and miraculously dealt with their physical needs. Give me Your strength so that I can have that same heart. You always supply over and above my needs when I trust You. After feeding the five thousand plus, Jesus still needed solitude, rest, and communion with the Father; however, He chose to go the disciples in the midst of the storm and rescue them. Jesus used Peter’s impulsive nature to teach him what it means to trust in Him and bolstered his small faith. LORD, use my natural inclinations to build my faith so that I worship You more completely. May all who reach out in faith to touch even the hem of Your garment be healed. AMEN
Action : (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Matthew 14?
- I will declare in public, “Jesus truly is the Son of God,” at least once in the next week.
- I will pray for _______ (specific fellow believers) to stand firm for Christ in the midst of persecution.
- I will ask the Lord how He wants me to take a stand against evil and then do it.
- I will spend at least 1/2 hour in stillness and silence, listening to the Lord. I will record what He tells or shows me.
Mark 6
Reflection: This chapter is quite long and covers several events and topics. Jesus’s teaching at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth revealed how little people really knew about Him and His mission. Their overly familiar attitude and unbelief hindered His ability to truly minister among them. Jesus sent out the twelve not just under His own authority, but under the authority of the Father delivered to them by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they would be supplied with everything they needed as they trusted and obeyed His direction. John the Baptist had been fearless and faithful in “speaking truth to power” but was executed for it when Herod gave in to his own vices of drunkenness and overweening pride. When Jesus and the disciples tried to get away from the crowds for some rest and perhaps some teaching time, they were followed by around five thousand men and their wives and families. As there were no markets or food venders in this remote place, Jesus directed the disciples to feed the crowd. Seeing that the people might misunderstand His purposes, Jesus sent the disciples away in a boat while He dismissed the crowd. Then Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, but when He saw the disciples in difficulty with a storm, Jesus walked on the water to them to assuage their fear. [He could have calmed the storm without going to them, but that would have robbed them of learning of His true nature and deprived them of a sense of His personal caring for them. And Peter and the others would have missed out on a lesson in trust–see Matthew 14:26-33.] When they arrived at Gennesaret, Jesus’s ministry of healing continued if not increased.
Prayer: Dear Jesus who lives in me in the person of Your Holy Spirit, may my daily life be a demonstration of Your wisdom, might, and goodness so that people are amazed. Help me to be gracious even when people take offense at me. Please use me to train, equip, and encourage others to do the same. I don’t want to have an overly familiar attitude or unbelief that keeps You from using me to do miracles that glorify the Father. May I be like John the Baptist, known as a righteous person devoted to God, not like Herod giving in to the wicked desires of myself or others. May I cooperate with You in showing compassion and helping those in need. May I spend regular and special times alone with You so that I can first, take heart, trust You, and not be afraid in the storms of life and second, be equipped to effectively minister to others now and in the future. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will be faithful to join others in prayer, worship, and study of God’s word in person or at least online (the more interactive the better).
- I will confess my own overfamiliar attitude and unbelief to the Lord (in the presence of trusted other believers) so that it can cleansed and will no longer prevent Jesus from working mightily in and through me.
- I will seek the Holy Spirit’s help so that I don’t give in to personal vices in public or private.
- I will trust and obey in some specific storm or struggle in my life right now.
Luke 9
Reflection: A summary of this chapter: Jesus sent out the Twelve to heal the sick and cast out demons in His authority. Some people, including possibly Herod, thought that Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life. Jesus fed at least five thousand people, probably more, with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus foretold of His suffering and death. He told people to take up their cross and follow Him. Jesus experienced transfiguration as witnessed by three of His disciples. Jesus healed a boy being harassed by a demon. Jesus again foretold of His betrayal and death. Jesus’s disciples argued over who was the greatest. Jesus said that anyone not against us is for us. A Samaritan village rejected Jesus, and He instructed the disciples in how to respond. Jesus indicated that following Him comes with a cost.
Prayer: Dear Sovereign Lord, do it again. Send out Your representatives into the “villages.” May we, Your followers today, lay hold of and apply the authority You have secured for us over all the forces of evil (demons, diseases, disasters, and destructive activities and ideologies). Enable us to speak and act as boldly as John the Baptist. In Your great grace activate us to voluntarily cooperate with You to supply whatever people need to sustain life. May millions of people confess that Jesus is the Christ–their true Messiah. May they appropriate Jesus’s death on their behalf. Empower us to follow Jesus by daily living (even suffering and dying) to meet the needs of others. May we experience transformation throughout our lives and culture. Jesus, employ us to declare Your victory over demons. Jesus, open our minds to fully understand the meaning of Your death. Because of that, we will know who is the greatest–You are! Then we will operate in harmony because anyone not against us is for us. You teach us not to totally condemn those who reject Jesus, but just go on to others. For the sake of Your kingdom, Lord, please expose and remove those who are not willing to pay the cost of following Jesus. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will confess to the Lord and at least one other person (be specific) where I failed to be a good representative of Him today.
- I will claim Jesus’s authority over at least one situation (be specific) in my life today.
- I will ask the Lord to show me one way in which I can meet the needs of someone else today, then do it.
- I will talk with someone (preferably a not-yet believer) about how Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and current position in Heaven relates to them.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.