Mark 9

I am almost done with it!!! sorry it has taken so long!!!

Just a Bible lesson to share

So this morning I awoke to my sweet friend Holly. She, like myself is loud and silly most of the time no matter what time that may be, 6:45 this morrning. I wasn't cranky or wishing I had eight more hours to sleep but instead bounced out of bed and was ready for the day! I was delighted to wake up and did so that very moment she hallered " Erin it's time to get up you buger breath!" Yes she calls me that on a daily basis that or turd! Normaly these words are rude and almost mean but when they come from her mouth I smile and am overjoyed that she is my friend and that God has brought us together.
Well the point to this blog.... I got up and got a cup of coffee, not just any coffee but a fresh brew of Starbucks coffee!! and a bowl of Cherrieos, because what else do you eat when you want to say just that, "CherrieO". I sat at the table with my friends Holly and Emily and we read the paper and the Bible. I love friends who you can do this with because it some how connects us in a differant way, a way that we can't see or touch but we know it's Jesus. He has bound us together as a family with cords that can not be broken. As we sat there Emily said, "it's like you never left" and that is true, slightly, We all have grown and changed a little here and there. I lost weight, Holly curls her hair now and Emily is getting married! But there we were sipping good coffee and reading God's word together just like before! What a mighty and gracious God we serve. He blesses us with friends who never forget you and are always praying for you. They know your faults and your mean side and yet they are there for you when you need them the most. I really do thank my God for these friends of mine who are not only kind to me but support me as I step out in faith to fallow Jesus. These friends even push me to fallow him and encourage me to keep going! They point me to our Everlasting Father when I need help, they pray over me when I feel helpless, they write down verses from the Word of God to encourage me when I am sad, they kick my butt and rebuke me when I am wrong and they just love me like Jesus tells us too! I am learning each day how to be a better friend and how to be more like Jesus by their example. Thank you girls for being my friend! And this post applies to many of my friends whom I have been honored to know in this life and I am glad to know that many of you will be with me in eternity!

Note these girls just happened to be the most recent friends I have spent time with but the story would be the same with so many of you who will read this! To you thanks for being there!

Break time

Ok so I am crazy busy this week and have no time to do a proper study in Mark 9. And then in eight days we will be in America soooo I won't have any time do anything but visit people. So Break time is now! Sorry for those of you who are just getting back after Christmas! Did this year hit you as hard as it hit me? Man I don't know what is going on? So I will be back in April after Easter! God bless and keep your eyes focused on Jesus!

Mark 8

I love that we again find Jesus among a large croud of people. Hungery people at that. And not having food enough for them selves the disciples were probaly a little worried but Jesus was there, He had compassion on them. Doesn't he always? He is always conserned about us and that is a huge encouragment to me! I am also amazed at these people who were fallowing him. They had traveled a long way and I am sure some of the mothers were thinking "we are running low on food", and yet they stayed and listened to Jesus. They loved him and knew that what he had to say was more important that food. Many of them may have been fed the time before and knew that he would take care of them! Jesus took the bread and gave thanks to God for it and gave it. And I love what always happens, when they are full there is leftovers! He always gives to his children abudantly! He is trustworthy over and over again! Even though so many people right now in our time are loosing their jobs and homes we can still trust God to provide for us. Yes we must make wise choises and dicitions but as long as we trust and obey our father in heaven we will be taken care of! What a blessed asurance!
Verse 10 remindes us that there are always those who doubt, who question, who tempt. Jesus had to deal with the Pharisees yet again. This time they wanted signs but Jesus spoke to them saying there will be no signs for them. You would think that after seeing him perform miricles and healing people they would believe. I am glad we have God's word to remind us of what he has done for us. God has saved us and yet we doubt during times of great trouble forgetting that he has promised us that we will face great trials but that he has over come them. I am so greatful that he is patient with me.
He then startes to worn the disciples of the "leaven" or ways of the Pharisees. And they start thinking of bread or their lack there of. Jesus has to explain to them again. Hello! Didn't he just make enough bread to feed four thousand out of seven loaves he will provide for you too. They just did not understand. We are humans and think on a fleshly level, we need to be more sirit minded. I tot today out of 1Tmothy 4 about how we are to exercise godliness for that will profit us not only in this life but for eternity. We need to have our minds transformed, renewed by the Holy Spirit and God's word.
Then as they arrive in Bethsaida a blind man is brought to him and he again heals this time out side the city because this city had refused him earler, but he still had compation on this man who had faith in him.

I am going to stop here for now because I want to study more on verses 27-38. I love this story it gets me all excited and ready to face hard things and I want to save it for next week! I hope you don't mind. Again I want to remind you that your in put is welcomed. I don't know it all or any but I know God speaks to me through his word so I will continue to share with you ladies as long as you want. I also want to remind you that I would love to pray for you! I can't see you or met with you but prayer just helps me connect to people. I would love to minister to you ladies in this way! Thank you for jumping on this bandwagon!
May God Bless you this week!
erin:)

responce to mark 7

I also wanted to say, I know Jesus was perfect and was bringing the truth to the table and like you said it was hard to hear. He was going against all they knew and believed in. So my question or though was did he offend people in a perfect way? So that in doing so he never had to apologize for hurting some one or "offending" them? I am in a different culture and trying to be culturally sensitive but the truth is that God's word is clear on some things and across the board no matter what culture you are from it is hard to hear that you are wrong, but I feel that when I do step on toes I must be sorry. What do you guys think?

Mark 7

Pharisees, they were the proud and self righteous, those who in their own minds were better than every one else. as I read this I saw me! I am at times just like these men clinging to what I think is right and forgetting to LOVE. I often pray asking God to guard my heart and more so my mind. I to often consider my self better than others when I should be doing the opposite. I go to church, I lead a Bible study, I have moved across the globe to share the Gospel to a native people and yet I still fail in this area. I know we are not perfect but when will I ever get it? I fear that I too like these Pharisees might honour Jesus with my lips but my heart will be far from him. that I too lay aside the commandments of God and hold to the commandments of men. I think it is a healthy fear of mine. It keeps me humble and always reminds me that my ways are not his ways and that I need to completely lay my life at his feet every day. I need to cleans my mind with his Holy Word, that I need to confess my sin and run to his arms for forgiveness. This is where these men whet wrong they forgot that it is not what goes in a man that defiles him but what comes out! We can not forget that all thing are good and that we only need to thank God and use all things for his glory.
I love how Jesus leaves the temple and seeks to find a place to rest and of course he is found out and instead of getting up set and telling the people to go away he listens to them and then heals the young girl and the deaf man asking them to tell no one, but of course they tell every one about it. Do you blame them? I could not keep such a miracle quiet either. But they were amazed at his power to heal.
Jesus is so kind even when he is tired he still has patience to listen to a woman's need, he truly cares for us all. I must thank his for his is so good to me also. He is worthy of praise! He is all mighty and powerful. I am so glad I can trust him and his Holy Spirit to keep me safe. I know the devil wants to bring harm to me and that God will allow certain things to come my way but I also know that he is the author and perfecter of my faith and he will not allow these trials or tests over take me but will always provide a way out.
Sorry I have been lagging! but I am back on track this week. I was going through a really trying time last week and it made me think that may be we could also add prayer requests to our blog here. I pray for the ladies who I know are reading this but I would love to be able to pray more specifically and if there are any woman out there who are reading this and haven't contacted me please let me know who you are and how I can pray for you. I am studying Tagalog in the Philippines and feel I could be ministering to those in the US by praying for them! God Bless! See you all next week.

Mark 6

Mark 6

First off Welcome back and Happy New Year! I am so glad to get back into the swing of things. With all the abala (busy) ness I missed studying with you gals. I still read but with out you it was different. I dug into Ezekiel and man did God have some things to teach me! But we are back and Mark 6 seems nice to come home to! So here we go!

We see here he leaves after healing the daughter of Jairus and he is going back to his home town of Nazareth. I can say from experience that coming home from a mission trip is hard stuff. You have just had a “mountain top” experience and want to share it and tell of all the GREAT THINGS GOD has done! You want to carry it over to your family and friends but just as you are about to give them the awesome news it seems they start to attack. You are no longer around people who are focused on Christ and on spreading the Gospel but you are just you the older sister the daughter, the grand child. No one really listens to your stories excited about what God is doing in a foreign land. And if they do listen they are in the “real world” and things like that don’t happen there!
Jesus was coming back home and every one knew who his family was had watched him grow up. They only saw him as a normal boy, a carpenter’s son. They had obviously heard about him because they started to mock him power and authority. He marveled at their unbelief. I love the way the King James puts it, he could do no mighty work, save he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. He went through the city teaching and healing but these people could not bring them selves to believe.
Chapter 6 verses 7-13 I read these verses over and over and over. I had a hard time swallowing what Jesus has told his disciples to do. Go and take nothing, not even an extra coat. No money no food, they only needed to be prepared to walk with sandals and a staff. He was telling them to trust and to obey. Isn’t that really the only lesson we need to learn. We grow up singing the song we are taken care of and yet we still have trouble simply trusting God to provide and obeying his commands. We are like sheep just wandering around looking for greener grass. They trusted and obeyed and he worked mightily through them. They preached repentance and cast out demons and healed the sick. And you know what God blessed them. He took care of them. He was true to his caricature. Why do find this so amazing? I’ll tell for one thing there is nothing we can trust here on earth except the Word of God. He is faithful!
Verses 14-29 these verses are so sad. We see this awesome man of God giving his all for Jesus and speaking the truth and was killed for it. I look at John and see a man committed to Christ in such a way that he was willing to fallow his call even unto death. I am encouraged and spurred on by men like John the Baptist.
Verse 31 reminded me that I can become like Martha, busy in good things but I too need to rest, sit at God’s feet and just listen to him. He took his disciples away to the desert to rest. But as we read we see he is fallowed. But Jesus has compassion toward them and so he took time to share with them. He used every moment to do the work of his father. I forget often on my “off days” that I am still a follower of Christ and I still need to be available to minister to people. I need to have more compassion like Jesus. He then feeds them to top it off.
Then he sends his disciples away and he goes and prays, He draws near to his father. Then later after walking on the water and calming the sea he is faced with even more people who have heard of his power and have come to be healed. I love that it says as many as touched him were made whole.
We too can be made whole by his mercy and grace. We too need only to trust and obey and we will be made whole. What a great Chapter! I hope you were as blessed as I was this week. Keep reading and remember to TRUST AND OBEY!