reflection

Reflection on Mark 10:1-16

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture
He said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”

Observation
Some Pharisees come to Jesus and ask if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus replies that the law of divorce was given because of the hardness of people’s hearts. God’s plan for marriage is that a man and a woman become one flesh. No man, then, can separate what God has joined together.

Jesus then lays down a hard line position that anyone who divorces and then remarries is committing adultery.

People bring their children to Jesus to be blessed. The disciples try to keep them away, but Jesus is indignant. He takes the children into his arms and blesses them.

Application
Jesus’ hard line on divorce hits us hard in an era of lax attitudes to marriage and sex. Can Jesus really be meaning what He says here?

The issue for Jesus is the state of our hearts. The Pharisees are asking how easy should it be to walk away from a marriage. But Jesus is saying that we need to work hard to save a marriage in which partners have become “one flesh.”

Likewise, Jesus inverts our attitudes towards children who can be seen by the church as a bit of a problem to be managed. Jesus tells us to embrace children as a sign of God’s kingdom. The “little ones”, the ones whom society deems to be of little worth , are precisely the people God welcomes.

Prayer
Holy Father please help me to walk in the grace and holiness of Jesus today. Amen.

Reflection on Hebrews 2:1-12

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture

God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.

Observation

We must pay attention to God’s word in order to not drift away from Him. The message of salvation was declared through the Lord Jesus , and God added His testimony through miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The coming world will be subject to people, not to angels. Like Jesus who was exalted and crowned with glory after His death, we too will be honoured by God.

Application

We can easily become discouraged, even drift away from faith altogether, if we do not keep our eyes fixed firmly on the Lord Jesus.

We need to meditate constantly on God’s word to understand who we are in Christ. Drifting away from Christ is the worst thing imaginable.

The gospel is true- testified by millions of christians who have found life in Him, and by God Himself in the provision of miracles and spiritual gifts.

How could we possibly turn our backs on all this?

Prayer

Lord grant me grace to stand firm in you, trusting you in every situation. Amen.

Reflection on Job 2:1-10

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture
The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on all the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him for no reason.”

Observation
After satan has been given permission to test Job by destroying all of Job’s property and killing his sons, Job still refuses to sin by cursing the Lord.

The Lord boasts about Job’s integrity to satan (which means the accuser). Satan retorts that people will give away everything to save their lives, but if Job’s body is afflicted he will soon curse the Lord.

So the Lord gives satan permission to afflict Job’s body. Satan inflicts painful sores all over Job. Even Job’s wife tells him to “Curse God and die.” But Job refuses to curse the Lord.

Application
The book of Job challenges all of our pragmatic and religious theories about suffering.

There was no physical reason for Job’s painful sores, nor for the loss of his property and sons. It all seems so random- a run of personal disasters.

A religious explanation of his suffering is that Job is being punished for some hidden sin. Yet the text says that Job was without sin.

In many ways, Job is a picture of Jesus who fulfilled all righteousness without any sin, yet suffered physically and spiritually for the sins of the world.

Bad things happen in our lives. When they do, we need to cling more tightly to the hope we have in Christ,

Prayer
Lord you have not promised to protect us from all evil, but you have promised to walk with us even in the toughest time. Please help me to trust you when my life makes no sense. Amen.

Reflection on Mark 9:38-50

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture
“Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”

Observation
John tells Jesus that they saw someone who was not of their group casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus tells them that anyone doing a deed of power in His name will not be able to then speak evil about Him.

Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that they must not cause a “little one” to stumble in their faith. It is better to cut off parts of our body that cause us to sin than to be whole and cast into hell.

Everyone will be salted with fire. Jesus’ followers must allow the salt of the Holy Spirit to be always present.

Application
Jesus is very liberal in His grace- far more so than we are. He doesn’t require us to be on His team to minister His power. Sometimes we hear of evangelists who aren’t themselves born again yet they effectively preach the gospel. People who aren’t believers find themselves praying for healing for others, and God responds.

God delights for His grace to be manifest in the world so that as many as possible can be saved.

This does not mean that judgement will not come. Everyone will be salted with fire, and it is better to enter life maimed than to be whole in hell.

The eternal question is not “What did you do for Christ?” but “Is Christ in your heart?”

Prayer
Lord you are good in all of your ways. Thank you for setting me free from sin in the death of Jesus. Amen.

Reflection on James 5:13-20

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture
Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

Observation
When we are suffering we should pray; when we are happy, praise; if we are sick call for the elders and seek prayer. Such prayer, offered in faith, will gain healing and forgiveness.

We should confess our sins to one another and pray for one another to be healed. An ordinary person who is righteous before the Lord can achieve much through prayer. Elijah is our example of this.

If someone wanders from the Lord, we must seek to bring them back.

Application
James does not say that sin leads to sickness or that sickness is caused by sin. However he does link the two. If we sin, we are out of fellowship with God and therefore cannot so easily receive His healing.

The early christian church practised a high level of community. People prayed and rejoiced together. They prayed for the sick and confessed their sins to one another. All of this was done voluntarily and in an atmosphere of love and acceptance of one another.

In out highly privatised culture, we are not used to this kind of transparency. It can start with us reaching out And being honest with our brothers and sisters in our cell groups and in larger church gatherings.

Prayer
Holy Spirit, please help me to grow my faith to believe your word, to pray for healing and to be honest in my church. Amen.

Reflection on Esther 7:1-10

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture
So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

Observation
Haman had been plotting against the Jews because of his hatred of one of them, a man named Mordecai.

After much dancing around court proprieties, Queen Esther, herself a Jew, manages to get Haman and the King together for a banquet.

There she reveals Haman’s plot against the Jews. The king, filled with rage, orders Haman hanged, ironically from the gallows that Haman had had built to kill Mordecai.

Application
The book of Esther is about God’s care for His people. He raises one of them, Esther, to a place of unrivalled influence so that she is in a position to protect His people.

God is still caring for His people, from the least to the most powerful. When danger threatens. We can still trust Him to lead us through.

Prayer
Lord God Almighty, you are my rescuer and deliverer. I will put my trust in you alone. Amen.

Reflection on Mark 9:30-37

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Observation
Jesus and His disciples walk through Galilee. Jesus teaches them along the way. He tells them He will be betrayed and killed but will rise in three days. They do not understand this.

In Capernaum Jesus asks the disciples what they were arguing about on the road. They don’t want to tell Him because the argument was about who was the greatest. Jesus tells them that to be first they must be servants of all. He tells them whoever welcomes a little child welcomes both Him and the Father.

Application
Everyone wants to be the greatest, most important, best… The church is not exempt from this. It is called pride or the need for significance.

Our real significance comes not from our own importance but from the fact that Jesus counts us worth dying for. When we really understand in our hearts that our Father loves us so much, then all unhealthy forms of pride just melt away.

We have to see this in the way we treat other people. If you want to meet Jesus and the Father then show hospitality to the least important people- children, people with disabilities, refugees, the uneducated. They are the people who in some way carry the presence of Jesus. When we serve them we serve Jesus.

Prayer
Lord Jesus you came to serve, not to be served. Please help me to have the same ambition. Amen

Reflection on James 3:13-4:8

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you.

Observation
If you claim to be spiritually wise, you must show it in your deeds and in humility. God’s wisdom is not marked by bitterness or envy, but by purity, peace and mercy.

Fights and quarrels in the church are caused by fleshly desires. People covet things they cannot have because these desires are not submitted to God.

We must submit ourselves to God, resist the devil and then draw near to God, humbling ourselves before Him.

Application
Every part of the christian’s life, every desire and ambition must be submitted to God. This means dying to what we want in order to live to Christ.

Many of the problems in church communities arise because people want what they want. They put their own desires first. It might be that someone wants a leadership position held by someone else. It might be a preference for a style of worship.

If we all demand our own way, the love of God is not manifesting itself among us. If we all submit ourselves to God and to one another, the devil will not get a look in.

Prayer
Father, help me to surrender entirely to you and to your plans for me. Amen.