Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. Mark 9:50
Echinacea. It’s also known as coneflower. It’s GOD’s Swiss-army knife of herbal healing.
Jesus said we are the salt of the Earth. He could easily say we are the echinacea of the EARTH. For in Him, we can offer ourselves as a healing balm to all GOD’s creature.
There is a prerequisite for our use: our prayer life. As we reflect on Mark chapter 9, may we be inspired to live lives of faith, humility, and service, ever mindful of the glory and power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here are some takeaways from this chapter:
Praise God for His Glory;
Thank God for revealing His glory through Jesus and for the hope we have in Him;
Ask for Increased Faith;
Pray for a deeper, unwavering faith that trusts in God’s power and promises;
Seek Humility and Service;
Request a heart that seeks to serve others and reflects Christ’s humility;
Protection from Sin
LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
Note: Prayer points based on Berean Bible Commentary, Mark 9.
The word for which I’m looking is Contemplation. Yesterday evening, on the way to Cutter’s, a local lounge, to listen to a jazz ensemble, I struggled with a word that is more acceptable than meditate and yet more adequately describes what I’ve come to refer to as my Garden Times. Earlier in the day I’d sat on the deck staring at the trees in the woods. I thought that if I were to awaken with no knowledge of G-D, I’d look at the trees and they would point to Him. Apostle Paul said as much.
This “thinking” on the deck is more than mere thought, however. But meditating is a word with connotations of emptying oneself and opening oneself up to some Universe Power. Meditating is occasionally referred to as letting go of one’s “monkey mind” and of “becoming one with the Universe.” Neither is my intent, nor is simply thinking.
Perhaps this deep thought might be called prayer in a Christian Church. Yet prayer is so ambiguous. It can mean so many different things. Reading a Psalm is considered prayer to a Jewish man praying Psalm 145 in the morning. Then there are the “Prayers of the People” in an Episcopal and a Roman Catholic Church service in which the priest reads a list of items and the congregation speaks a liturgical response after each item on the list. Prayer is often just humans speaking to G-D as children recite the Pledge of Allegiance at school.
Neither meditation nor prayer do justice to experiencing G-D’s presence in contemplation. That’s the best word for my Garden Times. “On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will contemplate.” I will contemplate the glorious splendor of G-D’s majesty. I will contemplate G-D’s wondrous works. I will hear G-D’s response and prompting and perhaps catch a glimpse of Him. I shall be as the women who sought to but touch the hem of Yeshua’s garment. I will, like Job, hear G-d say He will ask a question and require my response. I might hear G-D say something to which I might, like Abraham, respond boldly with “don’t be angry, but might Your servant ask just one thing more?” I want to cry aloud, as King David:
For the first few weeks of the New Year, a television commercial depicting Mr. Mayhem has made a New Year’s Resolution—no longer will he cause wanton destruction of property and life. It’s a nice touch, grabbing one’s eye immediately. It’s a real contrast to previous commercials where Mr. Mayhem causes, well, mayhem.
Then just this week a new commercial ran in which Mr. Mayhem, for a reason I didn’t catch, decided to do like almost everyone else, and abandon his New Year’s resolutions. Mr. Mayhem is once again on the loose, a dominant issue in our lives.
A round bale of hay with a flag of the United State of America on display for the 2008 presidential election on New Hope Church Road (Highway 1723) . Note the solar panel and spot light set up to illuminate the display at night. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today is America’s Election Day. For months now candidates have made great efforts to gather support, thereby enough votes. As this day approached, a lot of people speculated who would be the next president of the United States. Yet, American voters, according to a variety of polls, are evenly split between the incumbent president and his primary rival as we go to the voting polls.I read an article that outlined what to look for today as the voting progressed. We can predict the outcome early. We seem to want to know, now, and not wait. Oh, well, that’s not really unusual; we want to know what’s going to happen. Then thing we need to remember is that we just don’t want to take it too far, like King Saul did.
“When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreamsor by Urim or by the prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.”
1Samuel 28:5-9, 11-19, NKJV
King Saul inquired of the Lord. Then, not hearing an answer, inquired of a witch. Not a good thing to do. While I’ve never inquired of a witch, that I know of, I know that I’ve prayed about something and before hearing an answer, gone off and mentioned something to someone, who wainting to be helpful, gave me some answers that I acted upon. Later I wondered if I’d done the right thing.
Learning to wait. Wait upon the Lord. Let Him bring answers to us as He desires.
This pray comes to mind today again. “. . .Lord direct your hearts into the love of G-d, and into the patient waiting of Messiah.” [2Thess 3:5] Also, Lord Y’shuaJesus Bless you, Keep you, and Shine upon you always.
Jonah’s Song 