"Christ Asks Us, Serve Eagerly!" (C.A.U.S.E)
By Ramesh
C.Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard
February 11,
2008
SCRIPTURE:
"Jesus then told him sternly, "Go and be examined immediately by the
Jewish priest. Don't stop to speak to anyone along the way. Take along
the offering prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed, so that
everyone will have proof that you are well again" (Mark 1:43-44,
NIV)
Observations:
I asked myself what
are the commands Jesus gave the man and how did He do it?
Jesus gave the man couple of commandments sternly:
1. Go and be examined
immediately by the Jewish priest.
2. Don't stop to speak to anyone along the way.
3. Take the offering prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed.
Observations/Interpretations:
I asked myself the
significance of each point?
Point 1: Go and be
examined immediately by the Jewish priest.
I see Jesus being obedient to Scripture and telling the man who
was healed from leprosy to take along the offering prescribed by Moses.
This is very relevant in that Jesus wants the man to follow what we
consider to be part of the Old Testament (Leviticus 14).
When we become Christians, we cannot
ignore reading the Old Testament because we feel we are under the New
Covenant. The Old Testament is Scripture and God uses His entire Word to
speak to us.
It is important to realize that if Jesus
said something in the New Testament that should take precedent though.
Because of what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross and coming back
to life to save us we can do away with sacrificial animal offerings and
we are not bound under the law but bound by grace! This however does not
mean we can go along sinning because we are not bound by the law.
(Romans 6)
Point 2: Don’t stop to
speak to anyone along the way.
It is implied by the offering that God should be thanked by the
man before he does anything else including telling other people what
happened to him. When the Lord answers our prayers it is so important to
go to the Lord and thank Him first for what He has done for us before going to
anyone else.
Point 3: Take the
offering prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed.
There can be a tendency to pray and accept God's answer and not
take the time to offer our praises to Him. God inhabits the praises of
His people. Even though we have done away with sacrificial offerings we
can still praise the Lord with our lips and bring the sacrifice of
praise unto the house of the Lord. We can still offer out gratitude and
thankfulness to the Lord our God!
Observations:
I asked myself what
the man healed from leprosy did?
"But as the man went
on his way he began to shout the good news that he was healed; as a
result, such throngs soon surrounded Jesus that he couldn't publicly
enter a city anywhere, but had to stay out in the barren wastelands. And
people from everywhere came to him there" (Mark 1:45, NIV)
As the man went on his way presumably to the Jewish priest, he
disobeyed Jesus and began to shout the good news that he was healed.
I asked myself what
were the results of the man's disobedience?
1. Because of the man's disobedience such throngs surrounded Jesus.
2. Jesus couldn't publicly enter a city anywhere.
3. Jesus had to stay in the barren wastelands.
4. People from everywhere had to come to Jesus.
Implications:
We also see the consequences of the man's disobedience in the
lives of others. I realized long time ago that my actions and reactions
have an effect on other people's lives too. When I am disobedient and do
wrong, I not only hurt myself but those around me can be affected too.
This is what the man caused.
We do not think about it this way very much but the man's actions caused
problems to Jesus that he could not publicly enter a city anywhere but
had to stay in the barren wastelands and people had to come to him.
If the man just obeyed and did what Jesus told him to, Jesus could have
still been there and it would have been much easier on the people there
too without having to go search for Jesus. It is important to realize
what we do in our private lives when no one is looking can affect our
public ministry or the lives of others! (Achan is an example from the
Old Testament)
I ask you now dear
friend, what do your actions cause?
Dear friend, our actions can either glorify the Lord or bring
dishonor to the Lord. Our actions can make people want to know more
about Jesus or they can turn people away from Jesus thinking if this is
what Christianity is all about, I don’t want to have any part in it.
Sometimes the right actions done at the wrong times can cause problems
too. There was nothing wrong with the man letting others know that he
was healed but the problem was the timing and the disobedience of the
man. Jesus specifically told him not to speak to anyone else. The man
decides to go his own way anyway.
This too brings to mind how ungrateful we can be many times. Jesus heals
the man and then the man goes right ahead and disobeys Jesus. We are
guilty of that too. Jesus does so many things for us and yet we find
ways to disobey him just because it pleases us to do what we want. This
only causes heart ache for the Lord.
We have the opportunity to let the Lord be glorified and not cause grief
to the Lord by our actions, so let us hold on to the faith and love, the
Lord Jesus has given us and hope in Him as we travel the journey of
life.
"Christ Asks Us,
Serve Eagerly!" (C.A.U.S.E)/"What do your actions cause?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus I thank you so much because of how much you love us. You
love us so much that you give us commandments for our own good. Lord
there are times your commandments are hard to follow because they seem
like they deprive us of the fun we want but Lord deep inside I know you
know what is best for us at all times. I know you will never ask us to
do anything that will not be for our good in the long run. Forgive us
Lord and help us Oh God of our Salvation for the glory of your Name and
deliver us and provide us with your help always for the glory of your
Name. Thank you so much Lord Jesus that you have provided atonement for
our sins for your Name's sake and have given us your Word. We bring our
sacrifice of praise unto the House of the Lord. We are sorry when we
cause pain in other people's lives because of our actions. We are also
sorry when we do not thank you first. I thank you Jesus for forgiving us and
answering our prayers. Thanks we can come to you. In Your Name I Pray
Jesus! Amen!
If you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a
daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be
alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them
come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to
wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as
you pray the prayer below, meaning it in your heart.
Prayer:
God I am a sinner. I am invaded by this deadliest virus. Many times I
feel so guilty and yucky inside. I need forgiveness. I am so sorry for
my sins. I have not obeyed you with my whole heart! I have gone my own
way and done my own things. I still struggle with sin. I need you Jesus
in my life so I can receive forgiveness and a new beginning. In the
process, I can forgive others as you help me to. Thank you so much
Jesus. I accept the antidote you have sent me. I believe Jesus you died
for me and your cleansing blood will cleanse me from all my sins. You
came back to life to save me. Thank you God I am set free, free from the
bondage of sin. Hear my cry Oh Lord. I accept you Jesus into my heart. I
make you my Lord and Personal Savior of my life. Thank you Father God
for giving me Salvation. Thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and
making my heart your home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will
live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. Thank you
for being my Lord and personal Savior! I can live a life of peace with
you on my side. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me!
In your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN! Thank you Lord for answering my prayer.
Amen!!!
Friend, if you have prayed this
prayer and meant it in your heart, you are a new creation in Christ and
all old things are passed away and everything has become new! You may
feel something or may not but don’t base it on feelings but base your
new life in Christ on the promises of our Savior who will never leave
you nor forsake you! Amen!
No matter what you feel in your heart,
know that Jesus has come in and resides with you! You are not alone! To
make your walk strong with the Lord, spend time in prayer talking to Him
as you would to a friend. You don’t need special words to talk to the
Lord. Spend time in His Word reading Psalms and turning them into
prayer. Next allow God to heal you and speak to you through the Gospel
of John or Gospel of
Mark before moving on to other Books of the Bible! Slowly, let the Lord
show you to which Scriptures He wants you to go to next. It is also important to be part of a body of believers to
help you grow in the faith. Find a Bible believing church that preaches
the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation proclaiming Jesus Christ our
crucified and risen Lord who brings us hope, healing, and help! But
beware of churches who do believe in the Word of God completely but
there is no freedom in Christ but legalism involved.
As a
student, it is not too late to join a fellowship on campus too this
blessed New Year of 2008! May the Lord's presence and peace fill you with His
love now and forever! Amen!
Feel free to email me at
reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com if you want to meet to study the Bible,
pray with, talk about spiritual issues or whatever is on your mind! My
number is 412-720-4579.
"This is my
work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work
within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)
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Mark 1:9-11:
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Mark 1:12-13: "How
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Mark
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Mark
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Mark
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01, 08, 10:35 a.m.)
Mark 4:3-20:
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Mark 1:29-31:
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Mark 1:32-34:
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Mark 1:35-39:
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Mark 1:40-42:
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