GOD Morning! February 27 / What or Who is Coming Between You and Your Miracle?

GOD Morning! February 27

What or Who is Coming Between You and Your Miracle?

Mark 6:1-29

6 Jesus went away from there and came to His [own] country and hometown [Nazareth], and His disciples followed [with] Him.

² And on the Sabbath He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who listened to Him were utterly astonished, saying, Where did this Man acquire all this? What is the wisdom [the broad and full intelligence which has been] given to Him? What mighty works and exhibitions of power are wrought by His hands!

³ Is not this the Carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not His sisters here among us? And they took offense at Him and were hurt [that is, they disapproved of Him, and it hindered them from acknowledging His authority] and they were caused to stumble and fall.

⁴ But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor (deference, reverence) except in his [own] country and among [his] relatives and in his [own] house.

⁵ And He was not able to do even one work of power there, except that He laid His hands on a few sickly people [and] cured them.

⁶ And He marveled because of their unbelief (their lack of faith in Him). And He went about among the surrounding villages and continued teaching.

People had no respect for Jesus because they had known Him for years. Since childhood. Why does this not surprise me?

Because of their pride, they completely shut down the miracle working power of Jesus Christ. To them, He was just a brother, a childhood friend, or a classmate. Why should they listen to Him???

Wow, really? How many of us have ignored truth because we didn’t like where it was coming from? Our own pride has stolen our miracle from us.

⁷ And He called to Him the Twelve [apostles] and began to send them out [as His ambassadors] two by two and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits.

⁸ He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no bread, no wallet for a collection bag, no money in their belts (girdles, purses)—

⁹ But to go with sandals on their feet and not to put on two tunics (undergarments).

¹⁰ And He told them, Wherever you go into a house, stay there until you leave that place.

¹¹ And if any community will not receive and accept and welcome you, and they refuse to listen to you, when you depart, shake off the dust that is on your feet, for a testimony against them. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgment day than for that town.

¹² So they went out and preached that men should repent [that they should change their minds for the better and heartily amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins].

¹³ And they drove out many unclean spirits and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

¹⁴ King Herod heard of it, for [Jesus’] name had become well known. He and they [of his court] said, John the Baptist has been raised from the dead; that is why these mighty powers [of performing miracles] are at work in Him.

¹⁵ [But] others kept saying, It is Elijah! And others said, It is a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old].

¹⁶ But when Herod heard [of it], he said, [This very] John, whom I beheaded, has been raised [from the dead].

¹⁷ For [this] Herod himself had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he [Herod] had married her.

¹⁸ For John had told Herod, It is not lawful and you have no right to have your brother’s wife.

¹⁹ And Herodias was angry (enraged) with him and held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him; but she could not,

²⁰ For Herod had [a reverential] fear of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and [continually] kept him safe [under guard]. When he heard [John speak], he was much perplexed; and [yet] he heard him gladly.

What held Herod back? He heard John gladly! And then things went downhill.

²¹ But an opportune time came [for Herodias] when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and the high military commanders and chief men of Galilee.

²² For when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased and  fascinated Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, Ask me for whatever you desire, and I will give it to you.

²³ And he put himself under oath to her, Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom.

²⁴ Then she left the room and said to her mother, What shall I ask for [myself]? And she replied, The head of John the Baptist!

²⁵ And she rushed back instantly to the king and requested, saying, I wish you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

Because of an evil wife and a little partying, Herod went down a path of no return.

So many times, when we don’t obey God’s call, we end up worse off than before we heard his voice!

²⁶ And the king was deeply pained and grieved and exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to slight her [by breaking faith with her].

²⁷ And immediately the king sent off one [of the soldiers] of his bodyguard and gave him orders to bring [John’s] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison

²⁸ And brought his head on a platter and handed it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

²⁹ When his disciples learned of it, they came and took [John’s] body and laid it in a tomb.

This is a warning. Are you embracing some evil people? Are you doing some “harmless” partying?

I’m sure Herod’s wife was a lot of fun. Her daughter obviously won everyone’s hearts!

In a moment of hilarity and partying, Herod made the promise to give the young girl anything in the kingdom that she wanted. Never dreaming that she would run back and ask her evil mother for ideas.

Then Herod felt he couldn’t turn back on his promise. He ended up killing a man. When he could have had eternal life plus a whole host of other miracles! Because Jesus doesn't stop at salvation. When we give ALL to Him, in return, He gives us ALL of our heart's desires!

 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Matthew 6:33The Message (MSG)

Seriously? Are you going to let pride, evil people, or little bit of seemingly harmless partying shut down God’s blessings in your

life? And lead you down a path you had no intention of following???

“Dear Jesus, someone is reading this who is teetering on the edge. On the edge of destruction. It feels harmless. It feels really good. In the middle of all this, You have placed someone in her life who is saying, “Don’t go that way! Come this way! Over here is your miracle!”

But she is thinking, “Really? Why listen to this person? This person is just an old friend from the past (or a sister, brother, mother, father, grandpa or grandma for example). What do they know? Plus they are no fun and I am having so much fun right now.”

Jesus please turn her head and lead her to her miracle! Please put that flame of desire in her heart for You alone. That other seemingly harmless path is, in reality, a destructive path. It will take her farther than she ever planned to go.

Thank You Jesus for opening her blind eyes this morning. I pray that she takes action. I pray that she runs as fast as she can away from this path of destruction and into Your loving arms. You have many miracles waiting for her! I thank You ahead of time! In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.”