Monthly Archives: February 2025

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February 5, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Fear & Doubt, Peace of God, Trusting God

HARD HEARTS

But when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!” Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed, for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in. [Mark 6:49-52 (NLT)]

wood stork After feeding a multitude with little more than a handful of food, Jesus sent the disciples across the Sea of Galilee to Bethsaida. He stayed behind to send the people home and then, exhausted, went into the mountains to pray. During the fourth watch (somewhere between 3:00 and 6:00 AM), Jesus looked out at the water and saw that the disciples were struggling against the wind and waves to keep the boat on course. Seeing their distress, he walked on the water toward them. Seeing Him walking on water, they thought Him a ghost and cried out in terror. Phantoms of the night were said to bring disaster and it was thought that the last thing a boatman saw before drowning in Galilee was a ghost on the water! It’s no wonder they were frightened at first.

When Jesus climbed into the disciples’ boat, the wind stopped. He could have calmed the sea any time He wanted, but He chose to wait until the boat was far away, the men had rowed against the fierce wind for hours, and all hope was gone. By walking on the water, Jesus showed the men that the tempestuous sea they feared was nothing more than a path to bring Him to them! Like the feeding of the multitude, Jesus demonstrated His control over the elements—something only God could do!

The disciples failed to recognize Jesus on the water because they weren’t looking for Him. Had they waited in faith, they would have recognized Him, but they waited in fear. By this point in the ministry of Jesus, He had restored a deformed hand, exorcised numerous demons, raised a child from the dead, and healed a paralyzed man, a bleeding woman, lepers, Peter’s mother-in-law, and many others. The disciples just witnessed Jesus feed a multitude with just a few loaves and fish and probably had those twelve baskets of leftovers in the boat with them but they still didn’t get the significance of His provision of food to the multitude. Like so many others, they still were spiritually blind—they saw the miracles but failed to see the one who was God and performed those miracles! They shouldn’t have been surprised by Jesus’ appearance on the water; they should have expected it!

Mark tells us that the hearts of the disciples “were too hard to take it in.” Even knowing all that Jesus had done, they didn’t yet believe. I wonder if the disciples simply were afraid to believe. Just imagine their discussion in the boat that evening as they tried to understand how Jesus managed to feed thousands. They must have wondered what it would mean for them if Jesus really were the Messiah. Would they end up headless as did John the Baptist? Would Jesus’ mission end up as did the failed Messianic movement led by Judas of Galilee with the leader dead and his followers scattered? These men weren’t soldiers; they were common working men and Simon was the only Zealot among them. Did they wonder what Jesus would expect of them? Do we hesitate to accept Jesus because we’re afraid of what He will ask of us?

Almighty God, through the power of your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your holy truth.

Unbelief is a matter not only of the head but of the heart. The unbeliever’s trouble is that his heart is not right with God. [R. B. Kuiper]

Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” [Mark 4:40 (NLT)]

Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. [Mark 16:16 (NLT)]

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February 5, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Prayer

I’M FINE

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. [1 John 5:14-15 (NLT)]

poppy mallowWhenever I asked about her boys, my sister would give a vague answer like, “They’re fine…just doing their own thing” It was several years before I learned “their own thing” meant they were breaking her mama’s heart with their mental illness, addictions, and run-ins with the law. Because she kept her pain concealed, she carried the weight of that burden alone for many years.

When we ask someone how they’re doing, we often hear similar elusive or brusque answers like, “I’m fine,” “It’s taken care of,” or “We don’t need a thing.” Maybe everything really is hunky-dory but those answers often are used when life has gone seriously awry and things are anything but fine. Nevertheless, such vague but terse responses are conversation stoppers. Even best friends (or sisters) who suspect something is amiss won’t pry and the subject is politely changed.

We often wrap ourselves up in a nice package on the outside when we’re a mess on the inside. While we allow people onto the front porch of our lives, we’re not about to let them in to see the messy kitchen, fingerprints on the glass, or dirty floors. We refuse to expose our vulnerabilities and weakness but then we wonder where our friends are when we need them. People don’t know we need them if we refuse to allow them entrance into our lives.

Think of the paralyzed man whose friends took him to see Jesus in Capernaum. What if he’d told his friends not to worry about him—he was just fine on his mat? While his friends went off to see Jesus, he would have remained paralyzed at home! What if the blind man in Bethsaida told his friends they didn’t have to trouble themselves and bring him to Jesus or if the centurion’s servant told his master he didn’t need a thing? Think of the healing they would have missed!

What if Moses told Jethro he had everything under control and didn’t need his father-in-law’s advice to delegate his duties? What if Nehemiah said he was “just fine” when King Artaxerxes asked about his sad demeanor? What if, insisting she didn’t need company, Naomi hadn’t allowed Ruth to accompany her back to Bethlehem? Moses probably wouldn’t have lasted another year (let alone forty) leading those “stiff-necked” Israelites,  Jerusalem may not have been rebuilt, and Naomi would have been a bitter, lonely, and poor widow instead of the happy grandmother of Ruth and Boaz’s baby (and ancestor of Jesus)! Knowing they weren’t “just fine,” they admitted it and accepted what was offered!

As for Job’s friends—he could have rebuffed them at the door, telling them, “I’m fine; this is just a little setback.” Instead, he allowed them inside to see his scabs, sores, and misery. Even with his friends’ erroneous theology, Job must have found comfort when they remained at his side. Perhaps their discussions even strengthened his faith in God.

When a stranger asks, “How are you?” we’re so used to replying, “I’m fine!” that we forget that our friends actually do care about the answer. Usually, when people inquire about our lives or ask how they can help, they sincerely want to know. If they’re simply being polite or nosy, when we say we need something, they’ll probably tell us they’d love to help but are just too busy!

We often tell our friends and family we’re okay when we’re not and the same goes for God. Even though God knows everything about us and all that we need, He tells us to make our requests known to Him. Fortunately, with God, we can be confident that He truly is interested in the answer and He’ll never tell us He’s too busy! Let’s remember, however, that God’s answer to our need may be someone who asks, “How are you?”

Refusing to ask for help when you need it is refusing someone the chance to be helpful. [Ric Ocasek]

You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. [John 16:24 (NLT)]

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. [Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT)]

Copyright ©2025 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.
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February 3, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, God's Plan, Nature, Peace of God, Today: Make it Count

GARDEN OR SWAMP?

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. [Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 (NLT)]

We enjoy walking in the local Botanical Garden as well as the nearby Corkscrew Swamp. Although both offer plenty of photo ops and pleasant strolls in God’s creation, the Garden offers more color and variety than a swamp any day. Nevertheless, as much as I enjoy the Garden’s beauty and serenity, I feel more at home in the swamp.

While the Botanical Garden always has an abundance of showy colorful orchids, the swamp’s “super ghost orchid” has blossoms for only a few weeks each year. Even then, you need binoculars or a spotting scope to view its delicate (and not very impressive) flowers. At various times of the year, the swamp has wildflowers like blue flag iris, morning glories, and string lilies but they pale in comparison to the variety of exotic flora found in the Garden all year long. If the swamp’s flowers were in a beauty contest with the Garden’s flamboyant blooms like the passion flower or flaming glory bower, they’d easily lose.

Carefully designed by world-famous landscape architects and impeccably maintained by staff and volunteers, the Botanical Garden speaks of order, design, and perfection; nothing ever seems amiss. The Garden’s plants are beautifully pruned, fertilized, and fussed over. Weeds are quickly pulled and, should a plant wither or die, a lovely new one quickly replaces it.

In contrast, the swamp, with no apparent plan to its layout or plants, is a hodgepodge of flora, fauna, and water that changes almost daily. Completely dependent on rain for its existence, its animals and plants are left to the whims of the weather and Mother Nature. No one pulls the weeds, deadheads the flowers, shapes the trees, or brushes away dead leaves. Lightening and hurricanes take a heavy toll on the swamp’s plant life and, when conditions aren’t favorable, plants wither and die while animals move elsewhere. Dead trees eventually fall and, unless they’re blocking the trail, wherever they land is where they remain.

Try as I might, my life will never have the exquisite perfection of a Botanical Garden. In truth, it resembles the unpredictable and disordered swamp more than any garden. Perhaps, that’s why I enjoy it so much. The swamp is imperfect, changeable, and full of surprises. I never know what flowers will be in bloom, what birds will appear, or if I’ll see alligators, snakes, raccoons, or deer. The only thing I know for sure is that the swamp never disappoints; it always is wonderful and wild in its own unique way!

Life, like the swamp, is chaotic, disorganized, and a little dangerous; nevertheless, it is magnificent! As much as we might prefer it to be as ordered, serene, and pristine as a botanical garden, it isn’t! We’re sure to encounter life’s versions of thistles, mosquitoes, fungus, poison ivy, and animal scat. Nevertheless, along the way, there will be blessings like the swamp’s Roseate Spoonbills, sunflowers, deer, Scarlet Hibiscus, butterflies, and tiny green tree frogs! Like the swamp, we’ll have seasons of abundance and scarcity, downpours and drought, growth and dormancy, health and affliction, blessings and misfortune, beginnings and endings, and even occasional hurricanes. Life comes with its share of muck, weeds, pests, predators, storms, and vulnerability to circumstances beyond our control. The only sure thing is that God is with us during it all!

It’s ironic that our local Botanical Garden is in what used to be a swamp. The 250,000 yards of fill created after two lakes were dug in 2008 sculpted the property into the splendid showplace it is today. Someday, we will trade in our earthly swamp for God’s heavenly garden—a garden far more magnificent than any earthly garden—one with no disease, death, sorrow, pain, or weeds. Until then, we must be satisfied living in the crazy and wonderful swamp we call life. As we walk through it, we brush off the spider webs, avoid the scat on the trail, stay clear of the alligators, and look for the swamp’s gifts. Confident in the swamp’s creator, we find joy and contentment in the unique beauty of our somewhat confusing and chaotic journey. Thank you, God, for this amazing holy mess we call life!

They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes. … He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. [Revelation 7:16-17, 21:4 (NLT)]

Copyright ©2025 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.