March 7th: Temptation - Good, Bad ? Mark 1:12

"At once the Spirit sent him (Jesus) into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him." Mk 1:12

Being tempted (the state-of being tempted)...40 days of being tempted...that's a lot of temptation.

Question: Does a day-go-by when you (we) are NOT tempted? .......

Temptation can lead to certain effects:
(1) We just constantly live in sin without really thinking about it. (Constantly falling to temptation);
(2) We "know of" the temptation but fall to it on most occasions;
(3) We are very aware of the "devil's schemes" and fight his temptations (using the Word of God . We take temptations, rise above them, stand on the whole truth of God's Word, and live & proclaim a victorious life in Christ...no not perfection but victorious in Godly character because we have faced inner testing and continue to Stand-On-The-Rock!!.

Today, if we are to WAJD, we must follow Jesus's example and face-up to our temptation with the whole Word of Truth and break down the stronghold's that can cause us to be weak and feeble in the midst of the battle. (While angels attend to us.)

Feb 13th -- John Baptizes Jesus, Mark 1:9-11

"At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan".

What time is it in my life? There are no surprises in God's time. We are where we are. Now, the Lord can redeem what the locust(enemy) has stolen. Regret is one of the major weapons (lies) of the enemy of our souls. However, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In God, our armour may be damaged, or tarnished....but we come back to the camp and God covers us, while He takes hold of our armour, restores it, and then we can put it back on...we put on the full armour of God so that we can take our stand against the devil's schemes.

There is a song: "You are a mighty warrior dressed in armour of light, crushing the deeds of darkness - lead us on in the fight, through the blood of Jesus victorious we stand; we place you at the highest place above all else in this land...you are exalted Lord above all else, we place you at the highest place above all else...."

Sometimes all we can "see" is what's right in front of our nose; while there is a spiritual battle going on in the heavenlies and we (know it not).

If we are to Walk As Jesus Did, then we must have eyes that see and ears that hear and watch and pray....to "see" what is really going on at-the-moment...because this is the time, now is the time, the time is now for us to get engaged in what God is wanting to do in us and through us.

We can stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around our waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, we can take up the shield of faith, with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. We can take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. And with this in mind, we must be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph 6:14)

At this time....watch, seek, pray, listen, believe, and obey....

Jan 23rd -- Mark - Presenting the Person, Work, and Teachings of Christ

Wow! Mark will be a great study to help us to WAJD. Mark gained most of his knowledge while accompanying the Apostle Paul on his missionary journey. What a study opportunity (for Mark) to hang-with Paul. Most believe that Mark is the earliest written Gospel (around 55AD). Very recent findings are supposing that the real date may be even closer to 40AD.

Key Point: Jesus "Son of Man" and "Son of God"
Jesus - The example of "Servanthood"

If we are to WAJD then we must surely have a Servants Heart, and therefore a Servants Attitude, and therefore Servant Actions.....a servant is selfless, humble, and available to serve....and in Jesus sake...to even die.

Oh boy...dieing? Dieing to self is hard. But if we don't, we are already dead (Faith without works is _______).

In Mark, Jesus is clearly a man of power and action, not just words. Jesus did miracles to convince the people who he was and to teach the disciples his true identity as God.

Blogger's please share your thoughts on Mark and what you would desire to get out of this Book of the Gospel.

Jan 1st: Happy New Year!

Hello all!

Yes, it has been quite awhile. Just checking-in to see if anyone is interested in continuing our study of God's word together, keeping in touch, and Walking as Jesus Did?

We are finally moved-in and getting settled. I would love to know how everyone is doing. We had a wonderful visit from our friends (family) in Ontario. The Price's and Olson's vistited over the break and it was great fun!

Let's talk about this New Year and your expectations, and then we will look at the Book of Mark.

Love,

bpc