03.27.08 thequest UPdate

Days Later

Mark 16:14*

14 Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their unbelief-- their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

15 And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.17 These signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages.18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them."

* 16:8 The most reliable early manuscripts conclude the Gospel of Mark at verse 8. Other manuscripts include various endings to the Gospel. Two of the more noteworthy endings are printed here.

NLT - HOLY BIBLE, New Living Translation, copyright (c) 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. All rights reserved. Retrieved using BibleWorks for Windows Copyright � 1998 BibleWorks, LLC

Links to the readings for each day from the Passion Week:

Palm Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Resurrection Sunday Later 40 days Later Chart

I just finished reading Mark, and it was sometime later when the Jesus appeared to the disciples and he gave them this Great Challenge or Great Responsibility or Great Privilege or sometimes called the Great Commission. It is powerful stuff.

One of my wife's favorite devotional author's wrote a short piece about this passage. He writes from the angle of God the Father writing to us as His children. I trust this will encourage you as well:

"My child, do not chafe at the bit. It is I who have put it in your mouth. I would have led you by My eye, but you have been willful and stubborn. You question My direction because it is not the common way. But I would have you take a path that is quite different from the paths of your friends, and it is because I would bring you into a place in Me and a ministry in which they have no part.

Do not hesitate, and do not falter. Move in and do so quickly, for I say to you, the hour is late. There is great urgency because of the swiftly gathering darkness; yes, this is even the hour of which it is written that none shall be able freely to do My work. It is as when a great storm breaks suddenly and each person is fully bent upon finding his own personal place of safety. Even so it is coming to pass, that in this hour you should be gripped with one consuming purpose—to find the place I have for you.

I have deliberately put thorns in your nest in order to drive you forth. I understand your reluctance, but I shall surely deal with you until you break out of your bondage.

The enemy will hinder you in every way imaginable if you give him any room to stand. Rebuke every detaining circumstance in My name, and keep yourself covered by the blood of Jesus.

Your heart will grow cold unless you keep it close to Mine. Your love shall be turned to indifference unless you keep the cross before your eyes.

The Savior loves the dying world and the lost sinner no less today than He loved them the day He hung on Calvary, bleeding and dying for their redemption. His grace is still as rich and His compassion is still as deep. He has not become weary, nor has He turned His attention to other interests. The preaching of the gospel remains His will, and the salvation of souls is His chief concern. So also should it be yours, and nothing else should be permitted to take precedence over evangelism in your life.

Be diligent. Confess your lack and repent of your negligence. Then shall I give you a fresh anointing and a new commission. I will give you the tongue of an evangelist and will send you to reap precious souls. Jesus, the Christ, shall be your theme, and you will uplift Him, and He will draw the lost to Himself.

The hour is upon you. Do not look back. Go straight forward and allow nothing to detain you or turn you aside. My purposes can only be fulfilled as you give Me your undivided loyalty.

There has never been a day like this. No past experiences can be compared to it. It is as though in history there have been crests in the waves; but that which is ahead is like a tidal wave by comparison!"

Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved-updated language. �1970, 2002. "The Divine Commission" on p. 36-37.

Press on,

Mike

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03.13.08 thequest UPdate

thequest family,

Love one another. It's not an old thing, it's a new thing too. Last week I jotted down some thoughts from 2 John about it. I challenged us to move into the action of love...not just talk about it.

We talked about it in our house church again tonight. Reminders are good for us. A simple thing happened with one of our gals loved the cake we enjoyed together during the gathering. We joked and joked about it all night. You know that eating together with glad hearts from Acts 2.

Anyway, I ran some folks home and it crossed my mind that I could go around the corner to a store, buy a cake and drop it off at her house. The next thought, was man I'm tired, I want to get home, get the kids to bed and chill. My next thought was how much will it cost me?

Uh-oh. Decision time. Love in words (merely in the meeting) or love in action? The Spirit pricked my heart--better do it. So I turned the car around, went to the store and got the cake and delivered it.

Not a big deal really...some cake, dollars and minutes. But it was an attempt at moving love into action. It was good for me to do it...and not just talk about it. I hope it continues to ooze into tomorrow and into your tomorrow too.

How about you, what's the thing you are being asked by God to do to Love Others around you today?

Do it. Press on,

Mike

This week's UPdate HERE

03.05.08 thequest UPdate

thequest family,

Being a dad, everyday I do one of the things that drove me crazy about parents--they say the same thing over and over. Bedtime rolls around and out of my mouth rolls, "Get your pajamas on, brush your teeth and go to the bathroom." Those three things I've told my kids every night for years! Somehow it seems like every night, one or more of them doesn't remember or doesn't care or something, and the reminder rolls off my tongue. They could recite those three things back to you. They know them...but the doing of them often is lacking.

As I've been thinking a bit more about the Letter from the old man, we received and read on Sunday night at our assembly. Another insight came to me. As a spiritual father, he repeated himself over and over too. Listen to this. I'm sure you've heard it before:

I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning. (2 John v. 5-6 NLT)

Sound familiar? Yep. It is the same thing you've read before. Over and over and over again. From the beginning, God's reminder brought by all sorts of spiritual people is the same--Love one another.

I realize that our Heavenly Father is a broken record as well. He repeats Himself because as His child, I can recite those words back to you or to Him really easy. It's the doing of them that is often lacking.

In the words the old man penned above, he isolates that issue. He speaks straight to the doing which often lacks. He says, "Love means doing what God has commanded us." Lov-ers are Do-ers. If you don't show love, you don't love. That's the deal. The cliches about "love is a verb" are true. Love one another...and show you love with action. Don't let your doing be lacking...because then you aren't really loving.

So what's the thing you are being asked by God to do to Love Others around you today? Do it.

Press on,

Mike

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