SCRIPTURE: Mark 1
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” [Mark 1:8] First of all, I need to say that there were a number of verses I could have picked to focus on, there is so much I this chapter. I picked this verse because it describes the key difference between religion and the kingdom of God. There are many prophets and many priests, there are many religions and many spiritualities, all of them promise something, and all of them demand something. But they all share the same weakness – lack of power. John’s baptism was just a religious ritual, it could not change the heart. We need more than religious rituals, we need God-worked heart change.
In many ways, religious is not the solution to the worlds’ problems, but a source of the worlds’ problems. People trying to do in their own strength, through their own practices, what only God can do. Jesus did more than teach, preach, prophecy, perform miracles, etc. He took on the power of sin, death and hell (the kingdom of this world) and defeated it; He restored the presence and power of God, and now through Him we are changed from the inside out, or baptized (flood, filled) with the Spirit of God.
It is the presence and power of God in me, as I follow Jesus, joining with Him to rescue the other captives (i.e. being a fisher of men), that I am transformed, made new. As I open to my heart to His will, to His leading, He enables me to actually change, to become more like Him.
This is what God is working toward, changing us by the power of the Spirit from the inside out, making us more like Jesus. This is how the kingdom of God is revealed. The kingdom of God is the world as it’s supposed to be, as it was created to be – no lying, no greed, no cruelty, no injustice, no inequality, no sickness, no death, no immorality, etc. Instead it is a world filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc., the fruit (or result) of the power of the Spirit in us.
John announces it, but Jesus accomplishes it. Satan resists it, but Jesus defeats Satan. By the power of the Spirit, Jesus penetrates this world, setting captives free, bring healing, justice, reconciliation, wholeness. And we are called to join with Him in this task.
But first we need power. God’s power inside of us, remaking us.
PRAYER:
Lord, unleash Your kingdom power in my life, that my life may also be good news to those around me.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” [Mark 1:35].
If Jesus needed to start the day with prayer, what makes me think I can get away with it. If the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, then does He do the same to me? I believe that God does put me in touch or challenging situations, to test my faith. But this is not because He wants me to fail, but to help me grow stronger. Why do they test fly new airplane models? Not so that they will fail, but to expose their weaknesses so they can be improved.
I have chosen to be a Jesus-follower. I trust that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life. I commit myself to living with and for Him. Now comes the hard part – following through on all of this. It won’t be easy, Satan wants me to fail.
That’s why I need to cling to the Lord, to begin and end and go through each day, praying, relying on His strength and guidance to make it through each days tests and challenges.
Thankfully, with Him I have the power to survive. I have everything I need to make it through each test, each challenge, each opportunity. If I rely on Him, together we will overcome!
Lord, lets go into this day together!