Daily Bread 1-18-17

Mark 17:17-19

17 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.

18 And he said unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;

19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

In this day, and today as well, we read this scripture and are rebuked for our lack of progress and understanding. The disciples, whom we are today, were being corrected for not knowing the meaning of a parable even after they had been with Christ for a good while. To the underachiever this becomes an excuse; "Even the disciples were weak and lacked understanding so I can be weak too." This is not acceptable and not the Spirit that we are to have. To the God fearing, chosen disciple of Christ it becomes a correction that we are failing in understanding and shouldn't be. We have been following him for awhile and we still want to lean back into the carnal way. Even though Christ brought us a better way, and easier way, we are still trying to follow rules that do not pertain to Godliness any longer but draw us away from the teachings of Christ. But, nonetheless, we are told again and again through the scripture that it is not the carnal things that we take as Godliness, but the inner things that are important. You see, we can all be obedient to a set of rules for awhile but fall in the end because it is not in our hearts. Don't get me wrong, the rules are there for our own good and if followed they will benefit us, but we don't become obedient with our hands and feet we must become obedient at the root of it all. In our souls. What we do, what we say, who we are, comes from what is in our hearts. If the heart hasn't changed, we may get by for awhile but eventually we will lean back unto our worldly ways and understanding. No matter what "gift" we have been coaxed into confessing, if it is not in our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God it will pass. Many times we are convinced that we have something by do gooders who hold not the gift but desire it so much that they try to manufacture it. But if it is not in us, it is not in us and eventually it is evident by our actions and beliefs. So, what do we do to receive this understanding? Just as the scripture says, You have been with me for this long and still you don't understand? First we need to repent to God in Jesus Christ for letting him down and ask him to help us gain the diligence and willingness to persevere until his true gifts come upon us. We need to draw closer to Christ and learn of him and his ways. His commandments and his instruction. We need to fully rely on him for our guidance, praying from within our hearts for him to enlighten us and cause us to understand his will in our lives. We need to listen when we go to his house instead of just putting on a program for entertainment and exercise. We need to really ask him to enter our hearts so that we can stop failing and falling whenever trials come our way. It is now time to rely on the one that God gave us to make us the conquerors that we were made to be, Jesus Christ. But it all starts with an inner transformation in our hearts that no man, nor ourselves, can put there. It will be then, that we have in us the Spirit to keep ourselves out of trouble as the carnal way is not ruling us any longer!!! Let's get on our knees and go get it!!!! Have a great day!!!!