Mark 8-16

46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance.

There was no hope, but this man was a true servant and took care of Jesus’ body. He must have felt so happy for doing that when Jesus was raised from the dead. For this gracious act, he’s recorded in the gospels sandwiched between the greatest events in history.

Mark 9-

23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” 24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

Lord this is definitely me sometimes and my ongoing prayer… I DO believe, but help my unbelief. Lord I know you can heal Jewel without a shadow of doubt, so Lord, I beg that you do. I pray that you’ll heal her in a way that brings her to you, and in a way that brings you the utmost glory.

Mark 2:17
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

That’s why I love CR and the denial lesson. We’re all sick, we just don’t know it. No one is righteous, not not one.

Tags: Mark 1-7

Matthew 24-28

Matthew 24 and 1st half of 25 are pretty confusing, but the one thing you make clear is that we should keep watch. I’m afraid I’m not keeping watch with the same intensity you told us to have, so I ask for your help, both understanding the urgency and having the urgency. I know it’s a command you gave us, but Lord, you said, “ask and it will be given you” so I asking! Please give me the wisdom and insight to understand your teachings, and the urgency to uphold them!

sobering:
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
Lord please forgive me for those times I’ve ignored the least of these.

“Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? 54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”

Wow, I would see any small thing as an “out”, but you prayed all night about an “out” and by this point, you were resolute.

When Jesus left the tomb, the people were quick to latch on to the rational lie, that the disciples took him. We are so predictably doubting. Lord, strengthen my faith!