Mark 15:6-11

Release Barabbas or Jesus?

Everyday, every interaction, we have the choice to release Barabbas or Jesus. We can unleash upon the world murder or healing. We know that our action and also our words can kill or comfort.

Sometimes the comfort that is needed is simply our silence.

Sometimes people just need you to be with them in their pain.

More and more as I meditate and read, I am realizing the reality that we release what is within us everyday rather than conjure up something from the outside. Barabbas is in there, we know, but the kingdom of God is within you as well as Jesus said.

Perhaps this can be a helpful way of grasping life.

Perhaps this could be your anagnorisis.

Are you going to release Barabbas or Jesus today?

Life spiritually it has been said is not about attaining but obtaining. Obtaining what is already there, not conjuring something up. We release what is within us, it’s just that we allow obstacles to block the release of the Spirit. Because of false narratives we’ve grown up with and calluses,  we are not nearly all we could be for ourselves and the world. Our true self is imprisoned and unseen. As we heal, we can help others to see the precious jewel at their core, that is at the core of every person.

Are you going to release Barabbas or Jesus today?

This is what I will ask myself today when defensiveness wells up, or when I hear something I don’t like. Will I respond with healing or destruction?

Am I going to release Barabbas or Jesus on them today?

Releasing one imprisons the other.

Who are you going to release today?

Barabbas

or

Jesus

?

Proverbs 13:3

Those who are careful about what they say protect their lives, but whoever speaks without thinking will be ruined.

Let your words be few and full and well thought out.

Pause before you answer. It’s OK, you don’t have to respond immediately to everything.

Mark 14:3-9

Jesus was in Bethany, at the house of Simon (known as “the Leper”). While He was at table, a woman came up with an alabaster pot containing extremely valuable ointment made of pure spikenard. She broke the pot and poured the ointment on Jesus’ head.

Inside all of us is something of brobdingnagian value. It’s already there, we don’t need to wait for it to enter us from “out there”. We need to break the shell that is trapping it and keeping it from pouring forth out onto the hurting world around us.

The “shell”, in a general sense, can be simply pride, ego, fear, and specifically can be unforgiveness, perhaps of a person or organization. For some, it is a history of being hurt. So we protect ourselves, when in reality, we are denying the world of great blessing that God has purposed for us to be.

We need to be broken.

Our self-life needs to be crucified.

I highly recommend Watchman Nee’s The Release of the Spirit for an excellent treatment on this brokeness that is required to be who we were created to be.

We are not defined by our family, circumstances, or what we’ve done, but by what we were created to be.

Until everything is let go except for Christ, we will live below our potential.

Some of the people there grumbled to one another….And they were angry with her.

She performed for an audience of One.  She broke Jewish custom and interrupted a group of dudes. That’s a no no.

Who. Cares.

She cared about what one person thought.

And oh the reward.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus said.

If Jesus told someone to leave me alone because I was doing something for Him from my heart……I don’t know that I would need another word of affirmation for the rest of my life. And I like words of affirmation. It’s one of my love languages.

“Why make trouble for her? She has done a wonderful thing for me.”

This is what I like to call a “gentle shut-up”.

“She has played her part.”

She did her portion for God.

Do your portion for God today, and everyday.

Do it FOR HIM.

The divine nod of approval is completely sufficient.

“I’m telling the truth: wherever the message is announced in all the world, the story of what she has done will be told. That will be her memorial.”

What a reward for doing something for the love of God only!

Proverbs 12:18

There are those who chatter on like a stabbing sword, but a wise tongue heals.

The ancient wisdom teachers felt that the fewer words the better.

To speak mindlessly about a matter is to invite great harm–thus the stabbing sword image.

What if we only spoke at length about that which we knew much about?

I know, I know, some of us would never speak at length. I get it.

But seriously, we just don’t seem to listen well, speaking only those words which are needed, asking those though-provoking questions as invitations to seek God more vigorously.

I have found it most helpful to listen in such a manner in which I am constantly asking the Holy Spirit, “What does s/he need to hear right now?” God knows this person in front of me waaaaay better than I do, so why would I not seek His direction in conversation?

That stabbing sword of chatter can be quite damaging when one feels unheard. How many times I’ve encountered a person (and have no doubt been that person!) who can’t seem to wait for the other to finish so they can talk, or who derails the thought process by ever bringing it back to themselves. Or they give the generic, scripted advice, probably meaning well, but sending the (hopefully unintended) crystal clear message of: “I’m not really listening to YOU.” To be unseen or unheard is to feel unvalued. And that is possibly the worst feeling.

Also, let us frankly admit that our attention spans are only so long, then the situation just becomes painful. Those who chatter on end up really wearing us out and down after a while, even if it’s good stuff. You can only take in so much.

Like the “Generation Axe” concert I went to a couple weeks ago with my buddy Jerry. Five of the greatest guitarists of the past 30 years, including my personal favorite Zakk Wylde, present for three and a half hours of shredderific mayhem. It was awesome!

For the first hour and a half.

Then the notes started blending together.

Then the ear drums started bleeding.

Then the comatose state settled in accompanied by drooling. Which I saw everywhere as I looked around me at all the rabid fans who had started out so pumped. Now they looked like brain dead asylum escapees, praying it would mercifully end, but not wanting to be that first loser to walk out on these 6-string legends.

Too much.

That’s all Jerry and I could say to each other as we walked to the car in a dazed ear-ringing and brain-bleeding state of near unconsciousness.

A picture of this concert should go next to the definition of “too much.”

Jesus told short, thoughtful parables. He asked provoking questions. He spoke to the particular person in their particular situation. Not saying more than He needed to, but obviously not saying too little.

May we do the same.

---

 

Yes, I know, I’ve used too many words in today’s Med. I’m just trying to give a current example of too much chatter. OK, that’s not the reason for the 900+ words…You got me. I’m wordy. But I’m working on it!

Proverbs 11:6

Doing right brings freedom to honest people, but those who are not trustworthy are trapped by their own desires.

Freedom is not the absence of rules, but the presence of discipline.

For instance, if you train yourself in the discipline of going to God during tough times, during times of upset, during times when you are sinning, you will increase your freedom by expanding your options beyond the monotonous and adventure-less  choice of self-loathing and more sin to cope, and into the infinite variety of God’s love and care.

Mark 13:37

And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.

One of my very favorite books I read last year was Present Perfect by Greg Boyd. In it he asks throughout “Are you awake?”. By this he means, are you aware right now in this moment of the presence of God near you and of His great love enveloping you? He writes that he asks himself this constantly to cultivate the holy habit of practicing the presence of God*. He does this, in one way,  through sticky notes strategically placed around his office, car, podium, etc. He needed them even while preaching as he could easily find his mind focusing more on his words or sermon than on God Himself.

This practice I have found to be the most valuable of all to me. It trumps all others in my experience. Constantly thinking about God, conversing with Him, receiving His love has truly done wonders for me. I see everybody and every event much differently than I did years ago.

One simple adjustment you can make is to turn your inner thoughts into conversations with Jesus. This is a game-changer if you ask me…or even if you don’t ask me, now that I think through that last statement. This is what Frank Laubach did, a presence-practicer of the twentieth century in the vein of the 17th century mystics, Brother Lawrence and Jean-Pierre de Caussade.

Staying awake to Christ in all moments is everything because then you will have an awareness of His constant leading-what to read, who to call, where to go… Jesus really is that loving, that involved, that friendly, that helpful. He told me recently, “I will teach you something profound in every situation…if you will listen to Me.”

I’m not always listening, but cultivating the habit over time makes it easier and easier to tune in regularly. It’s a long obedience in the same direction, remember. Everyday cultivate good habits and they will become your new natural and default setting. It can be done.

Spoiler alert. Here’s how Boyd ends his beautiful little book:

In the kingdom there is no waiting. There is now.

The time to be fully awake and fully alive is now.

The time to abide in Christ and to live passionately in love is now.

The time to live in God’s presence and let God be “all in all” is now, in this moment.

And now, in this moment too.

And now…

Are you awake?

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* Brother Lawrence defines the presence of God as “the concentration of the soul’s attention on God, remembering that He is always present.”

Therefore, the practice of the presence of God is the actual concentrating of your soul’s attention on God, remembering He is always present.

 

Proverbs 10:11

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

Every day we speak words, each one marked by either wisdom or folly.Jesus said we will give account “for every careless word” (Matt.12:36)…Wisdom transforms how we use words. “The lips of knowledge are a precious jewel” (Prov.20:15). Thoughtful words are a rare treasure in this world of trivial chatter. When a “precious jewel” comes from the lips of a wise person, others pay attention. Literal jewels might catch people’s eyes, but jewel-like words catch people’s ears. It was said of Jesus, “No one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46).

-from The Gospel Transformation Bible

Mark 12:28-34

The two most important commandments of all:

1st Love God with your whole being

2nd Love others deeply

We can spend our whole life training ourselves to live these two life-giving, life-changing, God-given mandates of love. And it would be well worth dedicating our lives to these two since this is the only way to really change the world. It is the one sure way to make the world a better place to live in.

So why do we focus so much energy on so many other things?

Proverbs 9

The way of life and the way of death call out to us everyday.They will call to you today. The less knowledge you have of the holy One, the more difficult it will be to distinguish between these two voices. Conversely, the deeper you know YHWH, the closer you are to Him, the clearer His voice becomes.

“My sheep know My voice.”

Mark 11:17

Then he taught the people, saying, “It is written in the Scripture, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for people from all nations.’ But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.'”

In the places we gather to pray, how much prayer actually takes place there? How much do we communicate with YHWH in our churches? Or is the bulk of the time spent there talking to each other? Is that OK? Does it matter?

Jesus replaced the Temple. He replaced the Torah. He is the Temple. We are all “portable sanctuaries” as Richard Foster calls us. So this seems to apply to us wherever we gather in the name of Jesus. Are we actually praying when gathered? Many people tell me that their small group experience consists of a couple of minutes of closing prayer after discussion of whatever. Sometimes not.

Is that OK?

Does it matter?

What if we prayed together? I mean really prayed together.

I have a friend in the hospital in a coma right now. More than once I have been involved in praying with other people there. I mean really praying. Holy heaven, did we pray. And we sang. We cried.

I’ll give you three guesses as to which was better for my soul: that crying out to God with His people, or listening to a well crafted sermon and dressed up people singing?

I’m just sayin’….

Here’s something to chew on from a very thoughtful friend of mine following our discussion of not just asking “What Would Jesus do?” but “What did Jesus do in order to do the things He did?” or “How did He train?”:

In my understanding, that training did not involve sitting in church spouting stale traditions described as “teachings”.  Actually it is probably likely that he had quite the traditional Jewish exposure, experience and training that was common in the time and struggled with it.  I went to see the movie “Son of God” a couple of weeks ago.  In one scene he tells the high priest (close paraphrase) “I will tear this temple down”.  Obviously not literally, but figuratively.  Torn down in the sense that the path does not pass though and require the approval of the “keepers of the law”.  This hierarchy and dogma as developed over centuries is the temple to be torn down.  All I know is that if I were to damn everything about this world I didn’t understand, I would be leading the parade to hell….

 

Mark 10:17-27

The young rich dude.

You can obey YHWH’s commands, live a decent life, and all the while be loving something more than Him. A simple test we may give ourselves is to imagine anything or anyone being taken away from us and then asking ourself if we would still love and follow Jesus.

Perhaps we follow the rules because we simply realize it is a good and more peaceful way to live, or because it makes more sense. But God asks the more important question, “Do you love Me more than anything or anyone else?” Following the rules is much easier if you do. And I agree with Brennan Manning (and Luke Mertes) that we will all someday face the all-important question from God of, “Did you believe that I loved you?”

Mark 10:28-30

Whatever you give up for YHWH will be returned a hundred times over to you. I have found this to be very true with regard to my time.

Proverbs 8:8-9

All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.

God’s word(s) and message are clear and comforting to those honestly seeking from their center, from their open, receiving spirit.

His word is rocket surgery and confusing as hell to those looking with the mind only, especially a closed one.

The person who has genuinely and tangibly embraced God, who has tasted and seen that He is good, is perhaps the most open person of all. For it is the close-minded person who cannot receive.

Have you just sat and received God? Allowed Him to shower you with His goodness while you did nothing? It’s pretty awesome. And way better than striving for it.

Proverbs 7:2

Obey my commands and you will live.

Jesus said this as well at the end of the Sermon on the Mount when He told them, “Whoever hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The stormy rains came and the floods rose up, yet that house stood firm in the midst of it.” [my paraphrase]

Obedience.

Action.

The words of Jesus and of Scripture must meet with the realities of everyday life to transform us into Him.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

Information gathering?

La de frickin’ da!!!!

Do we not have enough information already???

Application.

Now there is something in deficit.

We need God every second. What if we were to remain consciously aware of that fact and ask Him continually for help? Would He help us? Have you ever done this for a day? For an hour? Continually depended on Him?

He wants to change us.

He wants to work in us to stop speaking rudely to our family.

He wants us to stop gossiping and complaining about everything and everybody.

He wants us to no longer live in fear. Of what people think. Of what might happen.

He wants to give us His peace.

He wants His joy to be in us and for it to be full.

He wants our life to be abundant.

We must put into action His words and actively employ His help. I am convinced that most Christians are hugely missing out on the life that really is life that is available to all of us. Right now.

Much seed truly falls on thorny ground as many are distracted by the cares of this world. I love that painting above–Will we focus on God and His beauty, love, and provision? Or will we choose to focus on all the things we don’t like and, henceforth, fail to notice the God of all comfort always with us, hanging ourselves by a noose of our own making (whether metaphorical or literal)?

Surrender to His ways is the only life-giving option for living here in the kingdom now. Jesus showed us what is available now through His very life.

I refuse to trudge through life in survival mode when new and abundant life is available to me now. As a lady who had a near death experience came back to say, “Life is a gift, not a chore.”

I want to sell all I have in order to buy that field with the priceless treasure in it.

Interact with Jesus about everything today. Discover His peace. Trust Him in every moment no matter how it looks.

Choose belief.

Experience shalom.

Mark 9:50

You are the salt of the earth.

As Christians, we are to enhance the taste of life for those around us.

Do you?

Proverbs 6:14,19

Sowing discord.

Stirring up hatred within families.

Biological or spiritual.

YHWH hates this.

He HATES this!

To cause division within family/community is evil. Our unity is so very important as Jesus prayed earnestly in John 17.

Always be looking to unite, repair, forgive.

Talk about others in love.

It’s one thing to seek wise counsel when you have issue with someone, it is quite another to “vent” about them or simply “blow off steam” as they say. This does no good. The enemy uses this extremely effectively. Be careful, be watchful of this in yourself and others. Work hard to see others the way God sees them. Ask Jesus what He wants you to see in a person before judging them or submitting to frustration with them. It is worth it to practice this.

Mark 8:11-13

The Pharisees came to Jesus and began to ask him questions. Hoping to trap him, they asked Jesus for a miracle from God. Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Why do you people ask for a miracle as a sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to you.” Then Jesus left the Pharisees and went in the boat to the other side of the lake.

Do you want a magic show or do you want Me?

Is My presence enough, or do you just crave what I can do for you?

Proverbs 5:22-23

An evil man will be caught [captured] in his wicked ways; the ropes of his sins will tie him up. He will die because he does not control himself [literally without discipline/instruction], and he will be held captive [or intoxicated; inebriated] by his foolishness [stupidity]. [EXB]

He will die without instruction.

How many today are not living life well due to a lack of instruction and therefore a lack of discipline?

Very few people I meet had a good success model at home. Very few have been trained to live well.  In our increasingly impersonal society, we are losing relational brain skills and, consequently, the ability to have relationships with much depth, let alone conversations with any meaning beyond weather and sports.

May we be the change we want to see.

Perhaps one or some of you need to start instructing others. Whether it be mentoring, teaching a class, being an example, spending time with someone…There is a great deficit in instruction and discipline on living life well, on living in God’s kingdom on earth.

What makes a good person is a heart of love for God and others.

People don’t know what they don’t know. We don’t ask the blind person at the art gallery why they’re not looking at the beautiful paintings on the wall.

People do not live well  for one of three reasons:

Ignorance.

Weakness.

Rebellion.

If ignorance, they must be taught.

If weakness, they must be strengthened.

If rebellion, they must feel natural consequences.

If people do not feel natural consequences, or have their heart regenerated by God, or see a better life and the way to it, they will not change.

Why would they?

Mark 7:6-9

Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right when he spoke about you hypocrites. He wrote, ‘These people show honor to me with words, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules.’ You have stopped following the commands of God, and you follow only human teachings.” Then Jesus said to them, “You cleverly ignore the commands of God so you can follow your own teachings.” [NCV]

What a great commentary on what has happened in our Americanized pseudo Christianity.

There’s God.

There’s God’s commands.

Point to Him.

Point to His commands.

Do this mostly by example.

Stop.

Repeat.

Proverbs 4:2

What I am telling you is good, so do not forget what I teach you.

It takes about 21 days for memories to be stored in the brain in such a location and manner for them to “stick.” To implant something in this way, you must chew on it and review it for a few weeks.

This is how we are able to “not forget” what we are either taught or what we want to become a part of us. You want to have God’s truth in you, I mean really in you? Memorize a passage of Scripture and say it everyday for 21 days straight. It will be a part of you and always available for recall. (As long as it is not mindless repetition, mind you.)

Or to geek out and use some more clinical terms: The new thought moves into the nonconscious metacognitive level where it becomes part of our internal perception. This process is called automatization. Just sayin’…

(The nonconscious metacognitive mind is filled with the thoughts you’ve been building since you were in the womb, and they form the perceptual base from which you see life. You operate, for peace or for toxicity, from your nonconscious mind, whether you like it or not. So if you don’t do some heart work on that level–focused attention and repetition, or let Jesus in that “room,” your mind will not significantly be renewed. This is some of the depth and science behind the word “believe” as used by the biblical writers, as I understand it.)

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. [NIV]

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. [NCV]

We are told in Scripture to guard many things–eyes, feet, tongue. But we are told to guard our heart more than anything else.

Why?

In Jewish writing the heart is a person’s center, their character, their core personality, not just a biological organ. We could say (even biologically) that the heart of health is a healthy heart. You can live without some organs. You can even donate an organ, as my friend Larry did recently. But one organ you can’t live without is your heart. No one goes in to donate their heart. Not while they’re still alive at least.

In Scripture we see that salvation is not a matter of living up to a code of ethics, but rather, a matter of the heart. The purity of heart that Jesus spoke of had to do with inner aspirations and the secret desires of each person. After the heart is right with God, good conduct flows from its hidden springs. We must always talk heart first, conduct second. This is the order of things.

How do we guard our heart?

We guard our heart by taking our thoughts captive. We pay attention to our thoughts and think about our thinking. We repel sinful, unhealthy thoughts and welcome godly, healthy ones. We cannot substantially work on this while on the go. We have to stop and be still, listening to God and ourselves in the quiet. This is the needed setting of the table before being able to feast at God’s banquet of peace and health.

From our hidden spring (heart) is our actual belief and thinking. These are our lenses through which we see life and even create our reality you could say.

When we really believe something/have faith in something, we act on it as if it is true. Our belief literally processes into measurable physical realities in our brain that form the substance of nerve networks upon which we act. This is what neuroscience is now finding.

This is why it is so vital to guard our heart, for from it flow all the actions of life. It is what determines if we are indeed a good tree which will of course bear good fruit. Good actions always start with a good thought. Bad actions always begin with a bad thought.

What are your most hidden aspirations and secretest desires?

Do you guard your thoughts? If so, how?

Mark 6:45-46

Immediately Jesus told his followers to get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida across the lake. He stayed there to send the people home. After sending them away, he went into the hills to pray.

No matter what, even after much work or distraction, Jesus made sure He got His time alone in the quiet to pray. It was very important for Him to have time alone with Papa YHWH.

It’s almost as if He understood 21st century brain science.

Or was just crazy in love with and dependent upon His Father…