"Take Heart! I am!"

This past Sunday in our study of the Gospel of Mark, we took a look at two incredible miracles performed by Jesus. And in putting these two together, the result is a truly amazing portrait of our Savior! The two miracles were the feeding of the 5000 and His walking upon the water. Both of these point toward the reality that Jesus Christ as the Son of God is extremely great AND deeply compassionate. In both miracles he demonstrated his awesome power. In the first he did so by creating on the spot between two and three tons of food to feed a hungry crowd that may have been as large as 15,000 to 20,000 when factoring in women and children who were also present. In the second he manifested his power by defying the law of gravity to walk effortlessly upon the surface of the turbulent surface of the Sea of Galilee. In addition to Jesus' power, Mark refers to his compassion as Jesus looked out upon the crowd and saw them as "sheep without a shepherd" - and if you know anything about sheep, sheep without a shepherd our very sorry sheep! In addition, when the the disciples cried out in fear (thinking they were seeing a ghost as Jesus was walking past their boat), Jesus immediately spoke into their fear to reassure him as he said, "Take heart! I am!" SO all this to say ... No matter our need, we can always look to him for the help that only he can give. For his eye is always upon us and we are forever in His grip!


Paul Trip, in his excellent book, A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble, reminds us that God is always near to help ... but there is something we must do. Please read on . . .

"You can be sure of this; your day of trouble will come. Yet, in your trouble God hasn’t left you alone. What is it that he gives you in your trouble? He gives you himself! He is what will keep you safe. He is near, and he comes to you armed with transforming grace and liberating wisdom. But it’s vital that you live with eyes and heart open to what Scripture says to you about you and the world in which you live. If you do, you’ll live in a way that’s humble and needy, seeking the grace and wisdom that you so desperately need and that God so willingly and lovingly gives. Be realistic. Remember, there’s amazing grace for every realistic thing you’ll be called to face."

I trust you will be seeking HIM for the amazing grace that ONLY he can give!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj