Category: Mark

Posted in Mark, Matthew

God or Money?

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:24

Perhaps the greatest distraction to pure devotion to Jesus Christ in this day and age is money. Who is ruling all things in our lives? Is it Jesus, before whom “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess,” or is it money? The one who actually rules our lives is not necessarily what our religion states; it’s the one we make our decisions by and find our comfort in.

Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) Unfortunately, we in America are often guilty of seeking first “all these things” and adding a little religion on the side. Our money says, “In God we trust,” but do we really?

Jesus came across a very moral and religious young man who was bound by the power of money. The Scripture tells us that, “Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, `One thing you lack; go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me.’ But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property.” (Mark 10:21-22)

God wanted to free this man from money’s subtle power over him. His property wasn’t the real problem, it was his heart. In the very same chapter Jesus promises that those who have left, “houses…and farms,” for Him will receive back a hundred times, “houses…and farms,” in this life. (Mark 10:29-30) Ultimately Jesus didn’t want his money; He wanted his heart.

Matthew 6:21 says, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Does God have your money, or are you holding on tightly to it trying to add a little religion on the side? In these difficult days of shaking it is vital for us to be trusting God in every area of our lives.

Posted in John, Luke, Mark

Destiny or Comparison?

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” John 21:21-22

My wife and I were at a pastor’s convention and one of the speakers preached from Psalm 29 on the voice of God. His point was that we are formed by whatever voice we regularly listen to. He asked if we were listening to the voice of destiny or comparison.

He said that when we stop listening to the voice of destiny, the voice of comparison will take over. The fruit of operating out of comparison will either be a competitiveness that wins by making sure others lose, or a complacency that comes from self pity because we don’t think we’re as good as someone else.

The problem is how deeply ingrained comparison is in our hearts. Jesus told the disciples at the last supper that one of them would betray Him. Luke 22:23 says that “they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing.” But the argument about who was the worst quickly gave way to another one about who was the best because the very next verse says, “And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.” (Luke 22:24) We know Peter thought he was on top from his statement to Jesus, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.” (Mark 14:29)

But the text above from John 21 finds Peter in a very different place. He has denied the Lord and has gone back to fishing. He used to think he was the best, but by now, we can imagine, he is convinced he is the worst. To bring him back to his destiny Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him. When he says he does, Jesus recalls him into the ministry; “…feed My sheep; …tend My flock; …shepherd my lambs.” It’s not about whether Peter thinks he’s as good at it as someone else, it’s only about loving Jesus and doing what Jesus told him to do. Denying Jesus didn’t change his destiny any more than our failures change God’s destiny for us. God has factored our weaknesses, mistakes, and even our sins into His plan.

After receiving his instructions Peter did what we usually do, he looked at the guy next to him and asked, “What about him?” Jesus said, “What’s that to you? You follow me.” Our job isn’t to keep track of anyone else’s destiny, that’s between them and God. Our job is to get our eyes off of people and on to Jesus. Let’s fight off the persistent voice of comparison, so we can fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.

Posted in Ephesians, Mark, Matthew

Part of the Bride

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31-32

If you have accepted Christ you are a son or daughter of God, but you are not a bride of Christ. Jesus doesn’t have many brides, only one. The two will become one – Jesus is one and the church together is the other one. When we accept Christ we become part of the bride so to fulfill our destiny we must learn how to connect with each other. When we become one unified church, the beauty of the bride will go forth drawing people to Christ, the Spirit and the bride will announce the gospel, and finally, Jesus will come back and take us to the marriage supper of the Lamb. We don’t need anyone but Jesus to become a child of God, but we need one another to really be the bride. That’s why He is so insistent on unity.

Ephesians 4:3 says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” “Make every effort” means work at it!  Jesus said if someone has sinned against us we are to forgive them without even going to them. “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25) He said if someone has something against us and we know about it, we are to go to them and try to make it right. “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

This is real Christianity that really shows God we are serious. When we make things right, even if we don’t feel like it, the Father is able to bring healing to the bride and prepare us for the coming Bridegroom.

Posted in Ephesians, Luke, Mark

The Alternate Reality

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

The Narnia books are all about an alternate reality; another realm where there is a continual conflict between good and evil. C.S. Lewis was describing for us the spirit world that is actually around us all the time. Jesus lived physically and engaged physical realities, but He was equally conscious of the spirit realm and in a moment would expose and address darkness with complete authority.

Whether releasing a woman that Satan had bound for eighteen long years (See Luke 13), delivering a man so tormented that he lived in total isolation (See Luke 9), or rebuking His own disciples when they were listening to the wrong voice (See Mark 8);  Jesus was never surprised by the need to address the alternate reality.

After He rose from the dead He entrusted those who believe His authority and gave as the first sign of believers: “In My Name, they will cast out demons.” (Mark 16:17) Have you embraced the alternate reality? It is easy in the American church to theologically believe in the spirit world but functionally live as if it’s “make believe” and irrational.

The problem is we will never win a war we haven’t fully engaged in. In fact, we will end up thinking flesh and blood is our enemy and feel the solution to our problems lies in manipulating people to get our way, or even, to get “God’s” way. (It is easy to equate our agenda with God’s will when we really want something.) This often leads to bitterness, frustration, or idolatry, and a life of striving which is actually under the influence of darkness instead of light.

“Get behind Me Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (Mark 8:33)

Posted in Leviticus, Mark

The Healing Presence

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“‘If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.” Mark 5:28-29

In the Old Covenant, the immediate presence of a holy God was something to be feared by sinful humanity. God warned people to not get too close and those who were called to draw near had to be very careful or they could die.

Yet in Christ, the presence of God became a healing presence. So much so that this woman disregards the ceremonial law which demanded she stay separate from all around her. (Leviticus 15:25-31) Anyone she touched became unclean according to God’s law, yet she instinctively knew that if she touched Jesus she would be healed instead of Him becoming unclean.

In the Savior, the Holy Spirit is a healing presence. In 1997 I did a workshop for our youth camp in Minnesota on the topic of the Holy Spirit. When I was finished speaking, I asked any who wanted a fresh touch of the Spirit to stand. Although I went around and touched the head of each student while praying for them, I wasn’t aware of anything special happening.

Three days later, we were in our final evening service and were giving testimonies of what God had done. A ninth grade student from Duluth pulled me into a private room off the sanctuary to tell me what happened to him. He said he was too shy to speak in front of everyone but thought someone should know.

A few years earlier he had fallen down some stairs and hurt his back, but because his mom was so poor he never asked to have a doctor look at it. He had just suffered in silence and learned to live with the pain. “I was the first person you prayed for on Monday,” he told me, “and when you touched my head something went through me that took away all my pain. I’ve tested it for three days and the pain hasn’t returned. God healed me.”

He was now crying, and so was I. He hadn’t asked for healing and I hadn’t prayed for healing. Jesus just wanted to heal him, and in a way that he would know for the rest of his life that God is real.

Posted in 1Samuel, Luke, Mark, Revelation

Hear, and be Healed

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“A great number of people from all over Judea came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.” Luke 6:17-19

Health care is a problem today. As we age there are more pains and blockages as well as the risk of external parts and internal organs wearing down and no longer functioning as they should. The medical community can help, and they do what they can, but for many things there is only a pill to treat symptoms and no real promise of healing.

Jesus is a healer. He can and does use doctors, but sometimes He acts apart from them, like in the text above. Two things grip me in this passage – one relates to humanity; the other to Divinity.

The people came to “hear Him and be healed.” There is a great tendency in our culture to want to be healed from God without listening to God. The idea that God might want to correct me is offensive in a culture which insists that any correction is being “judgmental.” God loves us and wants us to be healed but to Him the heart, the inner person, is more important than the body. When He sees us He looks through the outward appearance to what’s really going on inside. (1Samuel 16:7) He wants to speak to us. Jesus’ last recorded words are found in the book of Revelation where seven times He repeats the same phrase: “He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit says to the church.” (See Revelation 2 and 3)

The second thing about this text that amazes me is the Divine generosity. Divine power flowed from Jesus and it was “healing them all.” When Jesus is free to be who He is in our midst, healing power to restore and deliver is available to all. Oftentimes we restrict what He is able to do by our unbelief (Mark 6:5-6), or by our busy schedule which distracts us from ever stopping long enough to hear, or be healed.

Posted in Mark

The Privilege of Partnership

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“After me comes One who is mightier than I, and I am not even fit to stoop down and untie the strap of His sandals.” Mark 1:7

John the Baptist led a nationwide revival in Israel where his preaching prepared the way for Jesus. Yet he didn’t feel like he was doing God a favor, but only that he was immensely privileged to do anything in partnership with the One who was mightier than he was.

Shortly after we moved our family to Montevideo, MN in the mid-nineties, I received a call from a woman in the church I was the pastor of. One of her favorite missionaries was coming to visit and she was hoping I would have him speak on the Sunday morning he was in town. I said I’d pray about it, but the truth was that I was a little miffed about even being asked. I was brand new and trying to establish myself in the pulpit, so I just didn’t want to give up a Sunday morning to someone I didn’t know, even if he was an established missionary.

One night shortly after my little tantrum I had a dream. A friend of mine was holding a huge missions night at his church and I was to be the “special speaker.” It even said that on the posters they had up advertising the event. But after the meal my friend turned to me and said, “Things have changed. We’re not going to have you speak tonight.” What struck me was that he didn’t even say he was sorry, in fact, I could tell he wasn’t sorry. That scene stopped and another started.

I was in the foyer of Lake City Church (now City Church) where I was holding a small workshop at a convention. There were only fifteen people there but I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit all over me. I spoke briefly and then asked if any wanted to receive Christ. Several hands went up and when I asked them to come forward they were so overcome by the power of the Spirit they fell on the floor on their way forward.

I woke up from the dream and a couple of things were very clear to me. The friend in the first scene represented the Holy Spirit and He wanted me to know that whether He uses me or not is His choice, and He doesn’t owe anyone an explanation if He decides not to use them. The second truth that filled my heart was that ministry is only special when the Holy Spirit is present. Whether there is one, fifteen, or a thousand – it’s His presence and His anointing alone that makes any opportunity meaningful and powerful. We should never care about being “special” in the eyes of people because it’s only what God thinks about us that matters.

Posted in Acts, John, Mark

The Authority of the Believer

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”  John 14:12-14

One Monday morning I needed to meet someone for an early appointment, but I couldn’t leave without my cell phone and it was lost. I looked in all the usual places, but it wasn’t there. Everyone else was still sleeping and I certainly didn’t want to wake them up, but I could see no other alternative than calling my own number and letting it ring until I found it. I was stunned when after dialing l felt a vibration and heard a ring coming out of my own left pocket. 

Almost immediately after finding the “lost” phone in my pocket, I sensed the Lord whispering something in my thoughts: “This is how believers are with authority.” Think about it. We as believers are often looking for someone else who can pray for us. or deliver us or who can hear God for us, yet the authority to pray powerfully is already in us. Every believer already has the equipment connecting them to God’s voice and power in their hearts, it is God’s gift to us in Christ, but it doesn’t do much good if we don’t recognize that we have it.

God’s plan was that those who believe in Jesus would walk in the same authority as He did by using His Name. Jesus gave the first sign of those who believe: “In My Name they will cast out demons…” (Mark 16:17) Not the first sign following apostles, or pastors, or those who have walked with the Lord for at least 30 years; but the first sign following those who “believe.” The right to use Jesus’ Name is a privilege every one who believes in Him has been given.

Peter was very conscious of this authority when he replied to the lame man who begged him for money: “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene – walk!” (Acts 3:6) Are you conscious that you possess the authority of Jesus Name, or are you still looking around the kingdom to find someone else who has it?

Posted in Mark

Embracing Our Cross

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul?’” Mark 8:34-36

Jesus went to the cross for our salvation. We must go to the cross for our sanctification. This is a painful and difficult process that requires our participation. We must take up (embrace) the cross for God to do His transforming work in us. When we resist the cross, we change very little over time even though we are Christians. Maybe an illustration will help to understand this.

When my mom reached 80 she began seriously considering moving to an apartment which would require her to sell her house. To prepare the house for a sale she thought that a new dining room floor would be nice because the old one was visibly faded. This change would require minimal cost and could be done fairly painlessly.

Then she brought in a realtor and asked this woman, who was a trusted friend, what she thought needed to be done. Getting a new floor in the dining room would be a good start, this woman advised, but really, all the floors needed to be changed. And not just the floors, but the counters, the cupboards, the appliances and the lighting. All of this would be very expensive, but this woman, who was the professional, felt these things would be the minimum changes needed to get the house ready for a sale.

The realtor didn’t demand these changes, but only recommended them. The final decision belonged to my mom because she’s the one who would have to pay the price. 

God wants to change us for our good and His glory but He won’t do it without our participation. He brings difficult circumstances and difficult people into our lives so that they will help us see what is left undone in us. When we embrace the cross by trusting God and asking for His grace in the midst of our trials, His beauty begins to replace our ashes. We can’t change ourselves any more than my Mom could rip up flooring and lay tile, but we can invite Him to do whatever it takes.

Let’s embrace our cross and let Him do the difficult work of change in us. We’ll enjoy the results and so will everyone around us.

Posted in Mark, Philippians

A Habitat for Growth

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows – how, he himself does not know.” Mark 4:26-27

The seed of the kingdom of God is the Word of God. (Mark 4:14) When the Word of God is in us a change begins to happen from the inside out. Its miracle working power to change us only needs to be in the right habitat for it to complete its wonderful, transforming work. What does that habitat look like?

First, it is a habitat of grace. After the Word is planted, “he goes to bed at night…” We must rest in God instead of continually watching ourselves for growth. Could you imagine that seed surviving if every night the man went out and dug it up to see how it was doing? We need to rest in God and trust that the One who began a good work in us will also finish it. (Philippians 1:6) 

Second, it is a habitat focused on God, not man. Jesus said that some seeds dry up when “persecution arises because of the Word.” (Mark 4:17) When our focus is on people we try to live up to their expectations and time demands. When we’re seeking to follow the Word, God’s agenda and man’s agenda will come into conflict and then a choice needs to be made. Will we please God or man? 

Finally, it’s a habitat that is thorn free. Jesus gave three main thorns that will have to be continually weeded out of the garden of our hearts or the Word of God won’t grow to maturity in us. (Mark 4:19)

  1.  “The worries of the world…”  Worrying is the opposite of trusting God. If you find yourself anxious, stop, ask God to take control of whatever situation you’re anxious about and let go of it.
  2. “The deceitfulness of riches…”  Money and what money can buy promise happiness and safety but once you get them you find yourself empty and anxious after just a little while. Who’s in charge? Is it God or is it money? Choose this day which one you will serve.
  3. “The desires for other things…” Anything can choke out the word if it becomes the central focus instead of Jesus. Hold everything you have and want loosely while holding on to Jesus tightly, and you’ll find you can enjoy life to the fullest.