Brown's Daily Word 1-22-08

Good Morning,
We spent the weekend in Boston, attending our grandson Simeon's baptism yesterday in a Presbyterian Church in the North Shore above Boston. It was very cold day outside, but it was a very warm and beautiful day inside. Simeon smiled during his baptism. Best of all, Jesus, the Lord of the Lambs and winsome Shepherd of His sheep, smiled on Simeon.
Baptism is an outward and visible sign of the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to offer us grace upon grace. He offers His amazing grace to the blind, the lame, the last, the least, and the lost. That covers all of us. All are included.
Bartimaeus the blind is one of those who experienced the fresh grace of our Savior. Bartimaeus was physically blind and financially strapped. He was stuck in a job that was going nowhere. He was a nuisance... in the way, a passing thought. He was, in fact, a painful reminder to everyone walking by that disaster was very possible in their own lives. This man was nothing, and yet, Bartimaeus was Jesus’ man. Bartimaeus was the one to whom Jesus paid attention. Jesus walked by many people that day, the righteous, the godly, the honest, the faithful. Yet, Bartimaeus is the one who received the blessing while others, who were good people, or who were believers, or even some who were His twelve disciples, received nothing.
Here was a man who had absolutely nothing going for him, not a thing. He was a person of no significance whatsoever, and yet he was able to bring out some of the most powerful words in Scripture, “Jesus stopped”. Jesus was walking along, on his way to fulfill his destiny as Messiah in the city of Jerusalem, so you know He had to be walking with purpose. He was approaching the pinnacle of His ministry here on earth and BAMM, out of nowhere Jesus stopped. Jesus had this incredible task in front of him, yet it was just gone, set aside, unimportant for the moment. Astounding!
What a valuable piece of Scripture we have in Mark 10. Jesus just stopped what He was doing, and suddenly all the attention was on Bart. You may be asking, “I wonder, how can I get God’s attention like that?” or, “How can I get God to pay attention to me?”. Mark lays it out for us in Mark 10:46-52.
Jesus walked right by Bartimaeus, but Bartimaeus exhibited several characteristics that made Jesus stop for this man. Jesus usually did not stop for anything, but here He stopped dead in his tracks for Bartimaeus. Remember, Jesus was traveling with his twelve disciples and a large group of other people. Some were believers, some were curious, some probably were not sure why they were walking with Jesus. At this point they were passing through Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the area. It is literally an oasis in the desert, called the city of palms for the many thousands of huge palm trees that grow there. Jericho sits low, near the Dead Sea, about eighteen miles northeast of Jerusalem, in a very rugged region with the road to Jerusalem leading through desolate and mountainous country, notoriously unsafe, and it was a very difficult walk to Jerusalem, for it is uphill all the way to Jerusalem. Jericho is famous for it’s walls that fell down during the time of Joshua.
The healing of Bartimaeus was the last healing miracle to be recorded in the book of Mark, emphasizing to us how significant it was that Jesus stopped to heal this man.
Jericho was also a redemptive spot for tax collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19), and the good Samaritan (Luke 10). I think that in some ways the city of Jericho represents in Scripture a place to be given another chance, a place where those who are having great difficulty in life are given another shot, another chance at redemption. It was an oasis of refreshment and a place to start a new life; it was a new beginning. It was no accident that Jesus and Bart deal with each other in this place called Jericho. You know, even when we see that life at a standstill, when we look around us and see nothing but hot, dry, desert, Jesus is able.
Bartimaeus was sitting there by the roadside, a man who had a crisis that was beyond his control or ability to correct/change. He was stuck in his situation with nothing that he could do in his own power. He could not will his way out of it, so he chose to go to a higher source, to a source outside himself. Bartimaeus made a choice, “I am going to stop living this way.” This blind man made a choice to obey the Holy Spirit and grab hold of that spark of faith that fell into his life. He took it, grabbed hold of it, and, in verse 47, called out to Jesus, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” That action of calling out to Jesus was nothing less than an act of faith, an act of belief, a fanning of the spark that was created moments ago in this man when he made his decision not to live like this any more!
Calling out, “Son of David” shows that Bartimaeus had formed a conviction about Jesus. Notice, Jesus did not reject the title Jesus was not just a teacher or a good man. He was the messiah, the Lord God himself. Also, he must have called more than once. Again and again he called, showing persistence. Then, “Jesus stopped”, (verse 49).
We generally cannot bring an issue before Jesus just once; there is a purpose in our repeatedly bringing an issue before God, and that purpose is the building of our faith.
Though Bartimaeus was physically blind and financially strapped, he moved beyond his limitations. He shouted out to Jesus. The crowd, however, held him back, telling him to be quiet. Bart refused to listen to other voices, listening instead for Jesus’ voice. The crowd rebuked him, but (verse 48) he persisted. They told him to shut up, so he shouted louder. The more they tried to stop him, the more intense he became.
We all have voices all around us who try to block our connection with Jesus. They say things like, “You don’t take the Bible seriously do you?” They tell us that taking the spiritual world seriously is foolishness. What they do, in reality, is to shout ignorance our way. Don’t buy it. Don’t listen to those detractors. The reality is this: Jesus is real, Jesus is powerful, Jesus is ready to act on your behalf to change your world.
Bartimaeus first pleaded for mercy and then presented a request. He did not demand, he did not manipulate, but he did ask for mercy. The phrase, “have mercy on me” is a cry directed toward God by the afflicted in the Psalms ex 4:1, 6:2, 41:4, 51:1, 109:26, 123:3. This type of prayer, which really is a prayer, is a general request. It did not refer to anything specific. Jesus asked what, specifically, was wanted. We likewise must articulate our requests. Jesus asks, "what do you want?" We must be prepared to answer him.
Bartimaeus answered Jesus, “Rabbi, I want to see.” There it is. Do you see it in verse 52? Everything came together, life could never be the same, when Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” “Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.” Normally, Bartimaeus would have taken his cloak off and placed it in front of him to catch coins. The cloak here represented his old way of life. He was managing, just getting by, barely keeping himself alive, but here he threw off his past and left it behind. He left the limitations placed on him; he left the only security he had ever known and cast it aside before he went to Jesus. He had to turn his back on his old life. He got up to go to Jesus and, never, looked back. 52 “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”
When you come to Jesus, you cannot go back to your old life or your old ways. Jesus does not intend for us to revert to our old sinful ways. He is walking by us this very day, so let us not sit here, satisfied with "a few coins on an old cloak". Let us, instead, rise up and walk in the newness of life. Life with Jesus is an adventure.

In Him,
Brown
Dear Brother in christ ,
Greetings From India ,
One prayer request, thank you for your prayer . One Missionary was arrested by the police to day, he is all so my friend. his name is Rev , protheta digal .
Situation is very bad in our Districts. I am all so very busy in the situation .
Please pray for me and our peoples .

Thank you
With kind regards
Swagat naik
INDIA

My sister from New Jersey just called and told me that her son was killed in an accident while cutting wood today.

Please keep this new widow, Barbara, as well as 2 grown children, along with my sister and Her husband, Janet and Dave, in your prayers.

Barbara's parents are both dead. They just went through the Thanksgiving and Christmas season without her Mother for the first time.

Fred

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