MITN XV, Verses 29 - 39

29. Jesus went on from there and passed along the shore of Lake Galilee. Then He went up into the hills and sat down in a particular place, quieted Himself, and just remained there in a meditative state.

30. And in practically no time the local people started to sense His presence there, and began to be attracted to the spot where He sat. They gathered until, eventually, a massive throng completely surrounded Him. And they brought with them paraplegics, the blind, the maimed, the mute - people with all kinds of health issues - and they pushed the very sick ones up to the front of the huge crowd to see what He would do with them. And the flow of healing power became so strong there on that spot that they were all made well.

31. And the whole crowd was amazed when they saw the mutes speaking, the maimed made healthy, the paraplegics walking, and the blind seeing. It should be noted that on this particular day there were no people there from His hometown to doubt or defy Him…no angry Pharisees to confront or challenge Him…just happy, healed people who were grateful to be there...who were too blessed, and too thankful for what they had received to waste the experience in any unnecessary analysis of it. On that day on that hillside, people just praised and thanked and glorified the God of Israel for His goodness.

32. In fact, the gathering was so glorious that the multitudes refused to leave the locale. They stayed there for three whole days, until Jesus finally called His disciples to Him and said, “I’m really touched by this crowd…I hurt for them, and am deeply moved by their devotion, because they have been with Me now three days without anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away empty…I don’t want them to be weak, hungry, or faint on their journey home.

33. But the disciples said to Him, "Where are we going to get enough food to feed all these people in this isolated place?”

34. Jesus then asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They replied, “Seven…and we have a few small fish.”

35. At that, Jesus ordered the entire crowd to sit down on the ground, wherever they were, right where they were,

36. and He took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks for what He had in His hand. Then He began to break up the food, and started doling it out to the disciples, who, in turn, started passing it to the people.

37. And, as had happened in the previous, similar miracle, every person there ate heartily, until they were completely full. And, just like before, the disciples began to move around the crowd, picking up all the leftovers, this time gathering up seven large baskets full.

38. And, again, there were so many people fed there that day that they just counted the men – this time about 4,000 of them. So, including all the women and children, several thousand people were miraculously fed from a few loaves of bread and some little fish.

39. Then He dismissed the full and contented crowds…these people with whom He had so connected…and got into a boat headed for the district of Magadan.

MITN XV, Verses 21 - 28

21. And from there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

22. He had hardly arrived in the area when a woman, who was a Canaanite from that district, came down from the hills and made her way directly to Him. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!” she urgently cried out in a loud voice. “My daughter is miserably tormented and afflicted by an evil spirit!”

23. But Jesus didn’t answer her, and so she kept crying out to him. In fact, the longer He ignored her, the louder she got, until finally His disciples came to Him and asked Him, personally, to deal with her. They said, “Look, if you’re not going to do anything for this Canaanite, then please send her away, because she won’t shut up, and now she’s begging us to help her…and she’s really overbearing, obnoxious and out of line!”

24. But He answered them, “She’s ahead of schedule…it’s not time yet for Me to be revealed to the rest of the world, and to be accessible to people like her. Right now I am solely focused on My call to minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25. But, undaunted by this, she came and knelt before Him and worshipped Him. And she said to Him, “Lord, I don’t know anything about that…about Israel, or lost sheep, or the world, or even some ‘schedule’…I just know that you can help me now, and I need your help now! Please help me!”

26. And, finally acknowledging her, He said. “Lady, you know that the Israelites consider your people to be dogs…so because I have my hands full in dealing with them as a nation at the moment, to help you would be like taking the children's bread, and throwing it to the dogs…at least that’s true as far as they’re concerned. Now, do you think that “dogs” should take bread away from the children?”

27. But she said, “Look, right now I don’t care about what the Israelites think. I just want my daughter well. So to answer your question…I would say, yes, Lord, even the “dogs” eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”

28. Then Jesus, impressed with her fierce persistence and dogged determination, and moved by her ability to rise above offense at an insult in order to focus on getting results, answered her. He said, “O woman, your faith is great and powerful! By faith you have reached into the future, to when My Spirit will be poured out on all flesh, including the Canaanites, and you have pulled your miracle into the now…regardless of procedure…regardless of propriety…regardless of prejudice. Be it done for you just as you have declared it. And her daughter was completely cured in that instant.

Anyone Remember This?

Hey bloggers...while I'm finishing up MITN XV I thought I'd post some pics that are in stark contrast to yesterday's disturbing "mouths" pic...I've been singing this verse from Kurt Kaiser's classic 60's youth group song for the last couple of days, as I drive around the city and look at the miracle of nature coming to life once again...I make no apology for loving the song Pass It On, even though it means something different to me than it meant when I sang it 30-something years ago...

What a wonderous time is spring,

When all the trees are budding...

The birds begin to sing,

the flowers start their blooming...

That's how it is with God's love,
Once you've experienced it.

You want to sing, it's fresh like spring,
You want to pass it on.

MITN XV, Verses 10 - 20

10. Then Jesus called the crowd together and said to them, “Listen, I’m going to say something to you that you really need to grasp…I want you to take this to heart, and get it into your thinking…

11. Very simply put, it is not what goes into the mouth of a person that pollutes him or her…it is only what comes out of the mouth of that person that has the potential to pollute him or her.”

12. Later the disciples came to Him and said, “Hey, did You know that the Pharisees were very offended by what you said, and are really upset about it?”

13. Unfazed, He answered, “Look, everything which has not been planted by My heavenly Father will ultimately be torn up by the roots.

14. So stop paying so much attention to them, or worrying about their constant offenses and irrelevant ideas. They are just blind guides and teachers…blind men leading other blind men right into a ditch.”

15. But Peter said to Him, “OK…whatever about them…but can You at least make it plain for us, and interpret this saying of Yours?”

16. And He said, “Seriously, Peter…is this really so difficult for you to understand? It just isn’t that complicated…the truth never is...

17. Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the digestive system, and is eventually eliminated?

18. But whatever comes out of the mouth originates in the heart…and when the thoughts and ideas of the heart are put into words, they are given physical reality…and this is what has the potential to pollute a person.

19. For out of the heart can come destructive thoughts, divisive arguments which can even lead to murder, infidelity, uncontrolled sexual appetites and dysfunction, theft, lies, slander, and all sorts of hate-speech.

20. These are the things that can pollute a person, and cause him or her to be unclean. Eating with unwashed hands is just a basic hygiene issue, and has no real bearing on what can actually defile someone, or make any difference in the grand scheme of things."

MITN XV, Verses 1- 9

1. After that, some Pharisees and religious scholars made the trip all the way from Jerusalem for the sole purpose of critically confronting Jesus about something that they considered vital. When they found Him, they said to Him,

2. "We want to know why You allow Your disciples to transgress and violate the important rules handed down by the elders of the past! They don’t practice ceremonially washing their hands before they eat as they’re supposed to!”

3. He replied to them, “Look, if you really want to start examining the keeping of rules and regulations – especially if you actually care about their purpose - I could just as easily ask you why you transgress and violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by the same elders!

4. For God gave this commandment: ‘Honor your father and your mother’, and also, ‘He who curses, reviles, speaks evil of, or abuses his father or mother, let him be put to death.’

5. But you have found a legal loophole to honoring them by saying, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother that he can’t take care of them in their old age because his money is already dedicated as a gift to God, then he is exempt, and no longer under obligation to honor and help his father or his mother.

6. So for the sake of this tradition of yours, you have ignored the Word of God, depriving it of force and authority, and making it of no effect…you have missed the point of the commandment by embracing the letter instead of the spirit of it.

7. You obnoxious bunch of phonies! Isaiah hit the nail on the head about you when he prophesied:

8.‘These people draw near to Me with their mouths, and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are total strangers to Me.

9. Their worship of Me is useless, for they invent self-serving commands that are obviously man-made, and then obsess over them, elevating them to the status of God-inspired doctrines’”.

The "G"-Force.

G - OD IS LOVE...This foundational truth is the source for all of my gratitude...the GIL concept is ground zero for everything that I believe...

R - EALITY IS PERCEPTION...The reality in which I live is created through the gratitude paradigm...

A - TTITUDE IS EVERYTHING...My grateful heart informs my daily attitude, which, in turn, determines the quality of my day, every day...

T - HANKFULNESS IS CREATIVE...The more that I openly express my gratitude, the more that I have for which to be grateful...

I - NGRATITUDE IS DESTRUCTIVE...I do not complain, because I know that if I do, I will destroy that for which I am grateful, and will create more things about which to complain...

T - ODAY IS ENOUGH...I believe that I will be given this day my daily bread, and for that I will be grateful. Period...

U - NAWARENESS IS BLINDNESS...My eyes are wide open, and so I am able to observe the abundance of miracles swirling all around me...I am not unaware that ALL THINGS (even when the Lord speaks to me, as He did to Job, through the whirlwind/storm/hurricane) are working together for my good...

D - ISCONTENTMENT IS DECEPTION...I only express my gratitude, because I know that to do anything else would create a false sense of my existence...gratitude keeps me grounded in the truth, and the truth is that I live an abundant life...to believe anything else would be to embrace a smokescreen...

E -VERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL...It is written: He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11 - AMP)

True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time...(Ecclesiastes 3:11 - The Message)