They Were Completely Amazed (Mark 6:47-51).
These verses amaze me. Six times previously, Mark records for us that The Disciples and the people were amazed with Jesus. They had just seen the feeding of the 5000, which they did not understand or truly perceive in a spiritual sense, and now Jesus was walking on the water and this time they are, “completely amazed”.
We read later that the disciples still lacked faith, obedience, love, humility, courage, understanding and many other spiritual virtues but at this point they were amazed.
I believe the same happens for many believers today. They see and enjoy some real experiences with Jesus. They are amazed many times, yet they still fail to understand because their hearts are hard.
Pray that the Lord would not allow you to have a hardened heart that would not perceive the spiritual things of our Lord Jesus and of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
We never know when God is using the everyday things of life to test our faith. The men in Gideon’s army were tested by the way they drank water (Judges 7). Lot was tested by a disagreement over land (Genesis 13:5-12). Israel was tested by thirst (Exodus 15:22-27), and Moses was tested by the complaining of the people (Numbers 20:1-13).
We must constantly be on guard because sometimes we do not know what the lesson was until after we have failed the test! How I try to guard against this occurring is that I try to look on every situation as a test: A test of my character and of my personal integrity, a test of my faith and a test of my spiritual condition. Let me encourage you to do the same.
There will always be tests to our faith and so we must be ready for them. The best way to be ready for tests to your faith is to treat everyday situations and experiences as a test. That way you will always be ready and never surprised.
Have a great week.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
The Traditions of Men Over The Commands of God (Mark 7:1-8).
What a tragedy it is when people become so legalistic that they place tradition and rituals as more important than the commands of God.
Who do you think were the “free” people in this passage? The Disciples - who were hanging out with Jesus every day and learning that God was far more interested in what was on the inside of a mans heart than what was on the back of his hand, or the Pharisees - who were fenced in and bound by the traditions of men?
I reckon one of the saddest sentences in The Bible is when it says, “these people worship me in vain” (verse 7). It’s written a few times but the principle is still the same: that we can engage ourselves in a lifetime of worship that never has been or never will be the type that pleases God and as a result it will have been in vain.
Check your worship. Is it the type that the Father desires, or will it all have been in vain?
Pastor Bruce Capps.
Clean and Unclean (Mark 7:14-23).
Jesus declared that under the new covenant all foods were clean (verse 19) and that a person could not become unclean by what food is consumed.
But He also declared that it is out of a man’s heart that comes all the things that make a person unclean. Things like sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed etc. Matthew 12:34 says, “that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
We also know that what we feed the mind lives in the heart so we must still be careful what we allow to enter our minds. There is a real battle raging today for the control of our minds. Be careful what you allow to enter yours.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
Simple Faith; Big Results (Mark 7:24-30).
It would be an interesting study to go through the Scriptures and see how many times people fell at the feet of Jesus. Desperate people, prominent people, even demon possessed people, all fell at the feet of Jesus.
On this occasion, as on many others, a non-Jew - one of those who did not belong to the lost sheep of Israel that Jesus had come to save - appealed to His goodness and mercy and Jesus did not disappoint her.
She did not want to rob the people of Israel of their promised Messiah; she just wanted the left over crumbs that fall from the table of Grace. Because of her faith her daughter was healed.
Have you appealed to Jesus that He might allow you to eat of the leftover crumbs of grace and receive salvation as a result of your faith?
Pastor Bruce Capps.
The Healing of the Deaf and Mute Man (Mark 7:31-37).
The Miracles of Jesus might have attracted people so that He was then able to teach the crowds. They might have been a sign and an indication of His sovereign power and authority. But one thing they were never intended for was for public entertainment.
Many times we read that Jesus healed in private. On this occasion we read that Jesus took the man aside, away from the crowd (verse 33). After healing him Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone (verse 36).
Such good news can’t be kept a secret and the more Jesus told people not to tell everyone the more unable they seem to be to remain silent.
It seems that the opposite is true for many Christians today. Jesus has commanded us to tell The Good News and yet most of us remain silent.
If we have been saved from our sins and adopted into His family we have even better news to speak about than physical hearing and seeing yet many of us choose to remain silent. Why?
Pastor Bruce Capps.
The Feeding of the 4000 (Mark 8:1-13).
It would appear that immediately after Jesus had performed the miracle of feeding 4000 men plus women and kids from 7 loaves of bread the Pharisees came to test Jesus and asked Him for another miraculous sign.
They may have been part of the crowd, they may not have, but they could hardly ignore the testimony of a crowd that was probably 10,000 in number. They had been following the ministry of Jesus with keen interest so all the other miracles could not have gone unnoticed.
The fact is that they did not want to believe and so they were looking for any and every reason not to, and surprise, surprise, they never did believe.
Are you like the Pharisees? Do you ignore the miracles that have occurred in front of you, the testimony of many witnesses, and continue to demand one more sign before you will believe or fully commit yourself to the Lord Jesus?
The scriptures say that, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).
Pastor Bruce Capps.
A Little Bit of Yeast (Mark 8:14-21).
Jesus said, “watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees” (verse 15). In this case that yeast is unbelief.
Every one of us has a certain amount of unbelief. Even people who believe and seek Jesus have a certain amount of unbelief. Look at Mark 9:24 for an example.
A hardened heart will cause us to have eyes that fail to see and ears that fail to hear (verse 18). To overcome this unbelief we need to respond by obedience rather than operate on feelings and emotions.
Pray that God would give you the courage and strength to overcome the yeast of unbelief by stepping out in faith and obedience.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
I read recently of a story of Billy and Ruth Graham and an experience they had in church one Sunday. As the offering was being received, Billy reached in his pocket and meant to pull out a five dollar bill. Instead, he pulled out a 50 dollar bill and didn't discover it until he already had placed it in the offering plate.
He was a little horrified by what he had done and turned to his wife Ruth and said, "Well, at least I will get a reward in heaven for giving 50 dollars." "No," Ruth said, "you are going to get a reward for five dollars, because that is all that was in your heart to give."
How sharp, accurate, and wise was Ruth Graham. Proverbs 12:4 says, “A wife of noble character is her husband's crown.” Mrs Graham knew and reminded her husband that God looks at the attitude of the heart, not on the outward works of men. Good works are like dirty rags to the Lord unless the attitude of the heart is genuine.
Ruth Graham was able to help her husband in a spiritual sense because of her own deep walk with the Lord and her wisdom that was a result of her knowledge of The Word of God.
Proverbs 8:11 says, “for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” And Proverbs 10:13: “Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning.”
How important is wisdom to you?
Pastor Bruce Capps.
The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17)
REFLECT: The alarm clock bullies you out of bed into another day. Another day, another trudge around the treadmill. And when you’re done, you reset the alarm clock and slide back into bed. Until the next day.
People sometimes feel trapped by the unrelenting drudgery of daily existence. They even wonder, “Is there life before death?” And death! What a futile finish to it all.
We sometimes find ways to escape life’s little predicaments. The lawyer pounces on a loophole in the contract. The frustrated worker lands a new job. Entertainment, family, friends, can help numb the heartache of many disappointments.
But in the end, it’s all rather like redecorating a condemned house. These diversions don’t get to the underlying questions of ‘why?’: Why am I here? Is life on earth the end? What is my destiny?
When God sent His Son, Jesus into the world, He gave us the clear, unequivocal answer to these most basic of life’s questions.
Jesus’ death and resurrection is Stage One of God’s new universe. A universe where righteousness is at home. And where there is no more pain. Or sorrow, or death.
Jesus didn’t come merely to cut us free from the treadmill. He came to transform life on earth. When we trust Jesus, he transforms our lives. Our suffering is no longer pointless. Death is no longer the final word.
Jesus Christ shared our dreary life so we could share his glorious life – life in friendship with God forever.
PRAYER : Lord, thank you for sharing my experience of life. The treadmill of life was transformed by your death and resurrection. Use my hardships and heartaches to change me to be the person you want me to be. Amen.
Outreach Posters Inc. - March 2006.
The Healing of the Blind Man (Mark 8:22-26).
On this occasion Jesus again led the man away from the people. Outside the village, using his spital on the man’s eyes, He attempted to give him sight. On the first attempt however the man’s healing was not complete and Jesus then placed His hands on the man's eyes and healed him fully.
Jesus used various mediums through which to work during his healing ministry - water, mud, and spit were three. On this occasion it took two attempts for complete healing to take place. It is never the desire of Jesus that we should only receive half of what He desires to give.
The man stayed, gave a report and Jesus completed the job. All too often we leave only partially satisfied and only partially healed when if we had allowed Jesus to complete the job, all things could have been restored.
Each and every one of us is a work in progress and the job has not yet finished. Don’t sell yourself short and leave discouraged - stay with Jesus and let Him finish the job.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
Peter’s Confession of Christ (Mark 8:27-30).
Jesus was with His Disciples and He asked them, “who do people say that I am?”
It would appear that the Disciples all had something to contribute and offered the reply that many of the people thought Jesus was a prophet, Elijah, or even John the Baptist.
If Jesus was John the Baptist there must be some form of reincarnation theory. If Jesus was Elijah He was the prophet preceding The Christ but not Christ himself. If Jesus was a prophet then He was to be respected but He was not the Saviour that the Jews were expecting.
Either way, Jesus was not seen as The Christ, the Saviour of the Jews. When Jesus asked His Disciples who they thought He was it seemed strangely quiet. Only Peter pipes up and determines, “You are the Christ”. The other Disciples remained silent.
Each one of us will face the question, “who do you say that I am?” It does not matter what everyone else is saying; it does not matter whether they agree with us or not. How Jesus will respond to us before His Father in Heaven will be determined by how we respond to Him now. (Mark 8:38).
Have you made your stand?
Pastor Bruce Capps.
“Because he suffered death for us.” (Hebrews 2:9)
REFLECT: ‘LOVE’ is such a cheapened word in today’s society. We use it to express what we think about ice-cream, dogs, cats, friends and chocolates. Our plastic TV age has people falling in and out of it with monotonous regularity. Often it's said for nothing more than a one-night stand.
But in God’s heart and mind it is a very special thing. God’s love knows no limits – in height, or breadth, or depth. God does not love us because we are good-looking, nice or devout. He loves us because we are His creation – and for Him it is reason enough that we exist that He should love us.
In the Greek language used to write the New Testament, there are four words that we tend to translate by the English word ‘love’. God chose the riches, highest and most glorious of them to express, not His emotion or feelings towards us, but His attitude. On trying to define it, one commentator suggested it means: ‘wanting the best for the other person no matter what it costs you’. This type of love puts the other person first.
God wanted the best for this world. It cost Him his one and only son. Jesus willingly gave himself for us. Consider the crucifixion. We have Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion’ to thank for bringing to our 21 st century minds some of the reality of a Roman crucifixion. Some critics say the cruelty in the movie was overdone – in reality it was still a sanitized version of the real event. But face that awful death and you will better see how much He loved you.
Does God love the world? That is not in dispute. His love was tougher than the nails that held Jesus on the cross that day.
What is in dispute is whether or not we love Him like He loves us. Do we want the best for Him no matter what it costs us?
Then love Him as He first loved us.
PRAYER : Father, we bow before a love so great that it could die for friend and enemy alike – because you wanted the best for both. Forgive me for the poverty of love returned. Amen.
Outreach Posters Inc April 2006.
Get Behind Me Satan (Mark 8:31-39).
Have you ever had to rebuke a friend because they were being a stumbling block or a hindrance to your relationship with God? Have you ever had to choose between what you thought was right and a friendship?
If you haven’t then perhaps you have not understood the essence of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. He says that anyone who wants to be His disciple must deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Him.
This ‘pick up your cross’ phrase was loaded with meaning for the Jews because a recent insurgence was squashed by the Romans and the participants were forced to carry their own crosses out to the roads around Judea where they were crucified as a public warning against rebellion.
It means that a follower of Christ must be willing to lay his own life on the line and give up everything for the cause of Christ even to the point of death. Along the way there are going to be some friendships lost. If you have never had to rebuke a friend or been rebuked by a friend, it might be time to check your status. Are you for Christ or against Christ? There is no middle ground.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
When the Israelites were constructing the Tabernacle sanctuary Moses put out an appeal for the people to give generously with whatever valuable gifts that they could give.
It was not very long before we read in Exodus 36:5-7 that the skilled craftsmen who were doing the work said to Moses, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done." Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: "No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary." And so the people were restrained from bringing more because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.
What an exciting time for Moses and the workers to see the people giving so generously. It is beyond the imagination of most leaders that they would ever have to say to their people, “you have been more than generous, at this point in time please refrain in your giving”.
For the first time in leadership I have felt something similar in the past couple of weeks. When I asked my church to pledge support to the 40 days of purpose programme their support was wonderful. Over $1,000.00 was pledged by them towards running that ministry which was right on budget, a budget that I did not reveal before I asked people to give. So now every Church contact can do the programme for free.
Then in just the past week their generosity again staggered my entire family when some extremely generous folk gave $1,275.00 to support my daughters in their mission trip to Kenya. They in turn have pledged not to spend it on themselves but to pass on the blessing to others less fortunate. What a wonderful privilege they have been given that they might be blessed through being a blessing to others.
Our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus, themselves, have given so abundantly generously to us, even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), and we recognise that this Easter weekend. Now it’s our turn to give. The scriptures say, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38).
God Bless and see you when we return from Africa.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
Dying To Self (Mark 8:34-38).
I reckon that dying to self is probably the hardest thing that we will ever do. Putting our desires, our goals and ambitions on the alter for Jesus is so tough. Spending our time and our money, or choosing how we will use our gifts and abilities reflect how far we have come in regards to dying to self.
Jesus does not want to break our spirit, he wants to tame our spirit, and there is a big difference between the two. In verse 36 He clearly points out the danger. We can spend our entire lives striving for something that is only temporary and will blow away like chaff in the wind and then lose our soul because we focused on things that were only temporary rather than on what was eternal.
Don’t listen to the world. They focus on ‘me’, ‘mine’ and ‘I’, and on everything that is temporary. Set your sights on things above and things eternal. You are only temporary - here for a short time only - so don’t focus on yourself but rather, focus on Jesus. He is eternal!
Pastor Bruce Capps.
“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather consider yourself with sober judgment.” (Romans12:3).
The last great American revival was the Layman's Prayer Revival of 1857–1858. Jeremiah Lanphier who was a very ordinary person in many ways started a noon prayer meeting on Fulton Street in downtown New York . Jeremiah handed out flyers to downtown businessmen saying, “Come to our prayer meeting when you are having a break for lunch.” Only a handful of people showed up. But Jeremiah persisted, and that handful of people kept meeting for prayer.
Then something dramatic took place. The New York Stock Market crashed. Suddenly the prayer meeting grew. People fell to their knees and then the prayer meeting exploded. Prayer meetings were popping up quickly throughout New York City . Within six months, 10,000 people were gathering for prayer in New York City alone.
Fifty thousand New Yorkers reportedly came to know the Lord from March to May. When it was all over, one million people had come to faith. God poured out His spirit but only after people started to get serious in prayer and call out to the Lord.
People generally call out to God when everything else seems hopeless. We will go to our doctors and hospitals, our physiologists, our financial planners, our councilors, our unions, our ombudsmen, and tribunals, our police or our whatever. But we usually only really call out to God and seek Him when everything else fails and we crash and burn.
The levels of commitment to our prayer meetings in this church indicate that we are a comfortable Church. We don’t seek or yearn for anything in particular. Most of us are unmoved by the spiritual poverty that exist both inside and outside of the Church building. A sign of our lack of faith is that we don’t seek spiritual, physical, or emotional healing from the Lord first, before we seek it from the world.
It’s sad because if that’s the case for you, then you are the one who is missing out; you’re the one who is robbing yourself in the long run. God uses and blesses those that are obedient, and available. The Lord said to His people in the book of Malachi, “Test me in this.” I believe that He is saying the same thing to us today.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
The word “overcomes” appears ten times in the Bible. Seven of those occasions appear in Revelation 1, 2 & 3. Another one in Revelation 21 and the other two in 1 John 5.
In Revelation 1, 2 & 3 we find that on each occasion God is talking about tough times in His churches and He promises something on each of those occasions for those believers that overcome, even despite those difficulties.
These are the things that the living God who sits upon the throne promises to those that overcome:
Along with these promises is the reoccurring promise that their name will never be blotted out of the book of life.
Never give up! Fight to the death if necessary. Finish the race strong, and be a person who overcomes and receives in fullness the promises of God that are given to those who overcome. Overcoming is not just enduring - it is actually finishing on top.
Each of those letters to the seven Churches finish with the phrase, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”
May it be the same here at GRCC (and elsewhere). And might it be that we have ears that hear what the Spirit would say to the Church.
Have a great week.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
I bought a sticker for my car the other day that says, “Try Jesus, if you don’t like Him the devil will always have you back.”
There is a lot of truth in that sticker. The evil one likes nothing more than taking a soul back from the Kingdom of God.
We are told in God’s Word that His love, affection and commitment to us is such that not one of us can be plucked from the Fathers' hand, yet it is quite obvious that we can choose to leave any time we like.
The saddest situation that I encounter in ministry is when I see believers who are tempted and seduced away from the Fathers’ hand and they do not even recognise that they are being drawn away. They continue on with a false sense of security, going through the motions of religion the whole time in a state of peril simply because they have not protected their faith.
Reading and learning the Word of God, along with a consistent prayer life, is so important to the committed believer - so that God can be regularly speaking to us.
We make plenty of time for the things that are important to us. Entertainment, leisure, pleasure, family, work, education, etc., etc., but how much time do you make for God each day?
I have heard it said that it only takes 28 days to form a habit. But, from experience, I know that it only takes a day to break one. Spend regular time with the Lord this week - you will notice the difference.
Have a great week.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
“You shall not covet” is the last of the 10 commandments. But breaking it is often the first step toward breaking the other nine. Of itself, ambition is not a bad thing, provided it is mixed with genuine humility and is controlled by the Will of God.
If it’s God’s wind that lifts you and you’re soaring on wings that He’s given you, then soar as high and as far as He takes you. But if you manufacture the wind or the wings or both, then you’re heading for a terrible fall.
Helen Keller once said, “One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” And that advice is good as long as the impulse comes from The Lord. Tragically, many have impulses that are fuelled by feelings and desires, and not by the Spirit of God.
So we need to exercise sound judgment because as soon as we covet something, whether it is money, position, power, influence or anything else that is not ours to have by the sovereignty of God, we are headed for a big disappointment and put at risk those around us.
Equally, those in leadership need to seek high levels of spiritual discernment so that we never hinder the growth, development and opportunity of those God has anointed for His Kingdom purpose. At the same time however, to give responsibility and privilege to someone who feels called, yet is only called by their own desire and not the Lord, would be irresponsible and dangerous to the body of believers.
Please continue to pray for your leaders as they have many decisions to make. Some of which you may be totally unaware.
God Bless and have a great week.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
Galatians 5:7 says, “You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience?” (The Message).
The Christian life is often referred to as a race, a race that needs to be finished well, a race that we need to run with commitment and perseverance right to the end so as to win the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-26; NIV).
Most of us know what it was like as a youngster to start a race with enthusiasm and a burst of energy and passion at the start but fade after some time and run out of puff feeling and looking quite ill, maybe even not finishing at all.
Well, for the Christian it does not matter how you have run in the past, it is how you are running right now that matters. Our God is such a forgiving and compassionate God that He overlooks our failings in the past (if we are truly repentant) and only looks at the present. Now that is an example of grace for you.
Take a drink of that living water, that energy giving supplement called the Holy Spirit. Invite Him to renew your strength so you can power on toward the finish line.
Pray for yourself that you might be obedient in this and persevere, that you might be a good witness to your Lord and you might develop an increasing burden for the lost and the unsaved that you know. That is what this “Christian” race is all about.
“Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (The Message).
We have been asked to do something by our Lord and Saviour, the one for whom we run, and as we do what we have been asked he says he will be with us. He also said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:15 (NIV).
How much do you love your Lord? Enough to obey his commands?
Pastor Bruce Capps.
A term I often hear around our house these days is, “You just don’t understand”, and to a degree the person saying it is usually very sincere and even particularly correct. How can I fully and completely understand what my wife or children are experiencing? We have been wired up totally different.
It’s the same for everybody in every relationship whenever people gather together for whatever reason. Given the obstacles that are involved it is amazing that we can see eye to eye with others at all in this life. Men think very differently to women, the young think differently to the elderly, the strong or confident think differently to the weak and vulnerable. Those who have been hurt think differently to those who are doing the hurting etc, etc.
Then it must be considered what sort of a family of origin the other person has grown up in; the type of environment in which they now live, how their physical, emotional, and mental state has been knocked around over the years. Probably, most important of all though, is how much they are controlled by the Holy Spirit of God and how much they are controlled by Satan, the prince of this age, the deceiver of mankind.
When I was studying pastoral care, a wise teacher used to say, “Always try to look past ‘what’ someone is doing and ask the question ‘why’ they are doing it”. Imagine if we were always to do this and instead of belittling someone or criticising or judging we were to think to ourselves, “I wonder why he or she is acting like that?” This breeds compassion, understanding and love for others.
There is an old saying that says you can’t really know someone else until you have been wrapped in his skin for a while and walked a mile in his shoes. Try looking past the "what" and ask the "why" question. It will change the way you think, feel and respond to others. It will even help you to love them.
Have a great week and God Bless.
Pastor Bruce Capps.
I started reading through the book of John in my devotional time this week. In Chapter 4, verse 4, I read, “Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria .”
I spent some time thinking about that short simple verse because physically Jesus did not have to go through Samaria. We know that the “pious” and “righteous” Jews would take the long way around rather than have anything to do with the compromised and half-caste Samaritans that they called “dogs”. We know that there was another way to travel from Judea to Galilee.
I wondered because the Word of God says that Jesus had to go through Samaria. Why did Jesus have to when most did not?
Further on in the Chapter we find the answer in verse 34. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” Jesus was compelled to go through Samaria because of his love for His Father, and that is what The Father wanted him to do. As far as Jesus was concerned it was a done deal. Whatever God the Father wanted, then that’s what Jesus was going to do.
I long to be able to have that sort of an attitude. How much more glory and honour would be directed to my Heavenly Father? How much more usable would I be in His kingdom plan and how much greater my potential? How small would the things of this world become?
Richard Wurmbrand once said, “He will allow as much sin as you need to keep you humble and give you as much righteousness as you need to shine before men.”
Our God is an awesome God! He’s got it all worked out for our good and for His glory. Tomorrow I intend to have less sin in my life than I have today.
Amen.
Pastor Bruce Capps.