I'm Following Jesus – Page 1662 – Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Chapters: Mark 4-5
Message: Until The Harvest Comes

Hello My Friend,

I love the fall, it is my favorite season, although I live in Florida and do not get to see the leaves changing color or feel the crisp breeze that lets you know it is fall. And out of all the holy days to be celebrated from now to New Years, my favorite is Thanksgiving Day. It is the one day of the year that has nothing to do with gifts, but a reminder of all that God has given us. I know we have a month until Thanksgiving, but that was what the first thing I thought of while reading the chapters for today. The first Thanksgiving was a day of giving thanks to God for a successful harvest. There was no division among the pilgrims and Indians, just two nations coming together as one. You know, as Christians, we are the farmers sent out to sow the seed of the Gospel to all nations. When Jesus returns He will gather all His people from the graves, and from the fields, and until the harvest comes we need to be preaching the Gospel to all God lays upon our heart. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” – I Thessalonians 4:16-17.

People walked the earth and actually saw and communed with Jesus every day when He was here, how many do you think actually believed that He is the Son of God? Not very many, even one of His very own disciples did not believe. This is why Jesus says that those who believe in Him without seeing Him will be more blessed than those who saw Him and believe. Mark also tells his interpretation of the parables Jesus spoke, he goes into a little more depth in explaining the parable of the of the sower and the seeds, afterwards, Jesus says something to the disciples, something that we all need to heed ourselves.

“And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” – Mark 4:24-29.

“Take heed what ye hear:” Jesus is warning the disciples that they are going to hear all sorts of things about heaven and the Kingdom of God, but there is only one way, and that is Him. Many will stand before Him thinking they will be able to enter, and will be denied. Likewise, many will stand before Him thinking they will be cast into hell, only to be accepted of Him. What is the difference? Their faith in Him. Let me tell you, it is no different now than it was before Jesus came here in the flesh, He was still around, and has always been, and you still needed to believe on Him to be saved. It was their works that reflected their faith as it does today. “The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” – Psalm 98:2-3.

“all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” All the nations of the earth have seen the salvation of God, yet very few actually accept it. Why? Fear. And I am not talking about Godly fear. They see what Jesus does to those who accept Him, and they are afraid of what it would do to them. As I was reading about the man who had the legion of devils in him I felt a sense of despair for what the man was going through.

“And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” – Mark 5:2,5-8,12-13,16-19.

“crying, and cutting himself with stones.” What this man must have felt? So desperate to rid himself of the devil that was within him that he was cutting himself. How desperate are we when we have those demons inside of us, and we all do? I never cut myself, but I did do some wicked things attempting to get the demons out of me. And let me tell you, the only one who can is Jesus. “Go home to thy friends,” You see, this is the reason why we are still here, Jesus wants us to tell our story to the lost. Many will fear, and flee, but a few will listen and be saved themselves. Until the harvest comes, if all we do in our lifetime since getting saved is reach one person with the Gospel, then we have done what we were called to do. “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” – John 17:14-15.

“but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” Of course, this is Jesus speaking to the Father about His people. We are not of this world, and as long as we stick close to Jesus He will keep us from the evil. Although we are surrounded by the demons of the devil and he is pretty powerful, we must not underestimate the power of Jesus. He may allow the devil to tempt, and even throw us around a bit, but when we come to Him He stops the devil in his tracks. The woman with the blood disease is a perfect example of someone who tried every option available to be cured to no avail until she learned about Jesus, and He saw her faith.

“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” – Mark 5:25-34.

“Thou seest the multitude thronging thee,” The disciples were clueless as to what Jesus was talking about as there were several people touching and grabbing at Him. Do you think that Jesus did not know who touched Him believing? Of course, He did. He wanted her to confess her faith in Him. I guarantee you that she spent the rest of her life talking about Jesus and how He saved her life. And that is what this is all about, until the harvest comes, we are His testimony. The other day I was walking to my table at a restaurant when I just happened to hear what this guy was talking about and as I passed by I answered his question. He looked at me like I was crazy, ignored me, and just kept on talking. As Jesus was tending to the woman, the ruler of the synagogue, whom Jesus had been heading to help until He stopped, got word that his daughter died, but Jesus heard them.

“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.” – Mark 5:36,39-43.

“and commanded that something should be given her to eat.” Do you see this? Jesus saved her, but she still needed to be fed. We cannot just lead them to Christ and see them saved, we must feed them too. And here is the reason why, as soon as they are saved, the devil is right there trying to get them to doubt what they just did, and he will use any means to do that, family, friends, sin. When we care for a baby or child they need us constantly to care for them otherwise, they will go to someone who will, and it will not be pretty. This is why Jesus tells us to feed His lambs and sheep (John 21:15-19), if they go astray they will be just like that seed that was thrown on the thorny ground. We are their light, shine the truth of Jesus on them, and they will grow into amazing children of God. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6.

Today’s Prayer: Jesus, As I and my family have been dealing with one issue after another, I am well aware that this is the devil attacking, but I also know that You are stronger than the devil and as long as I stick close to You I will endure and see victory for You are my strength. Lord, Until the harvest comes, watch over us, guide and protect us, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from all evil that the devil is hitting us with. Give us Your power, mercy, and grace, as we shine Your Light in this dark world, and let us be discerning, showing your truths as faithful witnesses of what You have done in our lives. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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