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WHEN JESUS SAW THEIR FAITH...

After John the Baptist was arrested and cast into prison by King Herod, Jesus left His childhood home of Nazareth and went into Galilee to the city of Capernaum to live.   From there, He traveled throughout Galilee preaching the Gospel in their synagogues and working miracles.   Afterwards, the Lord returned to Capernaum.   Word spread quickly that He was there, and soon, the house was filled with people who wanted to see and hear Him.   It was so crowded that folks were spilling out of the doorways. (Mark 2:1, 2).   At some point, four men arrived who were carrying another man on some sort of couch or bed.   When they had surveyed the situation, they assessed that the only way they were going to be able to bring their friend before Jesus would be to break up a section of the roof and lower him down before the Lord.   I can only imagine the stir it must   have caused inside the house as the people watched the ceiling opening up above them and ...
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GIRD UP YOUR LOINS

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:13-16 RSV).   "Girding up one's loins" is not an expression that we are very familiar with in the 21st century, but it was a very common phrase in Bible times, and everyone back then knew exactly what was meant by it.   When Peter penned his first general letter to the churches of his time, he was inspired to use this particular phrase to communicate the specific imagery that the people of the time would understand and relate to.     In Bible times the men and women wore long tunics or robes which varied in length.   The women usually wore a longer tunic that rea...
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JESUS WEPT

"When He [Jesus] had heard therefore that he [Lazarus] was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was ." (John 11:6).   It appears that as Christians, if we would be wise, then we must become foolish; if we would have power, then we must become weak; and if we would know true life, then we must experience death.   This, of course, runs contrary to all that we think should be true naturally.   Concepts such as these are alien to our natural reasoning, and to all our human inclinations.   We always want to excel, we always want to be blessed, and we always want to have all the answers; but God often works the opposite of what we expect.   Chapter 11 of St. John tells the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead.   Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, very much.   When He heard that His friend was sick, however, Jesus waited two more days before going to him, knowing that Lazarus would die during that perio...
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