Tuesday, October 18th: Mark 4:21-25, Luke 8:16-18, Mark 4:26-29, Matthew 13:24-33, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-21, Matthew 13:34-35, Mark 4:33-34, Matthew 13:36-52, Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25, Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39, Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56 ~ Danae

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Mark 4:21-25, Luke 8:16-18, Mark 4:26-29, Matthew 13:24-33, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-21, Matthew 13:34-35, Mark 4:33-34, Matthew 13:36-52, Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25, Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39, Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56

We read several of Jesus’ parables & times with his disciples today. What really resonated with me was the application to our faith, what we are doing with it & the challenge to deepen it.

Luke 8:17&18 –
For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, & nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.

If you're not growing stronger, you're growing weaker. These verses challenge us to use what God has taught us.  Only as we put into practice what we've been taught will our ability to understand more deepen. The truth is clear, but our ability to understand is imperfect. The more we seek God & live it out, the deeper our understanding of him will be.

Luke 8:24-25 –
The disciples went & woke him saying, “Master, Master, we're going to drown!” He got up & rebuked the wind & the raging waters; the storm subsided, & all was calm. “Where is you faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear & amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds & the water, & they obey him.”

I am always amazed at this passage & how even the disciples, who witnessed Jesus first hand, had times of doubt & fear.  Does our faith have a limit?  Do we only trust God up to a point & then feel like we are on our own? We can truly rest in our faith. We have a God that controls the wind & the waves & in the same way can calm any storms we face as long as we run to him. Notice that, even though the disciples feared/doubted, they ran to Jesus.  They didn't huddle in fear or try to come up with their own plan, they recognized Who it was that could help them & went to Him. And after seeing what He could do, they could stand back in awe & amazement at who He really is!

Mark 5:24,25,27-29 –

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in a crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped & she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

We go on to read that Jesus stops & asks “who touched me.”  In a crowd of people pressing around him, this one touch was noticed. Why? Because it was a touch of faith. It wasn't someone just trying to be in on the latest gossip or craze or even someone checking to see if the things they were hearing about this man were true. It was someone with genuine faith & hope in the power of Christ. The verses say that she had heard about Jesus, she had never met him or seen his many wonders, but she believed. What a challenge to our faith; to reach out & believe. To trust that Jesus is who he says he is without any reservations & believe his every word.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Matthew 9:27-34, Matthew 13:53-58, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 4:16-30, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-15, Mark 6:7-13, Luke 9:1-6, Matthew 10:16-42, Matthew 14:3-12, Mark 6:17-29, Matthew 14:1-2, Mark 6:14-16, Luke 9:7-9, Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15