Humble Persistence

Mark 7:24-30 (NIV)

²⁴ Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ²⁵ In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”

²⁸ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰ She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Did Jesus just call this woman a dog?  Did He just say that she didn’t deserve a miracle from Him?  Not exactly, but He did turn her down.

What would you have done?  Would you have walked away insulted or offended?  Would you have gotten angry?  Would you have sought some means of retaliation?  Would you have spread the word that Jesus was unkind?  What did this lady do?

She took it in stride.  She did not let it discourage or dissuade her.  She persisted with humility.  She accepted the criticism but would not give up.

When faced with criticism, how do we react?  Do we get our feelings hurt and become discouraged?  When criticized, we should carefully and humbly consider the criticism.  Any truth that we find in it, we should take to heart.  If we don’t agree with it, simply discard it.  But don’t let it derail you.  Don’t let it stop you.  Don’t be offended.  In fact, if it came from someone who cares about you, be GRATEFUL that they had the courage and concern for you to take the risk to tell you something they knew you wouldn’t want to hear.

Humble persistence.  Press on.  Let nothing move you.  With God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

-pk

  

Nicknames

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter three, the original 12 apostles are listed.  Among them are: “Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);  James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder)” and the list goes on.

It is interesting to me that Jesus gave nicknames to three of the twelve.  He called them Rocky (technically, Rock) and Sons of Thunder.  You have to admit, those are pretty cool names.

In my childhood and teen years, I had nick names too.  Most of them weren’t very nice.  I was called “Geek” in high school but I didn’t mind.  Today, it would be a compliment but “back in the day”, it was not.  Good nicknames usually say something about the person.

The point here is simple. Jesus was familiar enough with these men to give them pet names.  He knew them.  He cared for them.  They were his dear friends.  Jesus wants to know you that way too.  God longs to have a relationship with us.  Jesus made it possible by dying on the cross for our sins and returning to life.

Does God know you?  Does He have a nickname for you?  Do you spend time with Him, getting to know Him?  If not, you could start today.  (If you want to and don’t know how, contact me.)  God loves you.  He knows your name.  He has time for you.  Will you make time for Him?

PK (that stands for “Pastor Ken”, btw)