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Day 15: The Miracle of the Ordinary

Every day...
Every day life...
Get up, Clean up, coffee, read, news, car, drive, work, interactions,
Then, Go back Home:
Family, meals, TV,  bed, sleep,
Start it all over again,
Every day is filled with the Ordinary.

Until God becomes part of our Everyday life!

Reading:  Mark 6:1-6 1  He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 
2  And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
3  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4  And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
5  And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
6  And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.


Jesus goes back home and the questions are based on a reasoned but questioning doubt.
Who does guy think he is???  We know him...we saw him grow up here...We know his family.

They were a group of people stuck in the everyday ordinary.  
God can't do anything with us...we're nobody.
So what can God do in that ordinary every day doubt?  This is what follows the beginning verses...

Mark 6:7-13 7  And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
8  He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—
9  but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
10  And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.
11  And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
12  So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.
13  And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.


The flow of these events keep our minds turning over and over.  Seemingly, everything up until Jesus sends out his disciples are events that are ordinary...
It’s clear, Jesus' presence takes that ordinariness and turns it upside down.

The ministry in his own area where he grew up highlights the lack of faith among those who saw Jesus as nothing more than what he had been up until age 30 when he began his ministry - a carpenter. They could not see beyond the ordinary of what they've always seen...and so they missed who he really was even when miracles were being performed.

"Then Jesus told them, 'A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.'”

What they had was God among them and they couldn't see it. When Jesus then sends out the disciples a short time later, he keeps them simple in their going –
Clearly, God’s work is done in the ordinary.

The chapter ends with the countryside alive with Jesus' presence even though their is constant demands, difficult conditions, and overwhelming needs...in the midst of these things, something simple occurs,
Mark 6:34-44 34  When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
35  And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.
36  Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37  But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
38  And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
39  Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.
40  So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
41  And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all.
42  And they all ate and were satisfied.
43  And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.
44  And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
Because Jesus is in the midst of the ordinary, miracles abound.

Let's never lose sight of the ordinary around us, nor be tempted to think that somehow God is not breathing life into the midst of us through it.
Our days may seem ordinary, routine, nothing special...but when God is present, anything can happen!

Peace









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