MAC KIRK

 Isaiah 55    As we head to the Passion of our Lord next Sunday and following we are to be encouraged reading this passage today which talks about God's Providential care of our lives.  His ways are not our ways.  We call this providence.   1.  He pardons those who return to Him even the wicked if they forsake their ways and come near to God in repentance. vs 7  We do have help. There are opportunities for pardon every day and forgiveness.     --God is near.  He has no boundaries as we have.  He is not human. He is eternal .  We are talking about God our Father.  Our ways and thoughts need cleansing daily . It is good to know we have an Advocate as well Jesus Christ the Righteous , the eternal Divine Son.I John 2:1;  I John 1:7  His blood cleanseth us from all sin. His ways and His thoughts are revealed to us in the Person of Jesus Christ through the illumination of the Spirit of God.  He comes to us in the Holy Scriptures to encourage and enlighten us.  The principle source of kno

 True and Real Bread John 6:22-34    A little lad fed the people literally thru the miracle Jesus creation of food from such a small amount.  5 barley loaves and 2 small fishes.  Now the people had wanted to make him a king but Jesus resisted that. 6:15 The crowd followed again in small ships but Jesus says to them that they were only following him because of the bread they received.  They according to Jesus did not follow Him for spiritual reasons, “ Ye seek me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves and were satisfied.” 6:26     People come to church for different reasons , so it has not changed much.  I am glad when people come for whatever reason they do come.  Jesus said we should not be so worried about work and the money we get from it as if that was all there was to life.  Certainly that is important.  We all need bread so to speak.  Jesus says “ work not for the food that perishes, but for the food which abides unto life eternal, which the Son of man will g

 Was Peter in a rut?  And are we ?  Mark 8:31-38 The Road to the Cross was not a rut. "a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change. "the administration was stuck in a rut and was losing its direction" synonyms: boring routine · humdrum existence · routine job · same old round · groove · grind · daily grind · treadmill · dead end · assembly line" Then I saw this quote this week from one of my favorite Generals," Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.” GEORGE S. PATTON" Peter was with Jesus and he saw and heard things .  Mark 8 tells us of the feeding of the 4000 and the 7 baskets full miracle Jesus did.  Of course Peter saw the healings Jesus did in ch 7 " the Healing of the deaf mute" , and the casting out of the demon in the daughter of the Syrophonecian woman ch 7 too. Peter was in the rut of seeing one side of Jesus ," You are the Christ" but it was not the

 Pruning I like this so much and needed it so I am putting it on the blog. DAILY MEDITATION | MARCH 5, 2022 Pruning Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, to make it bear even more” (John 15:1–2). These words open a new perspective on suffering for me. Pruning helps trees to bear more fruit. Even when I bear fruit, even when I do things for God’s kingdom, even when people express gratitude for coming to know Jesus through me, I need a lot more pruning. Many unnecessary branches and twigs prevent the vine from bearing all the fruit it can. They have to be clipped off. This is a painful process, all the more so because I do not know that they are unnecessary. They often seem beautiful, charming, and very alive. But they need to be cut away so that more fruit can grow. It helps me to think about painful rejections, moments of loneliness, feelings of inner dark

 The Way Forward “A Way Forward”  Luke 4:1-13, 1st Sunday in Lent     The way forward is not always so.  If we wish to grow spiritually in this time we should take stock.  We should inventory our household of faith , individually as well as corporately. Honesty is required.  As one preacher said, “ Lent is the season to confront reality”  ( in “ Anglican Digest”, Spring 2011 by Rev. Thomas M. Kryder-Reid) ( He also relates this….)  This reminds me of the story I heard of a certain church usher. “   One Sunday morning an elderly woman walked into a local country church.  The friendly usher greeted her at the door. ‘ Good morning, ma’am. Would you like to sit?’  ‘ The front row, please,’ she replied.  The usher said, ‘ You don’t want to do that.  We have a visiting preacher today who is really boring.’  The woman, bristling at the comment, asked, ‘ Do you know who I am?’  The usher said, ‘ No ma’ am, who are you?’  She replied, ‘ I am the preacher’s mother!’  The usher asked, ‘ Do you kn