Mark 6:30-32

It is easy for us to be annoyed by interruptions. I blush to think how often I have chafed at unexpected demands that prevented me from accomplishing some self-appointed task. Perhaps I was writing, and the words were flowing easily. Then the phone rang or someone was at the door in need of counsel. It was an unwelcome intrusion.

The Lord Jesus was never upset by interruptions. He accepted them all as part of His Father's plan for that day. This gave tremendous poise and serenity to...

Mark 6:30-44

After the tragic death of John the Baptist, his disciples paid loving honor to his body. Their sorrow must have been very great, for they loved their master. We do not know whether or not John had those lovable qualities which drew men to him and made them his friends, or whether, by reason of his natural sternness and his ascetic severity he failed to be a friend of men, as Jesus was. It is not likely that he drew men to him...

Mark 6:30-44

After the tragic death of John the Baptist, his disciples paid loving honor to his body. Their sorrow must have been very great, for they loved their master. We do not know whether or not John had those lovable qualities which drew men to him and made them his friends, or whether, by reason of his natural sternness and his ascetic severity he failed to be a friend of men, as Jesus was. It is not likely that he drew men to him...

There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. § The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. § You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing;  but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, “We are unprofitable servants. We have...

Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. § Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.Jesus … , that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside...

 And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart, into a desert place, and rest a while" (Mk 6:31).

In the early days of our lonely pilgrimage, the desert is nothing but burning heat and barren sand. As we "keep on keeping on," we see our desert become full of springs and blossom as the...