May 13

Step 5: We admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

May 13

Recommended Reading Psalm 30 and Mark 2

I love the gospel of Mark. I love how the writer tells of Jesus’ power and provides evidence of how Jesus uses the power given to him for good. Some people misuse their power. Maybe you’ve suffered at the hands of power misused. Have you ever misused power and caused another to suffer? Jesus didn’t do that. But what he did do is this: He made it possible for people like us – abused and/or abusers, to find a powerful solution to our unremitting pain – caused my power improperly used.

In particular, I hope you’ll read about Jesus’ call to Matthew (also known as Levi) – “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him. (Mark 2:14). Matthew was a tax collector. His job was to collect taxes from the Jewish community and send it to the Romans – the oppressors of the Jewish people during this time in history. A Jew himself, Matthew would have been considered a terrible sinner by his fellow Jews because he was not only took from them and sent it to the enemy – he personally profited from the exchange.

And this is the part that makes me cry. Jesus invited Matthew to join Him in His grand epic adventure. He took a guy that the community saw as a bad guy, and he reframed the entire experience through the wonderful power of grace and mercy.

Thought for today: The invitation to join Jesus was not the transformation part of the story – it’s simply the part that made the transformation possible. Matthew could have told Jesus to go fly a kite. He could have ignored the invitation to discipleship. And of course, you can do the same. But it is my prayer that as the Holy Spirit whispers in your ear – Come, follow me and be my disciple – that you’ll haul yourself up and follow. But I’m warning you, eventually you’re going to have to go through the confession process in order to experience power properly placed in your life.

Thought for tomorrow: “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.” Jeremiah 29:12-14 NIV

May 13
Teresa McBean