Open the Bible UK Daily

Colin Smith
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Open the Bible UK Daily

3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.

  1. 14 HR AGO

    Why Jesus’ Brothers Said That He Was Out of His Mind

    Then he [Jesus] went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”Mark 3:20-21Some Christians seem to have the idea that Jesus lived a balanced life. But the demands on Jesus were so great that He did not even have time to eat. Missing meals and losing sleep were commonplace for Jesus and His disciples. If you’re surrounded by great ministry opportunities, don’t complain, be thankful. That’s what the Master did, and He didn’t listen to those who tried to slow Him down. When Mary saw her son missing meals and losing sleep, she became anxious for His health. The brothers took a harsher view: “He is out of His mind.” Brothers say that kind of thing, don’t they? They wanted to restrain Jesus and bring Him home. The family is connected to Jesus, and they want Him to obey them! They want to bring Him under their control. Picture Jesus’ family arriving outside: “A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you’” (3:32). Jesus asked, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” (3:33). Then Jesus said to the folks who were listening to His teaching, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (3:35). These words must have gone straight through Mary’s heart. Even His mother must submit herself to His will and bow before Him as her Saviour and Lord. If Jesus’ own mother could not bring Him under her control, why would you think you can?

    3 min

  2. 1 DAY AGO

    What Is Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

    “All sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter.”Mark 3:28Jesus Christ is ready to forgive any sin that you’ve committed. He is ready to forgive open sins, secret sins, sins from long ago, and sins repeated many times. He is ready to forgive all your blasphemous words, thoughts, and deeds. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cover every sin, including yours. Take this glorious promise and believe it. Come to Him and tell Him about your sins. Name them. Confess them and find peace with God through the blood of Jesus Christ today. This promise is followed by a grim warning: “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (3:29). Many believers worry that they may have committed this sin. But rest assured, if you’re worried that you might have committed this sin, you can be certain that you haven’t. These teachers of the law were in danger of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. What is that? They saw the work of Christ and concluded that He was in league with the devil. The sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin of continuing to reject Jesus Christ and His work, accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. These men could pass a Bible exam and submit first-class research papers. Their knowledge was impressive, but they refused to submit to the authority of Christ. They were educated rebels. God stands ready to forgive any sin through His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s the promise. But if you go on refusing this Christ, there is no other way to be forgiven. That’s the warning. Which did you need to hear most today, the promise or the warning?

    3 min

  3. 2 DAYS AGO

    Why There Is Antagonism Toward Jesus

    And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”Mark 3:22These folks were not the local clergy in Galilee. These were the top brass religious leaders coming down from the capital city in Jerusalem. Why did they come? Because the Pharisees and Herodians were plotting to kill Jesus (3:6). What does a plot to destroy someone involve? It begins with recruiting other influential people. The Pharisees probably sent word to Jerusalem about Jesus, and as a result of this complaint, an official delegation was sent to make an evaluation. The teachers arrived with their clipboards to check Jesus out, and they came to this conclusion: “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons” (3:22). But that doesn’t make sense: “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end” (3:26). Jesus gave a very different explanation of His ministry: “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house” (3:27). Satan is the strong man who holds many people captive in his house. Far from being in league with Satan, Jesus has come to raid his kingdom, and to set the captives free. But when these teachers studied Jesus, they concluded that He was in league with Satan. This is the same conclusion many people have come to in our country today. Apart from God’s grace, there is deep antagonism toward Jesus in every heart. When holiness takes flesh and comes near, we do not like it, because it shows us who we really are. What is your conclusion about Jesus?

    3 min

  4. 3 DAYS AGO

    Freedom Reveals Who You Really Are

    Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”Mark 3:11Suppose an angel were to ask you: “Why should you be allowed into heaven?” and you said, “Because I believe Jesus is the Son of God.” Their obvious response would be, “Well, so do the demons. How is your faith any different from theirs?” Even more surprising than what demons believe is their obedience to Jesus: “Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ And he strictly ordered them not to make him known” (3:11-12). These demons are under Jesus’ authority. They confess Him and they have to obey Him. This hits pretty close to home. In his book, Family Driven Faith, Voddie Baucham reports: “70 to 88 per cent of Christian teens are leaving the church by their second year in university.” Why would 80 per cent of young people raised in church leave when they go to university? Could it be that these young people obey because they have to, and when the constraint of family is taken away, the true state of their hearts is revealed? Freedom reveals who you really are. The Lord said to Isaiah “This people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me” (Isa. 29:13). That’s the natural condition of religious people. Unless God changes your heart, you will remain a confessing rebel, conforming when you must, but indulging your rebellion when you can. Come to Christ today and say, “Lord, save me from the treason in my own heart. Don’t allow me to confess to you while continuing in rebellion against you.”

    3 min

  5. 4 DAYS AGO

    Many Christians Resist This Teaching

    “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”Mark 3:35How do you know that a person has a saving faith in Jesus Christ? The answer is simple: He or she pursues a life of obedience. This theme runs through Jesus’ teaching: “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mat. 7:21). Many Christians are resistant to this teaching. They reduce faith in Jesus to a formula, an event, or a prayer. But the whole purpose of the death of Christ is that you should live a new life to the glory of God: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). God saves you by His grace, and you receive that grace by faith alone. But the evidence that you have received this grace will be seen in your pursuit of obedience. John Calvin put it well: "We are justified by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone." The gospel leads to a life of obedience: “Through [Jesus] we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith” (Rom. 1:5). Paul’s mission is to call people, not just to “faith,” but to “the obedience of faith.” If you’re not a Christian today, God calls you to the obedience of faith. And if you are a Christian today, God also calls you to the obedience of faith. What is “the obedience of faith,” in your own words?

    3 min

  6. 5 DAYS AGO

    Whose Side Are You On?

    He [Jesus] entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.Mark 3:1-2Imagine the tension. Jesus knew that some in the synagogue were hostile towards Him. They were watching Him closely, looking for a reason to accuse Him. Then they noticed a man with a shrivelled hand in the synagogue. Jesus knew that if He healed the man, they would accuse Him of working on the Sabbath. What would He do? Jesus could have healed the man quietly after the service, but He didn’t do that. Instead, He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here” (3:3). Jesus was taking them on: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” (3:4). It isn’t hard to imagine what happened afterwards: “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him” (3:6). Thank God for Jesus’ courage! Don’t you want to be like that? Some battles are worth fighting: 1) Will we follow the Pharisees in ministry to a narrow group of people like us? Or will we follow Jesus and open our hearts to others in great need? 2) Will we follow the Pharisees in promoting a religion of discipline and duty? Or will we follow Jesus in proclaiming a gospel that brings joy and lifts burdens? 3) Will we follow the Pharisees in resisting the work of God? Or will we follow Jesus in refusing to be distracted from the work of God? Where do you feel that you most need to “change sides”?

    3 min

  7. 6 DAYS AGO

    False Religion Imposes Heavy Burdens

    “Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”Mark 2:24In the fourth commandment, God calls us to set aside one day in seven to rest from our work and to enjoy all that He has done. That is a gift and a blessing from God. But the Pharisees had turned the blessing into a burden, with an endless list of rules about what you could and could not do. In their eyes, pulling a few ears of corn while walking along a field was harvesting and that is work. Religious systems turn God’s blessing into a burden. I meet many people who have had a bad experience of religion that really alienated them from God. It was about rules and traditions that seem to have no point. It felt like a means of control, exercised by people who have very little joy in their own lives. Sometimes, religion stops people from knowing God rather than helping them. God doesn’t take that lightly. If you have suffered under a religion of rules that lacks joy and imposes great burdens, do you see that this is the very thing that Jesus is against? Jesus came to free us from these kinds of burdens, not to impose them on us. He came to break the power of dead religion. This is precisely what Jesus was doing when He said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (2:27). He leads His disciples into joy. He lifts the heavy burdens of silly rules and stuffy traditions. A Christ-centred church will be marked by joy. It will not be a place where the burdens of human rules and traditions are imposed, but rather where they are lifted. When you see this, you may have a new interest in following Jesus. What has been your experience of religion?

    3 min

  8. 18 OCT

    False Religion Lacks Joy

    Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?Mark 2:18The Old Testament specified one day in the year when God called His people to fast—the Day of Atonement. But the Pharisees had made fasting part of their regular routine. According to tradition, they fasted Mondays and Thursdays, and encouraged others to do the same. So, the question to Jesus is: Why aren’t your disciples fasting? Jesus answered, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” (2:19). Imagine fasting at a wedding! Picture the scene… The wedding service is over, and everyone is gathered at the banquet hall. All the guests are seated at fancy tables, and everyone settles in as the father of the bride stands up to speak. To everyone’s surprise, he looks miserable. “I’m glad you are all here today on this very important occasion. I expect some of you have been looking forward to a meal, but we aren’t going to have any food today. We’re not going to have any music, and we’re not going to have any dancing. Marriage is a serious business, and we ought to take it seriously! We all fail in many ways, and so today I want us to spend some time in silence. I want us to examine our hearts. I want you to remember my daughter’s wedding as a day of repentance.” We laugh because this is ridiculous. The whole point of a wedding is that it is a celebration. And Jesus breaks the power of false religion by bringing joy to His friends. If your Christian practice has not brought you into greater joy, you have not yet experienced Jesus Christ. Ask Jesus to bring you into a greater experience of joy.

    3 min
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About

3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.

Information

  • Creator
    Colin Smith
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2024
  • Episodes
    482
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Colin Smith
  • Show Website
    Open the Bible UK Daily

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