***Mark 1***

Verse 35
*

*And in the early morning,*
while it was still dark,
He
arose and went out & departed to a lonely place,
and was praying there.
*
(Soul Winners New American Standard New Testament)
******************************************************
Grace be unto you from me, my beloved Christian brothers & sisters. Thanking almighty God once again for allowing this group to share his word in fellowship. Let us take some time out of our daily lifestyle to praise him for all he has done for us. Sending sentimental thoughts of happiness & joy for those who enjoyed Mother's Day in their season of motherhood & spending time with their mother & prayerful strength & peace of mind for those whose mother has departed on to be with the Lord in glory. Know that in any season you are right now, God's eternal purpose is working out for good in your life.
(Romans 8:28)
In addition, the tributes sent by some of you were just beautiful & on Tuesday I sent out a concordance. Thanking those of you for sending notes of encouragement to me for creating & sharing that. When was the last time you read the Bible in the park or under a shady tree?
Dear friends, would it not be enjoyable & peaceful to meditate on the word of God by the cool water of a creek, as the water ran silently across your feet?, or as in my case, to pray standing on a ridge, looking out between two trees with the sun rising in the horizon, amidst a gentle mist ascending from the brook below. There is a park in my neighborhood a lot of people frequent in jogging, walking & other recreational activities & in my walk around the trail, I found a spot I knew was the place for me to stop & talk to God. I draw spiritual strength there many times.
Friends do you have a special place to spend time apart with God?

For this brings me to my topic for this week:
(A Quiet Time Apart)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Friends, some of the things that I mentioned above is not possible for all of us to do, but it is possible to break the routine in our time alone with God. Our devotional habits can become routine & boring, along with drawing closer to Him can get stagnated, not being active or growing. O, my brothers & sisters there is nothing boring about a God who created the earth in all it's splendor, variety, & beauty. We have a saviour who was willing to die for us a horrible death, paying the ultimate penalty for our sins & there should be no lack of excitement in worshiping Him.
(Philippians 2:8)

'Time spent with the Lord is Time well spent'

So Christian friends, how should we avoid the dryness in devotion to God? In our relationships, marriage, & other areas of life, we have to break the routine of the usual & add variety, so should we in personal time with God. In this day & time, it is easy to be hooked on the "quick & easy" approach to almost everything, for it can be a dangerous thing to base our spiritual life on what is convenient. This Scripture Group can be a snare for you & I, if we only read the verses or just storing the reference verses to our filing cabinet, failing to read the Bible scriptures & taking time to pray. For when you become to busy to pray, you are too busy. If the Son of God needed to pray before He undertook His work, how much more should we pray? Perhaps our lack of success in life is because we fail at this point from time to time.
We have not because, we ask not.
(James 4:2-3)
Many people want to work for God, but they don't want to spend time with God. Content in their busy schedules, instead of walking quietly with God in prayer.

*He calls us to Himself*
(Mark 6:31)

Dear Friends, are YOU to busy set aside a few minutes by yourself in God's word & prayer? It is essential if we are to grow in our relationship with God & be ready for battles ahead, spend time with Him every day (I Peter 3:12). In the Gospel of Mark, it's summation can be found in (10:45) & serve He did, but He also needed to pray unto the Father.
Consider this day in Jesus' life (Mark 1:21-34). He visited the synagogue to teach, as he did with authority & power, unlike the scribes & Pharisees, in that, they had to bolster themselves with quotations & reference to authorities from others, not Jesus, He was never apologetic,wavering, hesitant, equivocating or venturing a mere opinion, He only quoted the scriptures with utter authority, for He knew the secrets of God & being a servant of God, has made those known unto us.

Dear friends, do you know those who puff themselves up from what others say, never seeing what Jesus said?

Now then, things started to get rough, a demonic possessed man shouted out at Him, but the Great Teacher calmly, yet sternly casted out the demon. Showing His authority over the powers of darkness, a world which is so underestimated & casually taken.
I shall expound on that subject at another time.
(I Timothy 4:1)
These spirits can do us great harm if we fail to place ourselves under the protective umbrella of His Lordship. Leaving there, he & friends went to Peter's house, O dear friends, no rest would be found there either, Peter's mother-in-law was sick & needed a touch from Him. Then the entire town gathered in the evening after sunset at the door, so Jesus could heal more sick people, cast out demons, in Galilee, He even did the unheard thing of touching & healing a leper, for He is the one of Great compassion for us, His work was growing rapidly, and now can you see, even The Christ needed heavenly communion.
Jesus got tired also my friends.

(My Heart Cries)
(Thank you Lord)

Dear friends in your daily routine, with all the ups & downs, things to do, people to see, & places to go, how do YOU respond? Let's see what our saviour did, He did not take the day off or head for the mountains, no Christians, the Bible says: the next day before sunrise, He found a solitary place to pray.
(Topic Verse)
The Lord sought the rejuvenating power of His Father's presence.
~~~God is as near as a whispered prayer.~~~
*Tensions are mounting,*
Across our busy day,
Gloomy clouds are drifting,
When you start to worry--pray!
*

Pray for one another in the uplifting of spirit & healing. If any one of you wish to be opted from the list, please send me a note & I will delete you from the list, as I wish not to offend anyone. If this topic has been a beacon of light for any of you, please send me a note of that reflection.
May God always walk with you & you with God.
Peace
Don

F-aith
A-ll
I
T-ake
H-im