Immovable.

Hello!! I was reading my Bible the other day during devotional and I came across a verse at the very bottom corner of my page. It was

1 Corinthians 15:58

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

Wow. There is so much in that little verse that is tucked away in the bottom crack of my Bible. Can you believe I nearly missed it? I took out my journal and then begun to write about that verse. There were so many eye-opening points that I just had to share with you.

• “Be strong and immoveable.”

That is incredible instruction. Be strong, yes, but IMMOVEABLE?

I was so hung up on that word that I decided to find the Merriam Webster definition online. This is what I discovered:

1. Incapable of being moved
2. Not moving; or not intended to be moved

Seems pretty simple right? Immoveable, well, not moving, duh. Reread that first definition, it uses the word “incapable.” Paul is telling us that we need to be incapable of moving when it comes to letting sin try to push us around. We need to be immovable in our faith and not let anything diminish our faith or out focus on God. We need to be immovable in situations that test our patience and belief in God’s timing and plans.

• “Nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

Seriously? Where do I begin on this one? This is so important to remember on a day to day basis. Sometimes, we just are in a place where we wonder “God, why am I doing this right now? I feel like I am just not where I feel like I should be. I feel like I am not being used how I feel like I should be. Why am I here?” Remember, that nothing we do for God is EVER useless. The cool thing is, when He puts us somewhere, He will use all the knowledge gained sometime in the future in a completely unthinkable way. Sometimes, even the most tedious of things will end up having the biggest role in your walk with the Father down the road. Keep Galatians 6:9 in mind also; “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

Hope this was encouraging in some way!!!

Love,

Cassie (:

Mark 7:1-23

Hello there! I hope life is treating you swell and that you are enjoying each day to the fullest. I just read Mark 7:1-23 and I have to share with you!

This passage starts by talking about the Pharisees tradition of hand-washing before eating. The Pharisees had many traditions they followed regarding food and ceremonial washing before food consumption. Then the passage talks about the Pharisees noticing that some of Jesus’ disciples did not follow this ritual (7:2). The Pharisees were quite shocked by this and asked Jesus why his disciples didn’t follow the tradition (7:5).

Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” (7:6-7).

See, Jesus is upset. The Pharisees are so focused on their traditions and rituals that all get put before the Word of God.

He [Jesus] said; “For you (the Pharisees) ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition. You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold onto your own tradition (7:8-9).

Jesus calls out to the crowd, “It is not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart” (7:15).

What does “defile” mean? Defile: to make unclean; to corrupt the purity of; to corrupt the perfection of.

Jesus goes into a house with his disciples and they ask him what he meant by what he just shouted out.

Jesus said, “Don’t you understand either? Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer” (7:18-19).

And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you” (20-23).

At this point, Jesus is talking about literal food into the body. He is saying that the food we put into our body doesn’t go to our heart, it just passes through the body for digestion. The Pharisees thought that if they did not wash their hands following the tradition, then the food would corrupt their hearts and defile them. Jesus is saying no, it is not the food that they ate without the washing that causes their heart to be impure, but rather it is the true condition if the heart that is corrupt and “defiled.”

Jesus is saying that it is senseless for us to get wrapped up in traditions and rituals that truly have nothing to do with God’s law, but yet still manage to interfere with our relationship from God. After time, we will begin to ignore God’s law and desires because we have become so accustomed to our own traditions. Just like in Isaiah’s prophesy, if we follow man-made ideas, believing that those traditions and rituals are what makes us pure, our hearts are far from God. This is important because sometimes in life, we do certain things “ritually” that we think draw us close to God and will make Him proud of us. We think that if we fail to do a certain thing, then we are “bad” or impure, when in reality, that is not the truth at all. Not sure why this passage stuck out to me, but it did. Perhaps this was some food for thought!

Love, Cassie (: