Being Equipped by Jesus

I’ve missed meeting you here these last few weeks as I have been leaning into completing a project that I’m really excited about. Last year, by the grace of God, I signed a 3 book bible study contract with Our Daily Bread Publishers. You are probably most familiar with their little monthly devotionals that have been a huge part of their ministry since April of 1956. So this is a ministry that has been seeking to serve God’s people for nearly 70 years by pointing them to the Word of God.

They are starting a line of devotionals and Bible studies geared specifically for women called God hears her. They have invited me to be the bible study writer for that line and I could not be more honored to come along side such a powerful ministry and such godly people.

Finding Grace in the Unexpected is the 1^st study in the series and it is on the book of Ruth and each study will approach God’s word using my TEND method of bible study.

If you’re new here, the TEND method is a simple and effective method that guides you through Scripture in a methodical way to help you know and love God more through His Word.

Right now we are spending this season on the podcast tending through the book of Mark. I will be hosting a summer TEND bible study online for those who want a weekly experience where we can gather and see one another face-to-face on zoom and share what God is teaching us. You can sign up to get notified when registration is available HERE. Or if you are premium subscriber HERE you will get to join the study as part of your subscription.

Today let’s begin with the T in the TEND acronym which stands for take time to pray. So will you pray with me?

Father, we thank you that you are the master gardener. Would you tend to our souls today, Lord, as only you can by the truths of Your word? Reveal yourself to us through your word so we might know and love you more. Amen.

After we have taken time to pray, we want to look at E in TEND which stands for Examine the scripture.

This is simply writing down the verse or verses we are looking at today and it is the most powerful part of Bible study.

Learning from others through commentary and research is important but when we take the time to simply copy down the life-giving words of Scripture with our own hand on the paper it enables us to slow down enough to pay closer attention to details and nuances, we might otherwise miss.

This also gives the Holy Spirit an opportunity to quicken that truth in our heart and to remind us of it later. Studies teach us that we can remember up to 80% more of what we write down as opposed to hearing it or just reading it.

So if you have the chance, write down the verses today. I have written them in my journal so let’s look at Mark 6:7-13.

The ESV translation says:

⁷ And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹ but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. ¹⁰ And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹ And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” ¹² So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. ¹³ And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Now as we examine the verses we want to also pay attention to who the pronouns are referring to and what is happening in the context of the scene. I have been walking through the book of Mark each day moving on to the next couple verses since January 1^st. And that is important when you use the TEND method because you want to be sure to be keeping the scenes in context. When I began the book of Mark, I looked into the overview of it, I read the book through a couple times and I looked at study bibles that give introductions to the book to help gain background and context.

So all that to say, be sure that when you are tending through a book to not skip around.

So in this scene we are looking at Jesus and his 12 disciples as He sends them out by 2s to spread the gospel and He enabled them to heal and anoint people in order to point people to God and authenticate the message.

As we move from E to N in TEND we go from Examining the scripture to Noticing the lessons. So we have observed the text we can now interpret what lessons are being taught. As we Notice the lessons we begin by asking what can we learn about God here.

Jesus being God, we see clearly that He is the sender. He is sending His disciples to the task He has for them. Also He equips the sent. He gives them the authority they need and each other as He sends them out in pairs rather than alone.

So what other lesson might we learn here? We see that sometimes obedience equips us for the task God has for us because these men were not sent with much more than the clothes on their backs but as they obeyed Jesus they were able to accomplish what He sent them to do because verse 13 says, “They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” So they simply had to obey God and He did through them what He had called them to do.

As we look then at the D in TEND we want to consider how we might DO what it says. So we might ask ourselves: What is Jesus instructing me to do that I have to trust He will enable me to do?

I might also consider where is He sending me that I have to trust He will equip me for? It might be he is sending you next door to tell a neighbor about Jesus and invite them to church or across the office to share your testimony with a co-worker. It might be He is sending you across town to serve at the soup kitchen. Or He might be sending you upstairs in your house to ask forgiveness from when you lost your temper with a child or spouse. God is the sender and He equips us with the words, the compassion, the grace we need for the task He’s called us to do. We simply need to lean in and trust Him for it.

So what about you, friend?
What is the Sender sending you to do today in response to His Word? How might He be instructing you to spread the gospel to others and how can you seek His guidance today?

As we slow down enough to know Him through His Word, we will love Him and trust Him more and we will be enabled through His Spirit to walk by faith into the places He has called us.

I invite you to know Him more as you continue to tend to your soul here and join me for more tools to tending your soul and grow in confidence as you get to know God through His Word for yourself.

Remember to sign up to be the 1^st to know when our next Online TEND Study begins this summer over HERE.

Until next time, friend, keep tending your soul.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash