mark.

my cousin mark is getting hitched in a week and one day. it's hard to believe. there are stories about mark feeding me cheerios one at a time as i waddled around the house. every time i would come over the mark's house, he would give me a "present." apparently, according to mom and aunt j, it would some sort of little thing he would find in his room. i have memories of us making "lunch" after sunday lunch at mamaw's house.

three years my senior, mark was the older brother i never had. he was always there to pick me up for church, take me to moe's, let me hang out with his really cool girlfriend, and tell me when i needed to keep away from certain boys. over the years, i have watched him grow into a strong and wise man of God. his wisdom astounds me in so many ways. he is a leader, a role model, a teacher. i am so proud to call him my cousin, but more like my brother.

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speaking of mark... there is an acquaintance of mine who writes a blog. he is doing a chapter by chapter study of mark. he wants it to interactive, so i decided to start reading it chapter by chapter sort of following him on his blog.

this morning i read chapter one. mark is talking about john the baptizer, the temptation of Jesus, and how Jesus begins his ministry. the first thing i noticed while reading the first chapter was that when Jesus reacted, he reacted immediately. the chapter has seven mentions of Jesus and his new disciples acting immediately after being moved by the Spirit.

the Word does not say Jesus went in a few hours. or even the next morning, but right then. immediately. as in all things, we should follow Christ's example and act immediately. we should obey without stopping for a second to question our actions. we just act because, through faith, we know that it is what God wants us to do.

another thing-

v. 34. "and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him"

- alright. Jesus shuts up hell. literally Jesus is already known by the demons, and he shut them up. he cast them out of people, and they already knew who Jesus was. they did not argue, because Jesus' power is so great. i just love that part of the verse, Jesus basically said "shut up."

and in v. 35- people came out of the woodwork to see Jesus. his fame was spreading like wildfire. and with good reason. it was so crazy that Jesus could not even go out to public without being noticed as the Healer. people were coming to Him, and He was doing His work.

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and i miss my brother and sister pretty badly.