Rob Martin

“Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”

- Mark 10:46-52

So many times we miss the simplicity of being followers of Jesus. I love this story because Bartimaeus understood. He understood the simplicity of Jesus’ words when he said what do you want me to do you for? He didn’t go off on some tangent or say something broad and meaningless. He said “I want to see!” My friend Josh Moore whenever he leads prayer he always says:

“If God, the creator of the universe was here right now standing in front of you what would you pray? You wouldn’t pray some broad wimpy prayer God please move tonight in Generation Church. You would be on your knees praying for whatever is going on in your life that you need God to move in.”

Can I tell you that Jesus is posing that same question to you that he ask Bartimaeus. What do you want me to do for you? Don’t miss what God wants to do for you today by not answering Him specifically.

Just as I have blogged about over the past couple of weeks its time to get back to the basics. We have talked about getting Back to Basics: Worship and Back to Basics: Prayer which can be read in the following links. Today I want to talk about getting Back to Basics: Reading the Bible or should I just say Loving your Bible.

Reading the Bible

What is the basics to reading? How can you even have basics for reading? I’ll tell you why I read my bible, it’s because I LOVE IT! I had the opportunity of talking about this very subject earlier this week to a kid in my small group. No one forces me to read the bible. I don’t have a gun to my head in the morning. My Pastor didn’t call me and threaten me to read my bible today. I do it because I love God! I do it because I want to grow in my relationship with God. I want to become more conformed to the image of Christ today than the next, and tomorrow it will be the same. In any relationship there has to be communication for it to grow. If I didn’t talk to Laura everyday, I can almost guarantee we would not be getting married. The reason I can say things about her that no one knows is because we talk, everyday, without being forced. Why? Because we love each other and we aren’t forced. Can I just say that I love my Bible. I look forward to getting up and reading my Bible. I don’t ever want to go a day without feasting in the word of God because it is so life-giving. It is a charge to your spirit. It helps you to fight against the sin in your life. It helps you become more like God. How? Because when you spend time with someone you tend to become more like that person. Proven fact look it up. “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” - Jim Rohn. I want the top three on that list to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I don’t know about you but I want each day to become more like God because His way is perfect and mine is not. So what is the basics of reading your bible? Love it! The Bible is not boring. It is relevant in every one of our lives.When I got the opportunity to preach in the Dominican Republic about Salvation I entitled my message the greatest love story ever. Above the Notebook, above Dear John, above them all. Why? Because it is about each and everyone of us. We are all the main characters in the love story of Jesus Christ coming from heaven to earth. Dying on a cross for our sin, and giving us eternal life through belief in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Love your Bible its as easy as that and you will want to read it.

I leave you with this: For those who think I am full of it; I challenge you, read a Bible for thirty days (STRAIGHT) with a pure and open heart to the word of God and I promise you that you will never be the same. The great C.S. Lewis, took his own challenge to read the Bible and prove it wrong, and he ended up being the greatest christian authors of all time.

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
¹¹ It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
¹² You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
¹³ Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

Isaiah 55:10-13

Starting this new year off I’ve decided to blog about the basics. Why the basics? Because the basics is where it originated. It’s where we learn and see how to go about something. You can read more about getting back to the basics at Back to Basics: Worship.

Prayer

I’ll try to keep this short and simple but I just love talking about pray. It is one of the subject that I can talk for a good long time about because it is so important to me. When people think prayer automatically the thought is that its super complicated or its my magic lamp I rub when I want something to go my way. Can I tell you that prayer is neither of those!

The first thing I want you to know about prayer is that it is not complicated! In fact it says in Matthew 6 “And when you pray, don’t be like those people that don’t know God. They continue saying things that mean nothing. Don’t pray like that. They think that God will hear them because of the many things they say. Don’t be like those people. Your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.” It doesn’t matter what you say, how you say it, or how many words you say. Just like I said last week as it says in 1 Samuel “that man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart.”

The second thing I want you to get about prayer is that it’s a two-way street. God is not your magic genie that grants you your wishes when ever you please. I can’t stand when people come and say “I’ve tried that prayer thing and it didn’t work.”  It makes me want to slap them upside the head. Then I tell them try that prayer thing and instead of going on and on about your problem shut up for 5 minutes and listen to God. Can I tell you that God knows your problem, you don’t have to remind Him. Prayer is a two-way street which means you talk to Him and He talks to you. Most of my prayer time I spend just listening to God. I know He knows my problems and my concerns. Instead of telling him about them, I want to know how to fix them, and the only way I can do that is by hearing His voice.

So here is an easy way, guide to help you pray if you are new. Jesus outlines it for us in the book of Luke when he is teaching the disciples how to pray. First; Praise Him. You wouldn’t walk up to President Obama, or any other powerful man and start demanding things. Let the same thing be with God. Honor Him and praise Him and thank Him for all the good things He’s done for you. Secondly; Recognize that you are a sinner and you need the grace of God. Repent of anything that would be hindering you of having a relationship with God. Thirdly; Ask. This is where you can lay it all out. Ask Him for help in every situation you are going through. Fourthly; Yourself and others. Don’t just ask for yourself, pray for others too.

Praise

Recognize

Ask

Yourself and others