Mark 8-9, Psalms 18:25-50

What God said to me – Who do you say that “I AM”?  Ask yourself that question daily.  The answer is always “I AM” the Christ, your Savior, the Lord Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the All Sufficient One.  The question is – Do you live like that is the answer or do you just give lip service to the question?  You would never dream of saying that “I AM” other than “I AM”, but does your life back it up?  Do you truly live for Me or just say it?  Do you truly depend on Me or just say it?  Do you truly trust Me or just say it?  The answer “I AM” interested in is the way you actually live your life.  Anyone can say it, but few actually live it.  Who do you say that “I AM”?

Mark 4-6, Psalms 18:1-24

What God said to me – He who has ears let him hear – that is still true today.  The problem is that although many have ears, very few listen to Me with them.  The noise of everything else they do drowns Me out.  You must come apart with Me and spend time listening to Me so you can know Me.  Don’t let your life become a distraction to hearing from Me.  It is much more important that you hear from Me than that you “do” for Me.  Ministry apart from Me just adds to the noise in your life that keeps you from hearing from Me.  It was when I was alone with My disciples that I explained the difficult truths to them.  Come aside and let Me speak to you and teach you and reveal Myself to you.

Mark 1-3, Psalms 17

What God said to me – “He taught as one who had authority not as the teachers of the law”.  Jesus could speak and teach with authority because He spent so much time with Me.  I taught Him as He took the time to come aside with Me.  That is what it takes – time aside with Me.  The authority comes as you spend time with Me, hearing from Me, and learning My heart.  Only as you know Me intimately can you speak with authority, and you can only know Me intimately as you take the time to come apart with Me.  I know it’s not easy.  There are so many distractions – and not just of bad things – many of them are good.  It takes commitment, devotion, and diligence to come aside and spend time with Me, but this time will transform everything else you do.