<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Mark 7:24-26<div><div><br></div><div><b>24. &nbsp;And from there he arose and went away&nbsp;to the region of Tyre and Sidon. &nbsp;And he entered a house, and would not have anyone know it; yet he could not be hid.</b></div><div><b>25. &nbsp;But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet.</b></div><div><b>26. &nbsp;Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. &nbsp;And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>The cities of Tyre and Sidon in southern Lebanon&nbsp;were populated with Gentiles. &nbsp;This region was at times an ally of Israel under&nbsp;king David and king Solomon, it was&nbsp;ruled by king&nbsp;Hiram who supplied building materials to Solomon for&nbsp;the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. &nbsp;These Gentiles often interacted with their Jewish neighbors to their immediate south. &nbsp;It was not unusual that this Greek woman would have heard about the prophet Jesus and all the miracles he was preforming, especially that the unclean spirits were subject to him.</div><div><br></div><div>Jews had no dealings with Gentiles and Samaritans if they could at all help it. &nbsp;They were considered unclean. &nbsp;(This is an interesting account to come immediately after Jesus’ discourse on what makes a man to be ‘defiled’.)</div><div><br></div><div>Could it be that one of the reasons why Jesus sought to not make his presence known, and why he left the territory of the land of Israel, was to escape the crowds and give his disciples some personal, one on one instruction? &nbsp;Perhaps now they would have&nbsp;a little time to themselves to grieve the death of John the Baptist.</div><div><br></div><div>Or,&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Did Jesus, by the will of the Father, have a divine appointment to be available for this woman to come to Him? &nbsp;Was <u>this</u>&nbsp;the real thing&nbsp;that Jesus wanted His disciples to behold,&nbsp;God’s love for the Gentiles as well?</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;The pattern of ‘no time for themselves’ and ‘always being called to serve others,’ follows Jesus continually. &nbsp;As He said,<i>”The Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” &nbsp;</i>(Mark 10;45) &nbsp;If we are to follow him, this is what ‘deny yourself’ means.</div><div><br></div><div>What does it show&nbsp;when a person ‘falls down at Jesus feet?’ &nbsp;Such an action shows helplessness with hope.</div><div>It also honors Jesus a God and Lord. &nbsp;Finally, it is a position of extreme gratitude. &nbsp;Certainly,&nbsp;the first two meanings belong to this unclean&nbsp;foreign&nbsp;woman laying face down at His feet, probably with her arms outstretched and her hands trembling,&nbsp;folded, and&nbsp;pleading for His acknowledgment.</div><div><br></div><div>Her unworthiness is being confessed by her posture, she knows she is an offense to most Jews just by being herself, a Greek Gentile. &nbsp;Yet, her hope in Jesus, and her love for her little daughter, moved&nbsp;her to ignore the fact that she was unwelcome!</div><div><br></div><div>Desperation&nbsp;and love break down and overpower&nbsp;our fears of rejection. &nbsp;Hope and love are greater than self-respect, pride, and social convention. &nbsp;Utter humility is how all of us should enter into His presence, not casual irreverence.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;God does <u>not</u>&nbsp;love us ‘just the way we are!’ &nbsp;The whole human race is an offense to God, yet, He loves us in spite of our repulsive&nbsp;offensiveness, because&nbsp;<i>“God, <u>is</u>&nbsp;love.” </i>&nbsp; (1 John 4;8) &nbsp;&nbsp;He loves us, because He created us, we are His, (even though we think we are our own)&nbsp;<u>and</u>&nbsp;His plan is to become one with us, as in a divine marriage. &nbsp;Therefore, He must first cleanse us, in order that He may dwell within us and live through us.</div><div><br></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, bless us to enter Your presence in utter humility, knowing we of ourselves are unworthy and deserving of Your wrath. &nbsp;Bless us to come before you by the blood of Jesus. &nbsp;It alone, covers our sin from Your seeing and pleads for our deliverance. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</div><div><br></div><div>Love,</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed,’soak’ in the living Word.</div><div>God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Mark 7:24-26
24.  And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And he entered a house, and would not have anyone know it; yet he could not be hid.25.  But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet.26.  Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth.  And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
The cities of Tyre and Sidon in southern Lebanon were populated with Gentiles.  This region was at times an ally of Israel under king David and king Solomon, it was ruled by king Hiram who supplied building materials to Solomon for the construction of the temple in Jerusalem.  These Gentiles often interacted with their Jewish neighbors to their immediate south.  It was not unusual that this Greek woman would have heard about the prophet Jesus and all the miracles he was preforming, especially that the unclean spirits were subject to him.
Jews had no dealings with Gentiles and Samaritans if they could at all help it.  They were considered unclean.  (This is an interesting account to come immediately after Jesus’ discourse on what makes a man to be ‘defiled’.)
Could it be that one of the reasons why Jesus sought to not make his presence known, and why he left the territory of the land of Israel, was to escape the crowds and give his disciples some personal, one on one instruction?  Perhaps now they would have a little time to themselves to grieve the death of John the Baptist.
Or,  
Did Jesus, by the will of the Father, have a divine appointment to be available for this woman to come to Him?  Was this the real thing that Jesus wanted His disciples to behold, God’s love for the Gentiles as well?
 The pattern of ‘no time for themselves’ and ‘always being called to serve others,’ follows Jesus continually.  As He said,”The Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”  (Mark 10;45)  If we are to follow him, this is what ‘deny yourself’ means.
What does it show when a person ‘falls down at Jesus feet?’  Such an action shows helplessness with hope.It also honors Jesus a God and Lord.  Finally, it is a position of extreme gratitude.  Certainly, the first two meanings belong to this unclean foreign woman laying face down at His feet, probably with her arms outstretched and her hands trembling, folded, and pleading for His acknowledgment.
Her unworthiness is being confessed by her posture, she knows she is an offense to most Jews just by being herself, a Greek Gentile.  Yet, her hope in Jesus, and her love for her little daughter, moved her to ignore the fact that she was unwelcome!
Desperation and love break down and overpower our fears of rejection.  Hope and love are greater than self-respect, pride, and social convention.  Utter humility is how all of us should enter into His presence, not casual irreverence. 
 God does not love us ‘just the way we are!’  The whole human race is an offense to God, yet, He loves us in spite of our repulsive offensiveness, because “God, is love.”   (1 John 4;8)   He loves us, because He created us, we are His, (even though we think we are our own) and His plan is to become one with us, as in a divine marriage.  Therefore, He must first cleanse us, in order that He may dwell within us and live through us.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, bless us to enter Your presence in utter humility, knowing we of ourselves are unworthy and deserving of Your wrath.  Bless us to come before you by the blood of Jesus.  It alone, covers our sin from Your seeing and pleads for our deliverance.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed,’soak’ in the living Word.God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”







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