New beginnings…

 New beginnings….

After being away from home for a couple of weeks, I came home to find daffodils in bloom,  trees and other flowers ready to burst, weeds prospering…the winter had slipped away and spring had begun…

Every year I love to watch the transformation, new beginnings…after a time of unseen preparation ….

I thought of this as I read Mark 7 and 8…two people that were healed…

Others had such faith to bring to Jesus a man who was  deaf and could hardly talk in one scene and a man  who was blind in another…maybe they were testing Jesus, maybe they desired real healing for their friends…but, there were new beginnings for the two that were healed…amazement for those who watched…maybe real belief in this Jesus…which meant new beginnings, as well…

As I grow older and my eyes change sight and my ears hear less, I long for those days when I saw well and heard everything…but, these two went the opposite…they could hear and speak clearly, see clearly with a touch from the  Master’s hand….they hadn’t experienced this before…such new and wonderous events….all so new…they could communicate, see…a new world opened up for them….like the buds on the branches or flowers ready to bloom…those around them watched in wonder….seeking Jesus…the light after winters in their lives…

Thank YOU for new beginnings….

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 

There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. 

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. 

Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!” ). 

At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. 

But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” 

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 

He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” 

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” 

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. 

Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Mark 7:31-37,8:22-25