Introduction
When we are part of a large church community or have a large group of friends, we might feel overwhelmed at times. While having numerous connections can keep our minds busy with various activities, it can also lead to feelings of loneliness and discouragement, even when others are around. This often happens because we miss spending quality time in prayer with our Lord Jesus. Therefore, we should go daily to the Bible and meditate on our own, and the Lord will meet us and guide us.
Our Lord Jesus had a busy life while He ministered on earth. He was always followed by large multitudes whom He taught, healed, and fed with bread and fish. It’s reasonable to assume that the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man experienced fatigue, had sleepless nights, and sometimes went hungry. However, the Gospels reveal that the Lord Jesus frequently went alone to solitary places to pray to the Father (see Mark 1:35, Mark 6:46). In the same way, we need to set aside time for solitude and prayer to strengthen our faith (Matthew 6:6-7). In this blog, we explore how to find the Lord Jesus during our quiet time and the blessings we can experience on earth as we follow Him.
The Lord Jesus Can Be Found In Our Hearts
In Mark 1:45, because the Lord Jesus was doing all miraculous healings we see that many people sought Him, but He was compelled to withdraw to solitary places.
Mark 1:40 And a leper comes to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying to Him, If Thou are willing, Thou are able to make me clean. 41 And being moved with compassion, having stretched out His hand, He touched him, and says to him, I am willing; be you made clean. 42 And straightaway the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean. 43 And He strictly charged him, and straightaway sent him out, 44 and says to him, See you say nothing to no one, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. 45 But having gone out, he began to proclaim it much, and to spread the matter abroad, so that He was no longer able openly to enter into a city; but He was outside in solitary places, and they were coming to Him from every quarter.
Comments Mark 1:45. See also Comments Matthew 9:31.
This situation was supposed to happen, and the way it happened was to bring people’s hearts to the Lord. Those hearts that search the Lord Jesus will go to the solitary places. This was supposed to be done so that only the chosen hearts that are calling for the Lord Jesus will go to seek Him.
Reading Mark 1:45 might lead us to think that following the Lord Jesus can be challenging, that it may be difficult to find Him truly, or that He is too busy to take care of everyone. We might also question what we gain in this world by following the Lord, wondering why we should put in the effort to pursue Him when it often results in many troubles. The Lord Jesus addresses various concerns people have throughout the Gospels. In Mark 10:28, Peter expresses some of these concerns by saying to the Lord Jesus, “Behold, we have left all, and have followed Thee.” In Mark 10:29-31, the Lord Jesus responds to Peter by outlining the blessings that await those who follow Him. He encourages everyone not to give up and to seek Him deep in our hearts.
Mark 10:29. Jesus said, Truly I say to you, There is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for My sake and because of the gospel,
30 if not shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.
31 But many last, will be first; and the first, last.
Comments Mark 10:30-31. “If not shall receive a hundredfold now in this time ...” “In this time” does not mean earthly time, but the inner heart and soul time. The heart can feel with the soul, and that is the period of time that is being talked about here. Feeling your heart connected with your soul is not easy, and not many can feel that. Here, the Lord Jesus is talking about the connection between the heart and the soul, which only at this time on earth do they connect together. When we go into heaven, the heart as an organ doesn’t go; just the soul goes. The heart and the soul, to feel connected, it is not easy in human flesh to experience that, and it is only a short period that a person on earth has that blessing from the Lord. This connection becomes a feeling beyond human explanation, which is why it is a short period of time. This connection is not happening all the time during our life on earth; it is an on-and-off blessing given by the Lord to His chosen people (see Mark 10:29).
“Houses.” Your house and the Holy Spirit’s house in your soul make for houses. Look around you and see what you call a house of this earth. But let your heart feel the house inside the heart itself. In human terms, you would say that you can feel the house of your heart as a palace; Use your inner heart to feel that. Also, remember that the Bible clearly tells us who lives in your heart, so that is the palace of your Holy Spirit that is in your heart, find that. Go to the place that you disconnect from the world, where you will feel left alone from the things of this earth, and meditate on the Word of God in your heart, and you will feel the house of your heart. But all physical things must be disconnected from you. Don’t concern yourself with hot or cold and don’t worry about your hunger; use your heart to feel the soul, and the body will receive the benefit of that feeling. When you do deep meditation this way, not as the world teaches you to torture yourself, it can revive your physical energy. Treat yourself well, find a place where the body can feel comfortable: outside, in the bedroom, or make a special room to be in where you feel disconnected from the world. Let your body feel complete, that you have paid attention to, and that deep peace of the body will go down into your heart, and the attachment of heart and soul will happen. Use your mouth praising the Lord, no other words but only praising alone. Use that time to meditate on the Word of God. That humans should do: meditate on each word of the Bible. The Bible is called the Living Word of God; meditate on it.
“And brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children.” These are all those who meditate on the Word of God; they are close together as mother, sister, brother, and children, as one family. Those who meditate in the Word of God will be as one family.
“And lands.” Because land is not life; it is an object; therefore, what you consider to be of value on this earth is the meaning of land here. Everything you think has value on this earth that is the “land,” and because you will not feel that you lack anything, that is why you can say you have “lands.” What life needs is not many things; the rest are not what life needs; those are just for show-off. Think of what is needed for life; the rest is nothing. The connection between them (the things and life) is the important thing here. The things that we think have value but do not build up the faith are not important. In between you and the things of the world must be the Word of God. Without the Word of God, those things are not valuable; be close to the Word of God or be far from the Word of God, and that is what will determine if you receive or not receive the things life needs.
“With persecutions.” Because when people see you close to the Lord, the jealousy will come, and that jealousy turns into an unseen weapon, not like any weapon in this world. Jealousy creates harmful words that people use to talk out and hurt someone else knowingly. Jealousy covers the mind, making that person feel uncaring. When you have jealousy, you have a negative way of thinking, and it hurts you and someone else as well. In the unseen world, the jealousy weapon can cut the connection between you and the Word of God by creating doubt. In the unseen world, the most important thing is that no jealousy occupies room in the mind and in the heart. In the unseen world, jealousy has a body, and you can use it in a bad way. If another person has jealousy, the jealousies conflict with each other. A person who has jealousy can use that jealousy to harm someone.
“And in the age to come eternal life.” This eternal life is the life in the unseen world; when you join with the Lord, the eternal life will be the gift you receive there.
For Mark 10:31, see Comments Matthew 19:30.
Conclusions
We might grow tired on our Christian journey, and at times feel like giving up. As followers of the Lord Jesus, we must remember this passage of Scripture in Mark 10:29-30 and all the wonderful blessings the Lord gives us on this earth and in the age to come, eternal life. While on this earth, we should make a place of prayer and pray sincerely from our hearts for the Lord’s mercy in all our situations. And the Lord will provide tasty heavenly cakes and water for our souls, strengthening our faith so we can continue our life’s journey on this earth. In our moments of solitude and heartfelt prayer, the Lord meets us and rewards our souls just as He did for Elijah in 1 Kings 19. We will share below a few verses from this Bible account to encourage readers, but we urge everyone to meditate on the entire chapter.
1 Kings 19:4-8: “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper-tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Jehovah, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And he lay down and slept under a juniper-tree; and, behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was at his head a cake baked on the coals, and a jar of water. And he did eat and drink, and laid down again. And the angel of Jehovah came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.”
Meditation Tasks
- We encourage all to meditate on the passage of Scripture in Mark 10:29-31 and on the comments we provide, and to make that place of prayer so they can feel their souls connect with their hearts and receive the blessings the Lord bestows on each of us.
- Additionally, we invite all readers to explore our blog article, “How Do We Find the Lord in Our Hearts?”