Perea

 Matthew 19:1; Mark 10:1; Luke 13:40; John 10:40
Well, I found out the number and order of events in Jesus' journey throughout Perea is not as absolutely definitive as I thought, but there is some generally accepted chronology that we will use which can give us a good idea of the flow of His life and teachings.  These verses above speak of Jesus going beyond the Jordan which is the region of Perea, a territory east of the Jordan river ruled by Herod Antipas.  It is inhabited by the Israelite Tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh.  The Perean ministry began with Jesus' departure from Galilee and ended with His final trip to Jerusalem.  And even though it began in Perea Jesus did not always stay in that region, during this time He also traveled to Bethany, Ephraim, Galilee, and Jericho.  In His heart and mind though He was always "making His way" ultimately to Jerusalem. Luke is the gospel most closely associated with this period of Jesus' ministry.  The other gospels make mention of various teachings and events but Luke offers the main source of information for this period.  Jesus' teachings during this time cover a broad range of subjects but He is primarily teaching His disciples what is required to be a follower of His.  He uses a number of parables to give understanding on our relationship to money, people, and life in general.  There are only four recorded miracles throughout this last three months the emphasis seems to be on strengthening His disciples for what the future holds.  As I am reflecting on this aspect of Jesus ministry It seems pretty apropos to what I and maybe others in the body of Christ need at this time and I can't wait to get into the heart of His teaching.  This is going to be a good Spring Training I do believe. I also wanted to draw your attention to the passage in John 10:40-42 when Jesus went back to where He was baptized.  It says in verse 42, "and many believed in Him there"...it seems significant, what do you think? 
P.S. See you Monday...just a reminder...lent is observed six days a week and doesn't include Sunday since that day represents a celebration of Jesus' victory over sin and death.  Lent rather is the preparation of the believer through prayer, repentance, giving, and self-denial for the annual commemoration of Easter or in our case Spiritual Spring Training for our daily walk with our Redeemer with a special emphasis on His Resurrection from the dead.

Samaria

Luke 9:51
Okay, so let me sum up...Jesus was baptized by John some three years earlier and began His public ministry.  He gathers followers, cleanses the temple in Jerusalem for the first time (He does it twice) which insights the religious crowd. He then travels throughout Galilee for approximately 12-18 months miraculously healing the sick and feeding multitudes of people, delivering the demonically enslaved, and teaching the truth about the Kingdom of God.  For a short while He withdraws from Galilee and continues to prepare His disciples giving them a fuller revelation of who He is and His impending death, hence the Transfiguration and the voice from Heaven. The first indication that Jesus was turning his attention toward His final suffering in Jerusalem was when He was in Samaria, "Now it came to pass, when the time was come that He should be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem" Luke 9:51. Wanting to manage the growing conflict with the Jewish leaders to God's timetable He travels throughout Judea for three months and then turns towards the Perean region for approximately another three months, back to where He began His ministry...the baptismal waters of John the Baptist, how fitting. It is the Perean ministry I would like to concentrate on for the next few weeks and then end our final week of Lenten season with the Passion week of Christ.  Well, I think the Lord has our course set for us now and I know He will richly bless us each day as we seek and search to know more about His Beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased...may the Lord open our ears to hear him.

Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-35; 2 Peter 1:16-18
Caesarea Philippi/A.D. 29

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"  This startling revelation came again a second time from a voice in the heavens. Jesus once more received from God the Father glory and honor.  Leading up to the Transfiguration, in all three Gospels Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, Jesus predicts His death and resurrection to the disciples, and Jesus explains that the cost of following Him would mean losing your own life, high stakes but eternal rewards.  Jesus is preparing his disciples to understand what His Messiahship truly meant, in particular Peter, James, and John.  A few days later Jesus toke those three disciples up to a mountain, transcends time and pulls back His humanity for a brief moment.  He becomes radiant with the Glory He once had in the Heavenlies and in the midst of this grandeur He is seen speaking with Moses and Elijah about His impending death in Jerusalem. Now, it seems to me the drama is mounting and at this point I would think the disciples adrenalin would be pumping so much they would be beside themselves but Luke records that, "the disciples were heavy with sleep".  I don't even know what to say about that except if the truth be known it is probably something I would do too...how pathetic.  I'm wondering now if the Father was using His 'parental' voice when He spoke to the disciples.  Maybe He was waking them up!  Not sure where we are headed tomorrow, after I wake up I will see what happened next and report back.  Blessings!

Baptism

Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-9; Luke 3:1-22; John 1:19-34
By tradition Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lenten season, a forty day period of repentance and reflection leading to the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ on Easter.  A day historically set to vigilantly consider yourself before God and repent, for some it is even done symbolically with ashes on their head.  Personally I don't have that tradition ingrained and view repentance as an act that is continually done in a daily growing walk with the Lord as He convicts me through His Holy Spirit.  However, I do like that attitude (of repentance) as a starting point and see it as a good beginning to this devotional journal.  Christ certainly was not in need of repentance...being perfect, but it pleased the Father that in the fulness of time (I just love that term) His Son would come and fulfill all righteousness, beginning His ministry with baptism.  John, the forerunner preparing the way for the Messiah, urged all to bring fruits worthy of repentance...a different way of thinking...a changed life.  Turning from sin and living rightous lives, not ceremonial living, not hollow traditions but rather a life baptised in the very Spirit of the Living God.  A spiritual life of belief and trust that leads to rightousness and peace in spite of circumstances.  An inward life lived in a close relationship with the Heavenly Father made possible now through the coming of His Son, well you get the idea.  Jesus' baptism though was not admitting He was sinful and needed to change, He was consecrating Himself to His ministry.  We though, having no power of our own over a sinful nature, need the power that comes from above and can only be found through Jesus.  Now, in water baptism we are identifying ourselves with Jesus, in effect saying we are putting off the old man and putting on a new one.  We are now clothing ourselves in a new way of life, learning to please God and longing for the same words the Father spoke to Jesus at His baptism, "This is my beloved Son (or daughter:-), in whom I am well pleased".   This brings me to where we are headed next in our forty day journey to know Jesus better.  There are only two times in scripture that God spoke from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", once was as Jesus came out of the water at His baptism and the other one we will find out about tomorrow.  So I hope to see you then!

For a deeper look at repentance visit (but be prepared to get serious): http://www.frontlinemin.org/repentance.asp