Mark 13:35-37

N Mark13:35-37,toward the end of Jesus’ Earthly ministry,when He knew the time of His leaving was coming soon,Jesus says,”Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether n evening,or at midnight,or when the rooster crows,or at dawn.If he suddenly comes,do not let him find you sleeping.What I say to you,I say to everyone:Watch!”Jesus knows that we tend to leave our hearts/minds/lives “unattended”/unprotected from whatever may come into our lives for the purpose of luring our hearts/minds/lives away from the right & true ways of honoring Christ;His Word;& His Spirit in & with our lives.Of course Jesus is talking about the obvious sources that deliberately attempt to mislead&misguide us.Jesus is also calling us to Discernment & Wisdom based on what He has Taught&Demonstrated with His Word;&His Life,so that even the slyest of ways the enemy uses will b thwarted by GOD’s TRUTH,& THE TRUTH of The Gospel,&what The Gospel empowers n our lives.Satan will use any means to chip away even the smallest bit of TRUTH away from us.Satan knows that if he can chip away at TRUTH,he has the potential to inflict our lives w a significant crack n our right relationship w The Lord.And once he has inflicted 1 crack,he has easier access n our lives to begin chipping away at another.Throughout history,the first place that Satan has sought to inflict a crack...is aimed at The Word of God.The foundation of ALL LIFE is from The Word of God(John1:1-4,”In the beginning was the Word,& the Word was with God,& the Word was God.He was n the beginning w God.All things were made through him.& w/out Him was not anything made that was made.In Him was life,& the life was the light of men.”).It is at the FOUNDATION of all life that Satan is primarily targeting his efforts!If he is successful at chipping away at The Word,he knows that he can then chip away at the significance of Jesus Christ...& the TRUTHS fulfilled by His birth/life/ministry/sufferings/death/resurrection/ascension!(John1:14,”And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,& we have seen His Glory,Glory as the only Son from the Father,full of grace&truth.”)The Word is FOUNDATIONAL & THE EMPOWERING/SUSTAINER of all life...and Jesus is The Word!.Any time that we allow the smallest “piece” of TRUTH to be chipped away,we allow Jesus to become a little less than what HE IS!This gives Satan great joy!The attributes of Jesus are immeasurable!But when 1 chip is made n “immeasurable”(which by definition is impossible anyway...),then “the immeasurable” becomes measurable! What is Infinity becomes measurable;what is ALL POWERFUL becomes less than all powerful;Boundless Mercy is made less than what we need;Abounding Love becomes less than enough;etc.The primary target of THE ENEMY has always been,& is always The Word of God!Satan knows this is a direct assault on Jesus!We need to know this also!So we will b deliberate n protecting AWE of God’s Word,& not reduce God’s Word to anything less that The Miraculous Revelation of God’s Character/Love/Mercy/Grace& His Ways...for our good!Dear Lord,protect me from allowing Your Word to become anything less than what IT is...help me to continually b n AWE of the TRUTHS You reveal through Your Word,& The Miraculous Ways that you work n my life through Your Word.

Mark 11:27-33

N Mark 11:27-33, Jesus has a group of church folks come up to him to ask a couple questions.After they ask their questions,Jesus asks a question to reveal whether or not these church folks are truly/sincerely interested in finding/hearing the TRUTH.If we r not sincerely interested n learning what Jesus has to say “into” our life,then Jesus will “hold back” giving us what boils down to even more of what we will ultimately b responsible for.In our sin we r already “guilty of enough” to b condemned forever(James2:10.”For whoever keeps the whole law but fails n one point has become accountable for all of it.”).So,in the awesome Mercy of God,HE will not make us responsible for more by “enlightening” us to more of His Truths.If we r not going to listen and apply what God has to say already in HIS WORD,& through CHRIST,then n His Great&Awesome Mercy...He will not share more! When the church folks decided that they were not truly interested n what Jesus had to say,Jesus responded to them,”Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”When we complain about not hearing anything from The Lord,and/or not getting anything out of the time we spend studying the Bible..,or our prayer time seems anemic,we need to ask ourselves if we r sincerely seeking to hear & learn from what The Lord has to say!Or,am I coming to the Lord “with conditions” of an unwilling hard heart!Not truly seeking to b transformed by what The Lord has to talk w me about!If I am not coming to The Lord humbly poised for contrition and readiness to respond appropriately to what the Lord has to say,then in His great Mercy...He will hold back from sharing more than He has already.Just as a loving father will not ever overload us with guilt,our Father n Heaven will never do this very thing.HE knows when we r truly coming to HIM n readiness to listen...desiring to b ministered to personally (to receive HIS service, care, or aid; for addressing our true desires &necessities)by what HE alone can speak into our lives.If we do not have this posture of readiness & willingness to truly HEAR what He has to say,then we will have the same answer that the church folks had.Their hardened hearts kept them from hearing the TRUTH about Christ,right from The Mouth of God!Dear Jesus,I do not always come to You poised to sincerely listen earnestly to what You May have to talk w me about.Please make me more aware of these times,& help me to soften my heart & spirit...,so I have a heart&spirit ready&willing to truly hear and apply what You have to say to me.

Mark 11:1-11

Mark11:1-11 tells about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem days before He is to b crucified.N vs8-11 Mark describes the enthusiastic welcoming of Jesus by the crowds.The people r removing their cloaks and throwing them on the ground before the colt that Jesus is riding on,& honoring Jesus as they would a king, with palm branches..& then shouting “Hosanna!Blessed is the coming of the kingdom of our Father David(the Messianic kingdom promised to David’s Son-(2Samuel7:11-14). Hosanna n the highest!”These people are worshipping;singing praises;coming as close to Jesus as they can get;wanting to b identified as followers of Jesus,etc.Soon after this,these same people r part of the crowds calling 4 Barabbas to b released nstead of Jesus...,part of the crowds shouting “crucify him”.How quickly these people turned from Christ...,turned on Christ!We do the same thing n our lives.Maybe not to the extreme that some of these people did...,but we do the same thing n different “measures”.Whatever the “measure” of our turning from Jesus...the effect is the same on our hearts/minds/lives!It distances us from being faithful to Christ!Just as the faithfulness of these people was dependent upon their preconceived notions about being faithful to Christ, & what those around them were thinking&doing,so our faithfulness many times waxes & wanes depended upon how “things” r going n our lives,& what the crowds around us r saying&doing.My faith n Jesus is not real nor steadfast if it comes and goes according the conditions & circumstances around me...,&if it waxes & wanes based on the thoughts&opinions of those around me.Paul addresses this n 1Cor15:58,”Therefore brothers,stand firm(b steadfast).Let nothing move you.Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,because you know that your labor is not n vain.”The work of the Lord that Paul is referring to has at least 2 facets.One is the work that Jesus is doing n us!We must give ourselves fully to the ways that Jesus’ Word&Spirit is working/shaping/changing our heart/minds/lives.We must allow His work n us 2 b reflected n the ways that we live.Which leads to the second facet Paul is referring to.That our lives b invested n responding to Jesus instructions for the way we live n the middle of our day to day lives,& among the people we come n contact with...that we seek to know the Eternal Purposes for our lives...,the ways that Jesus is calling us to b His emissaries n2 the world.When we do not allow ourselves 2 b faithful to these 2 “facets” n our life,we r drifting toward becoming just like the crowd n Mark11.Even though they gathered around Jesus to sing praises & worship Him,their faith was “short lived”,& the tides of life & people around them,drew them away from true faithfulness n Christ.Dear Lord Jesus,in many ways I am much like the people described n these verses of Mark.Forgive me.And,change me to b steadfast n all areas of my heart/mind/life...to the ways that Your Word&Spirit r teaching me and leading me

Mark 9:14-29

N Mark9:14-29 Jesus addresses an imperative part of our lives,if we r to experience “The Miraculousness” of having a right relationship w God.While Jesus was away for a while w Peter,James,&John...the rest of the disciples were being confronted by a crowd arguing w them about THEIR INABILITY to help a man’s son that was being severely tormented by an evil spirit.Jesus addresses the disciples w a stern admonition when he says,”O faithless generation,how long am I to b with you?How long am I to bear w you?Bring him(the boy being tormented)to me.”Jesus’ disciples r not yet fully appreciating/understanding WHO Jesus is,nor WHAT He has come to do!N Mark8:31-32 Jesus tells his disciples more about what He has come to do,&what He is going to suffer.But the disciples don’t “get it” yet!They still have their personal ideas of what being w Jesus means.Jesus’ miracles and His words had been creating quite a following-some that were “impressed by” Jesus,& others that were “threatened by” Jesus.At this point n Jesus’ ministry the disciples were maybe more “motivated” by some of the attention they were getting by being followers of Christ and the authority that He has given them over evil spirits (Mark6:7).Jesus had sent them out as His representatives,& given them the ability to see some pretty cool things happen at their “command”.What they did not yet appreciate was that whatever they were enabled to do was the direct result of their personal relationship w Christ...&what n His sovereign wisdom He knew as The Will of His Father.Jesus commands the evil spirit to come out of the boy.The spirit shrieks and then comes out of the boy!Jesus helps the boy up,and the boy is freed!The disciples come to Jesus & ask Him,”Why couldn’t we drive it out?”Jesus responds,”This kind cannot b driven out by anything but prayer.”Jesus is pointing them to what He says n Matthew6:9-13,”This, then, is how you should pray:“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,Your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.Give us todayour daily bread.And forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors.And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one’.”Jesus tells them that their lives should b n AWE of having access to our Father n Heaven & n AWE of Who He is.So much so,that they should overwhelmingly trust Him & desire what God desires...that their hearts/minds/lives desire to become aligned w God’s Heart;God’s Ways;God’s Will.& that they should turn toward dependency in God for all of life,including the authority that Jesus gave them over evil spirits.When we think that anything is within the reach of our own abilities,without turning to God in dependency for His intended purpose & His instruction,we limit ourselves to the realm of what we alone r capable of.We may “accomplish” great things as defined by the world,but we will never see “The Miraculous” happen n our lives!The Miraculous that God wants to use to reveal Himself to us and through us!The Miraculous that reveals God’s Power;Majesty;Authority;Grace;Mercy;& Glory to us personally & through us to those around us.We will lack the AWE of God n our lives,&not experience The Miraculousness of His Presence n our life & through our life.Dear Jesus,forgive me for being so independent of You n so much of my life.Teach me what it means to turn to You n total dependence for Your Mercy;Grace;Wisdom;Discernment;Power;Authority;& whatever other areas I am missing.Take me to see & know The Miraculousness of having You as my Savior&Lord.

Mark 8:38

N Mark8:38 Jesus says,”if anyone is ashamed of me & my words n this adulterous & sinful generation,the Son of Man will b ashamed of him when he comes n his Father’s glory with holy angels.”When Jesus addresses my attitude/posture about his words n this verse,he is calling me to a faith that can only b supernatural.Because a lot of what is recorded n the Bible IS SUPERNATURAL/MIRACULOUS!Jesus’ birth;resurrection;& ascension...r SUPERNATURAL/MIRACULOUS!Let alone how he lived;what he said;what he did,etc.This also calls me to seek real answers/real wisdom/real discernment for those areas that I have questions about Jesus &/or The Word of God!& to NOT begin picking & choosing what I find “easy to swallow” of what the Bible records as TRUTH!Jesus is calling me to grow n knowing HIM & HIS WORD,& to seek TRUTH as I seek the answers to the questions I have.Most importantly though,Jesus is stating that the foundational hypothesis(a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation&understanding)for all knowledge & understanding is to be his words...as revealed n The Bible.To do anything less will actually lead me to anemic ideas about God & what HE has done to express HIS love for me.What Jesus is calling me to n Mark8:38 is to a personal knowledge/appreciation of God that is the only thing that can cause me to b n awe of HIM as Moses was when he collapsed to the ground because of being n the presence of The AWESOMENESS/MIRACULOUSNESS/SUPERNATURALNESS...of God!To believe anything less than what the Bible says about God & what HE has done will hack away at the AWESOMENESS/MIRACULOUSNESS/SUPERNATURALNESS...of God n my life,&will lead me to a comparatively anemic appreciation for what Jesus has done for me through His Birth;Life;Sufferings;Death;Resurrection;Ascension;as well as HIS Promises for what HE is to do n the future!Romans2:20 says this-“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - His eternal power & His divine nature -have been clearly seen,being understood from what has been made,so that men are without excuses.”Satan has full knowledge of this!& that is why satan has come up w endless ways to get men&women to accept less than what God says as truth...less than what the Bible records & prophecy’s as TRUTH.If we fall prey to Satan’s schemes to “take away” bits&pieces of what God records as TRUTH..,even if we call ourselves Christian,our paradigm of faith will be far from what Jesus desires...far from what he was miraculously born to do for me...far from what he lived for;suffered for;died for!And I will miss the awesomeness of the depth&breadth of what his resurrection&ascension promise for me!Dear Lord,lead me to Your Answers to the questions I have about You and Your Word.Let my heart & mind b tuned n2 Your Spirit for Your Wisdom& Discernment as I become increasingly in AWE of You,&what You have done!Grow me n my appreciation & love for WHO YOU ARE,& YOUR LOVE for me!