Posts with the tag “mark”

Daily Devotional from Mark 11--Verses 1-3 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie itand bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has nee...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 16--Verse 15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”As Christians, our main prerogative is to share the Good News of Jesus’s resurrection. Through Him, we are cleansed of our sin and made right with God.At Generations Church we want to “be a live-giving community, serving those in need, and making Jesus the main attracti...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 15--Verses 37-38And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.Before Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, only the High Priest could come into the Holy Place and only once a year, following strict guidelines, because nobody was worthy to go behind the veil and be in the presence of God. But when Jesus died...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 14-- Verses 3-4While [Jesus] was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head. But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted?"Have you ever been made to feel as if your offering to...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 13--Verse 18Pray that it may not happen in winter.In this chapter, Jesus was teaching His disciples about end-time tribulations. In the midst of describing these future events, Jesus asked them to pray these events didn’t happen in winter, since there would be no time to get a cloak for warmth.Jesus did not ask His disciples to pray just to give them something to do. He ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 12--Verse 24You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. I think some people assume that if you have one you automatically have the other. However, I find it interesting that Jesus maintains a distinction between the two. He suggests you can know Scripture and not the power of God. And, conversely, you can know the power, without ever really knowing the Scriptur...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 11--Verse 25And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.But they don’t deserve my forgiveness. I’m sure that when some of us read this verse, we think this thought. While forgiveness is never easy, we are called to be forgiving people. Not people with poor boundari...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 10--Verses 44-45And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.The Kingdom of God is so different from the ways of the world. Jesus has told us that in order to lead we must serve - we have to take the lowest position in order to lead people. We have to be ab...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 9--Verse 24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”This is one of my favorite prayers in the whole Bible. This man was desperate. His son was being terrorized by a demon and Jesus was his last hope. He said Jesus! IF you can—please deliver my son. Everything up until this point didn’t work and his hope was fading.And he was hones...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 8—Verse 17And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?”How dense could the disciples be?Jesus had recently provided bread enough to feed 5,000+ followers with 12 basketsful remaining, and then enough for 4000+ with 7 basketsful remaining. But now the disci...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 7--Verse 6This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Sometimes we care so much about the outside, and not very much for the inside. But then there are others who care about the inside, while the outside doesn’t look so great. Which would you rather have? If we had to pick, I pray we would go with the latter one every time. Losing respect is so...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 6--Verse 54-55And when they got out of the boast, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. It’s amazing, Jesus’s own hometown rejected him, but the other places he went, people flocked to Him.  As Christians, our goal is to live like Jesus lived—to bring hope, peac...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 5--Verses 28-29For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.This woman was broke, sick, and tired, but she heard about Jesus and she believed. This woman believed enough that she believed if she only touched Jesus’ garment she would be healed. Due...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 4--Verse 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.We all hide things from the world—secrets that might destroy us if they came to light. We see it often with prominent leaders in the news—the sin they hid is dragged out for the world to see. Jesus promised that all will be found out. This is why con...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 3--Verses 34-35And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”Who belongs to your family?The answer is different for different families. Some are born into a family, some are adopted, and others are given “honorary” membership because of some close asso...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 2--Verse 27The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a gift.A day to stop and catch your breath.A day to refresh and repose.A day to regain your rhythm.A day to take a deep breath and relax.It’s a gift from God to mankind. However, what kind of gift is it when it’s obligatory? Under such expectations, it ceases to be a gift entirely and become...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Mark 1—Verse 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him.Imagine you’re working and someone comes up to you and says, “come follow me.” That would be a huge interruption to our day. We’d think of all the reasons we can’t, and we’d even wonder why they’re asking us such a thing.Jesus asks us to drop everything to follow Him. Following Jesus may be inconvenient and ...  Read More

Mark 16:15Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.Do you know what “gospel” means? Good News.And notice it’s not good advice. Advice is what you give someone who seeks improvement. But that’s not what Christianity is about. If it was, you would find the Bible in the self-help section of your local bookstore. And, unfortunately, that’s where some people might find it. Oh...  Read More

Mark 15:4-5“See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. What’s the natural response when somebody brings a charge against us? You defend ourselves, right? Especially when we believe the accusation is false. And we know that was the case for Jesus, yet he made no attempt to defend or to deflect. And Pilate was amazed that Jesus didn’t e...  Read More

Mark 14:29Even though they all fall away, I will not. An empty wagon makes a lot of noise. And, in and of ourselves, we’re all empty wagons. Therefore, we need to be careful of spouting off niceties in the moment. Oh, we want to please, and, yes, we desire to impress. We long for people to know our good intentions. But when it comes time to deliver, often we find that the wagon is empty. Wouldn’t ...  Read More

Mark 13:1Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings! Looking back on it now, what a odd thing to say. Wonderful stones and buildings? You’re showing Jesus your wonderful stones and buildings? Sometimes we get a little carried away. As we would expect, Jesus wasn’t impressed. To him they seemed like trivial matters. Years ago, my wife and I went to the Roman ruins. We saw the...  Read More

Mark 12:24You know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. I think some people assume that if you have one you automatically have the other. However, I find it interesting that Jesus maintains a distinction between the two. He suggests you can know Scripture and not the power of God. And, conversely, you can know the power, without really knowing the Scriptures. And it seems that Jesus is say...  Read More

Mark 11:17Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?” God loves the nations! He loves different cultures, countries, and languages. He enjoys various colors, clothes, and smells. He honors all manner of music, dancing, and customs. He esteems an assortment of foods, traditions, and stories. He loves it all. And He particularly relishes when it all comes togethe...  Read More

Mark 10:43-44Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. The mark of greatness is a servant’s heart. Servants are not esteemed, if anything, they are overlooked and taken for granted. They are not thanked. They are not appreciated. And, if they are servants, they don’t require special treatment. They do what they do, because the...  Read More

Mark 9:38Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us? Sometimes churches can get so tribal. We develop strong group loyalty, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But as we see in verse 38, and following, Jesus transcends any one group. He is bigger than our sects and creeds. He is larger than our revivals and movements. He is n...  Read More

Mark 8:35For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life from my sake and the gospel’s will save it. This is a phenomenal principle. Please get this—You can win the battle and lose the war. Or you lose the argument and win the friend. Do you see how that works? Whatever you do in the small, the opposite can happen in the large. Whatever you win today, you can lose tomorrow...  Read More

Mark 7:6This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Sometimes we care so much about the outside, and not very much for the inside. But then there are others who care about the inside, while the outside doesn’t look so great. Which would you rather have? If we had to pick, I pray we would go with the latter one every time. Losing respect is sometimes the path to inner pea...  Read More

Mark 6:38How many loaves do you have? The answer was five loaves, and two fish. Not much. But if you pass it through the hands of Jesus… he can multiply it. All it takes is a little imagination. They took the little they had & PASSED IT THROUGH THE HANDS OF JESUS! “Oh, the need is so great, and my resources are so small.”  If I give… it won’t make much difference. If I give… what will I have left ...  Read More

Mark 5:30Who touched my garments? This is one of my favorite things Jesus ever said: Who touched my garments? His disciples are like: What are you talking about? Everybody is clamoring over you. Pulling and tugging. Ripping and tearing. And you’re asking who touched me? Yes, somebody touched me. The difference? The crowd was there out of novelty. The woman was there out of need. Her touch was diff...  Read More

Mark 4:38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. The waves were beating against the boat, the water was filling the vessel, and his disciples were freaking out. This was it. They were going to die. Yet, there was Jesus, sound asleep on a pillow. I want that kind of peace. I want that kind of confidence. I want that kind of faith. When everything is breaking apart, I’m asleep because I know...  Read More

Mark 3:7Jesus withdrew. Technology has allowed us an incredible level of connectivity. Whether it be email, texting, social media, messenger, FaceTime, you name it, we’ve got it. If you want to stay connected it’s easy. However, if you want to disconnect it’s hard. But, every once and awhile, I think it’s healthy. When the demands of life got hot and heavy, Jesus withdrew. And if Jesus withdrew, w...  Read More

Mark 2:27The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a gift. A day to stop and catch your breath. A day to refresh and repose. A day to regain your rhythm. A day to take a deep breath and relax. It’s a gift from God to mankind. However, what kind of gift is it when it’s obligatory? Under such expectations, it ceases to be a gift entirely and becomes a burden. A demand. A ...  Read More

Mark 1:3Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Isn’t this what the entire Bible is about? Yes, that’s exactly what it’s about.From Genesis 3 to Mark 1 there are a symphony of sights & sounds. Genealogies & Geographies.Tabernacles & Temples.Laws & Decrees.Poets & Prophets.Songs & OraclesStories & Sermons.Conflicts & Wars.Empires & Exiles.Plots & Intrigues.… all employed to prepare th...  Read More