Read the Bilbe in a Year (15OCT31)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, October 15’s Bible reading is Mark 1-3.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, October 16’s Bible reading is Mark 4-5. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD

MARK Introduction 

Mark’s gospel is so named due to him being recognized as the author of this book by some biblical scholars, but his book is also held as having an anonymous writer by others. The Gospel of Mark is believed by some scholars to have been the first of the four gospels written around 55 A.D., while others place its authorship between A.D. 66-70. Mark, also called John and the son of Mary (Act 12:12) was the cousin of Barnabas.

Mark is the shortest of the four gospels, but he gives a lot of details into Jesus’ ministry and the miracles that He did. His gospel is held to be written from the view of Peter’s eyewitness account. One-third of Mark’s gospel is spent telling about Jesus’ last week on earth leading up to His resurrection.

MARK MOMENT – (15OCT19) “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way’— ‘a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’” (Mark 1:2-4). The Prophet Isaiah had prophesied centuries prior the John the Baptist’s arrival about his coming to prepare the way of the Lord. He was a voice crying in the wilderness to tell people to repent and turn away from sin. John was not concerned about popularity, but he was focused on ushering people to God in preparation for His Son’s arrival on the scene. John was the cousin of Jesus, and he took his mission seriously when it came to calling out sin. He did not wear the latest clothes or concern himself with material possessions. His clothing was made of camel’s hair and he wore a leather belt around his waist. He did not have the finest foods but ate a diet of locusts and honey. Even though John was related to Jesus, he did not consider himself as an equal, but declared that he was not worthy of even tying up the sandals that Jesus wore. John the Baptist was a man of humility who came in the spirit of Elijah, and Jesus called him a great prophet. The Bible says: “This is the one about whom it is written: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” ((Matthew 11:10-11).

We as Christians are called to be a voice in the wilderness as well as to prepare the way for the Lord’s return. The wilderness for us is the lost world that has grown increasingly dark. In the wilderness otherwise known as a desert, it is known to not have much water or the best place to grow food. Likewise, the world is suffering from there being a famine of the Word of God. Although, there are churches on many street corners, people are still being lost and dying in their sins. This is why we must show them how to get to the Living Water and the Bread of Life.  The Bible says: “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them’” (John 7:37-38). Jesus is also the Bread that we are to feast on daily as well as show the world to do the same. Within the Lord, there is the foundation for Life in the Spirit. Let us show the world that even though they may be in the wilderness, there is Manna for their soul. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (15OCT19) “When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Mark 2:16-17). Jesus had a mission to win the lost wherever they could be found. He went around those who were looked upon as the unredeemables and taught them about the kingdom of God. The religious leaders thought that they had it altogether when it came to the matters of God, so when they questioned Jesus about His choice of associates, they felt that they were in a position to dictate such matters. Nevertheless, Jesus let them know that He was there to help the spiritually and physically sick to get well.

The church is to be a hospital for the sick to come so that the Great Physician can heal their souls. The problem that we must ensure is that the doctors and nurses are not the ones making the patients sick. The doctors, those in the 5-fold ministry, and the nurses, those who are Christians laboring for Christ, are an important part of the sick getting well. Sometimes, we get sick too, but we are more knowledgeable in the things of God and know He can make us well more than those who are just coming into the knowledge of who He is. Therefore, let us be mindful and take great care to help the sick, lost, wounded, and suffering to get well by showing them the love of Christ on the inside of us. The Bible says: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14). Something to ponder….

MARK MOMENT – (15OCT19) “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.  When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’  And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons’” (Mark 3:20-22). Jesus was always challenged by the religious leaders when they saw Him healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons, teaching on God, and associating with the rejects of their day. Nevertheless, Jesus took it in stride and continued to do the will of His Father for which He was sent. Unfortunately, not only did Jesus have to deal with the religious leaders not believing in who He was, but His own family thought that He was crazy. His mother, Mary, knew who Jesus was, but His siblings thought that He had taken a leave of His senses. They did not support nor acknowledge Jesus as being the Son of God until after He had gone to the cross. When His family came to talk to Him, Jesus posed the question to the crowd as to who His family was. He told them that those who do the will of His Father was His mother, brothers and sisters (Mark 3:33-35).

The Word lets us know that we are the family of God. The Bible says: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). It is sometimes difficult for those with whom we are related to to accept the God in us. They too may look at us as if we need to be in strait jackets and locked up in the farthest mental institution away from society. Living for Christ does not always make sense to the nonspiritual. The Bible says: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Jesus’ siblings eventually accepted Him as the Son of God, but it took a while before that happened. Oftentimes, we must step back and just pray for our family instead of actively pursuing them. Our prayers can do what we are unable to do ourselves, and it may not always be us who will win them over, but God may use someone else to be the evangelist that they are more receptive to. Therefore, do not take it personally if you are not the one to catch the fish (your family), but be glad that there is a fisherman nearby whose net they will willingly go into. God will use you to catch other fish, while He sometimes uses someone else to catch yours. That’s why as the family of God, there is no need for competition. We are all striving towards the same goal – to win the lost. Something to ponder….