Category Archives: Devotions

The Bible Book of the Month Club The Gospel of Mark — Mark 10:33-53

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Today is Mark 10:32-53 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Verses 43-44

If I truly want to be like Jesus, I must serve and give my life away. When I follow Him, my ways, my thoughts, my desires, and ambitions must go. My life is no longer about me, but Jesus.

The world says “follow your heart”, but Jesus says “pick your cross and follow me.” The world says “listen to your truth,” but Jesus says, “I am the way the truth, and the life.” The world says, “acquire wealth, recognition, and self fulfillment.” Jesus says “serve and give up your life.”

We must choose. The world’s way seems right, but it ends in death. The Jesus way is the only way to abundant life.

What is God showing you today in our scripture? Post it below. 👇👇👇

Let The Little Children Come

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“When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today I find the words of Jesus to be so comforting. Jesus loved the children.

Our family has suffered a great loss this past week. My great niece, Kinsley, drowned in an accident. She was 2 1/2.

Even though we are left with such sadness, we are assured that Jesus loves and welcomes children.

The moment Kinsley left us here on earth Jesus welcomed her just as He did the little children 2000 years ago. The Word says, “He took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” I can picture Jesus doing the same with sweet little Kinsley. He took her in His arms, where she will never have to leave, and is blessing her now and throughout eternity.

Jesus will welcome us too as He did the little children and little Kinsley. But we must come to Him. He is our only hope for an eternity of peace in His presence that is filled with His blessings.

Have you come to Him as the little children did, seeking His touch and His blessing?

The Bible Book of the Month Club The Gospel of Mark — Mark 9:30-50

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Today is Mark 9:30-50 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

We are born selfish. Our tendency is to figure out how to put our thoughts, our desires, and our feelings first. Our world tells us to “live our own truth”, “follow our hearts”, and “chase our dreams.” The disciples exhibited this selfish nature as they walked along the road arguing with each other over who was the greatest.

Jesus told His disciples the way to greatness in His kingdom. “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” The nature of a servant is to serve and to give up their selfish ambitions in order to please their master.

Life is not about the positions we attain, but the pursuit of Jesus. His Lordship means we give up ourselves, listen to His Word and obey it fully. We serve Him and those whom He puts in our path to serve. This is greatness in His Kingdom!

What is God showing you? Post it below 👇 👇👇

(Tomorrow’s reading is Mark 10:1-31)

The Bible Book of the Month Club the Gospel of Mark — Mark 9:1-29

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Today is Mark 9:1-29 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

“…’This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!’”

Webster’s 1828 dictionary definition for “listen” —“To obey; to yield to advice; to follow admonition”

God speaks, but do we listen?

I have tried to picture what it would have been like to see Jesus in action over 2000 years ago. It would have been incredible! Imagine going up the mountain, as Peter, James, and John did with Jesus. Think about what it was like to see what they saw.
In that moment they heard God speak. God tells them who Jesus is, His son, then He gives them a command…”Listen to Him!”

Hearing God and obeying what He says is important!! However, I have lived a lot of my life with it not being a priority. God tells us to “listen to Him!” Listening is not simply hearing God by reading our Bibles or going to Church. It is taking the Words we have heard and applying it to our lives by obeying it, yielding to it, and following it! Listening to God is making His Word the priority of our lives.

Of all the things God could have said in that spectacular moment that Peter, James, and John experienced on that mountain top, God spoke the most important words of all! “Jesus is my Son! Listen to Him!”
God is speaking these Words to us today!

What is God showing you today? Post it below 👇 👇👇

(Tomorrow’s reading is Mark 9:30-50)

The Bible Book of the Month Club the Gospel of Mark — Mark 8:22-38

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Today is Mark 8:22-38❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

In 1991, Steve Camp wrote a song called “Consider the Cost.” One phrase from it’s lyrics has stuck with me through the years. “To give all that you are for all that He is, this is the gospel according to Jesus.” There is so much truth in that statement.
In verses 34-37, Jesus plainly states that if we want to be His disciple, we must take up our cross and follow Him. To take up our cross is to let our plans, our will, our thoughts, our desires, die so His can live in us. It is losing our selfish self life, letting it die, so that the life of Jesus can be lived in us. It is as the lyrics of that song proclaimed — “giving all that we are for all that He is.”

A few years ago I was at a decision in my spiritual journey… my way which was producing death, darkness, and destruction, or Jesus way which would require that my way would be nailed to the cross to die. When I chose Jesus way and not my own, dying to myself, I finally experienced peace.

The only way to a vibrant and fulfilled life is to “take up your cross and follow Jesus. Lose your life to gain His!”

What is God showing you? Post it below 👇👇👇

(Tomorrow is Mark 9: 1-29)

The Bible Book of the Month Club the Gospel of Mark — Mark 8:1-21

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Today is Mark 8:1-21 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

In Jesus, there is abundance for every need. Two times the crowds were in need for physical food and Jesus provided. What was it that Jesus used to provide the need? It was ALL the disciples had. Jesus took what was given to Him, a few loaves and fish. He not only provided a meal for a crowd, but leftovers that displayed His generous provision.

He is the same today as He was yesterday, and He will be the same forever. We can come to Him with what we have, all of us. He will work the miraculous in what we offer up to Him with generous abundance!

What is God showing you today? Post it below 👇👇👇

(Tomorrow’s reading is Mark 8:22-38)

The Bible Book of the Month Club the Gospel of Mark — Mark 7:24-47

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Today is Mark 7:24-37 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

“After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus…” verse 33

I love how Jesus took time for the individual. He interacted with them. The man who was deaf and could not speak could have been healed in a manner of seconds with Jesus’s touch, but Jesus took him aside. He gave the man one on one attention.

Jesus is personal. He is all about connecting with “the one” i.e. you and me. He loves to take us aside, away from the crowd, to be with Him in a deep, personal, and intimate relationship.

What is God showing you in these verses? Post it below 👇👇👇

(Tomorrow is Mark 8:1-21)

The Bible Book of the Month Club The Gospel if Mark — Mark 7:1-23

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Today is Mark 7:1-23 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

“…These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Verse 6)

Years ago there was a commercial for American Express credit card. It listed all the benefits of their card and ended by asking this question, “What’s in your wallet?” I keep thinking about these words this morning but changed slightly, “What’s in your heart?”

Jesus gives us a clear indicator of what is in our hearts. It is what is coming out of them. It is what is reflected in our actions and words each day. If we are angry, prideful, anxious, hateful, etc…, we can be assured that our hearts are full of anger, pride, anxiety, hate, etc. If we display the characteristics of Jesus — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control, our hearts are full of Him.

Jesus saw the religious people of His time. They were “doing all the right things”, obeying their man made rules. But their hearts displayed what was truly inside, evil. We do the same.

A few years ago, I went to church and tried to live morally right, but my heart had drifted far from God. This was because I refused to let Him have my heart, empty it of the sin inside, and fill my heart with Him. What came out of me reflected that.

What’s in your heart? It’s coming out of you — in all you think, do and say.

What is God showing you today? Post it below 👇👇👇

(Tomorrow’s reading is Mark 7:24-37)

The Bible Book of the Month Club the Gospel of Mark — Mark 6:1-29

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Today is Mark 6:1-29 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

“They took offense at him…He (Jesus) was amazed at their lack of faith…”

“When Herod heard John he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.”

Hardness of heart… This passage displays this condition well.

Imagine what it would have been like to see Jesus as He walked on the earth. I would like to think I would be one of the ones hanging on His every word. But there have been times that I have not lived that way. I have taken offense at His Word. I have lacked faith. I have had hardness of heart towards God’s Word. It is a miserable way to live.

The account of Herod and John points to another case of hardness of heart. Herod enjoyed listening to John speak. He knew John was a prophet and feared him. He knew John was righteous and holy. But Herod, in order to please others and save his own reputation, ordered John’s execution. We can know what is good, right, and holy, but in order to preserve ourselves and our ways, reject it all.

Reading these passages increases my desire to have a heart that is soft and tender towards God — listening to what He says in His Word, obeying it fully, and following His ways alone!

What is God saying to you today? Post it below 👇 👇👇

(Tomorrow’s reading is Mark 6:30-56)

The Bible Book of the Month Club the Gospel of Mark — Mark 5:21-43

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Today is Mark 5:21-43 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

“She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭5‬:‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Desperation! A woman who had suffered much from a bleeding issue pressed through a crowd. She had hope that somehow she would come into contact with the Jesus she had heard about. She knew if she could just “touch his clothes” she would be healed.

What impresses me about this account is that she had tried everything to be better and had only grown worse. I can relate to that. One time I tried to calculate the amount of money I spent trying to fix myself and the anxiety that I suffered with: professional counseling, meds, self help books I purchased, subscriptions to Headspace — eastern meditation app, gas to drive to the counseling sessions, over $700 on a workshop that offered a cure (15 years ago I haven’t checked its price now), coloring books to distract me from my anxious thoughts, the list could go on… AND what I was suffering with did not get better. It grew worse.

All I really needed was just reach out to Jesus. He had paid the price for me to be free long ago on the cross. When I finally came to an end of myself and my ways and I came to Him, I was healed.

What is it that needs a miraculous touch in your life? Jesus has power flowing out of Him that can free you from your suffering. Come to Him in faith believing He can!

What is God showing you today in our reading? Share it below 👇 👇👇

(Tomorrow we read Mark 6:1-29)