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Mark 10:43-45

Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Personal Challenge

This passage comes at the conclusion of James and John asking Jesus if they could be seated on His left and right in the kingdom of heaven. How often do we do the same in our relationship with our Lord. We go to all the services for the week and then look to God to bless us. We pontificate on all the “knowledge” that we have acquired expecting people, even God to be in awe of us. We “desire” to be seated at the head of the table for who we perceive that we are. Jesus reminds them, and us, that if we want to be first in line in heaven, seated at the head of the table, then we must be servants to all, submissive to all, in our life here on earth. It is never about us, but about Him and our neighbor. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 Chronicles 16:34 (1 Chronicles 16:35)

And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;
And deliver us from the Gentiles
To praise Your holy name,
And boast in Your praises.”

Encouraging Words

David was proclaimed to be a man after God’s own heart. Reading, through his psalms you will see that he treats God like his best friend. He argues with him. He praises Him. He spends lots of time with Him. In that kind of relationship he can easily call out to God for this His protection and salvation all the while proclaiming praises for his God and boasting of his greatness. Glory be to God!

Mark 10:27

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

Encouraging Words

There is nothing that can prevent God from doing what He desires. Even the laws of nature must obey Him and bend to his will. If we believe this, then why do we doubt him? We can trust him to lead us through life and making do it possible for us what He asks of us especially if the request is beyond our capability. With God all things are possible. Glory be to God!

2 Kings 6:16 (4 Kingdoms 6:16)

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are greater in number than those who are with them.”

Encouraging Word

It is so easy to slip into a state of despondency and fear when life gets rough and it begins to feel like the enemy is closing in on us. But there is no reason to despair if we trust in our God. As Elisha pointed out to his servant, the army of God far out numbers and out powers the army of the enemy who is attacking us. We must pray that our eyes will be opened to see His army and our hearts will be softened to trust in Him. Glory be to God!

Mark 10:24-25

And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Personal Challenge

We only have one avenue by which we can enter into the kingdom of Heaven. That is Jesus Christ. We so often let other things get in the way of this truth and begin to count on them as our way into Heaven. It may be our earthly wealth that we have acquired, whether money or that which we have invested our money in. It might be the knowledge that we have pursued or possibly the position that knowledge provided for us. Nonetheless these are all things of this world and will always come between us and God if we do not keep our eyes on Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 Kings 22:5

Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Ask the Lord today.”

Personal Challenge

One of the characteristics of the saints in the Old Testament that are presented as true followers of God is what we see in this verse. They stop what they are doing and ask God if this is what He wants them to do. We need God to be directing our steps. We need Him to be our guide. Here is Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, refusing to make an important decision without reaching out to God first. Glory be to God!

Mark 9:49-50

“For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”

Personal Challenge

We have all encountered those times, whether in our own lives or through our relationships with others, where the question of why God allows suffering in our lives. This is a universal question and for some, a stumbling block. We must always remember that we still live in a fallen, broken world. Pain and suffering still exists here. The question is really how do we use the pain and suffering in our lives to glorify God? There are so many images of how we must go through trials to be refined. The sharpening of a knife means being ground against a stone. The refinement of precious metals means going through fire to burn off the chaff. God truly does want the best for us, and from us. He uses the trials of this fallen world to make us better and more like His Son. It is up to us to yield to the Master’s hand. Glory be to God!

1 Kings 18:17-18 (3 Kingdoms 18:17-18)

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Are you the one who is troubling Israel?” Elijah answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but rather you and the house of your father, in that you forsook the Lord your God and followed after the Baals.

Personal Challenge

Isn’t this pretty much how we are all in our lives. We do things that create consequences that we do not like. Then we immediately look to someone else to blame for our troubles. Just like Flip Wilson of old, we proclaim, “The devil made me do it.” There are always consequences for our choices. Good choices produce good consequences. Bad choices produce bad consequences. We most stop looking for others, especially God, to blame for the troubles that we are experiencing because of our own choices. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Mark 9:33-35

Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Personal challenge

Oh, how often we have conversations and dialogues amongst ourselves where we pontificate on how much we know about God and His ways. Sometimes we do this in groups, face to face. Sometimes virtually in blogs, podcasts, and other means. We express the wisdom that we have acquired by our own means and hold it up as if they were words spoken by God Himself. Then Jesus comes along and asks us, “What were you discussing or disputing?” In His presence we realize that our opinions and expressions of self-gained knowledge mean nothing in the eyes of God and we go silent. Maybe it would have been much more wiser and prudent to have stayed silent all along. Jesus reminds us, even chastises us that it is better to strive to be last in line than fight for being first. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner!