Mark 12:29-31

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Personal Challenge

The expectation that Jesus has for His followers can be summed up in this passage. He has given us two commandments to live our lives by. Everything that happens in our daily walk can be addressed with these commandments. If we put God first by loving Him will all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we are laying the foundation to live godly and righteous lives. When we follow this one by loving our neighbors as much as we love ourselves, then everything that we do will be encouraging and edifying to those around us. These are two very easy commandments to understand, and yet two very difficult commandments to live out. That is why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to lead us through our journey of life, hopefully learning to live these commandments better each day. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Mark 12:27

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.

Encouraging Words

All of the great men who have formed religions and who still have followers today have died and are laying in the grave, except one. Jesus was executed as an innocent man and rose from the grave on the third day. He is alive as is the Father and the Holy Spirit no matter how much naysayers try to purport otherwise. Beyond this, our God is the God of the living and not the dead. Jesus, in His resurrection, destroyed the bonds that death had on us and has set us free to once again experience eternal life. Glory be to God!

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

If we are ever given the opportunity to be in a position of authority over other people, we can easily begin to understand what Jesus is saying in this passage. Our world believes that leaders must be strong, overbearing, and expect their contingency to serve them. We often see teachings of servant leadership pop up but they often still teach that it is a practice of getting others to do what you want them to do. God’s concept of leadership, as demonstrated by Jesus, is to truly become a servant to others, especially those whom you have authority over. If we serve them and do what we would want them to do, then they too will go down the path that we are willing to go. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

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

As humans we will typically resort to looking at things through our finite, human eyes and understanding and projecting that upon God. Many of the teachings of Jesus make it sound like no person will ever make it into the Kingdom of heaven. Which is true, if we try to do that on our own accord. It is only through God, His grace and mercy, that we will transition that abyss between the temporal and the heavenly. That is why Jesus was incarnate and gave His life for us. Glory be to God!

TRUSTING IN RICHES

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

It is so easy to take our eyes off of our Lord and put them on the riches of this world. These riches can easily become the gods in our lives and lead us away from God. Maybe this was part of the reasoning behind Jesus persistently telling us to give away our wealth. The tighter we hold on to the things of this world, the more we will be impacted when we lose them. God does not perceive wealth as bad, but what we do with it that can be bad. We need to always remember that our true wealth is in heaven and not here on earth. 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

A question that I should always be-asking myself is, “Am I still salty?” If we have grown stale in our Christian walk, then we will not be adding the honor of God into the lives of the people in our lives. Our relationship with God should always be changing us and causing us to grow deeper on Him. Through this, the saltiness of our lives will be refreshed and we will be flavoring the lives of those around us.

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

Once again, we have Jesus turning the wisdom of the world upside down. His disciples, as so many today, were arguing about which one of them would be the greatest in His Kingdom. I can see it now. “I answered more of His questions right than anyone else!” “I was the first one that He selected!” “He gets into my boat more than yours?” “I have…” But Jesus tells them this doesn’t matter. He wants us to be willing to put others first, to be servants rather that masters. Do we willingly step aside and let others go before us? Do we take the seat in the back of the room so that others can have the better seat? Do joyfully do His work without seeking recognition and praise? If we do these things with pure hearts and motives, and not false piety, then we are serving others and Christ. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Mark 9:23-24

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Personal Challenge

Sometimes I think this is my favorite passage in the Scriptures. Here we have a man whose son is very sick. He had brought him to the disciples hoping that they could heal him. They couldn’t. Then he asked Jesus to heal him. Once again, Jesus reminds us that our faith plays an active role in His work of miracles in our lives. The father proclaims what I have felt so many times in my life. “Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief!” We need to reach out to Jesus to help us believe in Him. We need to trust Him. We need Him to lead us though our valley of disbelief. Glory be to God!