BibleTrekToday.com

Year: 2015

  • “Could you not keep watch one hour?”

    Scripture reading for February 27th:  Mark 14

    Following the Last Supper, Jesus and the remaining eleven disciples went out to the Mount of Olives.  They went to spend the night with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.   The name of this garden indicated it was an ‘olive press’ where oil was squeezed from the olives grown there.  It would be the place where Jesus sweat great drops of blood as He wrestled with fulfilling the will of God.

    Prior to coming there, Jesus had prophesied, “You will all fall away, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”  (Mark 14:27-28)  Peter had protested that he would remain faithful, no matter what the others might do.  Jesus told him plainly that he, too, would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed.

    Jesus asked His disciples to sit with Him while He prayed.  He took Peter, James and John and made a special request of them.  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” He said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”  (Mark 14:34)   Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father,” He said, “everything is possible for You.  Take this cup from Me.  Yet not what I will, but what You will.”   (Mark 14:36)   When Jesus returned to where they were, He found these close followers sleeping.  He particularly spoke to Peter, “Could you not keep watch for one hour?  Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”  (Mark 14:37-38)

    Prayer is a wrestling match with our flesh.  One of our greatest needs is to watch and pray each day.  Jesus is coming again!  Depend on the Holy Spirit to help you to pray!

  • The coming of the Son of Man!

    Scripture reading for February 26th:  Mark 13

    As Jesus and His disciples were leaving the temple for the last time, the disciples were admiring the beautiful buildings.  Jesus remarked that, “Not one stone will be left upon another, every one will be thrown down.”  (Mark 13:2)  This shocked the disciples and they asked Jesus when this would happen and what would be the signs that this prophesy would be fulfilled.  Jesus proceeded to warn them about their need to be watchful and the signs to come!

    “Watch out that no one deceives you.”  (Mark 13:5)  Jesus warned them that deception would come and many would fall for the false instead of waiting for Him.  Many would claim to come as the Christ.  Wars and earthquakes, conflict with nations, and famines would precede the coming as the ‘beginning of birth pains.’   (Mark 13:8)

    “Brother will betray brother to death and a father his child.  Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”  (Mark 13:12-13)  Times would become perilous for disciples of Jesus.  Persecution and hatred would be normal for His followers before the end and His return.  Jesus warned them in advance!

    “But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’  At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  And He will send His angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.”    (Mark 13:24-27)  We who believe in Jesus Christ long for that Day!

     

     

  • The most important commandment!

    Scripture reading for February 25th:  Mark 12

    As the earthly ministry of Jesus came to a conclusion, He was questioned by the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  Their goal was to trap him and Jesus knew it.  (Mark 12:15)  These religious leaders were hypocrites! They claimed to love God and love their neighbor, but they were seeking to kill Jesus.  He was the Son of God and their neighbor!   Jesus answered their questions and amazed them at His simple wisdom and ability to answer.

    One of the teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12:29-31)  Jesus answered this teacher with simple truth and the man agreed!  Jesus told him that he was not far from the kingdom of God.

    This man was close, but still could not get into the kingdom by keeping this great commandment.  Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, perfectly loved God.  He demonstrated this love by keeping all the commandments.  He, alone, has loved God with all His heart, soul, mind and strength.  He, alone has loved His neighbor as Himself!  In faith in Jesus Christ we are given the righteousness that we need to enter the kingdom of God.  (2nd Corinthians 5:21)  Strive to love God and obey Him but believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and given the keys to God’s kingdom!

  • “Have faith in God!”

    Scripture reading for February 24th:  Mark 11

    Jesus entered Jerusalem on Passover week to the cries of “Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”  (Mark 11:9) He went to the temple and looked around, taking note of the activities there.  Since it was late, He went to Bethany to the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha.  As they walked back into Jerusalem the next day, Jesus saw a fig tree and went to see if it had any fruit on it.  He saw it had nothing but leaves, because it was not yet the season for figs.  “He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”  (Mark 11:14)

    Jesus went back to temple and cleaned house!  He drove out the money changers and those who were buying and selling there.  “And as He taught them, He said, “Is it not written:  “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’”?  But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”  (Mark 11:17)   The purpose of the temple was to invite all nations to come to God and find Him as their source of comfort, healing, and hope.  The religious leaders had made it into a market,  hindering the multitudes from finding God.

    On the way back into town after another night in Bethany, the disciples saw the fig tree was withered from the roots.  “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.  “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  Faith in God brings supernatural results!

  • “Who then can be saved?”

    Scripture reading for February 23rd:  Mark 10

    “People were bringing their children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, He was indignant.  He said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  (Mark 10:13-15)

    Jesus again impressed on His disciples their need to welcome children and the attitude that was required of all men to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Religious pride can easily trap followers of Jesus.  Into this setting a man came to Jesus and knelt before Him with a question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  (Mark 10:17)   Jesus pointed this man to the commandments of God.  This man was confident that he had kept them all from youth.  Jesus looked at this man with great love and said, “One thing you lack, go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow Me.”  Mark 10:21

    Jesus welcomed this man and loved him, but when the man heard what Jesus required of him, he left sad, because he did not want to part with his great wealth.  He failed to have the child-like attitude necessary to receive the kingdom.  When the disciples heard this, they were amazed and asked each other, “Who then can be saved?”  (Mark 10:26)  Jesus plainly told them that man cannot save himself, but God makes salvation possible for all!

    We cannot work for salvation, and no one can be good enough!  Even giving our money away will not buy heaven!  We must follow Jesus and trust in His gift of eternal life!

  • Disciples arguing about position!

    Scripture reading for February 20th:  Mark 9

    Peter, James, and John got to go up on the mountain and see Jesus transfigured and meet with Moses and Elijah in their glorified state. While up there, the other disciples tried to cast a demon out of a child and failed.  Jesus rebuked them and finished the exorcism.   Jesus continued their instruction concerning His coming death and resurrection.  None of them understood and they were afraid to question Jesus about this.

    Instead, on the way to Capernaum, they got into an argument about who was the greatest!  Jesus was aware that they were arguing and called them all sit down for more instruction.  “He took a little child and had him stand among them.  Taking him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever welcomes on of these little children in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me does not welcome Me but the One who sent Me.”  (Mark 9:36-37)  These disciples had argued among themselves and now admitted that they had rebuked a man who was driving out demons in Jesus’ name because he wasn’t one of them!  Jesus wanted to get their attention with the little child as an object lesson.

    “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to b e thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”  (Mark 9:42)   There is no room for religious pride among the followers of Jesus.  There will be many different people that may not be in our group who love Jesus.  Rebuking them or hindering them because of feeling superior could send us down the wrong path!  Check out your heart!  “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”  Mark 9:50

  • Losing to win!

    Scripture reading for February 19th:  Mark 8

    “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.  He spoke plainly about this, but Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.”  (Mark 8:31-32)   After performing another notable sign, the healing of the blind man, Jesus began to question His disciples about who people said He was.  He then asked them who they thought He was.  Peter had answered, “You are the Christ.”  (Mark 8:29)  Jesus then began to teach them about His mission of suffering and death.  Peter, thinking that He would stop Jesus or impress Him, began to rebuke Him!

    Jesus was teaching His followers that fulfilling the mission of God was the way to true victory!  We can’t just have it our way and think the way men do.  Peter was guilty of playing into Satan’s hand and often so are we!  When we only want the blessings of following Christ,  but reject or rebuke Jesus when He asks us to lay our life down for Him we are thinking like mere men.  In God’s economy the way to real life is to give up our worldly thinking and think like Jesus!  He was sold out to do God’s will and we are the benefactors of eternal life!

    “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”  (Mark 8:34-36)

  • Honor with the lips only!

    Scripture reading for February 18th:  Mark 7

    “So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”  He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:  “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.  They worship Me in vain; their teaching are but rules taught by men.”” (Mark 7:5-7)

    Jesus and His disciples were always under scrutiny from the religious establishment.  Jesus did not back down when they confronted Him about keeping their traditions.  They majored on the traditions but had missed the commands of God that pointed them to acts of mercy and service.  Their greed was behind some of these traditions!  Jesus pointed to the commandment to honor your mother and father and another teaching of Moses that anyone who would curse father or mother should be put to death.  These Pharisees instructed people that if they gave money to them for ‘God’s work’, they did not have to help their father and mother!  (Mark 7:9-13)  They had nullified the command of God by their tradition!

    Jesus went on to teach that what really made men ‘unclean’ was not failing to wash their hands!  “Listen to Me, everyone, and understand this.  Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him.  Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean’. . . For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slader, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” (Mark 7:14-15, 21-23)  Let’s check our hearts today!  Only Jesus’ blood can cleanse the heart!

  • Consequences of a lack of honor!

    Scripture reading for February 17th:  Mark 6

    God deserves honor because of who He is!  Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God, and because of who He is, deserves to be honored.  When Jesus visited His hometown of Nazareth with the disciples, people began to judge Jesus by what they knew of Him.  They knew Him as a “carpenter” and as “Mary’s son”.  (Mark 6:2-3)  This reference to “Mary’s son” probably referred to the fact that they knew that Joseph married his wife when she was already pregnant.  This brought a sense of shame and illegitimacy.  They also knew His brothers and sisters by name.

    We can define someone by their job or title and really not know them.  We can also define someone by their family lineage and miss who they really are.  This was the case with Jesus Christ!  “Jesus said to them, “Only in His hometown, among His relatives and in His own house is a prophet without honor.”   He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And He was amazed at their lack of faith.”  (Mark 6:4-5)

    The humility to know Jesus Christ as God’s Son comes from revelation by God.  To receive this revelation, we must not be critical of judgmental, but humble and teachable.  As we look at the miracles that Jesus was able to do elsewhere, humility of those needing the miracle is evident.  Jairus, the synagogue ruler, fell at Jesus’ feet and pleaded earnestly with Him to come and heal his daughter.  (Mark 5:22-23)  The woman with the issue of blood honored Jesus by just touching the hem of His garment.  (Mark 5:29)  Each receive their miracle by honoring Jesus!  If you need a miracle, honor Jesus by humble worship and prayer in faith!

  • “Don’t be afraid, just believe!”

    Scripture reading for February 16th: Mark 5

    Jesus was always on the move, going from place to place as the Spirit led Him.  He was approached by a synagogue ruler who had a daughter who was deathly ill.  “Seeing Jesus, he fell at His feet and pleaded earnestly with Him, “My little daughter is dying.  Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”  So Jesus went with him.”  (Mark 5:22-24)  This man was a religious leader, but his attitude was one of humility and pleading with Jesus for His help.  This indicated that he had faith that Jesus could and would help with this desperate situation.  Jesus honored his faith by going with him.

    On the way, a woman with an issue of blood that had tormented her for 12 years sought out Jesus to touch his clothes.  She believed that if she could get close enough to touch Him, she would be healed.  “Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.  At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from Him.  He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”  (Mark 5:29-30)  She admitted that she had touched him and Jesus responded that her faith had healed her!

    In the meantime, servants notified Jairus that his daughter had died and told him not to bother Jesus.  Jesus had simple advice, “Don’t be afraid, just believe.”  (Mark 5:36)  Jesus arrived at the house to find many mourners crying and wailing.  He announced that the child was not dead but asleep!  They laughed at Him and He put them all out.  Taking his trusted disciples, Jesus took the girl by the hand and commanded her to get up.  She arose at His command!  Don’t fear–only believe!