Category: Uncategorized

Mark 3:6
   The Herodians here mentioned cannot be easily identified. However, it seems the most likely scenario was that they were a sect of the Sadducees. These had some special connection with Herod, being funded, approved, or simply recognized by him. Herod did see himself as a model Jew, though we was anything but.

Bible Reading: Acts 25:1-27:44

Scripture Memory: Jude 1:3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your tremendous truth! Your Word is so applicable to our lives! How can we ever mine the depths of what we find there? Give us your wisdom so that we may see your truth for our lives. Thank you for being so wonderful. Thank you for Christ! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man who is sick. Pray for a woman who is sick.

Journal Entry #15063

Mark 3:5
   Many people would like to tell us that Jesus doesn’t get angry. Well, that’s obviously not the case. What was he angry about? Hardness of heart. What exactly does that mean? Jesus has already given us a good idea of it in the previous verse. These men would rather see the traditional interpretations of the law followed than to see this man healed. What coldness! What self-righteousness!

Bible Reading: Acts 22:1-24:27

Scripture Memory: Jude 1:2 “Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your love for us. You do have our best interests at heart. Everything you have ever done is good, holy and just. You have chosen to love us in spite of our sin in that you have made a way of escape. You have given us the path of life through your Son. May we never forget your grace! We will praise you daily for your loving-kindness. Your truth is a mercy, and your love is overwhelming. Thank you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man who is having trouble with his diabetes. Pray for a woman with a sore throat.

Journal Entry #15062

Mark 3:4
   This is one of those questions of Jesus that just flabbergasts his detractors. They have no way of responding to this because they don’t want to illustrate their error any further. The obvious answer, and their resistance to it, just shows the evil of their own hearts.

Bible Reading: Acts 20:1-21:40

Scripture Memory: Jude 1:1 “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for another wonderful day to serve you! You have given us all that  we need in this life. May we live to worship you each day. We will praise you with our mouth. We will serve you with our hands. May every part of our life be yours! To live for Christ is such a joy. May we make a difference in this world by living for him before others. Give us a love for others by our love for Christ. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man who is not well. Pray for a man with bad knee pain.

Journal Entry #15062

Mark 3:3
   Jesus was evidently teaching, or sitting in a place of prominence. Thus, he asks the man to ‘come forward’ so to speak. Jesus was not interested in a show, but he wasn’t about to avoid this conflict. Most everyone present probably knew the man was there, and to avoid healing him would be an admission of the sentiments of the Pharisees regarding healing on the Sabbath.

Bible Reading: Acts 18:1-19:41

Scripture Memory: Beginning tomorrow I plan to go through a quick review of Jude, 1 John and James.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for Christ! It is all about him. Through our whole lives he is what matters. How we live for him is the measure of our existence. You have set him before us all as the answer. He is the One for us to look to , to trust, to worship, to serve. The lost man must ask himself what he will do with Christ, and the saved man must ask what he will do for Christ. We must lift his name high. The first Adam has no solutions for us, and so we must rely on the second Adam. Thank you for life in him! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a woman going to the doctor this week to have her lungs and heart checked. Pray for a woman who is not feeling well.

Journal Entry #15061

Mark 3:2
   They were purposely waiting to see if Jesus would do anything. This reveals the rebellion in their hearts. They wanted Jesus to slip up, to be caught in something. Why? Jealousy. Ignorance. Worldliness. Their system was finely tuned and perfected, they didn’t want anybody rocking the boat.

Bible Reading: Acts 16:1-17:34

Scripture Memory: James 5:20 “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for this great day to worship you. You have given us so much! How can we thank you enough? The security we find in Christ is wonderful. May we live to find all we need in him, not the things of this world. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for pastors today. Pray for a man in the hospital.

Journal Entry #15060

Mark 3:1
   Mark gives us many examples of the love of Christ for people in contrast to an empty religiosity. This is really quite an applicable message. Jesus’ teaching transcends the traditional approach of mankind. He is totally righteous, while at the same time not being even a step out of touch with reality. He needs no monastery, temple, mountain, or other sanctuary to make him holier. He is God in the garden just as much as he is in the Jewish temple.

Bible Reading: Acts 14:1-15:41

Scripture Memory: James 5:20 “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for faith. Faith gives us that rock-solid assurance that the Christian life revolves around. It gives us a sure footing for our lives. How can we overestimate the importance of faith in our lives? Knowing you is the most vital thing for any of us, and we do this by faith. You are so wonderful to know! I am glad that you have made faith possible and have revealed the truth about yourself. Thank you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for many who have cancer. Pray for the lost.

Journal Entry #15059

Mark 2:28
   As Jesus had recently established the fact that he had the authority to forgive sins, he also lets these men know that he has complete authority over the Sabbath. It would properly be a day set aside to worship him, as God, anyway. Thus, he could indeed allow anything he wanted on the Sabbath. The disciples really didn’t need any special permission to do what they had done, but if they had, he would have been more than in the right to give it to them.

Bible Reading: Acts 11:1-13:52

Scripture Memory: James 5:20 “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for today. You give us so many blessings! How can we ever thank you or praise you enough? You help us in every area of our lives. Thank you for the Lord Jesus! Knowing him is the most important thing to us. Help us to remember your faithfulness and to be faithful servants to you because of it. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for our national leaders. Pray for the persecuted church around the world.

Journal Entry #15058

Mark 2:27
   What does Jesus mean by this? The fact is that the Sabbath was instituted much like circumcision. God did not command early mankind to keep the Sabbath. Nor did he give such a command to Noah and his progeny. Yet, that the seventh day was and is special is obvious from as far back as the first week of earth’s existence. God rested on that day and made it special because of it.
   Jesus is saying that the Sabbath was made as an institution, a command, for the Jewish people, that was meant to be a blessing, and not a curse. Though those Jews who early on failed to observe the Sabbath were killed, this does not mean that mercy has no place on this day. As Jesus points out in another place, if the ox is in the ditch on the Sabbath, it is fine to pull the poor thing out. Like circumcision, the observation of the Sabbath and the operation of the temple associated with it were required for the law system. However, as the Apostles made it even more clear later, Jesus had come to fulfill the law. So, many parts of the law system are no longer in force. Such as circumcision, which is very clearly not required anymore.
   The Jewish leaders had come to create all kinds of rules and regulations about the observation of the Sabbath. Thus, much of their idea of what was not allowable was drawn from their traditions, and not from the law. Regulated piety is generally a show because it leaves out the attitude of the heart. A submissive, contrite, and obedient heart will not be rejected by God. But a heart full of the wrong motives, and even downright rebellion, will not be accepted, no matter how many rules are observed.

Bible Reading: Acts 9:1-10:48

Scripture Memory: James 5:20 “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us all that we need to serve you. You don’t expect us to try to live our lives as Christians all on our own, but yet you give us the ability to live our lives as Christians. Thus, the strength, the love, the virtues that are needed are all from you, but you have set them in our hand that we may use them as we serve you. May every movement of our lives be for your honor and glory. May we live in such a way that others will glorify you, and not notice us. Let us live humbly that we may live godly. You are worthy of our every praise and thanksgiving! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for travelling safety for those that must be on the road today. Pray for a man who is very sick. Pray for a man who needs physical rehab. Pray for woman with cancer.

Journal Entry #15057

Mark 2:26
   In this example Jesus makes it clear that what was done was not lawful, and yet it was allowed and not condemned afterwards by God. Thus, Jesus shows that, as he clearly says in Matthew 12:7, mercy outweighs sacrifice. The concern that we find throughout the Old Testament is that the Jews had neglected the mercies of the law and had gone after idols. In Jesus’ day the preoccupation with idols was gone, but it had changed forms in that the same stubbornness was now attached to an empty religiosity.
   Some may object to this passage on the basis of the reference to Abiathar. Ahimelech was the high priest it seems at that time rather than Abiathar. However, just as with the kings of the divided kingdoms, there is overlap with fathers and sons, name swapping, and the like going on with the priesthood through out the history of it. This is nowhere more obvious than in Jesus’ own day where the office of the high priest had come to be bought and sold because of the rule of the Romans.

Bible Reading: Acts 7:1-8:40

Scripture Memory: James 5:19 “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, may we always understand the blessedness of being your servants. When we try to make life fit our plans it always runs out. We cannot control our circumstances, but in Christ we can be happy in them. Joy in the Lord is possible no matter how crazy the day gets. We must remember to Whom we belong and serve Him faithfully. Thank you for your manifold blessings and care for us! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a woman looking for a job. Pray for a man who recently came home from the hospital.

Journal Entry #15056

Mark 2:25
   Jesus begins to remind the Pharisees of the story of how David and his men partook of the hallowed things.Notice his question. He asks if they had ever read this passage, which is of course a rhetorical question. They had no doubt read it, but obviously they had misapplied it or misunderstood it. This is one of many occasions in which Jesus corrects the Jewish leaders very specifically from Scripture.
   Notice the qualifications given here. David and his men were in need. They had a lack of food, and were not sure where or when they might obtain it. They hungered. They were at that present moment in need of something to eat, being weak from their journey. I do not call these justifications, but qualifications. There was not a need for David to try to justify breaking the law, but to qualify for God’s mercy, which brings its own justification. Salvation is the same. The sinner is guilty before the law, but qualifying for the mercy and grace of God, he is justified and made guiltless.

Bible Reading: Acts 5:1-6:15

Scripture Memory: James 5:19 “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we act as if trusting you is such a difficult task. And, indeed, our flesh finds it hard. But, it is truly quite easy. When we consider your faithfulness, trusting you is the easiest thing we can do. When we consider your love, trusting you is the easiest thing we can do. When we consider your mercy and grace, trusting you is the easiest thing we can do. When we consider your plans for our future, trusting you is the easiest thing we can do. When we consider your holiness in contrast to this evil world, trusting you is the easiest thing we can do. When we consider everything about you, Almighty God, trusting you becomes a simple task. Thank you for you! You are so wonderful! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a woman who just had a baby. Pray for a man in a nursing home. Pray for a baby that is not feeling well.

Journal Entry #15055