153rd Week, Mark Into - Chapter 3

 

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Monday, Mark Intro

Mark Intro

Tanya Ruden

Mark was written by John Mark. He was a Jew and was not one of the 12 disciples, but he did accompany Paul on his first missionary journey. The book was probably the first Gospel written. The other Gospels quote all but 31 verses of Mark. This book records more miracles than any other Gospel.

Mark 10:45 states, “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.” This is the message of Mark. It was written to encourage Roman Christians and to prove beyond a doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. Mark presents a rapid succession of vivid pictures of Jesus in action-his true identity revealed by what He does, not necessarily by what He says. It is Jesus on the move.

Mark takes us directly into Jesus’ public ministry. We see Jesus confronting a demon, healing a leper, and forgiving and healing the paralytic lowered into Jesus’ presence by friends. The book continues with Jesus’ teachings and the commissioning of the disciples to spread the Good News everywhere. 

Jesus continued on the move feeding 5,000 and reaching out to all. The book climaxes with the Last Supper, the betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection.  Mark shows us Jesus — moving, serving, sacrificing, and saving!!! As you read Mark, be ready for action, be open for God’s move into your life, and be challenged to move into your world to serve.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, may the Holy Spirit move in our hearts as we read and digest the book of Mark. May we remind ourselves of the miracles Jesus did and how He came to save the loss. I pray that we would be moved to serve others in some special way during our study. We look forward to walking the steps that Jesus walked. Oh, how we love HIM. AMEN

Tuesday, Mark Chapter 1A (Verses 1-19)

Mark 1

Verses 16-18

Verses 16-18: As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men,” At once they left their nets and followed him.

THOUGHT

One thing that always amazed me was how eager the disciples were to follow Jesus. As Mark states, Jesus calls His first disciples, and they leave their nets and go. How many of us would ever do this, even in our daily lives? Can you imagine leaving your profession, your family, your future plans you had to follow Jesus — to allow Him to guide your life, no looking back or hesitation? 

I can’t imagine this. The accountant in me is organized and analytical. I would have to graph the effects and think it through.  That is not really a good example of faith. Doesn’t God call us to live as the disciples — giving our lives to Him to guide and to do with what He wishes? May we have faith like the disciples to follow Jesus — and fish for men.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, give us faith to live our lives fully surrendered to You. May we be like the disciples, and when You call us, we listen and are anxious to stop what we are doing and follow You. Help us to be spontaneous in our lives, knowing our best laid plans aren’t necessarily Your plans. AMEN

Wednesday, Mark Chapter 1B (Verses 20-45)

Mark 1A

Verses 41-45

Tanya Ruden

Verses 4l-45:  Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”  Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cured.  Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning.  ”See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”  Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

THOUGHT

Can you imagine Jesus doing something for you and telling you what to do after the action, and you intentionally defy him?  I know the leper was excited he was healed; and it would be hard to keep a secret, but there was something he had to do first.  Later he could lay low and not tell anyone. 

It is amazing to me, and yet I know as a parent and as a former child, there were many times when children are defiant of their parents. How often do we do wonderful things for our children?  We may ask for something in return or we may reward a great behavior with a wonderful thing.  We may get no thanks or bad behavior, not the great behavior that received the reward. May we be conscious of our gratitude behavior and live that way each day because everything we have is a gift from God.  We should live according to His will with good behavior every day.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, may we have an attitude of gratitude each and every day! May we never be disrespectful to You through our behavior. You do so much for us and ask so little in return. Help us live each day with thanks and praise. AMEN

Thursday, Mark Chapter 2

Mark 2

Verse 17

Verse 17:  0n hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

THOUGHT

This verse struck me today.  I think because it is so true. My kids began an Awana program this year at a church different from my own. One thing that is strongly encouraged/required is to invite a friend to come. I was thinking of all our friends (and the girls’ friends), and obviously because this is not at our own church, there are many families we could invite.  However, that is not the purpose, to invite the people we know go to church, but to minister and invite the unchurched. 

Sierra has just started kindergarten and has met so many kids.  I am sure many of them are unchurched - what an opportunity. These are the friends we need to invite. But again, this is not an easy task.  Sierra wants to be accepted at school, not made fun of, etc. I need to pray the Holy Spirit will begin His work in the friend’s heart she wants to ask. 

The same needs to happen in our circles of friends.  So many of our friends are probably believers, because we have met them at church.  However, we all work, and that is probably the #1 place to minister.  I know at my place of employment that there are several nonbelievers.  May our ‘hanging’ with sinners (as Jesus did) lead us not to conform to them, but minister to them.

PRAYER

May the Holy Spirit work with us to minister to nonbelievers.  There are so many in our mist, and we miss many opportunities to minister to them.  May we act as Jesus did and not ignore places where we can minister, but embrace them.  Help us stand up with courage to invite friends to events at church.  May we share the love of You to others even if we are nervous or scared.  Please take that feeling from us.  May the Holy Spirit begin His work in many people’s hearts so they will be accepting of You. AMEN

Friday, Mark Chapter 3

Mark 3

Verses 25 & 35

Tanya Ruden

Verse 25:  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Verse 35:  Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.

THOUGHT

I am sure many of you have seen those license plates or posters that say “a house divided”, and they have a picture of 2 different state schools (ISU & IU or here it is K-State and KU). This verse made me think of these comparisons. It is fun to have some rivalries among friends.  Can you imagine if this was your family, and they were die hard football fans?  The home atmosphere may not be all that peaceful.  I realize this is an extreme, somewhat silly example, but this house would be no fun to be in. 

God calls us to have environments pull together, encouraging one another, compromising and working together. Without this, the “house” becomes a terrible place to be, and it will not be held together. This is not always an easy task to do. Many times we have to ‘give in’, forgive when we know we were right and hold our tongue.  These actions show love to our “brothers and sisters” and help keep the house together.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, may we be rocks in the foundations of the homes in our lives. May our presence in places be a source of peace and not a source of division or conflict.  May we treat each person in our surroundings as our family. AMEN