God's Word For Every Day

“Many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more … ” ( Mark 10:48 ). There were many people who tried to silence blind Bartimaeus. Here was the voice of prayer – and they were saying, “Shut up’! Thank God – he didn’t shut up. He shouted out. They more they said, “Shut up”, the more he shouted out. Because our praise is loud, that doesn’t mean that it’s real – but what kind of worship if we can hardly burst a paper bag! Let’s lift up our voices to the Lord. Why? Because we want to be loud? – No! There’s something much more important than how loud we’re singing. It’s this – how much we are lifiting up our hearts to the Lord. We read the story of blind Bartimaeus, and we ask the question: Who was really blind – Bartimaeus or the people who were trying to shut him up? They could see Bartimaeus, but they couldn’t see that he was doing the one thing that really mattered. He was calling upon the Lord. They were busy criticizing him. He kept on calling on the Lord...

“Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant … For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” ( Mark 10:43 , 45 ). Do you want to be the Lord’s servant? Remember that He is your Saviour. Do you want to serve the Lord? – You must be saved by Him before you can even begin to serve Him. When we think of Jesus as God’s servant and say, “I will serve God the way Jesus served Him”, we have missed the point of Jesus’ words: “the Son of Man” came ”to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus’ service is defined by the giving of His life as a ransom for many. We can never give our life as a ransom for many. Only Jesus can do that for us. Where does our life of service begin? – It begins at the Cross of Christ. It begins when we say, “I cannot serve You. I can only be saved by You.” That’s where the life of service begins. It begins with being saved by the Lor...

Mark 2:1-17 "He was speaking the message to them" (Mark 2:3) - and there were "signs following" (Mark 16:17). Preaching and miracles: we see this pattern in Mark 1 - preaching (Mark 1:14-20), miracles (Mark 1:21-34,40-45). In Mark 1:39, we see both - preaching and miracles. Along with preaching and miracles, there is prayer (Mark 1:35). In Mark 2, there is forgiveness of sins (Mark 2:5) and healing for the paralyzed man (Mark 2:11-12). Notice which comes first - forgiveness. Jesus is saying, 'This is about more than the legs.' What is He saying to us? We need more than physical health. "So long as you have your health" - This isn't the full story. We need to have our sins forgiven. Only Jesus can do this for us. When we read about the call of Matthew, known before his conversion as Levi (Mark 2:13-14), we learn about how life can be turned around by Jesus. Levi, Evil, Live The story of Levi is to become our story. Like Lev...

Mark 2:13-3:12 Jesus changes people. Levi became Matthew (14). He became 'a new creation' (2 Corinthians 5:17). The change of name marked his new birth (John 3:6). To be changed by Jesus you must recognize yourself as a sinner (17). There is a world of difference between legal obedience - 'old wine' - and Gospel obedience - 'new wine' (21-22). There is an eternity of difference between belonging to God's Kingdom and remaining outside of His Kingdom (John 3:3,5,7). The religion of the Pharisees was legalistic. The obedience of Jesus was spiritual. Will we follow Jesus, or will we be like these 'religious' men who planned 'to destroy Him' (6)? It is sadly possible to participate in 'religion', professing faith in 'the Son of God', in an 'unclean spirit' (11). Prompted by the Holy Spirit, let us truly confess that 'Jesus is Lord' (1 Corinthians 12:3). Mark 3:13-35 The conflict intensifies. Th...

Mark 4:1-34 God's Word carries this message: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says ...' (9; Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22). We must listen for the voice of the Spirit. Grace has been ' given' to us (11). It is God's gift . To God be the glory! Sadly, some refuse to listen. Think about your response to God's Word (15-20). Let your light shine (21-23; Matthew 5:16). Use your gifts, or lose them (24-25). We preach the Word. God gives the growth (26-29; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7). A small child can count the seeds in an apple. Only God knows how many apples there are in a single seed! God's Word is a 'seed' which bears much fruit (30-32; 1 Peter 1:23-25). Parables whet the appetite - for more! They were given to people 'as they were able to hear it' - 'a starter' (33-34)! May we be 'visual aids' to whet people's appetite - for God! Mark 4:35-5:20 Jesus was sleeping because He was tir...

Exodus 20:21-21:32 So many instructions - Don't get bogged down in details. Remember this: We do not live by an ethic of legalism. This is an ethic of redemption (20:1-2). Forget the God of redemption, and you have nothing but a lot of rules and regulations. Become obsessed with rules and regulations, and there will be no room for the Redeemer and His redemption. 'Earmarked' for Jesus, we are to 'serve Him for life' (6). No turning back! We are bound to Him by love - not law! What love He has for us! Verse 30 speaks of 'ransom' and 'redemption': What great words of the Gospel (Mark 10:45; 1 Peter 1:18-19)! 'Eye for eye...' (24) - This limits vengeance. Remember: Love is the answer - not vengeance (Leviticus 19:18)! Let Christ's love give you strength - to keep on serving Him (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:6). Exodus 21:33-22:31 We travel from grace to glory - from 'Egypt' to 'the promised land'. In ...

Exodus 27:20-29:9 The 'lamp' was 'set up to burn continually ' (27:20) - 'May we be a shining light...Let the flame burn brighter ...' ( Songs of Fellowship 389; Mission Praise , 743). A 'royal priesthood', we have been called by God - to let His light shine (1 Peter 2:9). He has called us to serve Him (28:1 John 15:16; Acts 20:28; 13:2; 9:15; Hebrews 5:4). The divine call is accompanied by a divine empowering - 'the Holy Spirit sent from heaven' (1 Peter 1:12). We are precious to God - Our 'names' are written on His heart (9-12,21,29-30; Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; John 10:3). In Christ we are cleansed (29:4 1 John 1:7), anointed (29:7; 1 John 2:27) and robed (29:5-6,8-9; Isaiah 61:10). In Christ, we have 'the best robe' (28:2; Luke 15:22; Revelation 7:9-10,13-14). In Him, we are 'consecrated' by the Word and 'anointed' by the Spirit (28:3,41; John 17:17; 14:16-17, 26; 16:13-14). Exodus 29:1...

Exodus 35:1-36:7 The work of God is shared by many different people with many different gifts. The work is done according to (a) the Lord's command (35:1,4,10; 36:1,5); (b) heartfelt obedience (21; 36:3,5-7); (c) the God-given abilities (24-25; 36:2,4,8). There is something for 'everyone' to do - everyone 'whose heart is stirred whose spirit is moved' (21). Many gifts are needed (31-35). Underlying them all, there is this: 'filled with the Spirit of God' (31). In God's work, there is to be 'full' obedience. When we are fully obedient, there will be 'an overflowing blessing' (Malachi 3:10). 'The people bring much more than enough ...'. There 'was sufficient to do all the work, and more ' (36:5,7). God is ready to bless. Are we ready to obey? 'If my people...I will...'(2 Chronicles 7:14). 'Always abounding in the work of the Lord' (1 Corinthians 15:58)! Exodus 36:8-38 Moses may have...

“Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” (Mark 11:9). Blessing is in Jesus. Blessing comes to us through Him. There's no direct route to God's blessing without going by way of Jesus. He is "the Way, the Truth and the Life." We come to God the Father through Him (John 14:6). When we are deeply aware of our sin, we rejoice in this: There is one God and one Mediator between God and us, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for us all" (1 Timothy 2:5-6). 

“Have you never read the Scripture passage: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it is amazing for us to see’?” (Mark 12:10-11). Jesus is the Cornerstone of our faith. We build on Him, the solid Rock. He’s the sure Foundation. He died for us. He was raised again for us. What great things the Lord has done for us. To Him alone be all the glory!

"Jesus ... was deeply hurt because their minds were closed" (Mark 3:5). "Whoever curses the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He is guilty of an everlasting sin" (Mark 3:29). "Whoever does what God wants is My brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:35). These are challenging verses, They call us to be open to the life-changing love of Christ, to draw back from the evil way of unbelief and disobedience, to allow the Lord to change us into "new creatures In Christ Jesus" and inspire us to live as "a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

"Com e and see what God has done ... Come and listen, all who fear God,   and I will tell you what he has done for me ... Let everyone give thanks to You, O God. " (Psalm 66:5,16; Psalm 67:3). If we want to see what God has done for us, what's the best place to look? - The Cross of Christ. This is where we will see how much the Lord has done for us. This is where we will see how much the Lord loves us.  When we come to the Cross of Christ, we come to look and listen. From the Cross, Christ speaks to us some wonderful words.  Here are some of His words:  * "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34). Here, we see Jesus taking our sin upon Himself.  * "It is finished" (John 19:30). Here, Jesus declares that He has completed the work that needed to be done for us to be saved.  * "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). Through Jesus' death for us, we re...

Mark 13:7-8 7  “When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, don’t be alarmed! These things must happen, but they don’t mean that the end has come. 8  Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes and famines in various places. These are only the beginning pains of the end . Wars, earthquakes, famines - What are we to make of such things? Jesus says, "Don't be alarmed." Many people look at the terrible things that happen in our world - and they lose their faith. They find it hard to rediscover their faith. Everything seems to come back to this - 'Terrible things are happening. I don't know what to make of it all.' How can Jesus say to us, "Don't be alarmed"? He looks beyond what's happening now. He looks on to "the end." We see the mess that our world's in. He sees God's eternal Kingdom. He's calling us to lift up our eyes. He's calling us to see things with his eyes...

The power of the Lord Jesus is seen in His miracles. It is the power of His love. His power is sen in His resurrection. This power is the power of life. Life triumphs over death. When we seek power for ourselves, we do not glorify the Lord. There is power in humility. We recognize that we are without power. We acknowledge that real power comes from the Lord. This power reaches out, though us, to others, when our actions show the love of Christ to them. We are to pray for the power of the Lord  to be at work in us, keeping us close to the Lord. The way in which the Lord changes us:it starts from the inside, and works its way out, to shape our way of life.

As we read of the feeding of the five thousand, our thoughts turn to the Lord's Supper - Jesus blessed the food, broke it and gave it to everyone. "All of them ate as much as they wanted" (Mark 6:42). In the Lord  Jesus Christ - the Bread of Life, there is more than enough for everyone.

"Their unbelief amazed Him" (Mark 6:6). The Lord has done so much for us. Why do we persist in unbelief? There is no real answer to this question, other than this: "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Our unbelief may be amazing. His grace is so much more amazing. It is also amazing that the Lord should choose sinners like us to carry forward His work (Mark 6:12-13).

"When Herod listened to John, he would become very disturbed, and yet he liked to listen to him" (Mark 6:20). There are people who like to listen to God's Word, but they refuse to be changed by God's Word. Listening to God's Word is of no value, if it doesn't lead to being changed by God's Word.

Mark 1-3 Jesus came, preaching the Kingdom - but He did more than just preaching. He demonstrated the Kingdom His Word was spoken with power - the power of God. We see this in His mighty miracles which declare the coming of the Kingdom among us. The coming of God's Kingdom was a mighty victory over the kingdom of Satan. Those who walk in the will of God walk in the Lord's victory over Satan. Mark 4-7 To read a few chapters of this Gospel is to be made aware of how extraordinary Jesus is. His teaching and miracles proclaim Him as the Son of God. Nevertheless, His power is not released where there is a "lack of faith" (chapter 6). The Gospel calls us to faith. We are to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way of victory over the devil. This is the way of true happiness (chapter 7). Through Christ, we are able to hear the Word of God and speak the Word of God (chapter 7). Mark 8-9 In these chapters, we see Jesus looking ahead to His death and resur...

Mark 16:1-20 "Who will roll away the stone ... ?" (Mark 16:3) - They were looking for men to do this. God had already done it! "Jesus was crucified. Jesus is risen" (Mark 16:6).   "Go, tell His disciples and Peter " (Mark 16:7). "He is going ahead of you" (Mark 16:7) - Jesus is already ahead of us. He's leading us into the future He's already prepared for us. "just as He told you" (Mark 16:7) - The Lord is leading us on to His eternal glory. This is the fulfilment of His promise (John 14:1-3). This leading on into the future is seen in the life of Peter. His sin is left in the past. He's led on to Christ's future. He's no longer remembered as Peter, who denied the Lord. He's Peter, the evangelist. In Peter, we see preaching and power (Mark 16:20).

Mark 1:1-20 This was a new beginning (Mark 1:1), but it was based on what had gone before (Mark 1:2-3). Those who speak of Jesus Christ, their Saviour, are "voices crying in the wilderness", but their ministry is blessed by the Lord (Mark 1:3,5).   We must  never forget this, and we must pray that we will be like John - pointing away from ourselves to Jesus (Mark 1:7-8). Whatever the world may say, we need more of Jesus, not less of Him. If we're going to have more of Jesus, we need more of the Word of God. How can we get to know, love and serve Jesus better, if we're content with keeping everything shallow?  The Spirit of the Lord descends whenever our chief focus of attention is on God's "beloved Son" (Mark 1:9-11). It will not be easy to keep our attention on Jesus. It wasn't easy for Jesus. It won't be easy for us (Mark 1:12-13). John had been "arrested" (Mark 1:14). Would it be any easier for Jesus? Will it be a...