Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Oct 11, 2022, 7:57 AM
Passage Read: 1 Timothy 5-6
Meditation Verses: 6:2-3
Thought
There are many things taught in Scripture that men today consider backwards, and that is their excuse to turn away from such teachings. A slave serving well, especially if his master is a believer? The master should free the slave! How dare the Bible support slavery! Yet, that is what it says, because slavery is neither good nor bad. What is bad is how we treat one another. The excuse that we're so far past things taught in the Bible, like equality for women, that we can't go back to what the Bible teaches, that flies in the face of what Paul says here.
Oct 10, 2022, 7:58 AM
Passage Read: 1 Timothy 3-4
Meditation Verse: 3:6
Thought
An overseer must not be a novice, or else he will become puffed up and fall into the devil's own judgment. The devil exalted himself to be equal with God, refusing to follow God's orders, even though he cannot actually go against anything God requires. Yet God gives him freedom to reveal exactly who he is and why he is worthy of judgment. The same is true for us: We have freedom to sin and prove that God is just in His judgment of us.
Oct 9, 2022, 8:00 AM
Passage Read: 1 Timothy 1-2
Meditation Verses: 2:1-4
Thought
We are to pray for rulers and authorities and all men, that we might lead peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. This is pleasing to God, who desires that all men be saved and know Him in His fullness. Praying for leaders has our peaceful lives lived in godliness in view, that is the goal. And that goal is connected to helping people understand God in truth and perhaps even be saved.
Oct 8, 2022, 8:03 AM
Passage Read: 2 Thessalonians 2-3
Meditation Verses: 3:14-15
Thought
These are strong words from Paul. What he has written, he expects everyone to obey, and if anyone doesn't obey it, we are not to associate with that person. If anyone does not obey what Paul has written, they are to be cut off from fellowship. Paul's writings had better be God's Truth, if we're to break fellowship over someone's disobedience to them. And so we must accept that what writings we have of Paul's, they must be God's will for us to obey.
Oct 7, 2022, 8:04 AM
Passage Read: 1 Thessalonians 5 - 2 Thessalonians 1
Meditation Verses: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-14
Thought
Paul tells the Thessalonians to know and understand and appreciate those who labor in their midst, who lead them in Christ and who warn them. These are their leaders and they're trying to protect and instruct and guide them. They are setting an example that the other believers should also follow. They too should warn the disobedient, comfort those who fear, hold on to the weak and be long-suffering towards everyone.
Oct 6, 2022, 8:06 AM
Passage Read: 1 Thessalonians 3-4
Meditation Verse: 4:1
Thought
Paul calls the Thessalonians to keep working on doing better in Christ. They know the commands he gave when he was with them, and he reminds them to keep doing them and to do them even better. He never says that sin is a hindrance to their ability to walk in holiness, but that they are to work all the more at walking in holiness. Sin is a hindrance and so they should work all the more at putting it down and walking in God's ways.
Oct 5, 2022, 8:07 AM
Passage Read: 1 Thessalonians 1-2
Meditation Verses: 1:4-5
Thought
Paul doesn't say in what way the power showed, but he does mention their full assurance in the midst of suffering persecution. Likely he also was able to do miracles, but the fact that they would believe and not fall away when their neighbors persecuted them for their faith in Christ is also a pretty big demonstration of the power of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. So God willing to do miracles in the lives of those who believe is a clear sign of His choosing of them.
Oct 4, 2022, 6:59 AM
Passage Read: Colossians 3-4
Meditation Verses: 3:1-2
Thought
Paul gives a lot of commands in these two chapters, especially in this one. And these commands are not easy for people who like themselves and want great things in this life. These commands require humility and the surrender of self and self will. Any earthly ambition has to be given up. Any earthly demand has to be surrendered. So, interestingly, Paul starts with this command, to set our hearts and minds and hope fully on things above.
Oct 3, 2022, 7:00 AM
Passage Read: Colossians 1-2
Meditation Verses: 1:4-5
Thought
The Gospel is supposed to include the hope laid up for us in heaven, and it is that hope that moves us to love the saints and hold fast our faith in Christ. The hope of heaven should be a chief motivating factor in our life in Christ! Our attention and our hope need to be fixed on heaven, according to Paul, and if it is, we are more inclined to trust Christ and love the brothers in real and deep ways, even radical ways.
Oct 2, 2022, 7:02 AM
Passage Read: Philippians 3-4
Meditation Verse: 3:17
Thought
Paul lived among the Philippians in such a way as to be an example to them. He expected them to copy his way of life. In fact, he lived deliberately in such a way so that they would understand how they were supposed to live as Believers. He set a high bar, but we're all called to be like him, to care more for others knowing Christ than for riches or wealth or comfort or possessions. He didn't require everyone to be itinerant missionaries, but he expected everyone to live as he lived among them. He was taking pains to set an example for them to follow.
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