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
Jul 31, 2023, 8:08 AM
Passage Read: Luke 11-12
Meditation Verses: 12:32-34
Thought
Jesus is so radical! Sell all I have and give to the poor? Provide purses for myself that will not wear out, treasure in heaven? My heart will be in whatever I treasure? So if I treasure the things of earth, my heart will be settled on earth. But if I really trust that the kingdom of heaven will be given to me, that I will have some possession, perhaps even a great possession, in heaven, trusting so much that I willingly give away all I have on earth and live to do good as Jesus defines, then my heart will be settled in heaven.
Jul 30, 2023, 8:09 AM
Passage Read: Luke 9-10
Meditation Verse: 9:26
Thought
Jesus has said a lot of things that are hard to accept. There are things all over Scripture that are hard to swallow, but all come from God. Especially when the society around me rejects such teachings. But Jesus warns that if I am ashamed of His teachings, He will be ashamed of me when He returns in glory. He says this on the heels of two warnings about losing my life, so this shame is most likely to be understood in the same way: If Jesus is ashamed of me, I am doomed.
Jul 29, 2023, 8:10 AM
Passage Read: Luke 7-8
Meditation Verses: 7:37-38
Thought
This woman is pretty amazing. She had led a sinful life and everyone knew it--everyone knew her sin. Yet she was willing to come to where Jesus was, knowing there were many people there. And she humbled herself to so great a degree, weeping at Jesus' feet, wiping them, kissing them and anointing them with perfume--making such a spectacle of herself! And surely not only Simon, but many people were thinking what Simon was thinking.
Jul 28, 2023, 8:12 AM
Passage Read: Luke 5-6
Meditation Verses: 6:27-31
Thought
This is a hard teaching. I have to love people, even evil people, more than I love my stuff. So much so, that if someone wants to rob me, whether it's to deliberately to attack me or just a random act, I let them take what they want. I pray for them, I bless them. I don't demand back what was taken, I don't fight to keep what is mine.
Jul 27, 2023, 8:13 AM
Passage Read: Luke 3-4
Meditation Verse: 3:18
Thought
This is John, preaching the "good news:" Repent! "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance!" And the crowds ask, what should we do, and he gives very specific advice for each kind of person who comes to him. And many come to him! He speaks of Jesus coming to winnow and gather His wheat into His barn, but burn up the chaff. And Luke calls this preaching the good news!
Jul 26, 2023, 8:14 AM
Passage Read: Luke 1-2
Meditation Verses: 1:50-52
Thought
God's mercy is for those who fear Him, not for those who don't. The arrogant, those who are proud in their thoughts, not necessarily in deed, He will scatter; they will be overthrown. But the humble, who recognize how great God is, those He will lift up and honor and protect and provide for.
Jul 25, 2023, 7:08 AM
Passage Read: Mark 15-16
Meditation Verse: 16:14
Thought
The Eleven didn't believe Jesus had risen from the dead, even though several among the rest of the disciples saw Him. His own chosen apostles didn't believe the testimony of others, even though He had told them ahead of time that He would rise. Rising from the dead is so far out of our ordinary experience, that it is hard for anyone to believe without proof! His disciples finally believed when they saw Him with their own eyes.
Jul 24, 2023, 7:10 AM
Passage Read: Mark 13-14
Meditation Verse: 13:34
Thought
Jesus has gone away for a time, leaving several servants in charge, and each servant has his assigned task. They do not all have the same task, though there may be several with the same task so they can work different shifts or oversee different groups of servants. But there is at least one assigned to watch the door, to watch for the master's return. We're all supposed to keep watch, but each servant is supposed to carry out his assigned duty, with an eye to the return of Christ.
Jul 23, 2023, 7:11 AM
Passage Read: Mark 11-12
Meditation Verse: 12:12
Thought
They understood that Jesus had spoken that parable against them, and their response wasn't repentance but murder! Solve their problem by removing the one who pointed it out...which only confirms that their problem is real! Instead of repentance they chose elimination of the messenger. That doesn't correct their problem, so they only confirm and assure their judgment. But there are many that are determined to live in sin, and nothing anyone says or does will change that.
Jul 22, 2023, 7:12 AM
Passage Read: Mark 9-10
Meditation Verse: 10:21
Thought
This man wanted to know how to inherit eternal life, and Jesus pointed him at the Ten Commandments. Astonishingly, the man claimed to have kept them since he was a child, and Jesus didn't disagree with him! He, however, wasn't satisfied with that answer, otherwise he wouldn't be asking Jesus this question now. Jesus saw that there was something missing: It's apparently pretty easy for a rich man to keep the commandments when he's determined to, because he's in a pretty blessed and safe situation.