The Bemenderfers - Mark's Personal Devotions

August 20, 2026

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:52:00 +0000

Passage Read: Mark 7-8 Meditation Verses: 7:1-2 Thought Nowadays, we'd call this basic health and safety. Wash your hands before eating, because you've touched all kinds of things, and you have no idea what you've picked up along the way. As God, Jesus would know that, but He never bothered to teach His disciples such basic cleanliness rules. More than that, He knew this confrontation was coming.

August 19, 2026

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:40:00 +0000

Passage Read: Mark 5-6 Meditation Verses: 6:1-6 Thought These people thought they knew Jesus, because He grew up among them. They knew Him as the carpenter. They knew His mother and father, His sisters and brothers. Because they knew His upbringing, they couldn't understand how He now knew so much about God and His Word. He hadn't been away from them for very long, certainly not long enough to now have authority to teach in their synagogue.

August 17, 2026

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 14:18:00 +0000

Passage Read: Mark 3-4 Meditation Verses: 4:38-40 Thought This is convicting. How many things do I worry about? How many things am I afraid of, things that may go wrong (or not), things that may cause me trouble (or not). Jesus' disciples were in a real storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. They were all afraid, even the fishermen who knew the sea best. They could very well drown.

August 16, 2026

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 13:51:00 +0000

Passage Read: Mark 1-2 Meditation Verse: 1:34 Thought The demons recognized Jesus and would tell it freely, so Jesus would not permit them to speak, and they obeyed. More than that, He would cast them out of those who came to Him, and they could not refuse. They did exactly as He instructed, but the leper Jesus healed a few sentences later couldn't keep quiet in spite of Jesus' stern warning to tell no one.

August 15, 2026

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:16:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 27-28 Meditation Verses: 28:18-20 Thought All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, and He commands His disciples to make more disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything He commanded them, for He resides with those who do so. That should give every one of us great confidence to teach God's Word in truth and faithfulness.

August 14, 2026

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:54:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 25-26 Meditation Verses: 26:38-41 Thought Jesus knew it was time, and He was grieved to the point of death. He could ask His Father for twelve legions of angels to protect Him. He could flee and miss His appointment with torment and death. The anticipation of what was coming was incredibly heavy. He knew He needed to talk with His Father and gain the strength and assurance to do what needed to be done.

August 13, 2026

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 23-24 Meditation Verses: 24:9-13 Thought Times are coming when everyone will hate those who call themselves Christian, followers of Christ. And they won't just hate us, they will attack and torment us. It won't be just followers of other religions that hate us, but everyone, even our own family members will betray us to torment and death. No wonder Jesus says that some will turn away from the faith.

August 12, 2026

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:26:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 21-22 Meditation Verses: 22:5-7 Thought The Lord is jealous even for His servants. In the Parable of the Vineyard, slaves are mistreated and killed, then the owner sends his son, and he too is killed. This parable doesn't mention the son, except as the one getting married, but the servants are still mistreated and killed.

August 11, 2026

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:34:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 19-20 Meditation Verses: 19:16-22 Thought We want to know what good thing we can do to gain eternal life. Just give me one magic deed, one act that can guarantee my salvation. And Jesus gives it to him: Obey God's commandments. Which sounds like works-based salvation, but it's not. Jesus is actually pointing to a lifestyle change based on belief and trust in God and who He is.

August 10, 2026

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:19:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 17-18 Meditation Verses: 18:32-35 Thought The Lord is willing and able to restore a debt He has forgiven. This is a warning to me and every other believer, that we forgive from the heart our fellow man or woman, especially those who plead with us for forgiveness, just as we have pleaded with God for forgiveness and received it from Him.

August 9, 2026

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:09:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 15-16 Meditation Verses: 16:11-12 Thought The influence of ungodly religious leaders is great, and we all need to be careful of their false teachings. Jesus likens their teachings to leaven, which imperceptibly spreads all through a loaf of bread and changes the texture and quality of the bread. It becomes big and fluffy, because it's full of many small air pockets.

August 8, 2026

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:27:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 13-14 Meditation Verses: 13:11-12 Thought To understand the Word of God requires God's grace and mercy, which He clearly does not grant to everyone. It is a gift from God to be able to hear and understand His Word. Yet there is an expectation that all who have ears should hear what the Lord is saying. It should be every person's priority to understand the words of the Lord.

August 7, 2026

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:06:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 11-12 Meditation Verse: 12:45 Thought Jesus characterizes the generation in which He preached as unbelieving, though there were crowds that followed Him! As many as believed in Him, there were far more who heard but didn't believe, even among those who followed Him around for a time. But this conclusion is more frightening than the rest:

August 6, 2026

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:58:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 9-10 Meditation Verses: 9:1-2 Thought Seeing the determination of these men for their friend, Jesus was moved to proclaim the forgiveness of the man's sins. The man and his friends did not ask for forgiveness. The man did not express repentance. But this is the man who was let down through the roof by his friends, that's how determined they were to get him in front of Jesus for healing!

August 5, 2026

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:04:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 7-8 Meditation Verses: 7:20-23 Thought It is not miraculous powers that define a good tree or a Spirit-led leader, but it is how they treat the Word of God. It is calling Jesus Lord and acting like it. Jesus called these miracle workers men who practice lawlessness. They call Jesus Lord but do not do what He commands.

August 4, 2026

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:49:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 5-6 Meditation Verses: 6:5-7 Thought Prayer is for talking with God, not for showing off, whether by standing in public or by our many words for everyone to see our piety. God hears and knows our requests even before we speak them, and He can hear us even when no one else is around.

August 3, 2026

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:29:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 3-4 Meditation Verses: 3:8-12 Thought John called people to repent in preparation for the coming kingdom of God. He emphasized that repentance meant a change in life, producing the fruit of repentance. The religious leaders came for baptism, and he just about refused them. It wasn't enough for them to be religious, to look and act spiritual, or to depend on their relationship to Abraham; they needed real change of life.

August 2, 2026

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 12:08:00 +0000

Passage Read: Matthew 1-2 Meditation Verses: 2:1-3 Thought The magi came innocently to Jerusalem, but their arrival triggered the death of countless children. They came seeking the one born king of the Jews, and probably assumed everyone knew! The child was, after all, their long-awaited Messiah. And they were probably shocked to find that no one had any idea He had been born.

August 1, 2026

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:52:00 +0000

Passage Read: Malachi 1-4 Meditation Verses: 3:1-3 Thought The Lord holds many things against His priests; they are failing in their duties, lowering their expectations on the people and their sacrifices, and they themselves are not holding the Lord in high regard. So the Lord is against His priests and His people. He is bringing trouble and distress on them to bring them to their senses and repentance.

July 31, 2026

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 11:25:00 +0000

Passage Read: Zechariah 11-14 Meditation Verses: 11:9-10 Thought There comes a time when even God walks away from those He desired to bless, because they refuse to listen to Him and walk in His ways. They are stubborn and resistant for so long, that He gives them up to their own evil deeds. They will fall into each other's hands, and even their own rulers will not take care of them, but will take advantage of them. And God will not deliver them.