Mark 11:22-23

Mark 11:22-23 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself in the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.”

       “Have faith in God.” It is a simple statement, yet there are times when it seems so hard. When you are going through the storm and the mountain is in front of you it can be hard to put your faith in God. All your circumstances tell you one thing, but God’s Word speaks something different.

       These are the times when it is most important to believe in the promises of God. You see, Jesus never said you would have an easy life. He never said that when we choose Him, life would get simple. It is definitely better and we can find hope in Him, but He assures us that in this world we will face trials.

       There will be mountains that we have to face, but He also tells us how to face them. He gives us a way through. Jesus tells us that if we say to the mountain ‘Go throw yourself in the sea,’ and have no doubts, it will happen. How’s that for a promise?

       If we have faith in God there is nothing that can stop us. Troubles will come, you can count on it; there will be things that stand before you, but God is bigger than all of them. Proverbs says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

Put your faith in God and nothing will be able to block your path. If anything tries, speak to it and it will move.  

Mark 10:7-9

Mark 10:7-9 – “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

       Marriage arouses so many emotions in so many people. In Hollywood it is often portrayed as the woman’s dream and the man’s prison. The man only asks the woman when he finally gives in to what she wants.

       To some marriage brings feeling of hope and joy; to others it brings feelings of pain and bitterness; and still for others marriage is simply a way to get certain benefits and privileges from the government. But what is marriage? Where did the idea come from?

       Marriage was the first covenant set up by God. God created man and after searching all the earth they found no suitable partner for him, so then we see God put man to sleep and bring woman out of him. So in the beginning the two, man and woman, were one flesh, and in marriage man and woman are united back to their original form. They are no longer separate beings, but one.

       This began the first family and the building block to all of society. Family came before the government, before the church and before any other institution. It is the base and foundation of our community. If the family fails, then society will fail.

       As we look out into the world we see so much going on that shouldn't be. We see broken and hurting people. There is depression and suicide; there are fights and killings. Everyone is looking to blame someone, but the true culprit is looking back at you in the mirror.

It is the failure of the family. We as Christians need to take a stand and make a commitment. God created marriage and the family. We have broken it apart. It is time to take it back to God and let Him bring to its original design.

Mark 9:23-24

Mark 9:23-24 – “If you can?” said Jesus, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”

       There are often times in our lives when we have the head knowledge, but it ends there. This man had probably heard all about Jesus. He knew that Jesus had healed the sick, cast out demons and done many other miraculous things. His son was now possessed by an evil spirit and Jesus was the one who could help him.

       In his search for Jesus he came across the disciples first. When he approached them to see where Jesus was they told him they could take care of his son. They thought they could cast out the demon, but they were wrong.

       Now the man was beginning to lose faith. He saw the disciples try to cast out the demon and fail. All the stuff that Jesus had done was still true, but in his mind, he now began to think his situation was different.

       How many times has this happened to you? You know all about what Jesus has done and can do, but somehow your situation seems different. Sometimes it seems easier to believe for someone else’s miracle than for your own. In a manner of speaking your have come to accept your ‘fate’.

Even though you ‘know’ that Jesus wants to help you, your unbelief limits what He can do in your life. That needs to change. With God, all things are possible and your situation is no different than anyone else’s. If you are being limited by unbelief pray as this man did and God will help you. “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”

Mark 8:35

Mark 8:35 – For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

       What are you living for? This world teaches us that we must live for ourselves. It says we must look out for our own well-being, because no one else will. As we are living in the world it is easy to adopt this mentality, at least to an extent. We are surrounded by people that are doing just that, looking out for themselves. Sometimes it seems like the only way to succeed is by doing the same thing.

       This type of thinking is wrong. We need to take a step back and change our mentality. Jesus gives us a clear picture here of how we should see things. If you are living for yourself and trying to succeed by tearing others down you will fail. Even if you gain the whole world you will realize in the end that you are alone and the ‘success’ means nothing.

       As we turn our lives to Jesus we need to realize that we must give everything over to Him. We must surrender every part of our being to God and let Him do with it what He wants. Let Him mold you and shape you into who He wants you to be. Then live your life for Him. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men.”

       Living your life for God does not necessarily mean giving up everything you have, it is about putting God first, before everything you have and looking at the world from an eternal perspective.

As we are doing our work, or serving our families, or just plain having fun, we must realize that we are to be pleasing God, not men. In whatever you do, remember: God is first. Seek and serve Him above all and everything else will fall into place.

Mark 7:36

Mark 7:36 - Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone, but the more He did so, the more they kept talking about it.

News of Jesus was spreading like a wild-fire. He was moving from place to place teaching and as He was doing so there were many around Him that were sick or hurt. Of course, being Jesus, when He saw these people He had compassion on them. “They were like sheep without a shepherd.” So He healed them.

       In this particular chapter Jesus heals someone who is deaf and mute. After healing him Jesus told him and those around Him not to tell anyone, but they didn’t listen. In fact, the more Jesus told them not to say anything the more they did. How could they not say something? Jesus had just opened this man’s ears and gave him the ability to talk.

       Now let’s fast forward a little bit to your life and mine. We have a different command. Jesus told us to go into the entire world and preach the gospel. We are supposed to tell everyone about what Christ has done for us. It is clear through the whole New Testament that we are to speak, but we do not.           

       These men were told not to speak and they didn’t stop; we are told to speak and we do not. Why is this? If we take a look at our lives we can honestly say that God has done so much for us, but we keep it to ourselves.

       I think one reason we do this is that we try to explain away the miracles and favor of God as coincidence or luck. We want to have a reason for everything, so we try to rationalize it and make ‘sense’ of it. In doing so we take the miraculous out of the miracles and we view it as an ordinary event. This should not be.

We must give God the credit and glory for all He has done in our lives. Speak about it. Don’t keep it silent. Tell the world what God has for you through Jesus.

Mark 6:35-37a

Mark 6:35-37a – By this time it was late in the day, so Jesus disciples came to Him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it is already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But He answered them, “You give them something to eat.”

In this story we see Jesus had been teaching for quite a while. Since they were out in the middle of nowhere, nobody had eaten. A miracle was about to happen, but nobody knew it yet. In order for a miracle to take place there has to first be a need; and more than that someone has to recognize that need.

In this situation we see the disciples are the ones who see the need. They saw that the people needed to eat. In reality they probably started getting hungry first and then realized no one else had eaten either. You can tell that they had been thinking about it and talking amongst themselves already, because they already had a plan to fix the problem.

At this time they decide it was important enough to interrupt Jesus’ teaching to tell Him the problem at hand. “It is getting late and the people are hungry,’ they tell Jesus. Then they proceed to tell Jesus how they should handle the situation, “send them away so they can get something to eat.”

Jesus response catches them off guard. It is not what they expected. “You give them something to eat,” He says. They try to put it off on the people to take care of the present need, but Jesus turns it to them and wants them to fill the need. As the story continues we see how Jesus worked through the disciples to feed the people. A miracle happens and everyone gets fed.

There are many times when we act as the disciples did in this situation. We see a need and we pray to God about it. Sometimes we go as far as telling Him how we think it should be fixed. What we aren't prepared for is when He tells us, “You meet the need.”

Sometimes prayer is all we are called to do, but then there are times when you are the one God wants to use to meet the need. This is particularly true when the need you see is in someone else’s life. Be ready to be the miracle to someone.

Mark 5:36

Mark 5:36 - Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

In this story we see a father on the edge of losing his daughter. Jairus was a synagogue ruler and a man of importance, but none of that mattered right now. His daughter was sick and there was nothing that they could do for her. Having four children of my own I don’t even want to imagine what he was going through at this time. Anger, frustration, confusion, sadness, hopelessness; a whirlwind of emotion inside him.

Then news of Jesus came to him. Jesus was healing the sick and doing amazing things. With all others avenues exhausted, Jairus knew that he had to get to Jesus. His daughters life depended on it.

He got to Jesus as fast as he possibly could and told Him his story. Jesus agreed to come with Him. On the road back to his daughter Jairus received some bad news. Some of his men came and told him that there was no point in bothering Jesus any longer, because his daughter was dead.

Before Jairus could process what he had just heard Jesus stepped in. He completely ignored these men and looked at Jairus and told him, “Don’t be afraid, just believe.” As the story continues we see Jesus heals Jairus’ daughter, despite the negative voices that are around them.

There are many times in our lives when we need to have faith for something. It could be for healing or finances or just direction in life. Whatever it is, we are believing for it. Then the other voices come in. These voices tell us that whatever we are believing for won’t happen. Sometimes these voices are in our heads, and other times they come from those around us.

Wherever they come from, they need to be silenced. We must ignore them and look to what God has already told us. There will always be someone trying to tell us that we will not make it; that we are going to fail. Stand firm in what God has told you and just believe.

Mark 4:26-27

Mark 4:26-27 - He (Jesus) also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether He sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.”

Jesus has given us many examples of what the kingdom of God is like. He’s trying to help us understand since we are now a part of this kingdom. 

In this picture we see a farmer scattering seed. After he has scattered the seed we know that he has no power over whether the seed grows or not. He can water and fertilize it, but as far as what goes on inside the seed he has no control. 

As we compare this story to our lives we see that the seed is the Word of God and we are likened to the farmer. We have a job to do; we must scatter the seed. After that we have no control of how the seed grows.

That is what makes it hard sometimes. As we preach the Word and speak into people’s lives we want to see the fruit of our labor. We want to see the change it is making in people’s lives, but that should not be our concern. Our concern should be in doing God’s will and then trusting that He is working in those that are receiving the seed.

We are promised that His Word will not return void, so we know that as we speak it, things are happening. It is powerful and will change people’s lives.

Our job is to scatter the seed. Get it out there and let God take care of the rest. His Spirit will work and grow the see inside the hearts of those it reaches. We must preach the Word and trust God.

Mark 3:24-25

Mark 3:24-25 - If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Jesus makes this statement after being accused of being the devil. The teachers of the law were trying to accuse Jesus, saying that He was possessed and that it was by Satan that He was casting out demons.

In Jesus response He basically tells them that their accusation doesn’t make any sense. He says that if He was Satan, how could He drive out himself. Then He goes on to make this statement, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

I think it is interesting that He goes from talking about a kingdom all the way down to the house. Since we are talking about people here we can substitute ‘house’ for ‘family’. I think that He made this jump on purpose, connecting the two.

Jesus starts off talking about a kingdom because that is what they were already talking about. They had accused Him of being part of the kingdom of darkness, but also against it. After addressing that issue Jesus mentions the same thing about family. It seems basic enough, but think about it.

Before there were kingdoms, countries, states, cities or even towns there was the family. The family was the first institution set up by God and is the very core of our society. If we cannot unite in the family we will never unite as a larger entity.

You see, every kingdom, country or any other institution is made up of families. It is no wonder that our society is messed up and falling apart. We cannot keep our families together. There are husbands and wives that are split up. Children have rebelled against parents. It's a mess.

If we want to see our country pull its act together it’s not going to happen in the government. It has to start at the level of the family. Families are the most basic unit of society, but they are also the most important.

Mark 2:17

Mark 2:17 - On 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.”

There are many of today’s churches that end up in the same place as the Pharisees. We grow content living within our four walls. There are plenty of church events focused on growing and helping each other, but often times it stops there.

We have bible studies and breakfasts; we have retreats and campouts; we have morning church and evening church. There are so many things that focus on those in the church, but we neglect those outside of our walls.

I don’t want you to misunderstand me here, all of these things are important and good. We are told in the Word that we are to encourage and build each other up. As we live our lives in the world we need some time to fellowship with other believers.

What I am saying here is that we cannot focus all of our attention on one thing and neglect all the others. We have a job to do. Christ has told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel and that is exactly what we need to do.

Let your action be your preaching, and when the Spirit opens the door, speak into the lives of those you are helping. “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick,” Jesus said.

We must understand that while it is good to help your fellow believer, it is even better to help someone outside the church who will never be able to repay you. Get out there and minister to the people who need Jesus.

Mark 1:17-18

Mark 1:17-18 - “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Him.

At the beginning of His ministry Jesus was gathering His disciples. This was before all the teaching and the miracles; before He had made a reputation for Himself. He was an unknown.

With that in mind, put yourself in the place of these men. They are fishing. That’s what they do; that’s all they know. Their father had fished for a living and they had been raised to do the same.

Fishing was their job, it was their livelihood. If they thought about their future I’m sure they ‘knew’ that fishing would be a big part of it.

Up until now, this day had been like any other, they got up early and went out in their boats fishing. Then comes this man, Jesus. There was something different about Him, but they could not put their finger on it.

Without saying anything Jesus got their attention. Their eyes met with His and He spoke these words, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Without hesitation or any questions asked they left all they knew to follow Him. They made a choice that day that changed the course of their entire lives.

Now, many years later Jesus has built a reputation for Himself. We have read His stories and seen by faith all that He has done. As believers our lives reflect the change He made in our hearts. Yet, when Jesus gives us a command we are reluctant to follow. We make excuses why we can’t do what He said or go where He told us to go.

As His disciples in this current day and age we must learn to trust and obey. If God has called you to do something or go somewhere, have faith that He will guide you and take care of you.

Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18-20 - Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


       Jesus told us to go and make disciples. That is the charge He left us with when He was getting ready to ascend back to heaven. I think many of us have the wrong idea of what this command entails.
       We will spend all of our time and energy to have a big evangelistic event and then notch our belts for every person that responded to the altar call and got ‘saved’. Don’t misunderstand me, these events are great, I enjoy doing them, but this is not what Jesus was telling us to do.
       Discipleship goes beyond getting someone ‘saved’. It has to start with salvation, but once saved we cannot leave them to fend for themselves. We need to understand that people need help to walk out their salvation.
       You see, discipleship is about relationship. It’s about teaching a person how to live the new life that were just born into. Really, it is about reproducing yourself in others, just as Christ has done in us. Like Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
       Getting people saved is amazing, but that is only half the battle. Teaching people how to live like Jesus is where the full victory lies. Then, as we teach them to live like Jesus, they in turn will teach others to do the same. After that the increase in God’s kingdom will be exponential.

Matthew 27:50

Matthew 27:50 - And when Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His Spirit.

Jesus was on the cross. He was nailed up as a spectacle for all to see. The evil one had worked through man to kill the Son of God and he was winning; or so he thought.

This moment marked the end of Jesus life on earth, but the beginning of our victory. We have an advantage today, because as we envision Jesus hanging on the cross we know what comes next.

Those who were watching that day did not understand why Jesus had to die. They did not understand that this was only the beginning. As they stood watching Jesus die they felt defeated.I can only imagine the pain that they must have been feeling.

Thank God that we can see the whole picture. Thank God for the sacrifice that Jesus made. Without Christ we would have no hope. Jesus sacrifice is for everyone who will believe in Him: those who came before Him and everyone that has come after.

Jesus went to the cross; He took our sin; then He died. After three days He was resurrected by the power of God. Death could keep Him down, the grave could not hold Him. Christ emerged victorious, having paid the price for all sin: past, present and future.

Now comes our part: As we look at what Jesus did we see His death and rejoice in His resurrection. We must accept what He did and believe in Him, then we will receive forgiveness for sin. Jesus death was not in vain. He died so we don’t have too.

Matthew 26:42

Matthew 26.42 - He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

Jesus had prophesied about it. He had told His disciples about it. Now the hour was upon Him. He knew this was the night He would be handed over to go to His death.

Praying was a common thing for Jesus, that’s why His disciples didn’t realize that there was anything different about this night. They tried to stay awake and pray, but could not.

Jesus, on the other hand, was grieved. When talking to His disciples He put it this way: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Jesus knew what He had to go through and now the reality of it was upon Him.

As He prayed He asked God if there was any other way man could be saved. You can tell that He did not want to die, if He could avoid it. If anything else could have been done to bring man back to God, He would prefer it. But there was no other way. Jesus was the only one that could make it happen. He was, and is, the only way for us to come back to God.

Jesus had to die. After praying He was ready. It doesn’t say here what God spoke to Him, but whatever it was it gave Him the strength to continue the rescue plan.

You see, that’s the thing about prayer. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what God says, or even if you hear Him at all. Just being in His presence will give you the strength to go through whatever you are facing.

If you have something in front of you that seems impossible, make the time to go before God. God will refresh you and revitalize you and give you the strength to face whatever is in your path.

Matthew 25:14-15

Matthew 25:14-15 - Again, it (the kingdom of God) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.

Jesus tells us this story of the ‘talents’ as a comparison to the kingdom of heaven. It gives a vivid picture of what God is like to His servants (you & me). We can learn a valuable lesson from this story that we can apply in our daily lives.

All of us want to succeed and do well, both in our personal lives and our professional lives. At home we want to have great relationships with our family and at work we would like to excel and be entrusted with a lot and reap the benefits of it.

As we look at this story we see a boss and three workers. Now, the boss does not see the workers equally, because he knows them. He knows their work ethics, their abilities and their skill levels. As he gets ready to leave he realizes that he needs someone to look after his work and make sure it gets done. He calls together three of his workers to take care of his affairs.

First we must realize that before this time the employer was handling all of his assets, now he is going to divide them among three people. He does not do so evenly, though; he looks at the abilities of the men and gives them each according to his ability.

Here is the point I am trying to make. If you want to gain more responsibility you must improve your ability. When opportunity comes, if your ability does not match the guy next to you, don’t expect to receive the same amount of responsibility as he does. Increase your ability and people will entrust you with more.

Matthew 24:44

Matthew 24:44 - So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.

Jesus tells us that when He comes again it will be like a thief in the night. What does that mean for us? If someone is going to rob you they are not going to let you know ahead of time that they are coming. That would be ridiculous.

Instead, they want to surprise you and catch you off guard. There are things you can do to be ready and protect yourself from such an attack. You can lock the doors, install a security system or have some sort of defensive weapon. Then there are those who have made no preparation. Their doors are unlocked and maybe even open, the lights are on and nobody is home.

This is what Jesus compares His return to. Then He tells us to be ready. He doesn’t want us to be caught off guard, so He gives us this warning. Nobody knows the day or hour when He will come back.

When Jesus returns will you be ready? Will Jesus find you living the life He called you to, or will you be doing something entirely different? Don’t wait to give your life to Him.

It may seem like you have all the time in the world, but in reality you never know. None of us do. He could come back in a hundred years, or He could come back today. Are you ready?

Jesus called you to live a Holy and righteous life and has given you the ability to do so. It is time to give up living for yourself and live for Him. If you give yourself to Him and live to make the most of every opportunity you will be ready for His return. Plan your life like you have a hundred years, but live it like today is your last.

Matthew 23:11-12

Matthew 23:11-12 - The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

We often get the wrong idea of what humility is. In the bible we see so many places where it talks about being humble and we get it into our heads that we have to tear ourselves down and make sure we are at the ‘bottom of the barrel’ to be humble. That is not true.

If you read this whole passage in Matthew 23 you see that Jesus is not saying that at all. He begins by talking about the religious leaders of that day and how they live. They practice making themselves look good at the expense of others. That is where the problem comes in.

If you are trying to gain a better position by exploiting others weaknesses you will eventually fail. You may see quick results at the beginning, but those results will be short lived. Then we look at humility and think that humility means we must do the opposite, which would mean we must tear ourselves down.

That is not what Jesus did and that is not what He is asking you to do either. As we look at Jesus life we see humility in a different light. Humility is not tearing yourself down, it is lifting others up. That is what Jesus did.

Jesus focused on the needs of others and treated them how He wanted to be treated. I’ve heard it said that, “Successful people figure out what they are good at; Successful leaders figure out what others are good at.” That is how we should view humility. If we are looking to help those around us and assist them in their success we will be rewarded in ways we could never achieve on our own.

Matthew 22:37-40

Matthew 22:37-40 - Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love is the greatest command. First toward God, then toward people. And we know that we Love because He first Loved us, but what is biblical Love?

In our day and age Love is interpreted to mean something entirely different than what it truly is. If you watch movies or read books you will see love as an overwhelming emotion. There are sayings like, “The heart wants what the heart wants.” Or we see people talking about ‘the one’, and once they find that ‘one’ all other relationships fall by the wayside.

This is a perversion of what true Love is. While emotion is a part of Love it is not the first part. If you base your Love on emotion, what happens when those emotions pass?

Instead, we must understand Love as a choice. Take Jesus for example. He Loves us more than any other, but when He was in the garden facing death, He did not ‘feel’ like Loving us. In fact He prayed that God take the responsibility from Him. When there was no other way He chose to Love us regardless of what He had to go through.

Our Love must be the same. We must Love God despite what our emotions tell us and it is the same with people. Make a choice to Love and the emotion and passion will come.

Matthew 21:22

Matthew 21:22 - If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Faith can be exercised on something as simple as a fig tree. Many times we get caught up on ‘if it God’s will’ it will happen, but Jesus doesn't limit us here. Don’t get me wrong, part of faith working on your behalf is being right with God, but too often ‘God’s will’ is used as an excuse for our doubt and unbelief.

Take this story for instance. Jesus and His disciples are walking along and Jesus gets hungry. In the distance He sees a fig tree and his mouth begins to water. The closer He gets the more He starts to want some figs.

Jesus arrives at the tree to be disappointed due to its lack of figs. He then curses the fig tree saying, “may you never bear fruit again.” At that time the disciples don’t think anything of it. 

At a later time they are walking that same path and the disciples see something odd, the fig tree is withered and dead. Noticing the drastic change from the morning, they ask Jesus about it.

Jesus did not give them some ‘spiritual’ answer saying that God spoke to Him about the tree. Instead He told them that what He did to the fig tree is small compared to what faith can do. “With faith you can move mountains,” He told them. “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Jesus doesn't limit your faith and you shouldn't either. Live right with God and let faith determine your circumstance. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.