Bible Reading Reflection from Mark 10-16

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (DG) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible] 

MARK 10:35-45

v41 "And hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant James and John"

The other disciples were angry, not because it was wrong for them to ask, but because they also wanted to be great. It was jealousy.

May we not be jealous of others' success! May we not be jealous of others' dreams! May we not be envious of the prosperity of the wicked! For their feet shall slip (Ps.73:18). Help me and my brothers, Lord, Amen!

 

MARK 11

(Particularly v27-33)

Jesus refused to answer some of their questions. Sometimes, it's wise to not answer some questions. That's why I stopped answering some of your questions in the beginning! 😉

And also, v25 highlights the importance of forgiveness. This reminder is necessary because we will fail one another's expectations because even at our best, we still are sinners in this body. We have to be forgiving.

John MacArthur says and I agree with him that we are most like God when we are most forgiving!

 

MARK 12:6-8

“He had one more, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ And they took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.”

What a tragic story! What a forbearing God, the Lord is! What a wicked creature, we humans are!

This parable is true and applicable to our sanctification too. Many times, we ignore and silence the voice of conscience, Spirit, and church! Before each time we fall, have we not ultimately silenced the warning and appealing voice?

Thank You, Lord, for your forbearance! Allow me not to go astray! Always lead me back to Your fold. And let me drink Your spring of joy as I walk with You! Amen!

 

𝕄𝔸ℝ𝕂 𝟙𝟛:𝟛𝟛-𝟛𝟟

“See to it, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who, leaving his house and giving authority to his slaves—each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore, stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping. And what I say to you I say to all, ‘Stay awake!’”

Am I ready for the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ? Will I be found sleeping or waiting when He returns?

𝓞𝓱! 𝓜𝔂 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵, 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂 𝓪𝔀𝓪𝓴𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓻𝓿𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰!

 

𝕄𝔸ℝ𝕂 𝟙𝟜:𝟛𝟛-𝟛𝟞

“And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. And He *said to them, ‘My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.’ And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He was saying, ‘Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.’”

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚔. 𝙸𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜. 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙹𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚜' 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑.

𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 🅓🅘🅢🅣🅡🅔🅢🅢🅔🅓, 🅃🅁🄾🅄🄱🄻🄴🄳, ⒼⓇⒾⒺⓋⒺⒹ, 🅵🅴🅻🅻 🅳🅞🆆🅽!

ɪᴛ ᴡᴀsɴ'ᴛ ᴇᴀsʏ ғᴏʀ ᴊᴇsᴜs ᴛᴏ ᴅɪᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴜs. ʟᴇᴛ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ sᴀʟᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɢʜᴛʟʏ. ɪᴛ ᴘᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴄʜʀɪsᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ ᴏғ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟʟʏ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ʜɪᴍ ᴘʜʏsɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ!

𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓭, 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝓨𝓸𝓾, 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓮. 𝓜𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓪𝓰𝓸𝓷𝔂 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓼𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓮! 𝓐𝓶𝓮𝓷!

 

𝕄𝔸ℝ𝕂 𝟙𝟝:𝟛𝟘

"He saved others; He cannot save Himself."

ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴋɴᴇᴡ ᴛʜᴀᴛ. ʜᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ, ᴛʜᴇʏ sᴀɪᴅ sᴏ, ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴ ᴀᴅᴍɪʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʙᴜᴛ ɪɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛ, ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴ ᴀᴅᴏʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʙᴜᴛ ɪɴ ᴍᴏᴄᴋᴇʀʏ.

ɪs ɪᴛ ɴᴏᴛ ғᴇᴀʀғᴜʟ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ ᴡᴇ ᴘʀᴏғᴇss ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀʀᴅᴇɴ ᴜs ᴏʀ sᴏғᴛᴇɴ ᴜs ᴀɴᴅ ʟᴇᴀᴅ ᴜs ᴛᴏ ᴇᴛᴇʀɴᴀʟ ᴅᴀᴍɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏʀ sᴀʟᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ?

ᴀʟsᴏ, ʜᴏᴡ sᴇʟғɪsʜ ᴡᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴀʀᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴏᴡ sᴇʟғ-ᴅᴇɴʏɪɴɢ ᴏᴜʀ ʟᴏʀᴅ ᴡᴀs! ᴡᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ sᴀᴠᴇ ᴏᴜʀsᴇʟᴠᴇs ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀᴅᴠᴇʀsɪᴛʏ (ʙᴇ ᴛᴏʀᴍᴇɴᴛ, ᴘᴇʀsᴇᴄᴜᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴘᴏᴠᴇʀᴛʏ, sʜᴀᴍᴇ, ᴇᴍʙᴀʀʀᴀssᴍᴇɴᴛ, ᴘᴀɪɴ, sᴏʀʀᴏᴡ, ᴇᴛᴄ.) ʙᴜᴛ ᴄʜʀɪsᴛ ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴀᴠᴇ ᴜs.

𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮: 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬! 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧!

 

𝕄𝔸ℝ𝕂 𝟙𝟞:𝟛

"And they were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?’"

I grew up seeing pictures of Jesus' tomb opened and Christ about to ascend into heaven. As if the tomb was opened for Christ to come out. As if the stone of the tomb was rolled away for Christ to escape.

This verse is the clearest description of an open tomb in all accounts of the 4 gospels. The stone was rolled away for the women to come and realize that Christ has risen because those women weren't able to roll the mighty stone away.

I see, how God intervenes in our every moment of life to strengthen our faith in Him! Help me, Lord to see Your Providence in all situations, Amen!

Bible Reading Reflection from Mark 1-9

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (DG) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible] 

MARK 1:7

"And he preached, saying, ‘There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.’"

Oh! The humility of John! To give all the glory to Christ. To talk more of His grace than my effort in any achievement. Help me, Lord!

 

MARK 2:4-5

“And being unable to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof over where He was; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the mat where the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”” [Legacy Standard Bible]

Wow! I want to increase my faith like them!

Help me, Lord! To trust You. To continue to put my hope in You, even when the world is saying, "There's no way!"

 

MARK 3:31-35

“Then His mother and His brothers *arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him, calling Him. And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, ‘Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.’ And answering them, He *said, ‘Who are My mother and My brothers?’ And looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.’”

It looks like Jesus was not loving His family members, is it not? But Jesus is God, and all of us are His children. He has no extra love for His earthly family members than He has for all of us. God loves us equally. What a wonderful love of Jesus!

 

MARK 4:8

“And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

Lord, thank you for fertilizing the soil of my heart. It was wayside, rocky, thorny before you till the ground. Now, may I not be complacent with thirtyfold, but would You make me yield sixtyfold even if my heart is not ready for a hundredfold! Amen!

 

MARK 5:2-4

“And when He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.”

What a perfect illustration for sinners! Sinners are exactly like this man. A dead man walking. Nothing can restrain him. No behavior modification can cure him. Only new life or real life can cure sinners of a zombie life!

I was once like this man, a zombie, now I am cured by the grace of Jesus Christ! Praises be to God! 👍

 

MARK 6:31, 46

v31. “And He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile.’ (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)”

v46. “And after bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.”

After a busy mission trip, Jesus told his disciples to rest for a while. Rest is important, right? God created 6 days to work and the 7^th day is to rest. But how did Jesus rest after His busy schedule? He went alone to be with God in prayer.

How do we take a rest? How do we spend our holiday? How do we spend our Sunday?

In prayer? In meditating upon God's word? Or in sinful worldly entertainment? Or in empty unprofitable things?

In John 4, Jesus was wearied, hungry, thirsty, and resting. Yet He had a gospel conversation with that woman, and said that was more important than food and water!

 

MARK 7:25

"There is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man."

We are worse than what others think of us. We are worse than what we think of ourselves. We are worse than what we ever know of ourselves.

Purify my heart. Set me apart. Make me live worthy, holy, and acceptable before You, my God!

 

MARK 8

(Particularly v34-38)

How terrible is a life that rejects Christ! How unwise is a man who counts his life more precious than to follow Christ!

"He is not a fool who loses what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot keep!" [Jim Elliot]. The only way to have eternal life is to lay down (surrender) our life to the eternal Christ.

 

MARK 9:24

“Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief.’”

One of the simplest yet profound, shortest yet genuine, and effective prayers in the Bible! Oh! How I need to trust God in all things! Help my unbelief, Lord!

Bible Reading Reflection from Malachi 1-4

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

𝕄𝔸𝕃𝔸ℂℍ𝕀 𝟙:𝟙𝟙

"‘For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,’ says the LORD of hosts."

What a wonderful assertion is this! It's a must! It's a reality but unfortunately yet to realize. We have never seen it in history and certainly not this time. Actually, Gandhi or Modi is greater than God in power, popularity, and help in the perception of Indians now.

A day is coming when everyone will not only acknowledge God but call on Him! And how blessed is a man who acknowledges and calls upon Him even before that day, which is now!

And how blessed is the one whose passion is to make the name of God great! Indeed, "for the fame of God's name" has been my WhatsApp Profile status description for quite some time.

How do we do that? By teaching people to know God and fear Him. To Christians, that's through discipleship. To non-Christians, that's through evangelism. To all, that's through our Christian conduct. Our conduct is demonstrated by our characters. Characters are formed by spiritual discipline wrought unto us by the help of the Spirit!

 

𝕄𝔸𝕃𝔸ℂℍ𝕀 𝟚:𝟙𝟞

“‘For I hate divorce,’ says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘and him who covers his garment with wrong,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.’”

God is known for love, but Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament reveals to us that God is known for hate as well.

Chapter 1 says that He hated Esau.

And in this chapter 2, it is written that He hates divorce!

 

𝕄𝔸𝕃𝔸ℂℍ𝕀 𝟛:𝟙𝟞

"Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name."

Two descriptions of those whose names are in the book: "Those who fear Yahweh" and "Those who Esteem His Name"

Can those be said of us? Sure, I hope so. But it pierces our hearts to increase our fear of God and to esteem His name.

Don't we want to make the name of God famous? Don't we want people to call on the name of God in adoration, instead of "OMG"?

 

𝕄𝔸𝕃𝔸ℂℍ𝕀 𝟜:𝟚-𝟛

"‘But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,’ says the LORD of hosts."

🎼🎼

We shall overcome,

We shall overcome,

We shall overcome someday!

Oh! Deep in the plan of God, it's decreed, that we shall overcome someday. 🎼🎼

Bible Reading Reflection from Zechariah 7-14

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟟:𝟡-𝟙𝟘

"Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;  and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'"

The people asked Zechariah, if they should proclaim a fasting and prayer program, and the prophet told them God didn't like such!

True religion is lived out, not just spoken out. People of Yahweh must be both Orthodox and Orthopractic (Right Doctrine and Right Practice). These Israelites were neither Orthodox nor Orthopractic.

Orthodoxy is fearing Yahweh who delivered them from the bondage of slavery, and orthopraxy is to not oppress their own brothers knowing the salvation of God. People of Yahweh should be forgiving, kind, gentle, helpful, and compassionate as the Lord is to them. Or else it is a dead profession of faith!

Is it not chilling to reflect upon our life as well: the requirements of Yahweh from us? O to be forgiving! O to be gracious!  O to be compassionate! O to be helping! O to walk worthy of Thy calling, Thy salvation, Thy gospel, take captive of our hearts, O Lord, our God!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟠:𝟚

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.'"

Favourable jealousy of God towards Israel.

This chapter talks about the future. God in His jealousy poured out His wrath against His people to purge them from sins. And now He will be pouring out His wrath on others to bring His people back into His fold. His jealousy is demonstrated in two opposite ways: As much as dispersion and punishment were real, the gathering and prosperity of Israel will be real!

And v23, everyone will want to identify with them because of their God! When people see the goodness of God in us, they want to identify with us.

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟡:𝟚, 𝟜

"And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise."

"Behold, the Lord will dispossess her And cast her wealth into the sea; And she will be consumed with fire."

God will humble the proud and mighty.

I think a day is coming when the Chinese will humble the proud Americans! Maybe in our lifetime. BTW, so glad to see Italy defeating England in the Euro Cup! I was not supporting Italy. I was cheering for the defeat of England!

Israel was humbled by Assyria. Assyria was humbled by Babylon. Babylon was humbled by Persia. Persia was humbled by Greece. After Greece, the Romans, after the Romans, the British, after the British, the Americans, now the wind seems to be blowing in China! If God chooses China to humble the Americans, I want to see it in my lifetime.

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟘:𝟙

"Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain-- The LORD who makes the storm clouds; And He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man."

Almighty God is ever ready to not only forgive but flourish us if we would just pray. This prayer presupposes acknowledgment of sins, repentance, and earnest seeking of God. Most human beings pray, but they do not have these three components in their prayer. BTW, it's an earnest prayer. E.M Bounds said that God answers no prayer only earnest prayer.

Footballer Ronaldo and Cricketer Virat Kohli said that if you want to win you have to be hungry for victory. Well, Christians can't afford to be ignorant arrogant fools, if we pray, let's be earnest for what we are praying for!

Even if we are earnest, even if we pray day and night, fasting and sacrificing our body itself, if Yahweh is not a forgiving God, there's no hearing of our prayers. And if Yahweh is not an Almighty All-good God, there's no answering of prayers.

But He is and He does. In fact, He works everything (and would even summon stars and shake heaven and earth) for the good of a believer!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟙:𝟙𝟚

"I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages."

Zechariah was given only 30 shekels of silver. He rejected and threw it away by the word of the Lord. It was a picture of Jewish leaders despising the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Treating Him as a worthless slave.

A story is told about Julius Caesar, abducted by pirates when he was 25 years old. The pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents. Julius Caesar laughed at them and suggested they demand 50 talents. Julius Caesar knew he was worth more than that. He even told them that when they release him, he will hunt them down. They undermined him and released him. And it is said Julius Caesar hunted down every single one of them!

If the true Shepherd is despised, it's likely the under-shepherds will be despised too. If Jesus was worth only 30 shekels, no surprise how people will undermine the under-shepherds!

BTW, 1Talent = 3000 shekels. How insignificant was Jesus! Sold only for 30 shekels when Julius Caesar (even when he was young) was abducted for 60,000 shekels. And He raised his price to 1,50,000 shekels 😂. Would you do that if somebody kidnapped you? Asking them to demand more money to release you? 😀

Terrorists like Bin Laden are wanted for a million dollars. Jesus was wanted for just 30 shekels. So was Zechariah, the under-shepherd of Israel!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟚:𝟠

"On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them."

This is good news. The present Israelis are not worth supporting. They are heathens like other people groups.

It is good, not even because their origin is written in the Bible. It is good because it is the faithfulness of God. It is about the power and goodness of God, nothing to admire about these Israelis.

This faithful Yahweh is my God too. He will shake heaven and earth to preserve and prosper His people when the time comes!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟛:𝟜-𝟝

"On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive,  but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.'"

A day will come when people will hate false teaching that even false teachers will be afraid to continue their teaching publicly.

That day has not arrived yet.

Now, people aren't even educated enough about what is right and wrong. Only after they know, they can hate it!

May I always worship and praise You, Lord!

 

ℤ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝔸ℍ 𝟙𝟜:𝟡

"And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one."

In the end, our hope will be realized! And we will reign with Him.

That day, that day is nearer now than before!