- Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. Mark 3:20 – Jesus’ fame was growing in unheard of ways. People from all the surrounding areas were traveling to come and be close to Jesus. Everyone who had a disease came to be healed and everyone who had an evil spirit came to be set free. As we see though in our verse, the amount of people coming to Jesus was so vast that Jesus and His disciples couldn’t even find space and time to eat. So many were coming to Jesus, yet a question Jesus would ask was how many were there to actually follow Him? We see the Jewish leaders were there, but to only catch Jesus committing a religious crime. We see the sick there, but to only be healed. All types of people from all walks of life and from all the surrounding areas, but were they there to actually follow Jesus? How about you? Hopefully you were able to go to church today. Hopefully you were in prayer and in scripture today. Hopefully you drew near to Jesus today…but why did you draw near? Certainly Jesus is the source of our healing and blessing, but God is seeking followers that are drawing close to Him not so they can’t receive more blessings from God but so they can receive more of God Himself. This is what Jesus was looking for in His ministry days and this is what He is looking for now in us. Draw close to Jesus today. Not so you can get a prayer answered or some blessing to come your way, draw close so you can discover more of who God is and receive more of Him within your story today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3094
- And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. Mark3:26 – Even our enemy has clued into the fact that if their is division amongst his forces he won’t be able to stand and accomplish his goal. So why do we think it alright to have division amongst the brothers and sisters of Christ? Division can come from worship style preferences, race, which church you go to, to even carpet colors. It’s great for individuals to have their own opinions and identity in the church, yet we must clue into how easily those things can also bring disunity within a group. We must strive and sacrifice for togetherness as a church family. There are too many people hurting in this world without Jesus for us to be divided amongst each other. We need each other for the mission we’re given. Be a peace maker within your local church family. Seek unity rather than division. That may mean your preferences aren’t met, but it will mean we are closer to our goal of reaching the world with Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 458
- Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. Mark 3:1-2 – Rather than seeing the need in front of them they only saw their need to be right. Let this not be said of us please. Where instead of opening our eyes to the hurting and broken around us all we look for is the wrong others are doing so we can lift ourselves up and prove our self-righteousness. We can either choose to see in someone the wrongs they are doing or the wrong in them that is tearing them apart. One we look at so we can lift ourselves up, the other we see to lift them up. Today challenge yourself to see past the wrongs and see what is breaking people apart that you can help with. You can either offer them words of life and healing today or shove a wedge in their brokenness to add to the separation. Look, see, speak, act, and love in a way that begins to heal the withered hands around you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1612
Daily DEVO 