The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:9-15 (day seven)

“Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Your presence.” Isaiah 64:1

“Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him.” Mark 1:10

This is war. A battle plan that has been in works since before time began. Sin and death have no chance for God has become man. He’s here to fight. Advent allows us to celebrate this coming King because we know the how the story ends (spoiler alert: God wins!), but this is the beginning of that end. This is the Commander-In-Chief joining the front lines, inspiring hope, leading by example. “This is how you fight your battles: Repent. Believe. Be Baptized. Fight temptation. Make war! You are not in this alone. I Am with you.”

Are you following this example? Are you making war? Or are you sitting back and letting the enemy come to your doorstep? Make War!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:9-15 (day six)

After his baptism, Jesus perfectly submitted to the Spirit’s leading, spending 40 days in the desert with the wild animals, facing Satan’s temptation, and being ministered to by angels. Mark doesn’t provide details of his resistance of the devil’s schemes and faithfulness to his Father, but what he accomplishes in two verses is no the less profound.

In two verses he casts a vision of Jesus’ life as the incarnate Son. In perfect submission he is sent into the world, he demonstrates perfect repentance on our behalf in his baptism, and then enters the wilderness of our brokenness and rebellion against God (for his entire life, not just 40 days). It is there, as the Son of Man, that he lives in perfect righteousness.

He is the new Adam, the new Israel, through whom countless new sons and daughters of God will be reborn.

We don’t have the gospel without the wilderness.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:9-15 (day five) “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
There are two Greek words Mark could have used for the word time- Chronos and Kairos. Same word in English, but they are different in Greek. Maybe a good distinction in English would be “historical” and “historic”. The meaning of Chronos is closer to historical- everything that takes place in space and time.  But not everything that happens is historic (kairos)- special and unique. Kairos is an important and momentous moment- time/life changing and altering.  Mark used Kairos. The gospel is Kairos.  Remember when the gospel came into your heart and life? (I do) It was “Kairos”. It was life changing and life altering. Through repentance and faith (believing) my priorities, thinking, behaviors, loyalties, all changed and are changing- reshaped and are reshaping – … Kairos.  That is the influence and power of the gospel-Life changing. This is the good news we must share with others. The gospel is life changing!!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:9-15 (day four)

Mark’s goal in writing his book was to accurately communicate the message of Jesus.  He was a close associate of the Apostle Peter and worked with him to portray the message.  Our Christianity Explored class is based on the study of the entire book of Mark.  Mark presents the identity, mission, and call of Jesus.  In our passage this week, we see the identity of Jesus revealed.  In verse 11, Jesus is proclaimed the beloved Son of God.  In verse 15, the call of Jesus is described.  Jesus preached, “Repent and believe in the gospel.”

CE answers three questions based on these descriptors…”Who is Jesus?…Why did He come?…and What does it mean to follow Him?”  The question most important in each of our lives is the last.  What are we going to do with Jesus?  Have you answered this question?  If no, don’t go any further until you deal with it in your heart.  If yes, what difference is it making in your life?  Mark wanted to make a difference in people’s lives…we have the same opportunity by sharing the truth!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:9-15 (day three)

“…and a voice came out of the heavens: ‘You are my beloved Son, in you I am well-pleased.’”

When this Advent season closes, we will look on toward the angel’s proclamation to the shepherds: “On earth peace, good will towards men.” There is a kinship between the shepherd announcement and the baptism announcement – namely, God’s favor toward human beings. Writing later in his gospel, the apostle John announced, “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son…” Jesus pleased God like no man before had ever pleased him, and God loves human beings like no one but God could ever love us. God’s favor spills over from Jesus to us. When we receive the Lord Jesus into our lives, we will know that favor the way Jesus knew it when he emerged from those baptismal waters.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:9-15 (day two)  Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God vs. 14

One of the fascinating things I love about scripture is how the gospel writers approach the narrative of Jesus’ life and ministry. Their writing styles are different, and some chose specific events to illustrate while others left them out. To be sure, needless were none of the deeds of Jesus, but it is such a great tool to looking at his life through each of their eyes. Mark makes no apologies that this story is about the good news. He states it in verse one of chapter one, and again, as Jesus begins his earthly ministry, in verse 14. This does not mean that the details of Christ’s temptation are irrelevant, or that John’s arrest is insignificant, but they are not what Mark chose to focus his gospel upon.

The details of your life matter. The everyday journey you walk helps to shape the meta of you. What we should continually ask the Lord is how those details and decisions will impact the narrative of who is shaping us to become. What is the story he is trying to tell through you? Are there things getting in the way of that story? Is it time to let go?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:1-8 (day seven)

I love Mark! Unlike the other synoptic gospels, he cuts right to the start of Jesus’ ministry. It’s not because the birth story isn’t important, but he is laying a foundation for his readers to know who and what this “good news” is about. He gives them a map. He shows them where the journey is taking them while also dropping deep theology that he will develop throughout the book. Mark is showing us that the gospel is simple:

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

God loves us so much that He became man (Incarnate) and dwelt with us (Immanuel). This is the Christmas story.

“As time has passed on, my theology has grown more and more simple. It is simply this, ‘Jesus loves me!’”​ – Charles Spurgeon

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:1-8 (day six)

The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1

The beginning…in the beginning.

Mark is the earliest of the Gospels written most likely to gentile believers in Rome. It came at the right time, as Christians were facing intense persecution under Emperor Nero. They needed to hear the inspired words of John Mark, protege of Peter the Apostle. They needed to hear good news. They needed to see Jesus.

Mark’s Gospel, like the others, is a proclamation. A declaration. The old has passed away, and the new has come.  A new paradigm. A new beginning. A new kingdom. A new creation. Jesus, the Son of God.

Look, he is making all things new! That’s the message of Mark.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:1-8 (day five) “And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I”.

John the Baptist is countercultural. From Mark’s writing, it’s fairly easy to see and recognize.  The clothes (camel hair).  The diet (locusts). The setting for his ministry (wilderness). His message (repentance). There is one more countercultural aspect of John that caught my heart and mind.  His perspective.  Let me explain.

I have spent over 30 years in youth ministry. As I have taught and counseled teenagers, there have been themes that have consistently bubbled up.  One of those was to press back against instant gratification. Think longer and deeper about mission, priorities, actions, and purpose. The phrase I used was to think, act, and plan “eternally”. As I watched them grow up and move into adulthood, I’ve come to believe is that instant gratification is not just a youth problem. It’s a human heart problem. Yet in Mark chapter one, we find a man in his 30’s who doesn’t seem to have this problem. “After me”.  Faith, ministry, and the purposes of God are wiser, deeper, and longer than ME. This eternal perspective changes everything.  The way we encourage and challenge others. The way we witness. The way we parent. The way we serve. The way we love.
We would all do well to think about eternal things with eternal timing in mind. John the Baptist did.