Sunday, January 23, 2022

Mark 2 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

Mark 2:2

They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them.

If the Living Word preached the written Word, then we better follow suit! Jesus didn’t use this opportunity and great crowd to give an encouraging or uplifting speech but preached the Word to them. He didn’t give them a TED talk but spoke the Word into them! He didn’t talk about this or that but rather used this time to speak the Word over and into these people! Can we say the same? It really struck me

I don’t think it matters how you “do church” as long as it’s Biblical and glorifies God. But notice the verse above doesn’t say Jesus had some new catchy sermon series, or a hot new band (not that these are wrong in and of themselves). It wasn’t marked with pizazz or showmanship, but He simply preached the Word to them out of love.

Jesus knows a lot of things we don’t, and this is no different. He knows that the Word has power, and when delivered humbly, lovingly, and obediently, it will move people in ways no man can! The world is starving for real; it’s fed up with fake; it’s desperate for something it can hold on to. We know what, or better yet, Who, that is, the Living Word found in the written Word! Will we share what we have been given today?

Hebrews 4:12- For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Mark 2:13- Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and He began to teach them.

God bless! I love you all, but His love is found in the pages of the Bible and the tablets of our hearts! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

Mark 2:14,15

As He walked along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him.

Thank You, Jesus, that You came for the outcast and the sinner, people just like us! Here we see Jesus call Levi (also known as Matthew), but the call of Levi wasn’t just for him but for those around him also. In essence, Levi is the door that Jesus uses to get to those who are around him and have traveled similar paths. When Jesus called and accepted Levi, it said to the other outcasts and sinners that they were welcome at the table with Christ! What a beautiful picture of our God using those He has saved to help reach those who are still lost.

Our God is still doing this today; He is still using those He has redeemed to reach those who are still wandering aimlessly, lost in the sea of sin and rebellion. Jesus didn’t approve of Levi’s past, but He didn’t waste it either. He used Levi’s greatest weakness and shame to be a strong example of His love, mercy, grace, and acceptance! We, too, have a past He wants to use for His glory, areas in our life we’re not proud of but that He has brought us out of to be His. We must share these things for His glory. We can’t let pride, fear, worry, shame, or guilt deter us from giving God the glory and those around us hope.

If people view the church as a place full of people with no problems, then they will be less likely to take their problems there. But if they view the church as a place where the broken people take their problems and find grace, mercy, and acceptance from the King, then they will be more likely to seek help there than from the world. It’s up to the Lord to save them, but we are to be walking examples of God’s grace and mercy, always sharing the hope we have been given in Jesus Christ! Who is the Lord trying to reach through you today?

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.”

1 Peter 3:15- Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

Matthew 9:10- Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.

God bless! I love you all, but His love calls the outcasts and the sinners to His table! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!



Mark 2:15

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him.

Luke 7:36- When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, He went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

How thankful I am that Jesus eats with the outcast tax collectors and sinners, that He does not reject them but receives them, attempting to love them into turning from their sins to Him, not shaming or condemning them but showing them a love that can change their lives.

How grateful I am that Jesus eats with self-righteous Pharisees, that He does not deny them access to His table even though they should know better, yet they oppose Him in their prideful ignorance and their haughty self-righteousness. He bids them to come as well that they may taste of the Truth and be set free!

How thankful and grateful I am for these truths because the truth is that I have been both! The outcast sinner that the world didn’t want but received by the King. The guy who had “arrived” and, in his pride and arrogance, had lost sight of the Truth. Yet Christ welcomed me to His table in each situation and showed me a love and mercy that this world may never know. He did not offer me worldly riches or an easy path, but what He did offer me was worth so much more: forgiveness of my sins and acceptance into His Father’s family! He gave me peace with my Heavenly Father and an eternal promise to go with it! Thank You, Jesus, for eating with sinners like me!

Romans 3:22-24- We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins.

God bless! I love you all, but His love invited you to His eternal table and feast that will never end! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

Mark 2:15,16

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples: “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

We know that Christ is unchanging and unwavering, so we know that He is still doing this today… but are we? You see, it wasn’t just Christ who ate with and identified with the sinners and tax collectors but also His disciples. They may not have realized at that time what they were truly doing, but they were living out Christ’s command to love God and love people.

But have we, the disciples of today's age, stopped doing what our Lord and the disciples of that day did so long ago? Have we turned more inwardly than outwardly? Have we set up boundaries that no sinner dare cross instead of taking the Cross and the King who bore it to them? We have got to meet people right where they are if we want them to get where they are supposed to be. This takes wisdom and leading by the Holy Spirit. We don’t just rush blindly into a treacherous situation, but as the Holy Spirit leads, we can follow in confidence. Confident that He is moving, He is providing, and He is protecting us as we take the Gospel to those around us.

There are three types of people listed in this section: the redeemed, the rejected, and the self-righteous judges. Two of the groups were with Christ, but the other stood aloof, judging, and missed out on a meal with the Lord. Which one have we been, and which one will we be today?

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.”

Never forget those are Christ’s words, not a catchy slogan or a clever saying but truth out of the mouth of Truth. He came for us; the broken, the lost, the desperate, the dead. He is still coming to dine with those today; are we?

God bless! I love you all, but His love paid for your seat at His table. Will you sit down? Praise, glory, and honor to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

 

 

 

 

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