Day 14: Giving What You Don’t Have – Do Not Be Anxious

Day 14: Mark 14, 15, 16; Luke 1, 2

We’ve all gone through those moments – strapped for cash, bills to pay.  It sometimes leads to not having anything to give for offering.  However, this is the wrong way to go about giving freely to Christ.  A very poignant verse that rang true while reading this morning was when Jesus was anointed in Bethany.  It was not about frugality, waste or efficiency.  It was about someone doing what she could – no matter the cost, to serve her Lord.

Mark 14:6-8 (New International Version)

⁶“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.

Yet Christ was victim to anxiety as well.  However, He lifted those anxieties and worries to His Father and left with the most powerful statement.  ³⁶“Abba,^[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. Mark 14:36

Mark 14:34-36 (New International Version)

³⁴“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” ³⁵Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶“Abba,^[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Father, I seek your forgiveness and compassion.  As I strive to lead a more personal relationship with you.  I fall, I become anxious and I look to earthly matters to console such sorrow.  I pray that as I develop this relationship, that I may truly be able to freely say those words that Christ said in Gethsamane.

Day 13: Do Not Doubt Your Heart, Pray with Conviction

Day 13: Mark 11, 12, 13

Doubt.  We all have it.  Yet, Christ gave us the instruction to not doubt and to have faith and pray for that.

Mark 11:23-26 (New International Version)

²³“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”^[a]

It’s so amazingly powerful to read these chapters every morning and gain new perspective.  I’ve been guilty of not truly believing in what I ask for in prayer.

Dear Father, help my heart to soften – to truly grasp what it means to truly have faith.  I ask that I can have full trust in what I ask for, for you have stated that if I believe that I have received it, it will be [mine].  Thank you for sending your son as the ultimate sacrifice – to watch over us and comfort us.

Day 12: Selflessness

Day 12: Mark 8, 9, 10

The most powerful thing I read was Jesus’ explanation to his disciples regarding selflessness.

⁴³Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43-45

It was not about glory or fame – it is to serve and to sacrifice.

I’ve been praying for a deeper love for a personal selfless spirit.  I shall take these verses and remember that I must be slave of all first before wanting to be first.

Day 11: Go Home

Day 11: Mark 5, 6, 7

Have you ever felt this spiritual wash where you felt renewed and wanted to shout to the world that God is your Savior?  Have you wanted to immediately go on a missions trip to spread the word?  This has happened to me, one too many times.  Usually, after a moving testimony or a strongly convicted baptism – the weeks follow with unfruitful attempts at resurrecting my passion for my salvation.

I worry that every time, that my passion and enthusiasm is for the wrong reason.  I’ve been approaching it very incorrectly.  The passion and enthusiasm was fine, the magnitude just doesn’t have to be to some desolate third world country.

¹⁸As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis^[a]how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Mark 5:18-20

The important part that struck me the hardest was Jesus’ instruction to not come with him.  The cured man’s work was clearly cut out for him at home.  With that instruction, he trusted.

Father, allow my passion for you to burn inside me – genuinely.  Do not let me doubt my actions or intentions.  Allow me to be content with where you have placed me. Thank you for that peace.
Amen

Day 10: The Parable of the Sower

Day 10: Mark 2, 3, 4

As a believer, everyone has heard the parable of the sower.

³“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” ⁹Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:3-9

What exactly does this mean? Jesus spoke in parables “so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!” Mark 4:12

I was reminded that my life is this parable of the sower.  I feel that my desire to become deeply rooted in Christ is an exact replica of the phases of the seeds and soil.  At times, my fervent desire creates new regimens and prays more but as the seed that fell in shallow soil, the plants were scorched and withered away.  At times, I lead the sinful life that humans do without as much as thinking of being a good Christian.  Lastly, there are attempts I see in myself, the true desire to want to bear good fruit.  It motivates me to be a better person.  It re-establishes Christ’s love for me.  I yearn for the day that my life will be like the good soil.

Heavenly Father, Please allow your spirit to soften my heart.  Allow me to understand that serving You is a great thing but that what you want most out of me is worship – not my works.  I want to be with you God, understand your teachings and Your Word – so that I may go out and do things for You.
Amen

Day 9: The Great Commission

Day 9: Matthew 27, 28; Mark 1

Do you know what God’s Great Commission was, as Christ left earth upon his resurrection?  It’s such a simple instruction that we as His children should be able to live according by.  What Christ said prior to being taken into Heaven to sit next to our Father was just poignant and heart stirring.

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The reassurance that he gives us – “..I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” is an immeasurable comfort.  No matter what trial and burden that you go through, Christ reassures us every day that He will always be with us, to the very end of age.  Be comforted by that.  Even when everyone else leaves you, He will always be there.

Father – protect my heart from the works of the devil.  He uses pain, suffering and loneliness to forget about your promises.  I ask that with the Great Commission that was given unto us, would convict us to truly turn to you. I pray this all in your sons name. Amen.