January 19th, 2019
Devotional
“Parables In Mark”
Mark 4: 1-34
Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com
Monday: “Listen” - Mark 4: 1-9
A crowd has gathered around to hear Jesus’s teaching and what does he start off with - a parable. A story with a deeper meaning than that which may first meet the eye. Parables start with something that people can relate to, but then expands the understanding and imagination of those hearing the words being spoken.
Jesus calls out for the people to listen before he starts. There is such an emphasis on hearing and listening in the Gospel of Mark - perhaps because we don’t always live into the listening end in our lives. We may hear what people are telling us, but we don’t always truly listen, as our brain moves on to think of the next thing.
God needs us to listen because God isn’t boxed in by our imaginations, or lack there of. God wants us to listen so we can respond to the invitation of the seed that we are being offered.
What does it look like, practically, for you to listen to God?
Prayer: God, we confess that sometimes we do not make space in our lives to listen. We fear the silence instead of seeing it as an invitation to hear your voice. Other times we shy away from listening because we don’t know if we are going to like what we hear. Forgive us, O Lord. Help us to create space to listen to you more each day. Amen.
Tuesday: “Do You Not Understand?” -Mark 4: 10-20
The disciples walked away from what Jesus had told the crowd and they didn’t get it. I have to wonder if they had been spending much of their time not getting it over the past days and weeks after excepting this call to follow Jesus. But this time they are brave enough to ask Jesus for clarification and he grants it, step by step.
But perhaps the most important thing that Jesus says to them isn’t the explanation they asked for. Instead, it was telling them that they were given the secrets of the Kingdom. Why? Because Jesus is right there with them. The Messiah. In the flesh.
Are we brave enough to ask Jesus for clarity when we don’t understand? Or do we just pretend to understand, without even truly listening first?
How do you respond when you don’t understand something?
Prayer: Lord, when we pretend that we understand when we don’t, we are like the weeds that choke out the seeds. When we insist that we know everything, we don’t give the seed of your word space to grow within us. Forgive us, O Lord. Cultivate our hearts with questions and may we become good soil in which your word can grow. Amen.
Wednesday: “More Will Be Given” - Mark 4: 21-25
This section of Jesus’s teaching can often confuse us, unless we step back and remember that it is all in the context of Jesus teaching about the Kingdom of God. What makes up the Kingdom of God? That which proclaims God’s name and way and truth.
Therefore, when Jesus says to his disciples “For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away” he isn’t talking about this in our human terms. Instead, it points to being spiritually rich. Spiritually fertile. Spiritually fulfilled.
How do we become spiritually rich? By seeking out the face of God. Listening to Jesus isn’t always easy. Seeing what God is doing amongst us, isn’t always easy to recognize. But the more that we seek the face of God, the easier it becomes and the more will be given.
What do you think it means to be spiritually rich?
Prayer: Lord, help us to not be distracted by the ways of the world that come to choke life out of us. Instead, let us seek you and your Kingdom first, all of our days. Amen.
Thursday: “The Harvest” - Mark 4: 26-29
What is difficult to understand about the Kingdom is that the seed is going to land where the seed is going to land. We are simply called to be the people who scatter the seed. Every place that we can. Then it is God who multiplies it. And it is God who brings about the harvest.
We, as the workers in God’s fields, can’t actually judge or determine the success of the Kingdom, as much as we may think that we can. That is God’s work alone. Our work is to be workers in the fields - and to work with joy and confidence in God and commitment to God’s Kingdom.
How do you feel called to work the for the Kingdom?
Prayer: Lord, help us to set aside that which is not ours to have and help us to do with joy that which you call us to do. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
Friday: “Mustard Seed” - Mark 4: 30-34
Parables often have surprises in them and this ending parable about the Kingdom of God is no exception. We often think of mustard seeds as being small, but in our part of the world we don’t think of the giant bush that they grow into. That something so small could make something that produces so much.
So it is with the Kingdom of God. We may think that we are just one person, just one disciples. Yet, with God using us, what is possible?
Often we write ourselves off before we even get started in the work God has called us to do. We come up with all of the reasons that we can’t instead of listening to God and responding in confidence.
What would be possible if we hand our lives over to God?
What is a small thing you have done that has had big results?
Prayer: Lord, we want to renew our commitment to you and your Kingdom this day. Use us as workers in your field. Use us in ways we may not recognize. Use us, we pray. Amen.
Saturday: Preparing for the Word
You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Jesus and the Garasene Demoniac” - Mark 5: 1-20.
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