First Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Devotional: Mark 2:13-17

Today’s passage: Mark 2:13-17

Helpful thoughts:

  • Levi is Matthew (Mark 3:18) and the writer of the Gospel of Matthew.
  • Levi’s/Matthew’s having a tax booth by the Sea of Galilee implies he was collecting taxes for Rome from the fishermen.  The men Jesus called to follow Him as His disciples were men who were supposed to hate each other from the world’s perspective.  Yet they were united in Christ.
  • The scribes and Pharisees didn’t think they needed spiritual rescue.  Therefore, they were unwilling to hear any help, rebukes, correction, etc.

Questions to consider:

  1. Who are the people the world says we should be against?  Why and how should we be for those very people?
  2. What was Matthew no longer doing after he got up and followed Jesus?  What had he left behind?  Why do you think the scribes and the Pharisees were more upset with Jesus than they were excited for the change in Matthew?  What is the mission of the church (Matthew 28:18-20) and therefore what things should we be fired up about?  What do we need to care less about?
  3. What understanding/attitude must we have about ourselves if we are going to be able to hear when others lovingly strive to help us see our “blind spots” in life?  Why do we tend to get defensive when we sense people are about to say something about us?  How does the Gospel remind us that we need people to speak into our lives?

Devotional: Mark 2:1-12

Today’s passage: Mark 2:1-12

Helpful thoughts:

  • Only God has the authority to forgive sin like this.  When Jesus forgave the paralytic’s sin, He was letting the people know who He was.
    • The scribes were not necessarily wrong to be shocked by this declaration of forgiveness.  Jesus had been teaching the word, and now He had just done something that would have been blasphemous…if He wasn’t God!
  • Jesus refers to Himself in verse 10 as the “Son of Man.”  This is a name for the Messiah taken from Daniel 7:13-14.  Again, Jesus was letting this crowd know who He was.
  • The preaching of the Word of God, the forgiveness of sins, and the revelation of the Messiah were the most important activities in this passage.  The healing was simply a sign to point to the truth of Christ’s identity and ministry.

Questions to consider:

  1. What might the scribes have been thinking after these events?  How did Jesus know what they had been thinking?
  2. In what way would it have been easier to say, “your sins are forgiven” than to say, “take up your bed and walk?”  Which one was immediately verifiable?  Why did Jesus heal the paralytic?
  3. How did the actions of the paralytic and his friends display the faith that Jesus saw?  What is the result of saving faith in the life of a believer?

Devotional: Mark 1:21-45

Today’s passage: Mark 1:21-45

Helpful thoughts:

  • Jesus’ teaching and healing (Both physical and spiritual) are presented in this passage.
    • The people were amazed by both.  It seems however they were more interested in healing.
    • Jesus was more interested in teaching, but with pity He also healed.
  • He spoke with authority over all things.
    • When scribes spoke, they had to reference others who had gone before.  When Jesus spoke, His words were the words of God!
    • Jesus is Lord over all.  Even sickness and the demons must obey Him.
  • When anyone touched the unclean (e.g. leprosy) they also became “unclean.”  Not so with Jesus.  When Jesus touches the unclean, they are made clean!

Questions to consider:

  1. Why are people prone to desire physical healing over spiritual nourishment and salvation?  Have people changed since the 1st century?  How is this greater desire for the physical/temporal even evidenced in the church at times?
  2. At the same time, why is it right to also pray for the physical and temporal?  Who is Lord of all?
  3. In what way can we eternally sympathize with the man who became physically “clean?”  When Jesus took our sin upon Himself, what did we become? (1 John 1:9)

Devotional: Mark 1:9-20

Today’s passage: Mark 1:9-20

Helpful thoughts:

  • Jesus had no sin for which to repent, but he was baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
  • Jesus was tempted, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
  • These fishermen were called by God to be fishers of men (Jeremiah 16:15-17).  God had promised the day would come when He began gathering His people away from their idolatry and to Himself.

Questions to consider:

  1. What truth claim from Mark 1:1 did God the Father confirm at Jesus’ baptism?  Why is this important?
  2. What was the summary of Jesus’ preaching?  What was He telling the people to do?  How is this message continuing to be proclaimed today?  What will be it’s conclusion?
  3. If James’ and John’s father was left in his boat with their servants, they probably had a successful business!  What might it have been like for these men to leave everything behind immediately to follow Jesus?  What is the picture then for followers of Christ today?  How does the Christian view their job, their relationships, their possessions, etc. in a way that shows we have “left everything” to follow Christ?  (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:23-24)

Devotional: Mark 1:1-8

Today’s passage: Mark 1:1-8

Helpful thoughts:

  • The Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark, who served along with the Apostle Peter.  Mark has written down what he learned from Peter, who serves as the eye-witness for the account, as he was “carried along” by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21).
  • This Gospel begins with a statement of affirmation/belief in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  He is the Son of God!
  • The prophecy recorded from Isaiah concerning John the Baptist is taken from Isaiah 40:3.  However, Malachi 3:1 is also used here.
  • John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance.  The Jewish people who were coming to him for baptism were proclaiming they had NOT been following God and needed to turn from their sin.  Their baptism symbolized the cleansing they needed to be consecrated to the Lord once again.
    • This was to prepare their hearts for the One who was about to come…Jesus the Messiah!

Questions to consider:

  1. In what way does verse 1 serve as a purpose statement for this Gospel writing?  What does the author want the reader to understand by reading this book?
  2. In what ways was the baptism of John different than what the church practices today in baptism?  In what ways is it similar?  How can baptism today serve as a symbol of repentance and cleansing, along with new birth, resurrection, etc.? (Romans 6:1-4)
  3. How does John’s voice, “Crying in the wilderness” also picture Israel’s coming into the Promised Land?  How does this add to the importance of the Jewish people being baptized in the Jordan River?  What is the “Promised Land” the Jewish people were about to be offered?

Devotional: Malachi 3:16-4:6

Today’s passage: Malachi 3:16-4:6

Helpful thoughts:

  • Judgment is coming.  Those who “fear the Lord and esteem His name” will be spared and counted as God’s treasured possession.  Those who reject him will suffer.
  • We see in today’s passage more prophecy concerning John the Baptist (Verses 5-6, Luke 1:17)
  • “Healing” came to God’s people through substitutionary sacrifice (Isaiah 53:5).

Questions to consider:

  1. How are the sufferings of judgment and the life of the redeemed compared/contrasted in this passage?  If a person were to decide this was inappropriate or unacceptable, what choice have they made?
  2. Who is the sun of righteousness, whose light will dispel the darkness and whose coming brought and will bring healing from our sin? (John 8:12)
  3. How does this short prophetic book set up a time of waiting before the coming of Jesus Christ?  What thoughts and expectations could have been in the hearts of Israel?

Devotional: Malachi 3:6-15

Today’s passage: Malachi 3:6-15

Helpful thoughts:

  • God has made covenants to Abraham and to David that are going to be fulfilled.  God is immutable, He does not change.  Israel’s continued existence will not be a result of their faithfulness, but God’s.
  • The law required Israel to bring in tithes.  These tithes were not optional offerings, they were required.
    • The tithes provided for the spiritual leaders and function of the worship of the people.  If there were no tithes coming in, the worship would be negatively effected.
    • God allows the people to test Him!  He is urging them to do what He has commanded them to do by faith, and then wait and see how He provides.
      • It is important that we read this challenge/testing in the context where it was presented, under the Old Covenant in Israel.  It is good for Christians under the New Covenant to give willingly and with a cheerful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7).
  • Israel had not been following God, and yet they said it hadn’t been worth it to follow God because He hadn’t blessed them the way they wanted.
    • If we design our own version of Christianity and then expect God to uphold our expectations on Him, we’ve got things upside down.

Questions to consider:

  1. How would it be helpful to encourage people to give today with what we read in verse 10?  When could that encouragement go too far and become harmful?  When is encouraging giving good discipleship, and when does it cross the line into becoming harmful?
  2. How can we know that we aren’t redesigning our own version of the faith?  Where could we go to see who He is and what He has called us to be?  How must we approach the Word of God if we are to grow in Christ-likeness to serve the “Lord of Hosts?”
  3. What did God’s unchanging promises result in for our salvation?  Who made up that plan?  Who saw it through?  To whom belongs the glory and praise?

Devotional: Malachi 2:17-3:5

Today’s passage: Malachi 2:17-3:5

Helpful thoughts:

  • The priests of Israel had a semblance of godliness, but their consciences were not in agreement with the true righteousness of God.
    • They were able to do evil and feel good about it, and even encourage others to do the same.
    • This error caused them to think God was doing evil (“Injustice”).
  • John the Baptist is the messenger who was sent to “prepare the way before me” (Matthew 11:10).
  • There will be a remnant in Israel.  There will be some who are refined and purified.  And there will be some who reject the Lord and are judged.
    • Notice, the two choices are judgment and refining/purification.  No one remains the same, “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Questions to consider:

  1. How does our thinking or our consciences grow to be in agreement with the truth and God’s righteousness?  How can we see our thinking corrected that we might put on Christ-likeness? (Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 4:20-24)
  2. What does the inclusion of John the Baptist in 3:1 teach us about the timeline of God’s refining and purifying work?  If John the Baptist inaugurated this time, and if the Temple will be filled with the glory of God after Jesus’ second coming, what is happening now?  What all is included in Malachi 3:1-5?
  3. What is the difference between a person who will be refined and purified and a person who will be judged (1 John 5:12)?  What refining and purifying work is God doing in you?  When will that work be completed (1 John 3:2)?  How do these truths encourage humility, thanksgiving, and true joy?

Devotional: Malachi 2:1-16

Today’s passage: Malachi 2:1-16

Helpful thoughts:

  • A great description of spiritual leadership can be found in verses 5-7, given concerning Levi, which was to have been carried on by the Levitical priests.  God rebukes them for their faithlessness to Him and partiality toward people.
  • The second and third rebukes in this passage deal with marriage and divorce.
    • The people of God had married worshipers of false gods (Verses 10-12).
    • The people of God often sought divorce.  The men would not love their wives and became faithless (Verses 13-16).

Questions to consider:

  1. What do we learn in verses 5-7 concerning spiritual leaders?  It they are truly serving as messengers of the Lord today, what will they communicate (2 Timothy 4:1-2)?
  2. God calls Himself “the Lord of Hosts” often in this book.  This name of God refers to His command over the angel armies, who have never and will never be defeated.  Why do you think God would want to continually emphasize this truth to the people along with these rebukes?
  3. In what way does divorce and marriage with unbelievers go against the picture of the covenant relationship that God has with His people, which marriage is supposed to represent? (Ephesians 5:25-33)  What has Christ committed to do for His bride?  How can husbands (and wives) display this kind of love in their marriage?

Devotional: Malachi 1

Today’s passage: Malachi 1

Helpful thoughts:

  • Malachi lived and ministered at the same time as Ezra and Nehemiah.
  • God’s “love” for Israel and “hate” for Edom is used as a term of choice or election, not affection.
    • Israel wondered why the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile happened and they doubted God’s love for them.  In this passage, God affirms his election of Israel over other nations.
  • God is a great king and His name will be great among the nations!
    • The ability or inability of a person to acknowledge that doesn’t make it more or less true.
    • When we do acknowledge God’s greatness, it changes how we live.

Questions to consider:

  1. What was the state of any person without the love of God (Ephesians 2:1)?  Why does God deserve all the glory in that any of us are “loved?” (Ephesians 2:4-5)
  2. What was the specific rebuke God gave to the priests who dishonored Him?  Why was that worth pointing out?  What did it communicate concerning the priests relationship with and reverence for God?
  3. If the priests had revered the Lord appropriately, how would that have changed their practice?  What kind of sacrifices would they bring?  How can this help you to fight against sin and pursue righteousness to the glory of God?  Why should we do that?