Mark 15, Bible reading and Daily Devotions

Max Lucado Daily: Contentment


Contentment

Posted: 01 Jun 2010 11:01 PM PDT

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6, NKJV

In our world, contentment is a strange street vendor, roaming . . . slowly from house to house . . . offering his wares: an hour of peace, a smile of acceptance, a sigh of relief . . .

When I asked him why so few welcomed him into their homes, his answer left me convicted. “I charge a high price, you know . . . I ask people to trade in their schedules, frustrations, and anxieties . . . You’d think I’d have more buyers . . . but people seem strangely proud of their ulcers and headaches.”

Mark 15
Standing Before Pilate
1 At dawn's first light, the high priests, with the religious leaders and scholars, arranged a conference with the entire Jewish Council. After tying Jesus securely, they took him out and presented him to Pilate.
2-3Pilate asked him, "Are you the 'King of the Jews'?"

He answered, "If you say so." The high priests let loose a barrage of accusations.

4-5Pilate asked again, "Aren't you going to answer anything? That's quite a list of accusations." Still, he said nothing. Pilate was impressed, really impressed.

6-10It was a custom at the Feast to release a prisoner, anyone the people asked for. There was one prisoner called Barabbas, locked up with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the uprising against Rome. As the crowd came up and began to present its petition for him to release a prisoner, Pilate anticipated them: "Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?" Pilate knew by this time that it was through sheer spite that the high priests had turned Jesus over to him.

11-12But the high priests by then had worked up the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas. Pilate came back, "So what do I do with this man you call King of the Jews?"

13They yelled, "Nail him to a cross!"

14Pilate objected, "But for what crime?"

But they yelled all the louder, "Nail him to a cross!"

15Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted, set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.

16-20The soldiers took Jesus into the palace (called Praetorium) and called together the entire brigade. They dressed him up in purple and put a crown plaited from a thornbush on his head. Then they began their mockery: "Bravo, King of the Jews!" They banged on his head with a club, spit on him, and knelt down in mock worship. After they had had their fun, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they marched out to nail him to the cross.

The Crucifixion
21There was a man walking by, coming from work, Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made him carry Jesus' cross.
22-24The soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha, meaning "Skull Hill." They offered him a mild painkiller (wine mixed with myrrh), but he wouldn't take it. And they nailed him to the cross. They divided up his clothes and threw dice to see who would get them.

25-30They nailed him up at nine o'clock in the morning. The charge against him—the king of the jews—was printed on a poster. Along with him, they crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: "You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!"

31-32The high priests, along with the religion scholars, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: "He saved others—but he can't save himself! Messiah, is he? King of Israel? Then let him climb down from that cross. We'll all become believers then!" Even the men crucified alongside him joined in the mockery.

33-34At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o'clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

35-36Some of the bystanders who heard him said, "Listen, he's calling for Elijah." Someone ran off, soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down."

37-39But Jesus, with a loud cry, gave his last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle. When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, "This has to be the Son of God!"

Taken to a Tomb
40-41There were women watching from a distance, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, these women followed and served him, and had come up with him to Jerusalem.
42-45Late in the afternoon, since it was the Day of Preparation (that is, Sabbath eve), Joseph of Arimathea, a highly respected member of the Jewish Council, came. He was one who lived expectantly, on the lookout for the kingdom of God. Working up his courage, he went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate questioned whether he could be dead that soon and called for the captain to verify that he was really dead. Assured by the captain, he gave Joseph the corpse.

46-47Having already purchased a linen shroud, Joseph took him down, wrapped him in the shroud, placed him in a tomb that had been cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the opening. Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses, watched the burial.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 2 Kings 19:9-19

9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king [of Egypt], was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:
10 "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'
11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?
12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them: the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
Hezekiah's Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: "O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
16 Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
17 "It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands.
19 Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God."

ASAP

June 2, 2010 — by C. P. Hia

O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone. —2 Kings 19:19

For most English-speaking people, the acronym ASAP means “As Soon As Possible” or immediately. But for the Christian it can also mean, “Always Say A Prayer.”

King Hezekiah was one of Judah’s best kings. He restored the worship of God to his nation after his father Ahaz’s evil reign (2 Kings 18:3-4). Yet when the Assyrian king attacked Judah, Hezekiah capitulated to the king and stripped off the gold from the temple in Jerusalem to placate him (vv.13-16).

That did not satisfy the Assyrian king, however, who returned to issue another threat. It was then that Hezekiah turned to the Lord. He prayed, “You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. . . . Save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone” (19:15-19). When Hezekiah prayed, God answered him in a remarkable way and delivered him from his enemies (vv.35-37).

You may be facing a problem that leaves you feeling helpless. It may be the loss of a job, a difficult family or work situation, or health struggles. We have a powerful God to whom we can bring our concerns. So before you do anything else, remember to ASAP—Always Say A Prayer.



Something happens when we pray:
Powers of evil lose their sway,
We gain strength, and fear gives way—
Therefore, let us pray. —Anon.

Prayer should be our first response rather than our last resort.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 2, 2010

Are You Obsessed by Something?

Who is the man that fears the Lord? —Psalm 25:12


Are you obsessed by something? You will probably say, “No, by nothing,” but all of us are obsessed by something— usually by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our own experience of the Christian life. But the psalmist says that we are to be obsessed by God. The abiding awareness of the Christian life is to be God Himself, not just thoughts about Him. The total being of our life inside and out is to be absolutely obsessed by the presence of God. A child’s awareness is so absorbed in his mother that although he is not consciously thinking of her, when a problem arises, the abiding relationship is that with the mother. In that same way, we are to “live and move and have our being” in God ( Acts 17:28 ), looking at everything in relation to Him, because our abiding awareness of Him continually pushes itself to the forefront of our lives.

If we are obsessed by God, nothing else can get into our lives— not concerns, nor tribulation, nor worries. And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. How can we dare to be so absolutely unbelieving when God totally surrounds us? To be obsessed by God is to have an effective barricade against all the assaults of the enemy.

“He himself shall dwell in prosperity . . .” ( Psalm 25:13 ). God will cause us to “dwell in prosperity,” keeping us at ease, even in the midst of tribulation, misunderstanding, and slander, if our “life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). We rob ourselves of the miraculous, revealed truth of this abiding companionship with God. “God is our refuge . . .” ( Psalm 46:1 ). Nothing can break through His shelter of protection.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft


Light for Life's Darkest Valley - #6103
Wednesday, June 2, 2010


I'm glad I was raised in a part of the country that's a real "four seasons" place, because I love all four seasons! Where I grew up, one of them seemed a little longer than the others. It was called winter. But I think fall is my favorite season of all. I love the blooming beauty of the spring, but my favorite is the blazing colors of those fall leaves. It's not that the leaves have no color the rest of the year, but I've never known people to drive from far away to see the beautiful green leaves. They will travel to see the leaves of fall. The ironic thing is that they are about to die at that point. But they are something to see!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Light for Life's Darkest Valley."

Leaves are at their most beautiful just before they die. It can be that way for people, if they're ready to die. Recently, a dear friend's mother learned that she had an incurable cancer and just probably weeks to live. As her family tried, each in their own way, to absorb the shock of that news, Jeanne was doing fine. She told them, "This is what I've been practicing for all my life." She had lived most of her life with a deep love relationship with Jesus Christ, who she was now getting ready to see.

It's that kind of life in the face of death that has echoed across the centuries in King David's immortal 23rd Psalm in the Bible. First, he describes a life in which "The Lord is my shepherd." He's been following the Lord for years and he found out that, under His care, "I shall not be in want." He remembers how the Shepherd of his life has led him and loved him and restored him. Then, in Psalm 23:4, our word for today from the Word of God, he says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me." The Lord who has walked with him through every season of his life will walk with him through the valley of the shadow of death and then to the place where he will, in the Bible's words, "dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Because of that unshakeable security, because of that unloseable love, our friend Jeanne - like so many I have known - was confident, radiant, and spreading hope until the day she died. In fact, some of her family saw more of that in her than they had even seen before she was facing death. It's like walking on the threshold of eternity brought out a beauty that blessed every life she touched. Jeanne was the first to tell you that it wasn't about her at all. What we were seeing was her Jesus reflected in her.

For many of us, death is the enemy we don't want to think about, we don't want to talk about, we don't want to face. But we will. When it's your final season on earth, you'll either be walking through it with the Jesus you belong to or you'll be walking through it pretty much alone. He's really the only One who can walk with you through life's darkest valley. He's walked there Himself, when He died on the cross for the sin that disqualifies us from entering God's heaven. He loves you so much that He took all that sin and all that hell on Himself on the cross. Then, three days later, He blew the doors off death by walking out of His own grave; proving that He, and He alone, can give eternal life.

Jesus has, in essence, turned death from the enemy that destroys everything we have into a friend who opens the gate to everything God has. But if you don't know Him when you die, it will be too late to change it. Now is what we have. Some of us won't have a warning like my friend did. The end of our life will be sudden. The most dangerous thing you can do in your life, the most deadly, is to ignore or postpone or reject Jesus Christ. The Bible describes the eternal life He died to give you as a gift, which means you have to reach out and take it.

If you've never done that - if you want to get your eternity settled once and for all - I'd urge you to consider now as the very best time to do that. The Bible says, "Now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). As soon as you can get to a place where you can talk to God, tell Him you want to pin all your hopes on what His Son did on the cross for you. At that point, the Bible says you become a child of God who will live with Him in heaven forever.

I would love to help you get started with Jesus. That's why we've set up our website with some information there that will help you be sure you belong to Him. I would encourage you to go there as soon as you can today - YoursForLife.net.

We're talking about having life's greatest security. It is life's greatest hope to know that when it's your time to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are going there with Jesus.