11/01 Psalm 66:1-2
Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! Sing about the glory of his name! Tell the world how glorious he is.
WONDERFUL
The Lord is wonderful! He loves you and me. He offers us salvation in Christ. He seeks to have a relationship with us. God is so great and glorious beyond anything we can think or see. The Lord is mighty to save and glorious.
11/02 Psalm 66:3-4
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Your enemies cringe before your mighty power. Everything on earth will worship you; they will sing your praises, shouting your name in glorious songs.”
WONDERFUL
How wonderful is the Lord! He is mighty and loving and caring-the eternal Lord of all things cares about us. He is seeking that we might know Him. Jesus is Lord and He cares about us. The Lord is good and His plans are perfect. In Him is the Godhead bodily. Our God is a great God!
11/03 Psalm 66:5-7
Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he does for his people! He made a dry path through the Red Sea, and his people went across on foot. Come; let us rejoice in who he is. For by his great power he rules forever. He watches every movement of the nations; let no rebel rise in defiance.
MIRACULOUS
Our God is a great God who cares about every aspect of our life. Trouble, talk with God. Fear, ask for His healing. Change me Lord, first change me before I trouble you with my petty peeves and selfishness. The Lord is good and He will bring good into our life.
11/04 Psalm 66:8-12
Let the whole world bless our God and sing aloud his praises. Our lives are in his hands, and he keeps our feet from stumbling. You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver melted in a crucible. You captured us in your net and laid the burden of slavery on our backs. You sent troops to ride across our broken bodies. We went through fire and flood. But you brought us to a place of great abundance.
REPENTANCE
The Lord is calling us to change. Change from our selfishness to care for the orphan and widow. Change that your days may be long with the Lord. Today is the day you give all of your self to the Lord. Ask Him to lead, guide and direct your life every day and all days.
11/05 Psalm 66:13-15
Now I come to your Temple with burnt offerings to fulfill the vows I made to you – yes, the sacred vows you heard me make when I was in deep trouble. That is why I am sacrificing burnt offerings to you – the best of my rams as a pleasing aroma. And I will sacrifice bulls and goats.
OFFERING
An offering is part of the ceremony in the temple. They bring their offering as an attempt on their part to please God. He says that it pleases Him for us to accept Jesus. He says it pleases Him when we follow Jesus. He prefers our obedience over an offering. A relationship with us is what the Lord is seeking.
11/06 Psalm 66:16-17
Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke.
HELP
God will help us if we ask. The Lord does not force Himself on us. Today ask Him to help you. We need help for the choices we make in life. Jesus will give you the help you need. We need help to discern the right way to go in our life. Jesus will give us step by step guidance. Ask Him for help today.
11/07 Psalm 66:18-20
If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, my Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer and did not withdraw his unfailing love from me.
CONFESSION
We need to recognize that we are sinners. We are in need of forgiveness. Lord I need your help today. If we are willing to acknowledge our sin the Lord will forgive us of that sin. Speak with Him now and ask Him to forgive you of your sin. Confession clears our mind and opens us up to cleansing from the Lord.
11/08 Mark 9:1
Jesus went on to say, “I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!”
JESUS
Jesus is alive and well and lives in each believer. If you have asked Jesus into your heart He is at work guiding you in your daily life. Spend time with Him. Talk with Him. Let His activity in your life control you every day.
11/09 Mark 9:2-3
Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain. No one else was there. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance changed, and his clothing became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly process could ever make it.
JESUS
Jesus seeks to develop our understanding of Him. It takes quiet times; prayer and obedience to change so that we are more like Jesus every day. Our goal is to be as much like Jesus as we can be by the time we go to be with Him. On that day our aim is to hear “well done.”
11/10 Mark 9:4-6
Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. “Teacher, this is wonderful!” Peter exclaimed. “We will make three shrines – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He didn’t really know what to say, for they were all terribly afraid.
JESUS
How should we pray? Peter shouldn’t have spoken. What can I pray about? We can talk with Jesus about anything. He will correct and guide us in pray. Talk with Him. Jesus is Lord.
11/11 Mark 9:7-8
Then a cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly they looked around, and Moses and Elijah were gone, and only Jesus was with them.
JESUS
Jesus is God’s everything. We start with Jesus; He is the way, the truth and the life. We grow with Jesus, He is our guide. We go home to be with Jesus. He is everything we need for a growing, eternal relationship with the Father.
11/12 Mark 9:9
As they descended the mountainside, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until he, the Son of Man, had risen from the dead.
JESUS
Jesus came to die for our sin. He knew it and willingly did it. He died for you and for me before we knew Him. Today spend a few extra minutes with Him. Let Him know your problems and share your joys. Pray for those suffering around the world. Get to know Jesus better because we will spend eternity with Him.
11/13 Mark 9:10
So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by “rising from the dead.”
JESUS
Jesus arose from the dead by the power of the Father. He was totally committed to doing the Father’s will. I must never forget this picture of absolute submission to the will of God. Jesus gave us a very simple picture of His absolute surrender-He died for us. Am I, are you, willing to do God’s will today? Doing anything less is a sin.
11/14 Mark 9:11
Now they began asking him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?”
JESUS
Our best and brightest do not understand God. We are finite creatures and therefore are not able to comprehend the infinite. God came in the flesh and died for us. That is a picture so that we might understand that He loves us. Even then we cannot fully comprehend the magnitude of what the Lord has done. Let Jesus bless you today.
11/15 Mark 9:12-13
Jesus responded, “Elijah is indeed coming first to set everything in order. Why then is it written in the Scriptures that the Son of Man must suffer and be treated with utter contempt? But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and he was badly mistreated, just as the Scriptures predicted.”
JESUS
Jesus reveals the Father to us. He also validates the prophecies in the Old Testament. As we listen to His Words in Scripture He will equip us to live in and grow in Him in a pagan society. The world destroys life. Jesus values and builds life.
11/16 Mark 9:14
At the foot of the mountain they found a great crowd surrounding the other disciples, as some teachers of religious law were arguing with them.
RELIGION
We are not following religious leaders, we follow the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, our savior. Our faith is alive and growing. Christ is alive in us. Let Jesus have control of your life and He will build new life into you.
11/17 Mark 9:15-16
The crowd watched Jesus in awe as he came toward them, and then they ran to greet him. “What is all this arguing about?” he asked.
JESUS
We never surprise Jesus. He knew what they were doing. They learned so slowly, just like us. Know this today, Jesus loves you and is seeking your best good. Remember that. Write it down. If you believe this it will solve a lot of the problems you will face.
11/18 Mark 9:17-18
One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son for you to heal him. He can’t speak because he is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this evil spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grind his teeth and become rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”
HEALING
Healing isn’t done through our power. God always heals by His power. When we are used by the Lord to heal someone it is because we are weak and He is strong. If you need to be healed ask the Lord Jesus for that healing. The Lord uses people that are surrendered to Him as His agent for His healing.
11/19 Mark 9:19
Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
BELIEVE
This is amazing but true. Do you believe the Lord? If you do then you can choose to have an abundant life. You can choose to be used by God. You and you alone are the decision point as to how much the Lord can use you. Believe in Jesus and He will live in you and give you life.
11/20 Mark 9:20-22
So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was very small. The evil spirit often makes him fall into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can.”
NEED
People need Jesus. He was this man’s only hope. When we exhaust every other avenue we will often turn to Jesus. Today, turn to Jesus first with your need. Talk with Him about it and what you should do. When He tells you what to do, do it.
11/21 Mark 9:23-24
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly replied, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!”
HELP
We need help. Even when we think we are doing fine we need help. Jesus is our Lord and He will help us. Spend time with Him today. Tell Him what you need and take time to listen to Him. He will tell you what to do.
11/22 Mark 9:25
When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Spirit of deafness and muteness,” he said, “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”
JESUS
Jesus knows how we are and what we are. He speaks to our need. Too often we are sidetracked by our wants and the truth is it is our needs that we should be talking with Him about. Jesus will help us to see clearly the difference between our needs and our wants.
11/23 Mark 9:26
Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy lay there motionless, and he appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd, “He’s dead.”
HEALING
Non-believers do not accept the fact that the Lord will sometimes use healing to solve a person’s problems. Healing is relegated to the realm of myth and mysticism. The Lord can do anything He chooses to do. He chose to die for us on the cross paying the price for forgiveness of our sin. Do not stop praying for healing if you need to be healed. The Lord is listening and He hears you.
11/24 Mark 9:27-29
But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer. ”
JESUS
Jesus is divine and man at the same time. He knows how important it is to spend time with the Father. We see Him praying many times. It was His character to go to the Father in lengthy times of prayer. Are you praying? Are you spending time with God? This is important. Find a quiet place to be with the Lord.
11/25 Mark 9:30-31
Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus tried to avoid all publicity in order to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.”
JESUS
Jesus told the disciples exactly what would happen to Him in the coming days. They didn’t understand what He was saying. It didn’t dawn on them that Jesus was going to sacrifice Himself for us until after it happened. It is easy to criticize them but what about you. Is the Lord trying to tell you something over and over and you just aren’t getting it? How will you find out? Ask Him.
11/26 Mark 9:32
But they didn’t understand what he was saying, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
FEAR
We serve the Lord of all things, Jesus. He is the creator of all things and in charge of all things. Yet we let fear back us away from doing the very things the Lord is calling us to do. Do what Jesus says. Live like Jesus lives. He will handle the fear.
11/27 Mark 9:33-37
After they arrived at Capernaum, Jesus and his disciples settled in the house where they would be staying. Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He sat down and called the twelve disciples over to him. Then he said, “Anyone who wants to be the first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes my Father who sent me.”
SERVANT
A child is without guile. A child loves without reservation. There is no I in servant. Who will we serve? Will we refuse to let Jesus have control of our life? Choose.
11/28 Mark 9:38-40
John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn’t one of our group.” “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs miracles in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.
DEMONS
Demons fear Jesus. They don’t fear me or you. If we are going to deal with demons we must first build a close relationship with Jesus. If we aren’t close to Jesus we won’t be able to deal with demons.
11/29 Mark 9:41-42
If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I assure you, that person will be rewarded. “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck.
REALITY
The reality is that our Lord Jesus Christ, Father God and Holy Spirit are infinite. We are finite. This is am important message to us. The Lord is serious and He is warning us. Take heed. Be an open handed person.
11/30 Mark 9:43-50
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ‘where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’ “For everyone will be purified with fire. Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”
KINGDOM
There is a kingdom lifestyle that we are called to live. We are different than the world. We belong to Jesus. He clearly outlines how we are to live and what we are doing that must be changed.
