THE WORD AND THE POWER

Today’s Reading: Mark 12

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).

Through a passage off the north side of the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) of the platform on which the Temples of Solomon, Ezra and Herod were built, is a collection of Jewish holy books. This man is reading an ancient scroll protected by glass. A Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, the holiest book within Judaism. It must meet extremely strict standards of reproduction. Written entirely in Hebrew, a sefer Torah contains 304,805 letters, all of which must be duplicated precisely by a trained sofer or scribe. This is an effort which may take as long as 18 months.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where Reynold took the photo, click HERE.

Key Verse: Mark 12:24

Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?…”

Jesus taught that we learn about God by knowing both the Scriptures and the Power of God. There are those who concern themselves with one or the other, and who fail to have both the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit in a balanced Christian life. Failure to give attention to both will produce a lopsided and ineffective believer. Therefore, we should take quality time reading God’s Word in a systematic way (this blog will help), and after we’ve heard from God, take time to pray fervently for the infilling of the Holy Spirit for the new day of service. This chapter begins with the parable of those who were unwilling to recognize the servants that the owner of the vineyard had sent to them. With a diligent effort to balance the head and the heart with Scripture and the experience of God’s Spirit, we will not fall into error or fanaticism.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Father God, Your Son and our Saviour showed us how a Christian should live in balance. May He live fully in me so that Your Word and Your Spirit will produce daily the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in a balanced way (Gal. 5:22-25 and 1 Cor. 12:4-11). I pray this through the Person of Jesus Christ, in whom I live. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

Before I write this blog, I know that in order to communicate as I should, I must spend time reading God’s Word, meditating on that Word, and an equal time in prayer. I try to spend the same amount of time on my personal devotions as I do writing these words. This discipline goes back to my earliest days in witnessing for Jesus. I really messed up a great opportunity to win a man for Christ by a lack of wisdom (“He that wins souls is wise” Proverbs 11:30), and a failure to keep filled with the Holy Spirit. I watched this man turn away from God. I cried out to God in my private time and was taught the reason for my failure…the lesson of today’s blog. One other lesson from today’s reading: When God counts the amount of our giving of offerings to Him, He counts the size of our gift by how much we have left over after we’ve given, not the actual cash value of our gift. Think about it the next time you give.

Yours for both the Scriptures and the Power of God,

David