Month: October 2018

       For the Son of Man came not to be served but to be serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45

       As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

      “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother'”

       “Teacher,” he declared,”all of these I have kept since I was a boy.”             Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

      At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich  to enter the kingdom of God!”

      The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

       The disciples were even more amazed,  and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

       Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

      Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”

      “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied,”no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — and with them persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last , and the last first.

Mark 10:17-31

          For the word of God is living  and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him whom we must give account.

      Therefore, sincewe have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy  and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:12-16

      Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

       Relent, O Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.

      Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

     Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.

     May your deeds be shown to your servants your splendor to their children.

      May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:12-17

       Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire; it will devour, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. You who turn justice into bitternesss and cast righteousness to the ground

      you hate the one who reproves in court and despise him who tells the truth. You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

Amos 5:5-6, 10-15

       Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 

Hebrews 4:14

      Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

      “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

      They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

     “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together , let man not separate.”

      When they were in the house again the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

      People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

 

Mark 10:2-16

      In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

      It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified:

      “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.”

      In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus , who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was gitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says,

     “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”

 

Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

     O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

     You have set your glory above the heavens.

     From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

      When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

      what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

      You made him a little lower than heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

      You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

      all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

      the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

      O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 

Psalm 8

      The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

      Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.

      But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said,

      “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman, ‘for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Genesis 2:18-24