NCC Daily

Today we are going to be diving into Mark 14:32-52. 

As important and crucial as that Passover meal was, I want to focus today on Jesus’ prediction that Peter would deny Him. 

As we go through the book of Mark, today we will focus on Mark 14:12-21.

I think perceptions impact spiritual activation. In this passage, we see three types of spiritual activation:  Religiosity, Devotion, or Indifference.

We must be proactive doorkeepers of our spiritual lives. Instead of succumbing to comfort-induced complacency, we should actively engage in our relationships with Him, by recognizing the doorkeeper's role, we can safeguard against the things of the world that are designed to tear that very relationship.

In a world where information is at our fingertips and we operate in the illusion of control, we can be tempted to believe that we know what our future outcomes will be. While we can plan with wisdom and discernment, we cannot control the future.

If we are finding our contentment in anything else besides Jesus Himself, then we might need to find our way back to worrying only about today, and opening our hands to receive our daily bread from Him alone, and being content in the mystery of not knowing. 

Today we will be reading from Mark 13:1-13.

What would it mean for us to give everything for the sake of the kingdom, not for show but because life with Jesus is better than all the rest? In a culture that’s all about what we earn and we deserve, could we live counter-culturally and have faith to believe like the widow did that Jesus is worth all we have? I think we’d come to realize that when we lay it all down, we get Jesus, and He suffic...

Let us embrace this love parable—seeking God’s presence in all things and become vessels of his love to those that we encounter. By doing so, we become conduits of God’s love bringing life and transformation to the world around us and as we live out this commandment we draw closer to the kingdom of God where love reigns supreme and unity becomes the cornerstone.

Today we will explore Mark 12:13-27.

Today we have Jesus continuing his conversation with the chief priests and scribes after they challenged Jesus and his authority. 

Have we ever found ourselves standing as a victor over a situation and we knew it was solely by the power and authority of Jesus in our life? Healed by His grace, opportunities because of His favor, peace that transcends understanding, provision because of His goodness and mercy that surely follows us all the days of our lives!

Today’s reading is from Mark 11:12-26. This text follows Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, also known as Palm Sunday.

Jesus allowed himself to need his Heavenly Father in his everyday living. Today, as we say “Hosanna!” to our Lord and Savior, let’s again remind ourselves that we call out, “Lord, Save Us!” because we, in our own depravity, so desperately need him.

Bartimaeus’ faith is an example to all of us, as is his clearsightedness regarding what he wanted. He recognized what was hindering him from being the person God wanted him to be and created him to be. And he sought God’s power to set him free.

The Kingdom of God is about serving one another in love. Jesus gave up His sinless life to die so that we could live. Not only that but that same life Jesus died saving, He wants us to give that up in His name so we can save it. And, what does that even mean? Take up your cross daily and follow Him to wherever that may lead.

Jesus came to us as a little child—one clothed in humility. He could have shown up as a king, a military leader, or at least skipped the whole childhood thing, but he chose to come to us in the most vulnerable, most human way - an infant dependent on his parents for safety and provision. Maybe there’s something to His coming as a child to make a way for us, and our becoming like little children in...

Just when I think I’ve got myself figured out, one of my two son’s requires of me a new level of patience or wisdom, and the challenge presents a fresh opportunity for growth and awareness. One of those lessons, something I'm still working on actually, is to embrace God’s kingdom with childlike simplicity. For those of us who were forced to grow up too fast, having a childlike faith might feel ris...

The Pharisees came looking to trap Jesus. Have you ever come at Jesus with a "prove it" posture? I know if you’ve ever gone through anything hard you might have.  Often we get caught up in justifying our approach, our posture, our attitude toward others, and in doing so, justify our posture toward God. This is what the Pharisees were doing, but we can learn from them and from Jesus.

When we invite God in, we invite a firm foundation in our hearts and in the lives we live. This helps us WHEN we stumble to know that we will recover. That WHEN we stumble we know that God still loves us. WHEN we stumble we should still love ourselves.

I wonder what it would look like if we approached Jesus with a sense of humility, child-like faith, and a sense of awe. What if instead of burying questions or pretending we have it all figured out, we brought them to our Maker who wants to mold us, walk with us, and who wants us to know Him more?

We pray because we believe. We fast because we believe. The more we pray and fast, we tend to believe even more! It’s so important to have a lifestyle where we are consecrated to God in various ways. Committed to God in consistent prayer.

As we continue to learn from the book of Mark, today we will focus on the passage found in chapter 9, verses 14-23.

We can read the Bible to learn who Jesus is, but we have been blessed with opportunities in our daily life to see Him so that we can know who Jesus is. I believe Jesus is always showing us who He is, but we have to be sure to see it.