ESOCS Devotional 16 May 2023
MEMORY VERSE: “And he said unto them this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:29
TEXT: MARK 9:30-41
30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
The Bible says that whatever a man sows he shall reap. This saying applies to all aspects of life. God has made it to be that there should exist a standard reward system, based on merit. The understanding of this truth will help us as Christians to pursue and achieve our targets in life. From our text we see an example of this.
In the first place, God, out of His love for man desired for the restoration of man to his place in the kingdom of God. By disobedience, we became indebted to God in such a degree that we had nothing enough to clear the debts. This was the reason why Jesus came to suffer and die in the place of man with the reward of restoring man to the Kingdom of God (Mark 9:30-32; John 3:16).
In the place of leadership that will be recognized by God, he who desires to be a leader must sow the seed of service: “If any man desires to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all …” (vs 33-37).
To be able to exercise the power of God, you must first accept, believe and have Jesus in your life. You cannot live in sin and expect to attract or manifest signs and wonders in Christ. In verse 39 Jesus said, “Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.”
Again, to receive the blessings of those that carry the anointing of God, you have to sow into their lives. Providing for the things that will make their service to God easy and even their personal needs to help their lives are ways we can sow into the lives of men of God. In verse 41, we read “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name because you belong to Christ … he shall not lose his reward.”
Let us therefore learn to sow precious seeds to bring good fruits.
- Have you confirmed that we reap what we sow in life?
- Father, enable me to sow good seeds that will yield bountifully, in Jesus name. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Isaiah 61:1-7; Zachariah 4:1-10; Romans 9:1-13
Thank you for reading the ESOCS Devotional today. Please share and follow us on all our platforms to contribute to the spread of the Gospel.
ESOCS Devotional 16 May 2023
