Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

Jesus “returned to the house with them and again the crowd assembled, making it impossible for them to get any food whatever.” –Mark 3:20 Jesus was and is a sign of contradiction (Lk 2:34). As the Prophet, He did and said things which were challenging, confrontational, even shocking. Although He “ruffled a few feathers,” people didn’t get too upset over these things. Yet when Jesus put Himself in such a crowded situation that it was impossible even to get food to Him, that did it. Jesus’ relatives “came to take charge of Him, saying, ‘He is out of His mind’...

“He named twelve as His companions whom He would send to preach the good news; they were likewise to have authority to expel demons.” –Mark 3:14-15 This week we are involved in a series of celebrations of those who suffered bloody martyrdoms for Jesus. Saints Fabian, Sebastian, Agnes, and Vincent followed in Jesus’ footsteps, choosing to be killed rather than kill. Today we also recall the most disastrous judicial decision in American history, the legalizing of abortion in the United States on January 22, 1973. At this moment, the Lord challenges us to choose life (Dt 30:19-20). However, to choose...

“Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry now, just as He is Mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises.” –Hebrews 8:6 Tomorrow marks the 48th anniversary of the tragic Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. On this day a law was enacted that turned our nation into a cemetery, that turned the wombs of mothers into the tombs of babies. However, we have hope. Jesus “is always able to save those who approach God through Him, since He forever lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). “The main point in what we are saying is...

“When the Pharisees went outside, they immediately began to plot with the Herodians how they might destroy Him.” –Mark 3:6 The Pharisees, Israel’s religious leaders, allied themselves with the Herodians, its political leaders, to destroy Jesus. Do we see the same thing today? Are there still Judases among Jesus’ disciples, who will sell Him for silver? Is Jesus still a threat to the religious establishment? He was delivered up to be crucified not so much by the pagan Romans as by the religious leaders. The antichrists have always been “Christian,” at least in name (1 Jn 2:18-19). Are parts of...

“Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was.” –1 Samuel 3:3 Will you sleep through 2021 or will you wake up and answer God’s call? Many people, even religious people, will tell you to “go back to sleep” (1 Sm 3:5, 6). Instead, you should turn to God and say: “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening” (1 Sm 3:9). 2021 can be the greatest year of your life. “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who...