First Baptist Church of Beaverton, Oregon

April 4

Read Mark 16:1-8.

“Let us be done with this Christ!” they said,

And they sealed the grave with care.

They left the gloom

Of the dark,dank tomb,

And guards were posted there.

In the morning hour ‘neath the lifted cloud

Came the women to where He lay;

No sepulchral gloom, No dark, dank tomb –

The stone had been rolled away!

The Risen Christ is our theme in life,

Our joy of an Easter day.

He died by plan

For the sake of man,

Then the stone was rolled away.

And many a man with disorderedlife,

Has come to an Easter day,

And found the power in that joyous hour

To roll the stone away.

The angel was the first to announce the traditional Easter greeting:  “He is risen!”  Let us echo back—with whole-hearted joy and delight—

“He is risen indeed!”

(NL)

April 3

Read Mark 15:1-47.

Mark’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion is more concise and bleak than those of Luke and John.  According to his account, the only words that Jesus spoke from the cross were in Aramaic, our Lord’s native language:  “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,” or, as he translates, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Surely there was a reason that Jesus felt forsaken:  not just because he was physically dying on a cross, but because this was the time when “he who had no sin became sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21). 

In those times when we feel utterly abandoned, we need to remember this haunting “Cry of Dereliction.”  The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin, and, because of that, we will always have a sympathetic ear in heaven’s throne room.  We can approach God’s “throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 5:15-16). 

And we need to remember something else as well.  Jesus was reciting Psalm 22:1.  Although David expressed his sense of forsakenness, in this psalm he never gave up on God.  See what he said in verses 3-5:

 “Yet thou art holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 

      In Thee our fathers trusted;

They trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. 

      To Thee they cried, and were saved;

In Thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.” 

“Lord, were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small.  Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

(NL)

April 2

Read Mark 14:27-72.

No one is able to get through life without being hurt.  In this passage Jesus longs for the presence of friends to pray with him and instead endures the loneliness of waiting for his death, he is arrested and betrayed by a friend, put on trial with false testimony, spat on and struck, and then disowned by another loved one.  Yet, in this time Jesus recognizes two things; that everything is possible with God, and that his life must be steered by God’s will and not his own.

The fallibility of human nature (the flesh) is illustrated in the parallel between the Jewish Council and that of Peter.  In the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus, the men were seeking distinction and status, and Jesus was a threat to this.  We see man’s will at work with their mocking and condemnation.  When Peter disowns Jesus three times, we see that the human will is just as ineffective at this crossroad as well.  Peter’s love and faithfulness was not a strong enough foundation alone, and his tears demonstrate that he learned the lesson of not depending on the flesh to accomplish His work.    

Most of us would probably harbor bitterness when faced with this traumatic series of events.  Instead, Jesus preached forgiveness from the cross.  In Luke 6:28-30 Jesus says, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.  If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”

Dear Heavenly Father, Jesus prayed to you, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  Help me to remember not my will, but your will in times of fear and temptation.  Help me also to forgive those that have caused me to hurt.

(KG)

April 1

Read Mark 14:1-26. 

Be Ready 

As you read the devotion passage for today, you will easily recognize the story of the Lord’s supper.  Our own communion services reflect on this passage and what Jesus has done for us.  The fact that Jesus sacrificed his body and blood for us is vitally important.

But for this event to take place scripture tells us that a man had to be faithful and ready.  He was simply asked to make part of his home available. 

Notice that in this instance God didn’t ask him to be a preacher, teacher, or a missionary.  He wasn’t asked to go to Africa, Antarctica, or even Albania (or Argentina for that matter).  He wasn’t asked to give ten dollars, a hundred dollars, or even a million dollars.  God didn’t ask him to go to visitation, sing in the choir, or serve on the church council.  God asked him to have a room available and be ready for the call.

Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that this request was trivial.  This room wasn’t an abandoned warehouse.  It wasn’t a room in which the only thing in it was cobwebs.  Notice that it wasn’t a room so small that it was for all practical purposes useless.  This room was a large and furnished room, one I would say was vital.  The man had to keep the room clean and equipped for some day when a stranger would tell him “The teacher asks: where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”

A word to our youth – when we think of doing God’s will, we often think and dream that it will require us to big huge things requiring major changes in our life.  And God certainly can do that and does.  But God can also call you to do little things that don’t require you to do anything but be faithful and ready.  This might simply mean being friendly to a stranger at school, or even inviting a friend to a cool event at church.

The real trick is to figure out what it means to be ready.  Sorry, no answers from me on that one.  I am on the journey like you except I’ve been on it a few days longer.  In my experience, I have found that when I intentionally and actively listen for God’s voice daily I do better.  But when I am too busy and forget God, I struggle.

Dear God, I want to be ready for You.  Please help me watch and listen for Your directions in my life, even in what I think are the little things.  Thank You that You have a plan for my life and that You want to use me.

(DS)

March 31

Read Mark 13:1-37.

En Guard! 

In the world of fencing, “en garde” is the call made before a bout for the contestants to get into a fighting stance before beginning combat.  Life isn’t so courteous.  We have precious few warnings before we are attacked spiritually.  Anyone who reads Mark chapter 13 carefully will have no trouble figuring out the theme of the chapter – Watch out! Be on guard.  Six times in this passage Jesus pleads with his disciples to watch out or be on guard.

We are to be on guard against false prophets and watch out that we are not deceived.  We are warned that we will face efforts to draw us away from Christ.  People and life events might cause us to read the bible or pray less.  We might be led away from active participation in church.  All these are things that will help protect us and keep us safe in our Father’s arms. 

We are to be on guard as many will suffer because of our faith.  While we are relatively safe from physical harm in this country there are many places in our world where being a Christian is dangerous and it is not uncommon, even today, to learn of a brother or sister in Christ who has been martyred.  What is common in our country is that Christians are ridiculed, or at best, inconvenienced for their faith.

While this passage focuses on being on guard from external sources, we also need to keep watch over internal factors that can affect us.  Scripture cautions us to guard against greed (Luke 12:15), your heart (Proverbs 4:23), and your tongue (Psalm 34:13, Proverbs 21:23). 

In order to protect ourselves spiritually we need to have something that we can completely depend upon, something that is accurate and trustworthy.  We need something that serves as our foundation from which we can build.  We need something that we can benchmark against, that will illuminate truth from lies, fact from fiction, and light from darkness.  The holy word of God is just that dependable standard.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3: 16-17

We can find comfort and assurance knowing that scripture is not just accurate and reliable but also everlasting.  In this passage (verse 31), Jesus tells us that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”  Proverbs 4:13 tells us to “hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”

Father in heaven, please help me to be on guard against external factors that pull me away from you and internal ones that can diminish my witness of you to others.

(DS)