Beyond These Walls: Here We Go! Week 2 Devotional Day 1

Beyond These Walls: Here We Go! Week 2 Devotional Day 1

DAY 1 – Monday

Daily devotional

Read

Mark 4:1-25

Ask

How do verses 24 and 25 remind you of what we learned in the parable of the sower about the nature of the kingdom of God?

Reflect

This week’s parable is a continuation of Jesus’ parable of the soils. Let’s refresh our memories.

Who? (Who is speaking? To whom is He speaking?)

When? (When is this taking place? What has taken place before? What takes place after?) Where? (Where is this taking place?)

What? (What is Jesus teaching about?)

According to Mark, as Jesus begins His teaching ministry in Galilee, He opens up by preaching about the Kingdom of God. “The Jews Jesus preached to knew that God was king. They knew that He had always been king. What they did not know (apart from those who were given special revelation) was that the final, end-time, saving reign of God announced by Israel’s prophets was already breaking into the world in Jesus’ own person and ministry” (Dunson). [1] Jesus, the King of Kings, had come to bring God’s Kingdom to earth, but in a way that no one fully understood or expected.

God’s Kingdom is God’s rule, God’s reign. According to Mark 4, the nature of the Kingdom of God is that it starts small, but when it is nurtured (heard, received, accepted and cultivated) and we increasingly allow Him to reign in our hearts, we bear the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). The more fruit we bear, the more we have to share, and God’s Kingdom steadily advances here on earth. In this week’s parable, Jesus tells us that whoever has, whoever nurtures God’s Kingdom in his heart and shares its fruit, will be given more. But whoever does not have, whoever does not nurture, hear, receive, accept and cultivate God’s Kingdom and rule in his heart, even what he has will be taken from him.

How are you intentionally nurturing God’s Kingdom, God’s rule and sovereign authority, in your heart so that it grows and bears fruit enough to share with others?

Father, Thy kingdom come! Grow and advance Your Kingdom in and through me today, in Jesus’ Name and for Your glory. Amen.

[1] Dunson, Ben. “The Kingdom of God in the Old Testament: The Prophetic Hope.” Ligonier Ministries: the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul, 13 June 2015, www.ligionier.org/blog/kingdom-god-old-testament-prophetic-hope/