Tuesday, February 28th: Number 17-19, Mark 6:30-56 ~ Jody

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is: Numbers 17-19, Mark 6:30-56

The New Testament passage today takes us to the wonderful story of God's provision for us, "Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand". I love the lesson I found here.

Jesus called for the bread and fish to be brought to Him (Matthew 14:18). He then gave thanks for the meal, broke the bread, and gave it to His disciples to give to the crowd. Amazingly, the entire multitude was fed with that small meal. Jesus provided “as much as they wanted” (John 6:11), and “they all ate and were satisfied” (Matthew 14:20). Christ did not just meet the need; He lavished them with so much food that there were “twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish” left over (Mark 6:43).

God will shatter the pint-sized expectations of what His followers can do if they would learn to bring Him what they have already been given. “Little is much when God is in it.” When Christians are willing to offer their lives sacrificially, relinquishing their hold on whatever God has given them in terms of time, money, talents, etc., God will use these ordinary things to create extraordinary things. Christians must never believe their resources are too little to serve God. God delights in taking a humble, seemingly insignificant person and using him or her for His glory (see 1 Corinthians 1:27).


God wants to lavish us with good things, if we just submit all we are to Him. Our human nature so often thinks that to give up our life for Him means loss, but in reality, it will result in a life overflowing with extraordinary!!

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Numbers 20-22, Mark 7:1-13

Monday, February 27th: Numbers 15-16; Mark 6:1-29 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Numbers 15-16; Mark 6:1-29

In our Numbers passage today we read about an incident that shows just how blind we can be to the sin in our lives, as well as a beautiful picture of Christ.

Korah and the other ringleaders of a rebellion against Aaron's authority and supernaturally destroyed, along with their entire families, by God in an earthquake-like event.

250 more rebels are also killed by a fire sent from God.

And then the very next day, the people ______?   After hearing what happened the day before, how would you expect that sentence to end?  Maybe that the people worshiped in gratefulness?  Maybe that they brought extra offerings of thanksgiving?  Maybe that they turned out in full support of their clearly God-given leadership?

Nope.

The people complained and blamed their leaders for the destruction of the rebels!

At this point, God has had enough, and sends a plague that kills over 14,000 of the sinful Israelites.

A plague that was only stopped when Aaron, the high priest, the very target of all this hate and envy, steps in and stands in the gap between life and death, offering atonement for the sin of the people in order to stop the wrath of God, in an act of unmerited love and mercy.

A beautiful, though obviously imperfect, picture of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is our perfect atonement, who took the wrath of God upon Himself when He died on the cross, to stand in the gap between eternal life and death, in the ultimate act of unmerited love and mercy.

What is our response to Him?


In our NT passage, we read the story of John the Baptist publicly calling out King Herod on his sin, resulting in his imprisonment and eventual beheading.  Will we, like John, stand up to a culture that is hostile to biblical truth, no matter the cost?

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Numbers 17-19; Mark 6:30-56

Sunday, February 26th: Numbers 12-14; Mark 5:21-43 ~ Emma

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Numbers 12-14; Mark 5:21-43

Old Testament:

In 13:28 we see how the spies and people of Israel didn't trust in God. Instead of looking to God and relying on His strength, they looked at the problem and how they weren't strong enough to conquer the land God had promised them.

Without God, we are not strong enough to face the problem. But with God, "we can certainly conquer it!" (13:30). We need to trust that He will fulfill His promises. 

New Testament:

I find it interesting that the woman had been bleeding for 12 years and touched Jesus' robe as He was on His way to heal a 12 year old girl.

Contrary to the Old Testament reading, we see a great amount of trust and faith in God in this passage. The woman believed that just a small touch would heal her, and it did. Because of her faith, she was healed. 

We must trust in God always and be strong in our faith in Him. 

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Numbers 15-16; Mark 6:1-29

Saturday, February 25th: Numbers 9-11; Mark 5:1-20 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Numbers 9-11; Mark 5:1-20

Mark 5:18-20 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.  And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Share the gospel.  Spread the good news.  Tell people what God has done for you.

This is not a command only for this man.  It is for all of us.  This man did not hesitate - he went and he proclaimed.

Do we?

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:  Numbers 12-14; Mark 5:21-43

Friday, February 24th: Numbers 7-8; Mark 4:21-41 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Numbers 7-8; Mark 4:21-41

I love the passage about Jesus calming the storm.  How incredible it would've been to have witnessed that!  Actually, how terrifying!  The disciples were filled with a great and awe-filled fear.

They had seen His power on display before, but on a smaller scale.  And while the miraculous and instantaneous healings were absolutely astounding and remarkable - it likely paled in comparison to the sheer power of that display.

The storms on that lake were known for being incredibly strong.  And Jesus brought all that chaos into completely control and utter stillness.... by simply speaking.

Yes, we should fear God.  He is all powerful.  He is all powerful to such a degree that we truly cannot even fathom it.  And He is holy.  And we are sinners.  We deserve to have the wrath of this powerful God poured out on us.  But instead, He poured it out on His Son, so that we could be saved.

There are not even words to describing how amazing His grace is towards us.

That same power raised Jesus from the dead.  And, even more mind-boggling, that same power resides within us!  Are we tapping into that power?  Or are we relying on our own strength, as pitiful as it is in comparison?

We need to turn to the One who has the power to calm the storm, raise the dead, and replace a heart of stone with a heart of flesh.


Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:  Numbers 9-11; Mark 5:1-20

Thursday, February 23th: Numbers 5-6; Mark 4:1-20 ~ Deena

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Numbers 5-6; Mark 4:1-20

We read today the Parable of the Sower from Mark. God calls us to sow good seed in all places. He will take care of where it lands and how it will grow, but our job is to sow. We are not perfect people, but it's not our skill or talent for sowing that God is asking, it's the quality of the seeds we sow.

As planted seed in fertile soil
Has life and will take root,
God’s Word, if nurtured in our hearts,
Will grow and bring forth fruit. —Hess

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Numbers 7-8; Mark 4:21-41

Wednesday, February 22nd: Numbers 3-4, Mark 3:20-35 ~ Nathan

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Numbers 3-4, Mark 3:20-35

Numbers 4:46-49
So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans and families. [47] All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to do the work of serving and carrying the tent of meeting [48] numbered 8,580. [49] At the Lord ’s command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry. Thus they were counted, as the Lord commanded Moses.

When reading through Leviticus and Numbers the last number of days, it seems like there were a lot of rules that the Israelites were instructed to follow. They were instructed by God, who is supreme, and faced severe repercussions if they didn't follow. They did this on top of living their regular lives.

Today we're so busy we often don't have time to read our bibles every day, or go to church every week (I'm guilty of these), but God still loves us and wants us to follow Him. Do I show proper respect to Him? Am I giving Him my all? Do I take time to pray and listen to what He wants from me?

In our New Testament reading we see how Jesus also gave a lot, he was crowded out and not able to even eat,

Mark 3:20
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat

We see a few examples here of how much God loves us and does for us, could we do more for Him?

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Numbers 5-6; Mark 4:1-20

Tuesday, February 21: Numbers 1-2; Mark 3:1-19 ~ Jody

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is: Numbers 1-2; Mark 3:1-19

Scripture: "He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts." Mark 3:5

Observation: This verse stuck out to me how Jesus loves each of us so very much. Even his critics! At the time of this verse, they were just waiting to judge him and punish him because of their hardened hearts, hoping to take a beautiful, loving thing and use it against him. And even though this angered Jesus - he was also deeply saddened as well. Not for himself and how they didn't believe him. But for their sake, because of their hardened hearts. 

Application: How often am I a critic? Not trusting Jesus in an area of my life. Where are the pieces of my life where I've hardened my heart, completely missing the miracles that Jesus is performing right in front of my eyes?! And how often is He performing a miracle and instead I am criticizing it because it doesn't look like I think it should?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, move in my heart. Loosen the grips my human nature has on my heart and mind that I might truly see and know Jesus more. Your miracles, Your love and Your Holy Anger so that I can repent and move closer to righteousness in You. 

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Numbers 3-4; Mark 2:20-35

Monday, February 20th: Leviticus 26-27; Mark 2 ~ Kezia

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 26-27; Mark 2

Nowadays, news travels fast. Texts, emails, snapchats, and Instagram pictures can be sent or uploaded in just a few seconds. Political news and celebrity gossip are never kept a secret very long, and once something is out, everyone instantly knows.

It wasn't always like this though. In Jesus' time, news was spread through word of mouth. Instead of newspaper headlines and twitter updates, people were telling about Jesus by talking about him. Some people in particular heard of Jesus and his ability to do miracles, and had faith he could heal a paralytic.

"Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Mark 2:4-5

Can you imagine? Maybe never even seeing Jesus before, but having so much faith in His ability to heal that you lower a paralytic from the roof a building to beat the crowds to get him closer to Jesus? There was no photo or video proof of Jesus' powers, yet their faith was so strong in Jesus.

My prayer is that I grow to always have a faith like this. A faith where I don't need proof to know that God is real and He is powerful. A faith where God is never questioned or challenged and doubts never cross through my mind.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Numbers 1-2; Mark 3:1:19

Sunday, February 19th: Leviticus 25; Mark 1:23-45

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 25; Mark 1:23-45

Scripture: Leviticus 25:20-21 But you might ask, "What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?" Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years.

Observation: God knew that His people would question His instructions. We should not question God, but we do anyway. God knew the Israelites' hearts and knew they would need reassurance, so He gave it to them.

Application: The Lord provides!

Prayer: God, help us today not to question what You are doing in our lives, and help us to trust that You will provide and work things out for our good. Amen.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Leviticus 26-27; Mark 2