Mountains and The Mountain Mover

 Friday, March 7, 2025

Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours. Mark 11:23-24

Mountains and The Mountain Mover

Faith is essential for our prayer life. If we don’t have faith in God why would we pray to him? Jesus tells the disciples that if they have faith to believe that God can actually move a mountain it can happen. Do we believe that God can actually move a mountain. We do but we have some reservation because we have never seen a literal mountain move before our eyes.

Jesus was talking literally but also figuratively. He was making a point and used something so radical to prove that point – that God can do anything we ask and if we believe hard enough it will happen. Does that happen with everything we pray about? No because God is all powerful, but he is also all knowing. He plans every minute of our lives and knows what is the very best for us. He will always answer with his very best for us, but it won’t always be what we asked for. Even when we don’t understand, we can trust him and know that the answer he gives us is because he loves us. 

Mountains are magnificent and awe-inspiring. But they can also be terrifying as they loom before us. We all have some very big figurative mountains in our lives. They can come as  obstacles, opposition, sickness, death, difficulty, impossibility, and insurmountable and hopeless situations. We have mountains that hinder us from getting to God’s very best for us because we don’t risk climbing the mountain to get to the other side. We have mountains that seem to keep us stuck in the valley. We have mountains that keep us stuck out of fear and may keep us from being obedient to God’s call on our lives. God can move all these mountains if we have faith and believe that he can do it. We also have to believe enough to surrender it and lay it down at his feet instead of trying to find a way around or over ourselves. We need his power, and we have that power as his children if we only believe – and ask. Sometimes we don’t even believe enough to ask him for it.

What mountain is looming in front of you keeping you stuck or keeping you from God’s very best for you? 

What mountain is keeping you from being obedient to God’s call on your life? 

God is bigger than any mountain that is before you. Have faith in his power and authority over all the mountains. Believe in him, let go, and let God do what only he can do. 

Mercy and Compassion

Thursday, March 5, 2025

The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.  Psalm 145:8

Mercy and Compassion

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines mercy as: 1.) compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; 2.) lenient or compassionate treatment; 3.) imprisonment rather than death imposed as penalty for first-degree murder; 4.) a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion; 5.) a fortunate circumstance; 6.) compassionate treatment of those in distress.

Some people get mercy and grace mixed up.  Mercy is deliverance from the punishment we deserve for our sins.  Mercy is deliverance from judgement. Grace is extending kindness and blessings despite that fact that we don’t deserve it. It is kindness extended to the unworthy. They are distinctly different, yet go hand in hand.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sin, made us alive together with Christ. Ephesians 2:.4-5.  

Because of His unfailing love we can know we are forgiven and we can know that He will not turn us away, no matter how many times we fail.  He loved us when we were dead in our sin and brought us back to life.  This is what gives us the strength to get up again after every fall.  This is also what gives us a heart of mercy for others who deserve judgement. How can we know and experience the unfailing love, mercy, and grace of God in our own hearts and not show mercy and grace to others who fail us?  If He can give us mercy, then we can surely show His love to another undeserving sinner. As Christians, perhaps our greatest testimony to the world is how we treat those who mistreat us.  

God has been clear in His Word about how we are to respond in these situations.  Matthew 5:7 says Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  We are to show mercy as we have been shown mercy by God.  Knowing his mercy drives compassion in our hearts for others who need mercy. The mercy and compassion of a Christian may be what turns one unbeliever to Christ. Bitterness, resentfulness, and refusing to forgive will hurt you much more than the person you are trying to exact punishment on.  

As followers of Jesus, living and loving like Jesus means treating others with compassion and mercy as long as there is no abuse. God never wants us to stay in an abusive relationship. As we walk with Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us the strength we need to be merciful and compassionate to those who do not deserve it. This display of God's love, mercy, and compassion will be a testimony to that person and others of God's love. The Lord is merciful and compassionate to us and he calls us to extend that mercy and compassion to others.

The Crowd

Wednesday, March 5, 2025 

Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven! Mark 11:8-10

The Crowd

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he came humbly and in peacefully, unlike the expectations of the people waiting. But that day he was accepted, reverenced, and praised. They thought he would be the political king that would overthrow the Roman government, setting them free from its rule. He was coming to set them free – from sin and death. They would soon understand, although some who stood praising him that day would be chanting, “Crucify him!” by the end of the week. 

Many people had rejected Jesus during his ministry. Now as the Messiah they had all waited for, they took off their coats and laid them on the road for him. It was a display of reverence and respect for this long-awaited fulfillment of God’s prophecy by Zechariah. (Zechariah 9:9) They treated him like royalty. 

Some of them cut palm branches, waving them and spreading them on the road. Palm branches were considered a sign of victory, especially a military victory. Palms signified triumph. He was a triumphant king that day, although no one understood exactly what that meant. He was not riding in from a battle, but riding into a battle for you and me – for our hearts.

They sang his praises and shouted Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!  For the weeks leading up to this day Jesus did not want to be publicly celebrated as he performed miracles, healing and teaching the crowds. Many times he healed someone and told them to go and tell no one who healed him. But this day the crowd erupted in passionate praises for the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus. The spontaneous praise was fitting for a king.  

What would you have done if you had been there that day? Would you have taken off your coat and laid it on the road for him? Would you wave a palm branch and sing his praises? Or would you have been afraid? It is easy for us to think of how we would have praised and worshiped him and laid our coats and leafy branches out for him. But even in our lives today we don’t praise him and treat him like the king he is. Monday through Saturday some of us put him on the back burner and live our lives without a thought of him. He is our king when we walk through the doors of the church but maybe not when we want to do things or go places that don’t glorify him. Jesus deserves our praise and glory every moment. Sometimes giving him praise and glory is what saves us from the rest of the moments of our lives. He is the King of Kings and should be on the throne of our lives every moment of every day. When we have a relationship with him our hearts will overflow with devotion and praise. The world tries to get in the way but his love for us, our love for him, and an overwhelmed heart can drown the world out. 

The triumphant entry, as with all the events of Easter, was not a moment in time but is an ongoing, living part of our lives as his followers. Every day we should roll out the red carpet for him, honoring and welcoming him into our lives.  Every day we should remember the victory and peace he gives. Every day sing his praises and declare his goodness. Every day live out his love and glory in your life and let it spill out to others around you. 

Everything Is Important

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.” - Mark 11:1-2 (CSB

Everything Is Important

On Palm Sunday, Jesus asked two disciples to go into town and bring back a donkey. They didn’t hesitate or ask questions, they simply obeyed. They didn’t know what Jesus needed the donkey for. It may have seemed like a strange request and maybe they discussed all the reasons he would ask them to go and get this donkey and bring it to him. They did not ask questions or balk at his request. They immediately responded in obedience. Could they have known that the donkey they delivered to Jesus would carry the King of Kings into Jerusalem on the first day of the eight days that would change the world? 

How many times has Jesus asked you to do something that you didn’t quite understand at first? How many times have people asked you why you are doing something and the only answer you can give them is that this is what the Lord told you to do? The smallest nudge from the Lord can bring some of the most overwhelming blessings to our lives when we act in obedience. It might leave us shaking our heads and saying, “Who would have ever thought…” 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” Mm                                                                                 This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

It is so true that his ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. Our thoughts are so limited by this world and our tiny perspective compared to his. He knows so much more than us. He is sovereign. He is omnipotent. He planned every day of our lives and every second, in every minute, in every hour, of every day. He knows our future and he knows every nudge from him that we will be obedient to. 

The donkey was so important that day. It was needed to fulfill prophecy and to send a message to those people – that a different king had come – a humble king. Usually, entering a city on a donkey signified entry in peace, rather than a conquering king arriving on a horse. Donkeys were typically owned by those who had little money because they could not afford a horse. He did not need fanfare and majestic gestures. The people showed a humble symbol of laying it all out before him. He needed palm branches and the clothes off the backs of the people praising him. Everything God asks us to do is important and serves a purpose. We need to be open and surrendered – and obedient. Nothing he asks us to do is unimportant.  

A Different Kind Of King

Monday, March 3, 2025

Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven! Mark 11:8-10

What does Palm Sunday tell us about Jesus and how his entry into Jerusalem set the stage for our redemption? 

Palm Sunday, one week before the resurrection. For us it is the beginning of Easter, the first day of holy week, the eight days leading up to the resurrection. The people in Jerusalem had lined the streets because Jesus, the king of kings, was expected to arrive in with a triumphant entry. The crowd was gathered, and the excitement was high. The city was crowded with those who had come for the annual Passover celebration, and now the long-awaited king was expected to arrive! It was sure to be a spectacular event, and everyone had a vision of what was surely to be event to remember.  

A Different Kind Of King

It was an event to remember, but it didn’t go exactly as the people envisioned.  As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people spread their coats in front of Him and greeted Him with palm branches. The King came, but it was not the spectacular display everyone thought it would be. There were no instruments and caravans. There were no majestic white horses, only a humble donkey, carrying a humble Jesus, who looked just like the rest of them.  He was not the king that many of them expected.

Most of the people did not understand what kind of king Jesus would be. They expected this coming king to be a great political and military leader who would free them from the tyranny of the Roman Empire.  Jesus was a different kind of king. Whereas most royalty comes determined to rule, he comes determined to serve  with a totally disarming humility.  Whereas most kings would ride white stallions, king Jesus rode a donkey, a symbol of meekness, of peace. He knew what He was doing. A different kind of king; a different kind of kingdom. 

Jesus was so many things that day on that donkey. He was sovereign, victorious, and triumphant while at the same time he was humble, meek, and gentle.  He was sovereign even while a man here on earth. He knew things. He knew where the disciples could find the donkey and sent them to get it. He was and still is victorious and triumphant over sin. He was also triumphant and victorious in a way they could not see yet. They expected a warrior king to defeat their earthly enemies. They did not understand that he was already triumphant and victorious against sin, death, and hell. He came to fight the greatest battle that none of us could fight, but defeat would last a literal eternity. He was humble and willing to set aside his status as the true King of Kings and do what his Father said. Riding in on a donkey not only fulfilled a prophecy about the coming king, but also helps us see Jesus for the king he is – humble. Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9  The people had no idea who they had before them that day.  

When we look at the triumphant entry, we can see that Jesus is so much more than we could ever imagine. There is no way we could ever fathom the vastness of his love, mercy, and grace for us. Our minds want to put Jesus in a box just as the Jews thought they would see a “king” riding in like a “king” would. They expected a great warrior who would deliver them. And he did come to deliver them – not from a moment in battle, but for eternity. He came to give them freedom – not the kind of freedom they were imagining, but an everlasting freedom. He came to make the captives free from the sin and shame that we carry that keeps us from abundant life.

Have you seen the king in your life? Or have you missed him because you are only looking for a certain answer, the direction you think is best, one specific person, or only your solution? We can miss Jesus easily by only looking for what we want to see. The people were looking for something different and many did not see the humble king on the donkey right before their eyes. If we truly want to see the king, we must surrender our idea of what He should do for us and how he should do it. When we only look for what we think should be we miss him and so many blessings along with the lessons and wisdom. 

Eight Days That Changed The World “The Entry”

 

Eight Days That Changed The World 
“The Entry”
Mark 11:1-11 (CSB)

 

- Key Truth: - “Over the course of eight days, God’s redemptive plan culminated in man’s eternal hope.”

Main Question: What does Palm Sunday tell us about Jesus and how his entry into Jerusalem set the stage for our redemption? 

1.    The coming King. (Mark 11:1-7)

2.        The triumphant King. (Mark 11:8)

3.        The worshiped King. (Mark 11:9-11)

After the Message: 
Read the Introduction and Week 1 of Eight Days That Changed The World: An Easter Devotional on pages 13-37.