Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it. Mark 11:11-14 Remember my friend, how we are the planting of the Lord; the work of his hands and the branch of his planting, we are here to show forth his praises, " that he might be glorified ." He sees all of us, in the same way he saw this man who came to him and said Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother? And he answered and said unto him, Master, all th

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 11:1-4 Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem happened one week prior to his crucifixion and death. It was a significant event where Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a colt, one that had never been ridden before. Jesus’ purpose in riding into Jerusalem was to make public that He’s both Messiah and King in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy  of Zechariah 9:9, “ Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ”  " So they went and

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Mark 10:17-31 KJV. We who preach are going after people, but time is coming when actually it’ll be coming begging, asking for the way of truth.  Eternal life is something you’re elevated to, you’ve to be worthy for it, and Jesus is the one who will give " unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven " Jesus Matthew 16:19.  Inheritance is not obtained through deceitful means, " and Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. " One needs to be worth it the kingdom of God to be conferred, bestowed on him. In Mark 10:35-40,  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him, and they said, " we want you to do us a favour. " Jesus said, " What is your request? " and they said, " Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand

Let the little children come to me! " And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. " Mark 10:13-16 KJV. The kingdom of God belongs to such as these who receive the message of the kingdom of God like a little child. For such is the kingdom of God prepared from the foundation of the world that they may enter there in. It has been prepared for all regardless of age, gender, sex, ethnicity or creed.  There is so much to learn from little children, for they receive the kingdom of God quite easily, with no trouble at all. If they’ll not, is because they hav

Some Pharisees came to test Jesus, asking whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife, and he replied, " What did Moses command you? " Mark 10:3. The law of Moses was the authority then, and same as today we have authorities, what do they say? They said, " Moses permitted us to write divorce papers and send her away ."  Jesus did not deny Moses permitted divorce, but said it was because of the hardness of your hearts that he allowed you. There is a reason why such laws are passed even today, and then it was to protect women, since written charges were required. Jesus said, " He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts. " Mark 10:5. But when God instituted marriage, " from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.' ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore

In Mark 9:1 Jesus said, " Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power. "  Now six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain to pray; and He was transfigured before them.  He took Peter, James, and John as eyewitnesses; to observe and record the transfiguration. So as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white, and suddenly, two men appeared, Moses and Elijah were talking with him. Luke 9:31 says, " They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. " And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, " This is My beloved Son. Hear Him! "  Suddenly the disciples, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one

And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath, Mark 4:21-25 KJV. When you light up a candle you place it on a candlestick so that light fills the room. The gospel is that light, which when brought in your life it lights up your darkness. However, for it to be effective it mustn’t be kept secret, but must be placed on a stand to be useful and then shine without diminishing or possibly extinguishing. I like how Paul puts it, he said, " Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and rea

Jesus performed two identical miracles to train his disciples to be compassionate towards those people whom they preach the word.  Recently He’d fed 5000 because  they’d said to him, " Should we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat? " And now in Chapter 8 he is feeding 4000 because they asked, " Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed these people? " In both incidents/miracles he was moved with compassion, and what does it mean for you to have compassion? To be compassionate is to not just tell someone that you care, but you show them that you care by being there before they even ask for it, and that’s exactly what Jesus did. He had sympathy, concern, and pity for people, and in Mark 8:2-3 He said, " I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for di

We need a representation in your area, could we say we have found you? Ezekiel said, The word of the LORD came to me saying Son of man, there’s a conspiracy in the land which is like a roaring lion tearing its prey, he said there are some individuals who are devouring people, seizing wealth and valuables, and multiplying widows in the country. He said priests do violence to my instruction and profane my holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean. Officials within are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives in order to make profit dishonestly, and prophets plaster for them with whitewash by seeing false visions and lying divinations, saying, 'This is what the Lord GOD says,' when the LORD has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the resident a

His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd was sitting around him and told him, "Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside asking for you." He replied to them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." While he was busy with ministry work, his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him trying to interrupt what he was doing.  Mark 3:21 says, "...his family...set out to restrain him, because they said, "He's out of his mind." He is beside himself. They thought they had a claim on Him taking precedence over other matters. If you’re a preacher you know what I’m talking about, how your family comes, and they send word for you, and say call him/her to us. But Je

And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, Mark 4:2-9 KJV Jesus gathered the people and began to teach them in parables. He encouraged the multitude to listen carefully to His words. You hear with your ears, but understanding occurs in the heart.  He said let anyone who has ears to hea

Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control , 1 Corinthians 7:5. I have chosen this scripture because it is a rich source for that I wanna talk about. Fasting is anything given up temporarily in order to focus your attention on God. Temporarily, because it should be for a limited time, more so when fasting from food. Extended periods of time without eating can be harmful to the body. Please note, fasting is not intended to punish the flesh, or is it a dieting method, but is redirecting attention to God. The purpose of a biblical fast is not to lose weight, but rather to gain deeper fellowship with God. Anyone can fast, can temporarily give up on something, but we fast in order to draw closer to God. By taking our eyes off the things of this world, or pressures of life, we can more successfully turn our attention to God. Fasting

And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits , Mark 6:7. For the first time the disciples were commissioned to go out on their own and preach, " that men should repent, " Mark 6:12, the same message He himself Jesus, was preaching, a message of repentance. If there is one thing you need do is to look for a true understanding of God’s wishes for you, that you should seek after, not to unreasonably follow traditions and doctrines of men. As they went he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff - no bread, no traveling bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and not put on an extra coat. And he said to them, " Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. If any place does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. " Mark 6:11.   So he sent them to preach, he gave them aut

But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house , Mark 6:4 KJV. Jesus came to Nazareth, His hometown, accompanied by His disciples. On the Sabbath he was asked to speak in the synagogue and those who listened were astonished, marveling at His wisdom and wondering about its source. They also wondered about the miracles He was performing.  " Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him , Mark 6:3. He came to his country, to his own people in order to bless them, but marvelled because of their unbelief, and that prevented him from doing a miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them, but instead " he went round about the villages, teaching " Mark 6:6. Why couldn’t he do anymore miracles there? It’s because they scrutinised him, judged him

Jesus and his disciples arrived in the country of the Gerasenes,  And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him , Mark 5:2-4. His demonic strength kept anyone from being able to bind or team him, but by night and day his screams were heard as he slit himself with stones. But upon seeing Jesus the man bowed down before him and the demon cried out, " What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don't torment me! " For Jesus had been saying to him, “ Come out of the man, you unclean spirit! ”  Jesus asked the demon his name. My name is Legion; for we are many, he replied. The demon continued begging Jesus not to s

And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them , Mark 4:11-12 KJV. The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you who look and perceive, listen and understand, you such as have teachable hearts which can easily be converted towards the way of salvation. But the unbelievers are not so, they’re spiritually blind, they see, but perceive not; they hear but do not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. Many is  because, instead of responding to the gospel in faith, they were rejecting it, and are such as would not receive further truth. Now listen my friend, Jesus said, " If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen." And he said to them, "Pa

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel , Mark 1:14-15. Jesus came, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God; the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Repentance and believing in the gospel is how it takes for you to enter  in the kingdom of God. Now your confidence shouldn’t be in flesh and blood, in material things, but focus on the spiritual, shift positions, or in repentance towards God, and turn towards believing the good news concerning Jesus.  The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; don’t waste your time following people. If you’re still still following people you’re like Israel who’re waiting for the coming Messiah who will reign on David’s throne. You now need to turn from having confidence in men, from things physical to knowing that &q

How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? " When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance " Mark 2:17. As a believer know why Jesus came; he came not to call righteous men, but sinners to repentance. If all were just, then Jesus wouldn’t have come to preach repentance, to secure their salvation, forgiveness and healing of their souls, but he came to seek and to save the lost. We are to show love to the lost souls, remembering that Jesus came also for them; he said " the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord ." Luke 4:18-19. He came for the poor, the brokenhearte

In Mark chapter one John the Baptist told his audience that the one who is more powerful is coming, he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit. And in those days Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptized in the Jordan by John, and as soon as he came up out of the water, John saw the heavens open and the Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove, and immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. Now listen my friend; when you receive the Holy Spirit, immediately your life changes.  God does not give you of his spirit to only experience a funny feeling; quaking, trembling, or entertaining others like what they do in circus, but he gave us that he should drive us to doing his will. The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness for " forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. " It was not fun, but serious business, such that later a man with an unclean spirit, " cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee

Jesus said, " In your patience possess ye your souls. " Luke 21:19. He says, " For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? " Mark 8:36-37. My message here for you is after you have done all in life, gain your souls, know how you can possess it. When you are self-aware, you consciously know and understand your own character, feelings, motives, desires and what these should serve in life. When we are self-aware, we are able to experience ourselves as separate individuals, with unique personalities natured for the divine, and it is what makes it possible for us to make lasting changes in our lives.  Self-awareness is empowering, because the more self-aware we are, the more we know who we are, what our strengths are, where we need to make improvements, and  what to do. Know that you have a soul, and that soul needs to grow and it does grow only when you feed it with things di

You’re in Jesus Christ as God’s plan of salvation for you; He called you, and you said yes in Jesus, wherein you are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved. In him is God’s mercy, and peace, and love multiplied towards you. You are sanctified and preserved in Christ by God the Father, and not you alone, it’s a common salvation - it is the case throughout the world. The whole world is going after him. What happened to me happened also to you and to all who believe in God through Christ around the world. Here is why God chose you, " that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints " Jude 1:3. We earnestly contend for the faith,  [or defend] the common salvation, that it remains the same as it was first delivered. " For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith 1 John 5:4 KJV. Who is born of God? " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him ." 1 John 5:1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and  every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him, and  And all who love the Father love his children too. Who is born of God? He who loves God, loves Jesus, loves God’s people and keeps his commandments. Who is he that overcometh the world? he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. everyone who obeys him, overcometh the world: by faith. Who is he that overcometh the world? He with the witness of God in him: that Jesus is truly the Son of God, we know he is, because God said so, And the Holy Spirit, and the Word. " For there are three that bear record in heaven, the