Today Our Daily Bread Mark 11 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Mark 11:1-33
The Triumphal Entry
1As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2"Go into that village over there," he told them, "and as soon as you enter it, you will see a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs it and will return it soon.'"
4The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside a house. 5As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. 7Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.
8Many in the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut leafy branches in the fields and spread them along the way. 9He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting,
"Praise God! F55 Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Bless the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!" F56
11So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. He looked around carefully at everything, and then he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
12The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus felt hungry. 13He noticed a fig tree a little way off that was in full leaf, so he went over to see if he could find any figs on it. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. 14Then Jesus said to the tree, "May no one ever eat your fruit again!" And the disciples heard him say it.
Jesus Clears the Temple
15When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants and their customers. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the stalls of those selling doves, 16and he stopped everyone from bringing in merchandise. 17He taught them, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be called a place of prayer for all nations,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves." F57
18When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so enthusiastic about Jesus' teaching. 19That evening Jesus and the disciples F58 left the city.
20The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it was withered from the roots. 21Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, "Look, Teacher! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"
22Then Jesus said to the disciples, "Have faith in God. 23I assure you that you can say to this mountain, 'May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,' and your command will be obeyed. All that's required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. 24Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it. 25But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. F59 "
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27By this time they had arrived in Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders came up to him. They demanded, 28"By whose authority did you drive out the merchants from the Temple? F60 Who gave you such authority?"
29"I'll tell who gave me authority to do these things if you answer one question," Jesus replied. 30"Did John's baptism come from heaven or was it merely human? Answer me!"
31They talked it over among themselves. "If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn't believe him. 32But do we dare say it was merely human?" For they were afraid that the people would start a riot, since everyone thought that John was a prophet. 33So they finally replied, "We don't know." And Jesus responded, "Then I won't answer your question either."
FOOTNOTES:F55: Greek Hosanna, an exclamation of praise that literally means "save now"; also in 11:10. F56: Pss 118:25-26; 148:1. F57: Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11. F58: Greek they; some manuscripts read he. F59: Some manuscripts add verse 26, But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins. F60: Or By whose authority do you do these things?
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

~Lena’s Journalin Today~
What I see here today has a lot to do with what I’ve heard lately in church services and discussions spurned from those church services. Our leaders tie in the scriptures we read daily with the words they preach. It is so, so helpful to have already read something that leads up to or ties into what is being preached, then the word really becomes alive and not just words on a page. It brings opportunity for a tremendous amount of understanding to the one who reads daily and gets all of the prep work done setting a foundation for understanding. It makes it easier to place yourself inside of the word of God and make it personal.
Jesus was just like His father & Our Father, God. God is looking to save man and to see if man has the same idea He does about saving men. The religious people were His chosen people who were born and raised by His words, they were in a position to study His words, apply His words, and show others how to apply the same words to everlasting life. That was/is His hope for the world He created, that the people of the world would become as He is in desire and action towards salvation.
The Genesis mandate, be fruitful, multiply, replenish, fill and rule and the Great Commission of Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every nation…are both the same. One is OT, one is NT. They are both about becoming His image in the earth and taking that living breathing image to everyone who is still alive in our day, before judgment comes to them because of death and a life lived to serve si rather than a living God. It is a great rescue mission.
Everything is about the rescue mission, everything.
Why would “everything” be about the rescue mission?
Well, maybe for certain people everything isn’t about that, for some it is a few things that are about that, and for others, maybe something’s are about it, but for God, everything is about that.
So, why is everything about it?
Because God so loved this world of people that He sent His only begotten Son, that if anyone at all would believe in Him they would not perish in hell’s eternal fire when they pass from here and no longer are alive to have a chance to help save others, and they who believe will be able to be rescued and have eternal life after death with God!
God has always been looking for ”men” who desire this same destination and eternal “goal”.
Like I said, some wish it, some desire it, others will live for it and take it as their own goal.
Which person are we? Can we change our minds about it?
When Jesus was here, He was here to make some changes to earth’s perception of God His Father. The religious world had lost sight of God’s desire to save. They’d allowed pride to have its way and religion became men exalting rather than God exalting. Jesus was here to change that, thus the examination of God’s temple and the overturning of the tables in His Father’s house, or rather the house that people associated with the worship of God, but were being confused into thinking it was the worship place of men. Jesus was turning those ideas around. He was bringing down the High places of worship of other Gods, as Hezekiah did before the Lord, which had pleased the Lord in 2 Kings 18:4, in the OT.
So Jesus went into the temple, what is the temple likened to? The lives of the believer, who were created by God to be His dwelling place. Can He have His way and overturn your “tables”, your plans, and ideas of your activities, and “ the way we do it here”?
Next, Jesus rides a donkey- gets on top of stubborn rebellion- and subdues his nature. People recognize this subjection where a beast of the earth with a bad nature yields. Do we yield? The crowds recognize and cry out- SAVE now- before it is too late for our own rebellious natures to be changed!
Then He approaches the fig tree, a representative of His kingdom being established and ruling over men, with first precedence over the kingdoms of men. This place is where so called religious men would go beyond their own need for salvation and would go beyond meeting even the needs of their own families for salvation, but would reach out because of their love for God and their love in demonstration for men and they would go out and be a demonstration to a world that will die eternally without salvation if there’s no man willing to be God’s Divine human manifestation.
He looked for fruit that has grown from me, to mine, to yours and His, there was none in a place where there should have been lots and lots. It looked good, appeared as though there was, had on a mask to make it look like fruit was there, but when Jesus got close, there really was none, it was just a façade’.
Next He tells His disciples that if they’d get saved, become God in demonstration in their own lives, then be that example in their homes and families, and also with agreement inside of their close relations, and then go out and be willing to demonstrate all of that love to the world, they’d have enough faith to change big, big, great big things like mountain moving. The evidence of believing is in be-living. Living what we say we believe is the most powerful demonstration of faith there is. It would grow our faith beyond the meeting of my own personal prayer requests to a greater view that goes way beyond me towards the world. Remember, God so loved the world that He gave….
Who do I love? Myself? Good
Myself and God? Better
Myself, God and the world? Best!
Enough to give?
Your life to and for it?
That’s love in demonstration.
There are things we can do to live for and within God’s plans, but do we have to? No we don’t have to. God gave us a freewill. We don’t even have to love Him. We don’t have to get saved, we don’t have to go to church, we don’t have to go to heaven someday, and we don’t have to live for anyone but ourselves while we are here on earth.
We DON”T HAVE to!
Or do we?


Daily Repetitive Verses:
Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.