October 2001 Daily Devotionals

Monday 1 October

Mark 2:25-28

"Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Tuesday 2 October

Mark 3:3-5

"Stand up in front of everyone." "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" "Stretch out your hand."

Wednesday 3 October

Mark 3:23-29

"How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."

Thursday 4 October

Mark 3:33-35

"Who are my mother and my brothers?" "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother."

Friday 5 October

Mark 4:3-9

"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Saturday 6 October

Mark 4:11-12

"The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, "‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’"

Sunday 7 October

Mark 4:13-20

"Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop — thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

Monday 8 October

Mark 4:21-23

"Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

Tuesday 9 October

Mark 4:24-25

"Consider carefully what you hear," "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

Wednesday 10 October

Mark 4:26-29

"This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain — first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

Thursday 11 October

Mark 4:30-32

"What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

Friday 12 October

Mark 4:35, 39-40

"Let us go over to the other side." "Quiet! Be still!" "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

Saturday 13 October

Mark 5:8-9

"Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" "What is your name?"

Sunday 14 October

Mark 5:19

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

Monday 15 October

Mark 5:30, 34

"Who touched my clothes?" "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Tuesday 16 October

Mark 5:36

"Don’t be afraid; just believe"

Saturday 20 Oct

Mark 6:31

"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

Sunday 21 Oct

Mark 6:50

"Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid."

Monday 22 Oct

Mark 7:6-7

"Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’

Tuesday 23 Oct

Mark 7:8

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

Wednesday 24 Oct

Mark 7:9-13

"You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

Thursday 25 Oct

Mark 7:14-15

"Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’"

Friday 26 Oct

Mark 7:18-23

"Are you so dull?" "Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body "What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’"

Saturday 27 Oct

Mark 7:27

"First let the children eat all they want," "for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs."

Sunday 28 Oct

Mark 7:29

"For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."

Monday 29 Oct

Mark 8:2-3,5

"I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance." "How many loaves do you have?"

Tuesday 30 Oct

Mark 8:12

"Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it."

Wednesday 31 Oct

Mark 8:15

"Be careful," "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."