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Looking at the man [who said he had kept all the commandments], Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one thing you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the...

Looking at the man [who said he had kept all the commandments], Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one thing you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." —Mark 10:21...

[Jesus continued,] "But to answer your question [about eternal life], you know the commandments: 'You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.'" —Mark 10:19 NLT Key Thought Do you...

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked. "Only God is truly good." —Mark 10:18 NLT Key Thought Yes, only God is good. But then that is the point, isn't it? Jesus is "God is with us" (Matthew 1:23), and we must put our faith in him and listen to him and obey just as we must with God. If the...

As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" —Mark 10:17 NLT Key Thought This man's question is a great one, but did it come from a genuine heart? You will have to read the...

[Jesus continued his teaching about marriage:] "'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no longer two but one, ..." —Mark 10:7-8 NLT Key Thought Marriage is about two people becoming one entity. Jesus...

Jesus answered [the Pharisees] with a question: "What did Moses say in the law about divorce?" "Well, he permitted it," they replied. "He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away." —Mark 10:3-4 NLT Key Thought In this Scripture, the Pharisees were able to...

Some Pharisees came and tried to trap [Jesus] with this question: "Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife?" —Mark 10:2 NLT Key Thought Isn't it amazing how religious people can resort to trickery and legalistic debate to try to prove their superiority? Shouldn't we focus on the real...

[After saying that his disciples must remove any source of temptation, Jesus continued,] "For everyone will be tested with fire." —Mark 9:49 NLT Key Thought The real character of our lives will not be left in doubt when we are tested. As one saying goes, "Trial doesn't produce character but...

[Jesus continued,] "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown...

[Jesus continued,] "But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck." —Mark 9:42 NLT Key Thought So often in our passion to preserve the purity of the faith, we...

[Jesus said,] "If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded." —Mark 9:41 NLT Key Thought The kindness Jesus expects and rewards in his followers is very simple. God doesn't forget kindness that is...

[Jesus said,] "Anyone who is not against us is for us." —Mark 9:40 NLT Key Thought Christianity faces enough opposition in the world without Christians fighting and devouring each other because they think of each other as enemies. Jesus' words here are powerfully universal and clear — notice...

John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn't in our group." "Don't stop him!" Jesus said. "No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me." —Mark 9:38-39 NLT Key Thought Good deeds...

John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn't in our group." —Mark 9:38 NLT Key Thought Isn't it amazing how quickly we can split up into our cliques and begin arrogantly doing, as a group, what Jesus had just...

[Jesus] sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, "Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else." —Mark 9:35 NLT Key Thought Jesus' life was an ongoing demonstration of what he taught. The truth he lived and proclaimed is nowhere more...

After [Jesus and his disciples] arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, "What were you discussing out on the road?" But they didn't answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. —Mark 9:33-34 NLT Key Thought Sin entered the world...

Leaving that region, [Jesus and the disciples] traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to know he was there, for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed...

Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, "Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?" Jesus replied, "This kind can be cast out only by prayer." —Mark 9:28-29 NLT Key Thought Often, I fear, the reason God's people don't do what they are capable of...

Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, "Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?" —Mark 9:28 NLT Key Thought I do believe many of us who seek to minister in the name of Jesus need to ask this question more: "Why couldn't we do it, Lord?" More than...