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Mark 9 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to Five Minute Bible In our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter. Of the.
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  Bible yourself or listening to today's read along episode in
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  this podcast feed. If you haven't done that yet,
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  feel free to pause and do that now.
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  When you're ready, let's dive into God's Word.
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  Together at the end of Mark Chapter 9,
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  Jesus gives a strong warning against the person who would
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  cause someone else to stumble in his relationship with Jesus,
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  saying whoever causes one of these little ones who believed
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  to stumble, it would be better for him if with a heavy
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  millstone hung around his neck, he'd been cast into the sea.
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  Jesus takes very seriously the sin of leading someone else
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  astray. In this warning.
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  There's a deeper reality that we must come to grips with.
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  We do not live the Christian life in isolation.
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  Often times, especially in the West where we place a high value
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  on independence and self-sufficiency, we speak about
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  our faith as if it is only personal.
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  It is only a relationship between US and God.
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  And while that is true in the sense that we cannot piggyback
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  onto someone else's faith, and we are personally accountable to
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  God for our actions, we can't lose sight of the reality that
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  our faith is not to be lived out in solitude.
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  In this passage, we see that playing out in the fact that we
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  are all influencers. Like it or not, there are others
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  who will be impacted and affected by how you live, how
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  you speak, how you carry out your walk with the Lord.
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  And that matters. When we live contrary to the
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  commands of Scripture and contrary to the leading of the
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  Holy Spirit, we're not only taking ourselves off track,
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  we're often leading others down that same destructive road.
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  And in the same way, when we walk in humility and obedience
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  and love and faithfulness, we point others to the truth of the
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  gospel. We encourage others to follow
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  Jesus. And here's the kicker.
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  This verse is not a call to appear holy.
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  This is not an instruction to make sure that you're on your
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  best behavior when other people are watching.
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  No, the truth is that who we are in the dark will come out in the
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  way we live in the light. Our true motives, thoughts, and
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  actions will reveal themselves. And so we must press into
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  Christ. We must be changed in His
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  presence. We must experience His
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  transformative power day by day in our lives, and when we do,
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  our lives will be changed, but so will the lives of those who,
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  whether we know it or not, are watching us.