WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Today’s passage is about expectation: what is your expectation of your encounter with God today? Jesus is ‘able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine’ (Ephesians 3:20, NIV). Still yourself before God today, asking him to increase your expectancy. Son of God In this earliest of the Gospel accounts Mark begins by saying straight out that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God (v 1), and then dives straight into the Old Testament (vs 2,3), making clear to his readers that Jesus fitted into the Jewish understanding of God’s salvation plan for the world. John the Baptist is portrayed as the messenger. Into a culture of expectation in ancient Palestine where the people of Israel were crying out to God to deliver them from Roman occupation, John comes, calling people to repentance and to a moral cleansing in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. He will be not just a political deliverer but the very Son of God. Exceeding expectations This incredible miracle that God would come into the world in human form exceeds all our expectations. Jesus wasn’t what the Jews expected and his work in your life might not meet your expectations. We often look for a human saviour, a way out of our situation; but God’s response is to enter into the midst of our lives and offer not just a cleansing water baptism but a transforming baptism of the Holy Spirit. Respond: Will you allow Jesus in all his divine power to transform you and your circumstances today? http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-01-16