Marking Time with Mark: A Devotional Journal on the Book of Mark

By Janet Fisher Aronson

Marking Time with Mark is a journey with Jesus through his three-year ministry. As the disciples slowly grow in their faith, we can see how God works in them and in us to take us from where we are to where he wants us to be. Taking time to delve into the emotions that they experienced as they traveled through their three years together, we will become more aware of our own connection to their story and our own ups and downs in our faith walk.

Each chapter encourages us to read, respond, and reflect on the story of Jesus Christ and its impact on our lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973659211

Janet Fisher Aronson

As a gifted speaker, Bible study leader, and life coach, Janet Fisher Aronson loves to share what she has learned about God and his Kingdom. Her desire is to encourage believers to grow deeper in Christ every day. Janet has been journaling her thoughts about God’s word since she came to Christ in 1976, never imagining that those writings would become a book. She now writes a daily devotional on Facebook in a group called Stepping Up: Growing Up in Christ Together. Janet received her Master of Divinity degree from Bethel Seminary of the East and is presently the Director of Discipleship Ministries at Easton Baptist Church in N. Easton MA.

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Copyright © 2019 Janet Fisher Aronson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5922-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5921-1 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 4/19/2019

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Journey Begins

A Voice in the Wilderness Mark 1:1-13

Ordinary People Mark 1:14-28

Start with Prayer Mark 1:29-45

Faith-Filled Mark 2:1-17

Blinders Mark 2:18-3:6

Hearing the News Mark 3:7-19

By the Spirit of God Mark 3:20-35

Types of Soil Mark 4:1-25

Don’t You Care? Mark 4:26-41

Tell Your Family Mark 5:1-20

Healing, Please! Mark 5:21-43

Rejection Mark 6:1-29

Overload Mark 6:30-56

It’s About the Heart Mark 7:1-23

Interruptions Mark 7: 24-37

Missing the Point Mark 8:1-21

Acceptance Mark 8:22-38

Revelation Mark 9:1-13

Unbelief Mark 9:14-32

Servanthood Mark 9:33-50

Mindset Mark 10:1-16

Letting Go Mark 10:17-34

Choose Me Mark 10:35-52

The King is Coming Mark 11:1-19

Moving Mountains Mark 11:20-33

It’s All His Mark 12:1-17

Two Commandments Mark 12:18-44

End Times Mark 13:1-37

Sacrifice Mark 14:1-3

God’s Will Mark 14:32-52

Cue the Rooster Mark 14:53-72

Crucify Him Mark 15:1-20

All for You Mark 15:21-47

The Journey Continues

Risen Indeed Mark 16:1-20

Information on the Gospel of Mark

This book is dedicated to my Spiritual Moms

Carol Lohnes

Marianne Lundberg

Gail Berry

Without their encouragement, I would not be the woman I am today.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I thank the Lord for the incredible privilege of serving him, for giving me the gift of words and for always being with me as I wrote.

There are so many people who have helped to make this book possible. Those who have gone before me, who encouraged me to be all that I could be in Christ. I will never be able to express my gratitude.

Thanks to my readers on Stepping Up. Your faithfulness and encouragement made it worth getting up every morning to write.

To my friends and family. Also, my faithful Bible study group. Thanks for your support and love.

Thanks to Denis Keith, my coach, mentor and friend. Thank you for helping me through some tough stuff and encouraging me to start anew. Thanks also for reading the book and offering your input.

Thanks also to my pastor, Bob Sheldon for taking the time to review and offer insight on the book.

Thanks to my sister, Ellen Fisher Smith, for doing the tough job of editing the manuscript and catching all my grammatical errors.

Introduction

Mark had a mission. He wanted the good news to spread and the story to be told. I relate to Mark because, like him, I tend to just give the facts when I write. Mark’s style is concise and yet it connects the message to the prophecies about the Messiah.

A few years ago, I felt called to share my musings on various things I read in Scripture in an on-line setting. I invited a few friends to join me to take a pause in their day to ponder God’s word and his message. This devotional was one of the studies we did. The group on Facebook is called Stepping Up: Growing Up in