Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek
8 March 2025
Reading From Mark 11:1-18
“The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.”—Mark 11:12
Jesus is so powerful and wonderful that sometimes I feel as though I cannot identify with Him and passages such as John 14:12-14 seem unbelievable, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus was fully God and fully man; Son of God and Son of Man. Mark 11:12 reminds me of the humanity of our Lord. “Jesus was hungry.” It reminds me of the verse John 11:35, which simply yet beautifully tells us, “Jesus wept.” Passages of Scripture such as these portray the empathy and compassion of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is extraordinary that the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe cares about us and loves us enough to come to the Earth He made[1] and live among us as one of us, partly so that He can identify with us.
This helps us trust Him more readily. He looked like us, felt like us, needed food and drink like us. And yet, He was our perfect example of life and godliness. He showed us how to live a life dependent upon the Father for direction and upon the Holy Spirit for strength and power. We can live like Jesus showed us how to live. We can do it because He said so. Isn’t that wonderful? By grace through faith we can do what honors the Father in the power and strength of the Holy Ghost. I need to rely on Him and step out in faith in my daily life.
“Lord, I am a sinner in need of Your grace and mercy. Thank You for freely giving it and for giving Yourself. No greater love has ever been show in all the world than Your atonement, resurrection and mediation between us and the Father. Thank You Jesus for Your divinity and Your humanity. I am grateful that You show me the way; that You Yourself are the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through You. I love You, worship You and adore You. Help me walk with You by faith. Increase my faith and trust in You. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray all of these things, Amen.”
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
—Hebrews 4:14-16
[1] Psalm 8:3-6
Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God 
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