Devotions

counterfeit or cornerstone?

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

WHO IS THIS JESUS TO YOU?

Mark 12:6-12

⁶ He had one other still to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last, because he said, ‘Surely they will have respect for my son.’ ⁷ But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This one is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they arrested him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone that the builders had declared counterfeit has become the cornerstone;[1] ¹¹ this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous for us to see’?” ¹² And realising that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd. So they left him and went away.

counterfeit or cornerstone?

The tenants in Jesus’ parable weren’t confused about who the Son was. They recognized Him. They understood His legitimacy. And that was precisely why they wanted Him gone. If they could eliminate the Son, they could silence His claim, erase His authority, and keep the vineyard for themselves. Their rebellion wasn’t rooted in ignorance—it was rooted in refusal.

Jesus then reached back to Psalm 118 and pulled forward the image of the cornerstone. The cornerstone wasn’t decorative. It was the stone that determined the alignment, strength, and integrity of the entire structure. Reject the cornerstone, and the whole building collapses. Accept it, and everything else finds its proper place. Yet the builders—those entrusted with constructing God’s house—looked at the true cornerstone and dismissed Him as counterfeit.

By weaving these two images together, Jesus exposed the painful truth: the very leaders who should have recognized Him most clearly would reject Him most violently. Not because they misunderstood Him, but because they understood Him all too well. His authority threatened their autonomy.

And that same decision stands before every generation, including ours. We cannot sidestep it. We cannot hide behind vague admiration or polite distance. Either Jesus is a deluded religious figure whose claims should be dismissed, or He is the Son of God whose authority reshapes everything—our loyalties, our choices, our identity, our future. There is no middle category. The cornerstone is either rejected or received.

LORD, we acknowledge the full authenticity and authority of Jesus Christ. We declare our allegiance to Him without hesitation, and we ask for hearts that align with the true Cornerstone.

[1] Psalm 118:22-23.

Posted in Jesus Christ, loyalty, obedience | Tagged Mark 12 | Leave a comment

don’t shoot the messenger

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

DO YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY WHO IS REALLY BOSS?

Mark 12:1-5

¹ Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenant farmers and went to another country. ² When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenant farmers to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. ³ But they arrested him, and flogged[1] him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ And again he sent another slave to them; this one they knocked on the head and insulted. ⁵ Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they flogged, but others they killed.

don’t shoot the messenger

There’s a kind of holy bluntness in this parable that still speaks with force today. It’s as if the people of God stand at the edge of the world and say, “Look—we’re made of the same dust as you. We bleed like you. We get misunderstood like you. If something we say offends you, don’t imagine we invented it. We’re only repeating what the Owner of the vineyard has entrusted to us.” There’s no arrogance in that posture, only the sober awareness that the message isn’t ours to edit or soften. The vineyard doesn’t belong to the tenants, and the tenants don’t get to rewrite the lease.

Jesus aimed this story straight at the religious leaders of His day. They were the caretakers of God’s vineyard, the ones entrusted with shepherding His people. Yet their history was littered with the graves of prophets—men who had brought God’s word faithfully and paid for it with their lives. The parable exposed a truth they didn’t want to face: their hostility toward Jesus wasn’t new. It was part of a long pattern of rejecting the God who kept reaching out to them.

And our generation has its own version of hostile tenants. Many have abandoned belief in a sovereign God altogether, yet their reactions mirror those first‑century leaders. Speak of accountability to God, and they scoff. Demonstrate the truth with clarity, and they grow angry. Suggest that the vineyard has an Owner, and they treat it as an insult. The hostility isn’t really toward us—it’s toward the One who sent us.

But the parable also reminds us that faithfulness matters more than safety. The servants in the story didn’t survive every assignment, but they were faithful. The Son Himself was killed, yet His death became the cornerstone of God’s redeeming work. The vineyard still belongs to God, and He will reclaim it in His time.

LORD, give us courage to stand in Your name, to speak truth with humility and conviction, and to defend Your rightful ownership of the vineyard entrusted to this generation—even when the cost is great.

[1] δέρω (12:3, 5; 13:9)

Posted in commitment, discernment, persecution, relationship with God, witness | Tagged Mark 12 | Leave a comment

defiant agnosticism

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

WHO ARE THE ENEMIES OF CHRIST TODAY?

Mark 11:27-33

²⁷ They came to Jerusalem again. While he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him ²⁸ and said, “What right do you have to be doing these things? Who gave you this right to do them?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you what right I have to do these things. ³⁰ Did the baptism of John come from the sky, or was it from men? Answer me.” ³¹ They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From the sky,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But should we say, ‘From men’?”– they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone regarded John as really a prophet. ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you what right I have to be doing these things.”

defiant agnosticism

Most people I meet who claim the title agnostic aren’t actually unsure—they’re resistant. The word becomes a shield, a way to critique the church or dismiss the gospel without ever having to take a stand. It’s a posture of distance disguised as neutrality.

The religious leaders in Jesus’ day didn’t use the word, but they lived the reality. When Jesus asked them about John the Baptist—whether his ministry was from heaven or from men—they suddenly found themselves exposed. They didn’t know, or rather, they refused to know. They had watched John preach repentance. They had seen crowds stirred. They had heard his testimony about the coming Messiah. But acknowledging any of that would have required humility, and humility was the one thing they would not offer.

So they hid behind a convenient “We don’t know.” It was agnosticism with clenched fists. Jesus had overturned their tables, challenged their authority, and exposed their corruption. Their uncertainty wasn’t intellectual; it was defiant. They didn’t want to discern the truth because the truth would have demanded change.

And that same spirit is alive today. Many in our cultural elite claim they “don’t know” whether God exists, but the moment His name enters a public conversation, their neutrality evaporates. The resistance surfaces. The defensiveness rises. The agnosticism proves to be less about lack of evidence and more about lack of surrender.

Yet Jesus didn’t panic in the face of defiant agnostics. He simply spoke truth in a way that revealed their hearts. He asked questions that exposed motives. He let the light do its work.

LORD, when we face those who resist You behind a mask of uncertainty, give us words that are steady, wise, and Spirit‑led—words that silence hostility not by force, but by truth.

Posted in discernment, kingdom of God | Tagged Mark 11 | Leave a comment

faith in God

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

WHAT ARE YOU REALLY PUTTING YOUR FAITH IN?

Mark 11:20-26

²⁰ In the morning as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” ²² Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. ²³ I guarantee you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. ²⁴ So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in the sky may also forgive you your wrongdoings.” ^26[1]

faith in God

It’s surprisingly easy to slip into an animistic way of reading this passage—as though faith were some kind of spiritual electricity we can generate if we grit our teeth hard enough. Plenty of teachers still talk this way, as if faith were a force we wield rather than a relationship we live in. But that is not what Jesus was showing His disciples. He didn’t curse the fig tree because He was flexing some inner power. He did it because the Father willed it. His faith was not in faith; His faith was in God.

So when Peter pointed out the withered tree, Jesus didn’t congratulate him for noticing the “power of belief.” He said something far more grounding: Have faith in God. The source behind every answered prayer is not the intensity of our believing—it is the sovereignty of our God. That’s why unforgiveness can hinder prayer. It’s not that we’ve jammed the gears of some spiritual machine. It’s that a holy and relational God is watching, and He will not put His power on display to reward a heart that refuses to reflect His mercy.

The animist trusts in power words—phrases that supposedly carry magic in themselves. Say them correctly, repeat them enough times, and the universe must obey. But Christians have no such vocabulary. We don’t chant our way into miracles. We don’t manipulate heaven with formulas. Our confidence is not in syllables but in Someone. The power in our lives flows from our relationship with God, and prayer is always an expression of that relationship.

When the mountain moves, it is the Holy Spirit who deserves the glory. And when the mountain stays put, we don’t blame our technique or assume our faith was too weak. We turn again to God, trusting that His wisdom, His timing, and His purposes are better than our own. We have renounced the world’s magic. We belong to a Father, not a force.

LORD, strengthen our resolve to place our faith in You alone, and never in the illusion of our own power.

[1] some manuscripts add ει δε υμεις ουκ αφιετε, ουδε ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις αφησει τα παραπτωματα υμων.

Posted in animism, faith, Holy Spirit, prayer | Tagged Mark 11 | Leave a comment

when religion becomes robbery

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

ARE YOU WORSHIPPING ON WALL STREET?

Mark 11:15-19

¹⁵ Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; ¹⁶ and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷ He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a hideaway for robbers.” ¹⁸ And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; because they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was captivated by his teaching. ¹⁹ And after evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

when religion becomes robbery

Religion, at its best, is simply the way a people express their devotion to God. There’s nothing inherently wrong with rhythms, rituals, or sacred practices. They can be beautiful when they help us turn our hearts toward the One who made us. But religion becomes twisted when it’s commandeered by those who see worshippers as customers, and holy space as an opportunity for profit. That’s what Jesus confronted in the temple. He approached expecting the spiritual equivalent of a fig tree heavy with fruit—and instead found branches without substance, a place meant for prayer transformed into a marketplace.

The temple courts were supposed to be the one place where the nations could draw near to God. Instead, Jesus found a system that drained the poor, exploited the faithful, and buried true worship beneath noise and greed. The people were being robbed of access to God, and God was being robbed of the honor due His name. No wonder Jesus overturned tables. His anger wasn’t petty; it was protective. It was the fierce love of someone who refuses to let His Father’s house become a place where seekers are pushed away.

The apostles stood there stunned, watching their gentle Teacher unleash righteous fury. And then they listened as He explained Himself—not apologizing, not softening the moment, but calling them to understand that worship is not a game. It is not a commodity. It is not a performance. It is a sacred meeting between God and His people, and it deserves reverence.

That same warning reaches us today. It’s easy to let our religious habits become hollow, or to cling to rituals that distract us from God rather than draw us toward Him. Jesus still walks into the places we call holy and asks whether they bear fruit or only leaves.

LORD, strip away every ritual that steals our attention from You. Free us from practices that keep us busy but keep us distant. Give us a way of worship that truly honors You.

Posted in church, genuineness, worship | Tagged Mark 11 | Leave a comment

empty vending machine

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

ARE YOU DELIVERING WHAT YOUR WORSHIP PROMISES?

Mark 11:12-14

¹² On the next day, when they had come from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³ Seeing a fig tree in leaf in the distance, he went to see whether he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

empty vending machine

It’s such a familiar kind of disappointment: you walk toward the vending machine already tasting the snack you’ve been craving, only to find the window empty and the coils bare. In the first century, fig trees played that same role—quick nourishment on the go, a small promise of satisfaction. So when Jesus approached a tree that looked full and healthy from a distance, only to find it barren up close, His frustration wasn’t random. It was the sting of expectation meeting emptiness.

But this moment wasn’t about Jesus losing His temper over hunger. This is the same Jesus who endured a forty‑day fast at the beginning of His ministry. A missed snack wasn’t going to unravel Him. Something deeper was happening—something meant for the disciples’ eyes and ears.

The day before, the crowds had welcomed Him with shouts and branches and celebration. From a distance, their devotion looked lush and vibrant. But Jesus knew what the end of the week would reveal. The same voices that cried “Hosanna” would soon cry “Crucify.” The fig tree became a living parable: outward appearance can be deceiving, and enthusiasm without substance eventually withers.

And that warning still lands close to home. It’s easy to sound fruitful from afar—to sing loudly, to speak passionately, to look spiritually full. But Jesus draws near. He looks for the fruit that grows quietly: faithfulness, mercy, humility, love that costs something. He looks for lives that match the worship we offer with our lips.

LORD, make our worship real. Shape us into people who bear the fruit our words promise, so that when You draw near, You find more than leaves.

Posted in genuineness, hypocrisy, worship | Tagged Mark 11 | Leave a comment

let down

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU WHEN NOTHING HAPPENS?

Mark 11:7-11

⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and placed their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut off in the woods. ⁹ Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! ¹⁰ Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” ¹¹ Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

let down

It’s one of those scenes in Scripture that makes you slow down and squint a little, as if a hidden detail must be tucked between the lines. Everything leading up to the moment feels charged with promise. The crowd is alive with celebration. The road has been prepared with care and reverence. Voices rise, branches fall, and the whole atmosphere seems to hum with the expectation that something dramatic is about to unfold.

And then… nothing.
Jesus steps into the temple, looks around quietly, and walks back out. No miracle. No confrontation. No sermon. Just a brief survey of the room and a departure. The day’s purpose was simply to fulfill a small prophecy, a quiet thread in a much larger tapestry. The big moments—the ones that shake the world—are still ahead.

There are days in our service to God that feel exactly like that. You pour yourself into a ministry effort, a conversation, a project, a moment you’ve prayed over and prepared for. You expect God to move in a way that feels unmistakable. And when the dust settles, you’re left with a sense of letdown, wondering if you misread the moment or missed the miracle.

But God is not scolding you with silence. He is not withholding His presence because your effort was lacking. Sometimes the Lord simply chooses to work in ways that don’t match our expectations. Sometimes the day is about a small obedience, a quiet fulfillment, a step that prepares the way for something greater later on. His timing is never off. His purposes are never delayed. He is simply operating on a calendar far wiser than ours.

So we learn to trust Him in the anticlimax, in the quiet aftermath, in the days that feel unfinished. We learn to believe that He is still moving even when the moment feels still.

LORD, give us the wisdom to let Your calendar prevail over ours, and the faith to rest in Your timing even when the day feels small.

Posted in discernment, faithfulness, trust | Tagged Mark 11 | Leave a comment

commissioned colt

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

ARE YOU PREPARED TO BE USEFUL TO JESUS?

Mark 11:1-6

¹When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ² and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there who has not yet been ridden; untie it and bring it. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘our Lord needs it and will send it back here soon.'” ⁴ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, ⁵ some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ So, they told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it.

commissioned colt

The colt stood there at the edge of the city—ordinary, unnoticed, tied up like it had been every other day of its life. Yet when the word came that the Lord needed it, something shifted. The people watching didn’t argue or hesitate; they simply released it, as though they sensed that even the smallest creature can be swept into God’s great story when the moment arrives. That colt didn’t suddenly gain wisdom or strength. It didn’t become noble or heroic. It was simply available at the exact moment Jesus chose to ride. Scripture never tells us what became of it afterward, but its brief appearance has echoed through centuries because, for one sacred moment, it carried the King.

When I look back over my own journey, I find myself identifying with that humble animal more than with any of the more celebrated figures in the New Testament. I’m not the strategist, the miracle worker, or the bold preacher. I’m the creature who happened to be standing in the right place when the Lord tugged at the rope. And in that moment—however brief, however quiet—I was useful to Him. That alone feels like grace.

So I pray with open hands: Lord, when You call, untie whatever keeps us still. Loosen the knots of fear, hesitation, or self‑doubt. Make us ready to move when You speak, even if the task is simple, even if our part is small. Use us for Your glory, and let us find joy in being carried along by Your purpose.

Posted in commitment, ministry, plan of God | Tagged Mark 11 | Leave a comment

annoyance or opportunity

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

DO YOU SEE WHAT THE NEEDY REALLY ARE?

Mark 10:46-52

⁴⁶ Then they came into Jericho. While he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to scream out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many harshly ordered him to shut up, but he screamed out even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ Then, throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My great one,[1] that I may see again.” ⁵² Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Just then he saw again and followed him on the road.

annoyance or opportunity

Jesus had just finished redefining leadership for His apostles—pulling it out of the realm of power, status, and control, and rooting it instead in service, sacrifice, and preservation. And then, almost immediately, Mark shows us what that kind of leadership looks like in real time.

Enter Bartimaeus.

To the crowd, he was a nuisance. A distraction. An interruption to the important work Jesus was doing. They tried to silence him, to push him to the margins, to keep the “ministry” moving. But Jesus stopped. He didn’t see an interruption; He saw an opportunity. He didn’t see a problem; He saw a person. And in that moment, He demonstrated the very heart of the kingdom: restoring the broken, lifting the lowly, giving sight to the blind—literally and spiritually.

This is what servant leadership looks like. It is not measured by how efficiently we stay on schedule, or how well we protect our time, or how many people we manage. It is measured by how willing we are to stop for the Bartimaeuses in our path. The needy, the hurting, the overlooked—these are not obstacles to ministry. They are the ministry. They are the places where the kingdom breaks in. They are the moments when greatness is redefined.

Christian leadership is not about getting things done; it is about getting people restored. It is about seeing interruptions as invitations. It is about letting compassion override convenience. And it is about recognizing that every day, God places opportunities in our path to serve Him by serving someone who cannot repay us.

Lord, make us sensitive to the opportunities to serve You that You put in our way every day.

[1] Aramaic רבוני

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tyrant or slave

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

ARE YOU USING PEOPLE, OR SERVING THEM?

Mark 10:41-45

⁴¹ When the other ten heard this, they began to be irritated with James and John. ⁴² So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their grand ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³ But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become grand among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of everyone. ⁴⁵ Because the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his soul as a release price to keep many from dying.”

tyrant or slave

Jesus’ question cuts straight through every illusion we carry about leadership. Would you rather be a tyrant over a few, or a servant to everyone? The world celebrates the first option. It rewards control, visibility, and authority. But Jesus turns the whole equation upside down. In His kingdom, leadership is not measured by how many people answer to you, but by how many people you are willing to serve.

The apostles needed that correction. They were imagining thrones, positions, and honor. Jesus pointed them instead to a cross. He showed them that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. His leadership preserved others at the cost of Himself. That is the pattern He sets for every disciple who would lead in His name.

Christian leadership is not about control. It is not about influence for its own sake. It is not about building a platform or protecting a position. It is about sacrifice—pouring yourself out so that others may live, grow, and flourish. The real question is not “Who follows me?” but “Whom am I preserving by my service?” That is the measure Jesus uses.

Lord, make us leaders who serve to preserve.

Posted in leadership, ministry | Tagged Mark 10 | Leave a comment