Key Thought

Jesus is led and guided by the Holy Spirit -- in both good times and bad times. Just as Jesus goes to face temptation in the wilderness immediately after his baptism, we too find ourselves in powerful temptation struggles after a major spiritual experience, a deepened spiritual commitment, or a special time of devotion. This does not mean the Holy Spirit has abandoned us. Instead, it means that the Spirit goes with us to lead us through this time of trial, testing, and temptation. The Spirit takes what Satan intended for our harm and turns it into something that can strengthen our faith and mature us in our discipleship.

Today's Prayer

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Father, give me the courage to believe that your Holy Spirit leads and guides me. Help me believe that I am not alone -- not in the good times or in the tough times when I feel abandoned. Use all the events in my life to mature me ever more into the character, compassion, and commitment of Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

At that time Jesus came from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the place where John was. John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. While Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the sky open. The Holy Spirit came down to Jesus like a dove. A voice came from heaven and said: "You are my Son and I love you. I am very pleased with you." Then the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert alone. Jesus was in the desert 40 days. He was there with the wild animals. While Jesus was in the desert, he was tempted by Satan {(the devil).} Then angels came and helped Jesus. After this, John was put into prison. Jesus went into Galilee and told people the Good News from God. Jesus said, "The right time is now here. The kingdom of God is near. Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News!" Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee. Jesus saw Simon and Simon's brother, Andrew. These two men were fishermen, and they were throwing a net into the lake to catch fish. Jesus said to them, "Come and follow me. I will make you {a different kind of} fishermen. You will work to gather people, {not fish}." So Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed Jesus. Jesus continued walking by Lake Galilee. He saw two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat, preparing their nets to catch fish. Their father Zebedee and the men that worked for him were in the boat with the brothers. When Jesus saw the brothers he told them to come. They left their father and followed Jesus.

— Mark 1:9-20 (ERV)

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.