Daily Devotional
By Pastor Jerry Teboe
A Closer Walk with Christ in 2026
A Walk with the Master Series
A Cup of Water
Mar 9:38-41
And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. Mar 9:39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. Mar 9:40 For he that is not against us is on our part. Mar 9:41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
We now come to an interesting portion as we consider the zeal of the disciples, especially that of James and John. They saw someone else using the name of Jesus to perform miracles and were indignant. Their solution was to forbid him to do so, thereby preserving the use of the name of Jesus for only those whom Christ called and were considered His apostles. We find that Jesus was not so inclusive and told them that others who recognized Jesus as God’s Son could enter into the work of God. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part.
Warren Wiersbe makes the following comment on this section. At this point, John felt it necessary to defend the disciples (Mark_9:38-41) by pointing out their zeal. Imagine telling a man to stop casting out demons when the nine disciples had failed to deliver the deaf and dumb boy from Satan’s power! To use the name of Jesus is the same as working under His authority, so the men had no right to stop the man. “To his own master he stands or falls” (Romans_14:4).
Mark_9:40 should be compared with Matthew_12:30, “He that is not with Me is against Me.” Both statements declare the impossibility of neutrality when it comes to our relationship with Jesus Christ. Since we cannot be neutral, if we are not for Him, we must be against Him; if we are not against Him, we must be for Him. The anonymous exorcist was bringing glory to His name, so he had to be for the Savior and not against Him.
But it is not necessary to perform great miracles to prove our love for Christ. When we lovingly receive a child or compassionately share a cup of cold water, we are giving evidence that we have the humble heart of a servant. After all, we are serving Christ, and that is the highest service in the world (Matthew_25:31-46).
In order to expand on the Lord’s teaching, we can draw a conclusion regarding service for Him. He stated to His disciples that, For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
The lesson we can draw from Jesus’ statement is that when we serve the Lord, even the most insignificant act can have great meaning when we do it for the Lord. We do not have to stand before multitudes to preach, or go to the foreign mission field to honor God, but we can just reach out to the needs of others around us as a way to show our love for the Lord. Maybe today we can look for some way to share a cup of water to someone who needs that refreshing touch.
Bible Reading for the Year
April 24th, 2 Samuel 13-14; Luke 20:1-26
Prayer Needs
Praise the Lord that Dr. Joe Jordan had a successful coronary artery bypass surgery. He was able to go home on Thursday afternoon! Please continue to pray for his complete recovery.
Please pray for Carolyn Tyson’s niece and her husband, Pam and Joe Wobbleton. Joe will have open heart surgery on Friday morning because of a heart attack. Pam has had several mini-strokes and will need surgery at Chapel Hill.
Please pray for Judith Tyson, Carolyn’s sister, who has lung problems from smoke inhalation caused by her furnace.
Praise the Lord! Thank you for praying for Jennifer Teboe Buchamer. She had a CT scan on Friday, April 17th. All of the tumors had shrunk except for 2 that remained stable. The doctors were greatly surprised. Please continue to pray for complete healing.
Please pray for Kat Radkins’ husband, Joe. He will have a total hip replacement on May 11th. Please continue to pray for a remote work job for Kat as they really need this.
Please pray for Robbie Harvey, who has MAC lung disease. He fell and broke several ribs. He is now home from the hospital but in a lot of pain. He has started a new medication for his lung disease.
Please continue to pray for Carter Crandell (Corey’s Dad). He is home from the hospital, but he still has infection and two kidney stones. Once the infection clears up, he will go back to have the stones removed.
Please pray for Peggy Warren. She is in a lot of pain from a partially crushed disc in her lower back. However, surgery is not recommended.
Please pray for Phil Corey in his continual dialysis treatments. Please pray for Michelle and for Doris too. Doris is having problems with her blood pressure.
Please continue to pray for Beth Buchta that her hip will completely heal. Her recovery can take up to a year.
Please pray for Madison Bowers Millwee. She is now at 34 weeks and is doing well. Everything is relatively stable at this point. She will continue modified bedrest until she delivers.
Please continue to pray for Marvin Silverthorne for his eyesight to improve.
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Pray for our Missionaries!
Sue Singleton and the mission in Cambodia
Dr. Joe Jordan and the CBM (Cross and Bible Ministries)
Travis and Caroline Fennessy – IBM missionaries to Southeast Asia