Mark 9

Mark 9:2:
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.

We have all had times on the mount, when we have seen things from God's standpoint and have wanted to stay there; but God will never allow us to stay there. The test of our spiritual life is the power to descend; if we have power to rise only, something is wrong. It is a great thing to be on the mount with God, but a man only gets there in order that afterwards he may get down among the devil-possessed and lift them up. We are not built for the mountains and the dawns and aesthetic affinities, those are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle. Spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mount.
-Oswald Chambers; My Utmost for His Highest

Mark 9:35:
"Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

This was written by Carley Evans from Grace Partners:
Jesus says that as we receive, accept, help, love a child in His Name, we simultaneously receive, accept, help and love Him. What we do for the least in God’s world we do for Him.
As we become “last of all and servant of all,” we come to reflect Jesus. Reflecting Jesus to others makes us first in the world.
Jesus tells His disciples that they have power over spirits, but He tells them not to rejoice in this power, but to be glad and grateful that their “names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10: 16)
He reminds them that though John the baptist is the greatest man ever born of woman, the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater.
Satan fell from heaven, and in the eyes of the world is the greatest ‘being’ here, ruling it firmly. Yet, the least in the kingdom of God is greater.

Mark 9:50:
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

If salt loses its saltness, while it may still look like salt, it certainly doesn’t taste like it, and what good is that? If you had such a salt in your kitchen, you’d probably throw it out, and you’d certainly never use it. So as Christians, if we stray from our faith, if we stop serving the Lord and start serving our own self-interest, we may still appear to be Christians, but we become useless.

God is not interested in using the Christian who is not living for Him. God doesn’t want us to be mere spectators in this world; He wants us to be part of His story. The Christian who does not stand up for Biblical truth and have a backbone is not capable of Kingdom work. “Have salt in yourselves,” Jesus said (Mark 9:50), “and have peace one with another.”
As Old Testament sacrifices were seasoned with salt, so should we be in our lives and relationships. If we’re living lives that are seasoned with salt, it should be obvious. Christians should stand out and stand up. -Hope Reflected