Tag Archives: Doubt

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Posted on by

Moments with My Father ~

 

As I reflect upon my Father’s Word this morning, I am so grateful to my Father for His kindness and faithfulness to us as His kids.  I read this morning that He, as our Sovereign God, made the heavens and the earth by His great power and outstretched arm.  Nothing is too hard for Him and I’m a gal saying “Amen!”  Wow!  When you look at God’s creation, I have no doubt God is able and powerful! Time after time in my Christian walk, there have been times when I was in the midst of being at the end of myself and difficult matters, or as the saying goes, “between a rock and a hard place” meaning in the middle of a situation offering at least two possibilities, neither of which is acceptable in that the situation is not acceptable and I am powerless to fix it.  It is in those times, I have learned to turn to my Father, the great “Rock” with whom there is great possibility and trust He can do things like no other.  All things are possible for Him!  I am reminded of the story of Sarah who laughed at the possibility of her having her own child as she thought she was past childbearing years.  Little did she know that in the eyes of eternity, she was yet a spring chick and very capable in God’s perfect timing and with God’s help of hatching out a son!  God knew His abilities and was rather taken back by Sarah’s disbelief in His abilities.  He did what was in her eyes, the impossible and surprised her with a son just as He had promised to Abraham.  God does keep His promises and we all can find peace in knowing that when situations seem impossible for us, we are in reality between “the Rock (God)” and the hard place of life and He promises that we can cast our anxiety on Him and that He cares for us and will work good through the difficult situtation we are in the midst of.  Time and time again, He razzle dazzles me with His power, His ability and His faithfulness to take care of me.  Therefore, I’m gonna stand content and at peace between my Rock and any hard places of life I find myself in today!  Oh, my Father – He’s so cool! He so rocks, just like this song says:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfPzFOMn63U&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

Jer 32:17; Ge 18:10-15; Ps 61:1-4, 92:12-15; 1 Pe 5:7; Php 4:6-7; Ro 8:28-39

 

Why?

Posted on by

Moments with My Father ~

 

Life can be very hard sometimes and at times it seems my Father has not heard my prayers.  As I ponder that this morning, I am reminded that David and also Jesus, two men who were very close to God asked their God “Why.”  King David who was said to be considered God’s friend and who had a heart after God’s own heart wrote “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” “Why are you so far away from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” Jesus, the Son of God cried out from the cross in life He bore, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  As I have struggled with issues in my life where I have felt the same way as these two saints and ponder them, I see that our Father was working in their lives even though they were at points in their life they felt God had forsaken them.  Our Father promises us that He will never leave us nor forsake us!  When I do not understand my life, these things I do: 1) I cling to my Father’s promise that He is still with me and working for me. 2) I seek to implement what I see that David and Jesus did – they prayed to their Father anyway and they were honest with God in asking Him “why?”  They made their requests to God for deliverance. 3) I persevere in doing what my Father has shown me to be right to do in my situation. 4) I remember I lack the full understanding my Father has. 5) As King David did, I remember the good things about my Father and praise Him for who He is. 6) I remember that I have an enemy, the devil, in this life that would love to destroy my faith. 7) I pray a prayer of thanksgiving and focus on what I can be thankful for in my life.  8) I ask people to pray for me.  Life can be hard, but I’m thankful that in it, we are never all alone and forsaken.  Peace and love to you all today as we go through the hard things of life together.  Keeping going with you!

Ps 22:1-2, 69:29-31; Mt 27:46; Lk 22:31; 1 Pe 5:8-9; Pr 3:5-6; Ro 8:28-29; Heb 13:5; Php 4:6-8

Spill the Beans

Posted on by

Moments with My Father ~

 

What a privilege and honor it is to have a relationship with my Father.  It is a gift I appreciate more and more each day and oh how I feel for those who do not know the specialness of that relationship.  I can greatly identify this morning with the words of John as he speaks about proclaiming the Word of Life that was from the beginning which he had heard and seen with his own eyes, which he looked at and his hands touched.  John was very privileged in the days of his life as he was one that actually lived during the time period and in the same spaces where Jesus was and he literally did see with his own eyes and touched the person of Jesus.  Wow!  How awesome would that be!  Jesus told doubting Thomas when He revealed Himself to him, how blessed are those who believe in Him without having seen Him. Oh how I look forward to the day when I can see Jesus face to Face and look into His eyes and reach out and touch Him!  Jesus is going to one day return in His glorified state with His resurrected body, but in the meantime, we as Christians have the privilege of His presence with us each moment – His Holy Spirit that lives in us!  You can’t get much closer to a person than that!  That really communicates to me that my Lord really wants to be with me and as a result, I get to see Him constantly as He reveals Himself in how He works in and through my life.  I greatly admire John as he understood all of this and the great joy that having a relationship with Jesus brought to his life and he longed for others to have that same relationship.  He was not selfish in holding it all to himself, therefore he proclaimed to us what he had seen and heard so that we could also have the same fellowship or connection with the Lord. Now that is what I call brotherly love!  I bless him for all that he did to bless my life.  Woohoo!  I’m so glad I have Jesus and I just encourage us all in view of all of this to ask ourselves, what have I seen and heard of Jesus?  What can I tell others about Him so that they too may know the wonderful gift of Him in their lives? The best thing that can happen is they might also believe.  Now how cool is that? I so want those around me to be blessed as well so I’m stepping out into my world today with the mindset to not keep to myself, but instead to be bold in spilling the beans about Jesus.  He is not meant to be a best-kept secret.

1 Jn 1:1-4; Jn 1:1-18, 14:15-31, 20:24-31; Eph 2:22; 1 Co 2:1-10;

Poor Doubters

Posted on by

Moments with My Father ~

 

It’s a fantastic new day to experience life with my Father today and my thankfulness that I can do so is in good timing with this being the week of Thanksgiving here in the States.    This cowgirl has so much to be thankful for that I could go on and on about all the blessings in my life, but by far the greatest treasure I have is my relationship with my Father.  As I have spent time with Him this morning, He has laid it upon my heart the importance of being merciful to those who doubt, who do not believe in Him and do not have the precious gift of faith that I have.  I can’t imagine doing life without my Father.  Without His wisdom, His unconditional, unfailing, perfect love and His peace in the midst of trials would be devastating to me.  Can you imagine your life without your faith.  This is what those who do not lelieve in our Lord experience everyday!  Yikes!!!  This gives me a heart that has a whole lot more understanding for them and as I think about this, I recall that Jesus understood this when He was hanging on the cross and spoke of those who did not believe in Him.  He told His Father “Forgive them, for they know not what they do!”  As I step out into my world, I’m looking at those without Christ with a whole new mindset today.  They so need our prayers and to see the reality of the love and grace of Christ lived out before them and I want to be that in my relating to them!  Will you join me in making a difference in someone’s life who doesn’t know our Lord by helping them to see our great God who dwells in us?  Our Father would be so thankful!  May you be filled to overflowing with His love and grace wherever life has you so others might see and have what you have in Him!  Bless you for blessing others!

Jude 1:22; Lk 23:34; Mt 5:16; 1 Co 3:16; Jn 3:16

Giant-Sized Faith

Posted on by

Moments with My Father ~

 

Yippee!  It’s a new day of life.  How cool is that!  To me, it is HUGE with opportunity to make a difference!  I’m ponderin’ our Father’s Word this morning and as I do, I suspect that this is how David saw his life.  At a very young age, he saw that our Father had been working at preparing him to carry out a special assignment which was to fight a giant that threatened to destroy God’s people.  In David’s efforts to do so, I see several admirable things about David:  1) He saw how all along his life, his experiences were equipping him for such as the moment of where he was at. He recognized what God had given to him.  2)  David had a heart for God’s people and he sought to encourage them not to be discouraged and dismayed at the threats of defeat by the enemy.  3( He did not let fear overtake him, but had the mindset and determination to take what His Father had given to him and use it to make a difference. 4)  He didn’t listen to the voices that spoke to him of his inability and weakness.  5)  He did not wear what the world tried to put on him, but was comfortable in who he was – what our Father had equipped him with to carry out the task before him. 6)  Instead of using the methods of the world to conquer his giant before him, he went against it with the name of the Lord, the God of the army of his people.  7)  There was no doubt in David’s mind that victory was going to happen.  He was very confident!  and 8)  David understood that the battle and the victory belonged to the Lord and didn’t rest on him personally.  So with these things in mind, David was the vessel through whom the Lord worked to bring victory.  Because of David’s faith, mindset and determination, the enemy was defeated and fled from God’s people.  Given this story, I ask myself and I ask you as well, what is my giant before me that God is calling me to conquer or defeat?  What have I been given to enable me to do that?  As I step out to be me for the Lord, I must remember the battle is the Lord’s and be confident that He will bring the victory.  So, this cowgirl is aiming my slingshot of faith straight at the giant before me in the name of my God.  How about you?  Ready, stand firm, aim, let’s fire away!  My giant-sized faith is thinking my enemy won’t be in need of a band aid when my Father gets done with Him because it will have been defeated – done conquered and I’m gonna put on my dancing shoes because a victory dance will definitely be in order.  Woohoo!

1 Sa 17; Ro 12:2; Ps 139:13-14; Php 4:13; 1 Pe 5:8-9; Ja 4:7; 1 Co 15:58

The Miracle Worker

Posted on by

Moments with My Father ~

 

Good day to you!  It is a new adventure today with our Father and just the fact that we are able to share this time together is a downright miracle!  How amazing is that?  Each one of us as we sit studying these thoughts are actually multi-tasking, in that we are at  the same time experiencing many miracles taking place not only in our bodies, but in the world around us.  While we as humans struggle over the possibility for us to be able to carry out the performance of a miracle, miracles are an every second occurrence in the work of our Father.  They are not a problem or concern to Him at all!  Jesus was the same way.  Can you imagine being Jesus and having to prove that you were God by performing miracles and that all of mankind’s salvation hinged on His ability to do miracles so people would believe?  You or I left to ourselves would be “up a creek without a paddle”  and headed straight for a waterfall that would drop us to our death. Yikes!!!  I don’t suppose many would believe in us in the end. The Good News is that we have not been left to ourselves!  Jesus became a man and walked upon this earth just as we do and He was someone who had great faith.  We see this all throughout His life how He with His Father in Him turned water into wine, gave blind men their sight, healed illnesses and diseases, provided abundance where there was too little, walked on water, rode a colt that was never ridden and doing so without a rodeo, changed murderers into saints and raised Lazarus from the dead.  We see the evidence of His faith in His words spoken to the people watching just before He raised Lazarus.  He said “Did I not tell you that if you believed, that you would see the glory of God?”  He then thanked His Father for hearing His prayer and in so many words told His Father, I knew all along that you heard my prayer – no doubts here that you are going to do a miracle.  I’m only saying this for the sake of the people that they might believe that You sent Me.  The scenario before Him, of Lazarus being dead in the tomb was a stretch of faith for Martha.  She saw the bleak circumstances, the possibility of the impossibility of a miracle.  For the stone to be removed from the entrance of the tomb was a step of faith.  As a result of this step of faith, a miracle happened and the glory of the Lord was revealed just as Jesus believed all along.  As I reflect upon this story, I ask myself and I ask you what might be happening in your life today where a stone of doubt needs to be rolled away revealing an entrance of faith for a miracle to be presented?  Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but as He hung on the cross, people mocked Him for not being able to save Himself from death, but you know what?  They were wrong!  Woohoo!  Our Father raised Him from the dead and another miracle happening in our lives today is that Jesus is interceding or praying with complete faith to His Father concerning our lives.  Even when we do not know what to pray, His Spirit in us groans out in faith, believing in our Father to do great miracles as He is doing this very moment.  God in us makes each one of us a miracle worker.  It’s a miracle!  I’m stepping out with you in miraculous faith today, knowing our Father will be faithful to do great things.  How exciting is that?

 

Jn 2:1-11, 4:43-5:15, 11:38-44, 14:8-14; He 2:3-4; Mk 11:1-11; Mt 14:13-36; 14-27:41-44; Ro 8:26-39; Ac 2:14-41, 9:1-31

His Will Will, Do Do

Posted on by

Moments with My Father ~

 

Well, it is our Father’s will that we adventure through this new day with Him.  It is an amazing gift to have life and with it are many opportunities to put into practice our faith in the One who loves us unconditionally and has our best interest at heart.  Faith is defined as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  There are many in the Bible who lived amazing lives all because they had faith in the promises of God. They looked ahead to what was to come and believed their Father would be faithful to take care of them – to work good through the circumstances they were in.  Faith made the difference to turn weakness to strength, fear to bravery, sadness to joy, unrighteousness to righteousness,  hopelessness to hopefulness, giving up to perseverance, discouragement to encouragement, man’s will to God’s will done. Faith was the difference that enabled them to do what they would have been otherwise unable to do.  You could say they were able to “do the do” of His will.  These people had faith that the promises of God would come to pass.   Elizabeth was a woman who understood this.  She told Mary “Blessed (happy) is she who believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”  In other words, His “will will!”  Of Jesus, it is said “Whoever believes in Him, shall not perish.” He preserves the faithful!  In Him, we are born into a living hope through His resurrection into an inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade.  What this is saying is what is promised will be!  How cool is that!  When we have trials in life, though, it is often hard to see hope and understand how things will work out for good, but our Father says not to lean on our own understanding.  Unbelief is something we can ask our Father to help us with.  He honored that honesty in a man who had a demon-possessed son and also with doubting Thomas who had to see Jesus for himself. Jesus also said “Blessed are those who believe and do not see.”  Faith is being certain of what is not seen -  it is believing upon a seen promise of God.  Our Father says that in trials, our faith which is more precious than gold will be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed. There is a day coming when Jesus will be revealed.  All things will be eventually laid bare – we will know fully. This is a promise we can cling to!  Of God, it is said He is faithful to the faithful and that with God, all things are possible.  He raised Jesus from the dead and He has given us life!  These are things that seem impossible and beyond my ability to understand and they help me have faith that He can do what seems impossible in my life.  It helps me keep going, to “do the do” of His will, knowing His “will will” be accomplished and His promise is that it’s all gonna be good.  These thoughts have this cowgirl stepping out in faith today.  Oh, my Father – He is so good!

 

Hebrews 11; Lk 1:45; Jn 3:16, 20:24-31; Ps 18:25, 52:8, 145:13; Mk 9:14-32; 1 Co 13:12; Ro 8:28-29

He-Man Attitude

Posted on by

Moments with My Father

 

Good Thursday morning to you! Our Father is showing me His muscles today in His Word and we are talking about having a “He-man attitude.”  I don’t know if you, like me, find yourself sometimes saying “I” can…. or “I” can’t….but I’m seeing this morning that the trouble with that is that when I do so, I’m trusting and looking to myself to do something.  What my attitude needs to be is that of a “He-man” which is that through He (Christ), I can do all things because He is the One who by His grace is going to give me His strength, who gives me His wisdom, who gives me His gifts, His resources, His talents, His skills to carry out His plans and purposes for me.  I’m considering these thoughts:  To say “I” can’t could be to say I don’t trust Him to enable me.  He can and will act to carry out His plans or purposes for me for where I’m supposed to be and when. To say “I” do something well is to steal His glory because apart from Him, I can do nothing.  The right attitude is a “He-man” attitude – a partnership between Him and me that trusts Him to give me the grace to will and act according to His good purpose and to conform me or shape me into His image.  His Word says ”he who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be kept safe.” Security and safety is found in His wisdom, in Him and not in self-sufficiency.  There are many books in the world written about self-help, but the only True one is the Bible that is “the source” to truly help someone.  One of the great Truths it teaches is that just the way He created you and me has already made us great without our even trying.  That thought just makes me feel so strong and desiring to step out and let Him flex His muscles in me as He desires - to be an amazing ”He-man.”  Wow!  With Him, life’s going to be a great work out, no doubt about it! 

 

Pr 28:26; Ro 8:28-29; 1 Co 1:25; Php 2:13, 4:13; Col 1:9-12; Jer 29:11; Jas 4:15; Heb 13:20-21; Jn 15:1-17; Ps 139:14

Asking Dad by Sheila and Dad

Posted on by

Good Thursday morning! Today, I’m seeking to trust in all our Father intends for us! Yahoo! I know Dad has the best plan ever for each of us and I’m excited to see how it all plays out. It’s gonna be exciting. Yep, it’s another adventure. Here we go moving along in this gift called life! That is exactly what the disciples and Jesus are doing as we peek inside of Mark’s storybook today. It says as they went along about life, they came across that fig tree again that we studied yesterday. Peter remembered it well and he pointed it out saying “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered from the roots.” Do you ever keep a prayer journal to go back and look at what you have prayed and how our Dad answered your prayers? It’s good to remember His faithfulness! Peter’s expression here is interesting. It is on one hand an attitude that is very excited in seeing the answer to Jesus’ prayer or heart desire towards the fig tree and on the other hand it is expressing an attitude of shock or surprise that Jesus’ prayer was actually answered as He had prayed it. What happened here is that Jesus’ will was spoken and the Father answered it in accordance to His will. Jesus tells the disciples they needed to pray in the same way. He said “Have faith in God. I tell you Truth. If anyone says to this mountain be cast into the sea and does not doubt, it will be done for you. Faith accepts it as good as done! Have you ever prayed a prayer and then said “thanks, God because I know you will be faithful with this request?” Jesus told His disciples that “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” In John 14:12-13, Jesus told them “anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” To have faith is to believe without doubt that all things are possible with God and each day holds the possibility of a miracle. In fact, each moment of every day IS a miracle. This passage of God’s Word is one of those that must be taken in context with all the rest of God’s Word – the Bible needs to be looked at as a whole. As we do so, we find that while all things are possible for God, prayer in accordance to our Father’s will is important. If a father tells his child “For your best interest, I do not want you to eat three giant candy bars right before bedtime,” it seems it would be out of line for the child to then ask his father as he is being tucked into bed for three candy bars. He can believe with all of his heart that the father will give him the candy, but it would be going against the father’s character, his spoken word or will for him to do so. The father would not want to honor his child’s request knowing it would be harmful or not in the best interest to his child’s well being in the long run. It would also be out of line for the father to give in to the child’s foolish request and to do so would not be an act of love. The same is true with our Daddy in Heaven. Our Dad IS love and is all about blessing us, but it is in the context of Jesus’ name. Jesus taught us to pray “hallowed be Thy name” when talking to our Father. To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray in accordance with all Jesus was and is. It is to pray in accordance with carrying forward the work Jesus intends. We see this even in Jesus’ life when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that “if it be possible, that the hour might pass from Him.” He said to His Father “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” At first glance, it can look like all the work Jesus had been so geared up to accomplish on the cross for our sins was now being thrown under the bus so to speak with regards to His heart’s desire. But in reality, it was a prayer for unity in accordance with His Father’s will. He was actually praying the time would move forward (the hour would pass) and that the work on the cross would be completed. His prayer for the cup to be removed was the cup of death that He would experience. He was praying here to be raised up again from the cup of death and three days after His death, He rose again. Praise Dad!!! The Father honored both of Jesus’ requests because He prayed in accordance with the Father’s will. If He had prayed contrary in asking that the cross not happen, it would’ve been a whole different story and one contrary to the character of God. It would’ve been a sad day for us all!!! Jesus ends His teaching in this passage by saying “when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him (her) so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” This speaks to me again the importance of taking a stand in line with our Father’s will when we pray by having an attitude of forgiveness towards others including ourselves. If our Father forgives us, we need to forgive others. Also, do we forgive ourselves? This is important because it is to stand in agreement with the Father that we are forgiven for our sins. It is not good for us to hang on to our failures. We need to learn from them, but release them as cleansed from us and forgiven by our Father so that our Father has an attitude of forgiveness towards us when we pray. Oh, our Dad is so sweet to want to bless us. I’m thinking it is important that we study His Word so that we know His will – His good, pleasing and perfect will. This will help us to pray in accordance to His Kingdom come and that’s what this cowgirl desires as I know it is His best for me! It is also such a comfort to me that even when we do not know what to pray, the Holy Spirit within us takes where we lack and intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. As a result, when we pray or ask about anything with an attitude of desiring our Father’s will, we can believe without a doubt that we will receive His will that holds back nothing as being impossible. That thought for me moves a huge mountain of anxiety into the sea of peace for my life that only my Daddy can bring about. I’m thinking I’ll pray my way through this day and trust my Daddy for the results, how about you? Peace to ya’s!
Mk 11:20-25, 14:35-36; 1 Sa 1:26; Eph 4:32; Ro 8:22-39, 12:2; 1 Jn 5:14-15, Jn 14:12-14, 27, 15:7, 16:23-24; Mt 6:9-10, 18:20

Glory Days by Sheila and Dad

Posted on by

May this be a faithful Friday to you today – a day full of faith in our Father! Today I’m marveling at the faith of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Having a father named Zebedee, I bet for them that every day was a Zebedee-do-dah day and I admire them for having the faith to trust that Jesus could do whatever they ask of Him. I ask myself and you as well, my friend – do we have that kind of faith? Is there doubt in an area of our lives where we need to have faith? I believe that with Dad all things are possible, but sometimes Dad says no or wait. Yikes!!! In those situations, am I and are you willing to accept His answer as the right one and keep faith in Him? In this story, the two brothers ask Jesus to let them sit one on His right and one on His left in His glory. Jesus was gentle with these boys for asking to share in His limelight by asking them if in order to share in His glory if they thought that they could also share in His suffering that came with His call in life. They said yes, they could. I don’t know about you, but I admire their attitude for being willing! Jesus told them they would indeed share in His suffering, but that it was up to His Father to decide their Heavenly position and glory. In other words, in answer to their request to Jesus, Jesus said wait on the Father. Wow! Ok, I don’t want to end up embarrassed over my motives or heart attitude when my Father considers my life on earth and in Heaven, so I’m seeking to position myself close to Jesus to ask myself some deep questions. If you’d like to position yourself with me, then here we go: How am I seeking to share in part or perhaps seeking all of Jesus’ glory? Why am I doing so? Is it to make my life a reflection of seeking glory for Him and where am I seeking glory from others? Is there a place of position that I am pursuing that someone else should have? Is there a position I am suppose to have that I need to accept? Where in my life do I need to position myself closer to Jesus? If I am seeking to share in Jesus’ glory, am I also willing to share in suffering alongside of Him for our Father’s Kingdom? What suffering in my life do I need to change my attitude about to bring Him glory? Is there an area of my life where I need to wait on the Father? What changes need to be made in my life to seek glory for Him? Where in my thinking do I need to position myself to rest in my Father’s glory for me? Yikes – tough questions!!! I’m praying with ya! The Apostle Paul wrote about the issues of suffering and glory and he wrote that as our Dad’s kids, we will indeed share in Christ’s suffering in our lives, but these present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. We as Dad’s kids will share in Christ’s glory in Heaven! To serve Jesus is not without its sacrifices and it is not without its blessings. I so want to live my life as a song to His name and I know that apart from Him, I can do nothing on my own. Only He deserves all the glory. This I know, I’m thankful to be positioned in life as one of His kids and I so admire the attitude of the Apostles who considered it an honor to be counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. Dad’s Word says if you are insulted for the name of Jesus, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. If our faith is in Jesus for our position in life and in our Father’s Kingdom, then you and I are blessed children of God – the heirs of God with all the riches of His blessings now and in the future. Let’s rejoice in that and give glory to our Dad. Have a faith-full day!
Mk 10:27,35-40; Ro 8:17-27, 12:1; Pr 3:5,16:2; Php 3:10; 1 Pe 3:8-22, 4:12-19, 5:8-11; 2 Ti 1:8-18; Ac 5:41; Ga 3:26-4:7; Ja 1:2-8; Jn 15:1-8

All Things Possible by Sheila

Posted on by

Idaho Greetings to where you are this Tuesday morning. No matter where you are today, Jesus is with you! There is no where that we can go that He is not there for His kids (that’s us)! We are never alone and without His help. Often times, as Dad’s kids, we attempt to do things in our own strength, only to find that our efforts are not fruitful. This is what has happened in today’s story in Mark 9:14-32. Jesus is absent and a man has sought the disciples to heal his boy from an evil spirit that has possessed him from childhood and is seeking to destroy him. The disciples efforts to drive the demon out of the boy have failed causing disbelief and arguing amongst the people. When Jesus arrives, the people ran to Jesus seeking His help. The father of the boy says to Jesus “If you can do anything, please take pity on us and help us.” At this Jesus says “If you can?” “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Jesus then commands the evil spirit out of the boy and lifted him to his feet. When indoors, the disciples ask Jesus why they couldn’t drive the demon from the boy and Jesus told them that this kind could only come out by their prayer. After they left that place, Jesus sought time alone with the disciples to teach them. He told them again that “the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him and after three days He will rise.” The disciples still did not understand what this meant, but they were afraid to ask Him about it. Wow! Where do I begin as this passage has so much meat (spiritual food)! Okay, I’m rolling up my sleeves and digging in. Dad’s food is so yummy to me! The first bite I’m taking is focusing on the point that Jesus was absent at the beginning of this story and His disciples were attempting to do a work on their own. As Dad’s kids wanting to make a difference in this world in the lives of people, it is important that we not try to do it in our own strength as we are weak without our Father. Yet we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Sometimes, efforts without our Father can end up doing more harm than good as seen in this situation where the people ended up in disbelief and arguing about the situation. I so admire the fact that the desperate father in this story upon seeing Jesus as a possible rescuer RAN to Jesus. This speaks to me that he put forth great effort and eagerly sought out Jesus. Dad’s Word says that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you and bring you back from captivity.” How bad do you want it is the question I’m asking myself. Am I willing to put forth the effort to seek Him? When the father reached Jesus, he said “If you can, help me.” This man had a question about Jesus’ ability to solve his problem. Talk about a faith destroyer! This is a lie straight from the mouth of Satan! This is what caused the fall of mankind to sin is when Satan created doubt in Eve’s mind about God and if he was really trustworthy. The world is full of people who say God will not deliver. Yikes!!! If we don’t believe without a doubt Jesus is capable, there is no hope and no faith to be found. This statement was very upsetting to Jesus who responded immediately “If you can?” He promptly spoke truth at the lie when He said “Everything is possible for him who believes!” Dad’s Word tells us we must believe and not doubt and if we doubt, we should not think we will receive anything from the Lord. I guess Dad takes doubt as a real slap to His Face. He says “without faith, it is impossible to please Him and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” I admire the honesty of the father of the boy when he said “I do believe, please help my unbelief.” It is good to be honest with our Dad and ask Him to help us where we are weak. Hebrews 11 is full of examples of the difference that faith can make in a person’s life. Jesus honored the man’s faith and healed the boy and it speaks strongly to me that the boy was practically lifeless from the evil that had plagued him for so long. Jesus was able to change that. He lifted the boy to his feet and helped him to stand. It is good to remember that as Dad’s kids, in troubled times, Jesus is the lifter of our heads and He brings restoration and makes us strong to stand for Him. What a blessing! Well, amazed at the power of Jesus, the disciples privately ask Jesus something like “so like, Jesus, why couldn’t we help this boy?” and Jesus told them it is because they needed prayer. In other words, Jesus was saying “boys, you need your Dad to help.” Ok, I have to ask myself here, how are my ministry efforts missing out because I do not pray about it? Ouch! Jesus then taught his disciples more, again focusing on what was to come. They did not understand, but they were afraid to ask about it. Dad says we should ask Him when we lack wisdom and He will give it to us generously without finding fault. I so want the people in my life to be comfortable enough with me that they can ask me anything that is on their heart. I would feel loved and honored if they feel they can trust me enough to ask me and I would admire them and not fault them for it. This makes for healthy relationships and effective Kingdom work. It is something I need to practice doing as well. Oh Dad, there’s lots to digest here and my belly is stuffed full and I know it is possible and I ask for you to help us all get the nourishment out of this we each need to learn and be freed! Bless ya’s.
Mk 9:14-32; Ps 3:1-3, 23:3, 139:7-10; Jn 15:1-8; 1 Pe 5:10; Jer 29:13; Mt 7:7-11; He 11:6; Ja 1:5-7; Php 4:13; 2 Ch 16:9