22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
At first glance, this verse was self explanatory and I wondered what I was going to write about......I am running out of new ways to discuss how healing is achieved as a result of faithfulness and truly believing with all your heart, mind and soul that He can perform miracles in your life! Then, I read the entire account according to Mark, of the boy who had a mute spirit (described as being possessed by an evil entity) and no one, his father nor the desciples could cure. I immediately was overcome with several intense reactions that baffled, mortified and completely incapacitated my ability to think!
In order to comprehend why my reaction was so strong I ask that you follow this link: http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-King-James-Version-NKJV-Bible/
and read the story in its entirety (Mark 9:14-29).
Hopefully now we all read Mark's account and have formed opinions and thoughts regarding this amazing lesson Jesus almost demands His disciples and followers to grasp. When Jesus responds to the boys father saying "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” I felt almost offended, or scolded by Jesus, and had to remember He is teaching His disciples His ways and in order to get the message across clearly, a bit of shock and 'wow' factor could not hurt. He knew that any tiny bit of doubt among the believers would allow the evil spirit to attack and prevent them from being successful at casting it out of the boy. We know from our own experiences that when things go downhill there is often a spiraling effect where we are faced with many trials all at once almost disabling our ability to focus.........we had doubt and opened the window for Satan to step in! We need to remain faithful to Him and His teachings at all times, not just when it's convenient and after 2000+ years we still fail at this very concept! Jesus has the patience of a saint, and He still takes the time to give us wake up calls, hoping we seek and trust Him before its too late.
The reason I became so confused and mortified was because of the way Mark quotes Jesus, sounding almost like He was boasting and annoyed that the disciples were wasting His time and still not comprehending that faithfulness is the key to healing anyone. My Jesus is love and caring, respectful, honorable, and full of knowledge, not arrogant and bothered by questions.....so I felt as if my gut reaction towards Jesus' words was an act of unfaithfulness and sin,
hence being mortified of my own thoughts :-(! But, I thought maybe it was written that way because it was Mark's interpretation, and maybe he was jealous that Jesus could perform the miracles and they couldn't! It's all just speculation but it proves that two or two thousand can witness history unfolding together and none will give the same exact recollection! *(for Caroline) This is why discussing the Bible with others is such an enlightening experience and the only way to truly learn and grow in your faith.
The last point I wanted to make centers around the Fathers statement to Jesus starting out with "But if You can do anything,", really? If? Wow, how very doubtful and unsure he was in Jesus' powers. Did he truly know who he was addressing? I myself can not imagine starting out a request or plea to Jesus with the words "but if You", since He can do all, a more appropriate question would be "will You heal my son for me?" I absolutely loved Jesus' response and it is conveniently our verse #14, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23 NKJV) Take that, slam dunk in your face you 'doubting Thomas'!! Jesus's reply was not just a wee bit sarcastic (love that since I can be to) it also, very bluntly, pointed out that if your beliefs contain any inherent doubts it could impede the possibilities and therefor have undesirable results. When you look up 'believe' and read the antonyms this is what you will find: distrust, doubt, misdoubt, mistrust,question, suspect; challenge, dispute. Is this how you think that father regarded Jesus, with distrust and dispute?
We need to always remember that when we allow doubt to interfere with our faith and belief system we are proclaiming disloyalty towards our creator and maker of the universe. Can you honestly accept the consequences of that doubt? The door is then opened for evil, deceptive, untrustworthy, and misguided entities, people or events to enter your life, body, mind and soul! Are you willing to chance it, or are you going to stand firm in your faith, proclaim your beliefs to all, gather sheep while planting seeds (especially in our youth) and praising in celebration for our Savior Jesus Christ?
My fellow Alien readers, whom I love, where do you fall short in your faith and beliefs? What are your strengths and gifts from above that can be utilized to spread the Word of God and the promise that was made for all who ask for forgiveness of sin? How do you praise Him for all He as provided? Please everyone, say a prayer for all readers, when you reach the end of each blog post and be amazed of the power of prayer, especially in numbers.......keep believing our day will come!
A couple of favorite verses for today:
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. ~ Phil 4:13
This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.~ Psalm 118:24
Excellent subject : DOUBT. Maybe most don't even realize they have doubt. We seem to have more faith in our coffee pot working in the morning than our belief in Jesus doing something miraculous. You completely explained it perfectly. Thanks for the shout out! LOL. The New Testament declares that as children of God, all of us, can heal the sick by laying on of hands, cast out demons and raise the dead. That last one upsets people. I have never personally seen someone walk into a funeral home and exercise that but it would be interesting and totally unacceptable in this day and time - don't ya think? But, I believe if it was important enough for God to keep that in the Bible than why aren't we doing it. Because doubt exists in every area of our life. As parents we sit by and want the best for our children, when they are sick we move heaven and earth to make them better, when they need something we give freely, when we only have love to give God makes sure that is just enough. If more people looked at God like a Father (Abba is Hebrew for Daddy), then maybe we would expect more. But most see Him as untouchable and far from us. He is right here waiting to give to us. He already gave His son and His son sent His Holy Spirit to us centuries ago. That was all we needed but doubt has entered the picture and doubt needs to be placed under our feet just like satan. Thank you again for allowing me to share my thought. You are a blessing and you are stirring things up in me that I haven't dwelled on in years. Caroline
ReplyDeleteIve read your post 3 times and still dont know what to write. maybe be the cause of the distractions around me. Malinda was next door petting the new puppy they got when older big dog bit her in the arm. as you talked about healing I got to thinking, it doesent matter if its healing from a dog bite, an Illness, healing from injury. we need to trust in God to take care of us. Let Go- Let God, if we ask for God to take care of our needs he will. at least this is what I got from your reading.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much that enters my mind when I read this. And It is like Jesus is scolding them because their Faith was not strong enough to meet the challenge of removing the unclean spirit. When dealing with Satan and his unclean army you surely want your Faith to be where it needs to be or you will end up in more trouble than you could ever imagine. Doubt can play into the picture so easily it seems esp. in this time we all live in. Back then I think without all the news media and electronic devices they did not hear all that is going on in the world and it was much easier for them to walk and live by Faith than it is now. It should not be now but you have Satan and his helpers all around planting that seed saying this is right and that is right and people don't want to stand up for what the bible actually says because they worry what others will think. To get to the point of healing and believing we have to not have fear and doubt.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think a lot of times all of us have been guilty of thinking if he can heal this. I know I have been. Can you imagine how badly it must hurt our Father's feelings when we doubt what he can do. As his children and through our Faith and Belief's we should never doubt him. He has told us in his word what he is capable of we just need to ask and believe.
Today as Malinda was getting attacked by Iggy I said OH GOD please stop this. About the time I yelled this out Iggy let go knocked her down and Malinda fell away from her not in under her. Do I think it was a coincidence not at all I cried out to my Father and he let the attack stop immediately. She got hurt but it could of been so much worse. I could not get to her to save her from being mauled because Iggy had gone off the wall but our Father did. So I actually seen him at work today to spare his child from what could of been unrepairable damage.
Denise I am so thankful for your writing and studying and as Caroline said bringing up all these questions and things to us making us really think.
Tonight I end this with a prayer.
Dear Lord thank you for saving Malinda from what could have been unrepairable damage today. Thank you for hearing my cry and being there for us. Lord thank you for bringing my little sister into my life and allowing me to go on this journey with her.Lord Thank you for allowing Ben to come into my life and become my partner. And Lord thank you for allowing Caroline to find me on MDJ and come into my life and Denise's. Lord I have faith and pray in agreement with each of these for healing for all of us. It say's ask and you shall recieve, seek and you shall find. So I am asking and believing this. You allowed your son to die for our sins so we know how much you truly love us and want us to be healed and whole. I thank you for all you have done and what is yet to come in Jesus most precious name. I also pray for all that is sharing this journey and going through so much that you will touch each and everyone you know their needs. Amen!
Love ya Little Sister xoxoxoxo
Caroline, Ben, and Viv,
ReplyDeleteI may not write replies to your comments each time and wanted you to know its not because I don't value them, actually it is just the opposite! I feel honored that you would risk your most precious, private feelings and beliefs with me and all readers of the blog. I honestly think they stand firm alone, I need not add a thing for fear of distracting away from them and possibly swaying another's opinion with my input and surely don't want that.......this is a journey, I want you all to feel and share how this stirs your emotions, how you grow and learn in faith and even discovering your weaknesses along the way which only make you stronger!!!
Please keep sharing, keep spreading the Word, allow yourself to have time for meditation, and most importantly accept that you're a child of God and deserving of healing and miracles like anyone else if you have faith and believe all things are possible!! Love you all xoxoxo