Mark 9:24, “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

The dominant theme in this passage of text is faith and doubt. Jesus’ initial response to hearing of the boy’s condition expresses His disappointment in a lack of faith: “You unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” The boy’s father initially seems to display a lack of faith as well. He asks Jesus to do something for the boy “if you can” (Mark 9:22). Jesus picks up on this doubt, repeating the man’s conditional statement (verse 23). In essence, He responds by saying, “What do you mean, IF I can?” He goes on to assure the man that anything is possible if he has faith. (On at least two previous occasions, Jesus had linked healing to faith in Him—Mark 5:34 and 36). It appears that the only thing preventing the man’s son from being healed is his faith, and he realizes that he has already portrayed a lack of faith. The man wants to express faith but at the same time be genuine. So he says, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (verse 24). In essence, he says, “My faith is far from perfect. I may not have enough faith. If my faith is not enough, please help me to have enough.” The CEV puts it like this: “I do have faith! Please help me to have even more.” Jesus is pleased with this response and heals the boy.

Talk about being Honest, Open, and Transparent (H.O.T.) in front of crowd!

I hope you enjoy this one minute word of encouragement. Feel free to share it with someone you think might need an inspiring word to help build their faith!

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#HelpMyUnbelief

Welp, it’s settled…time doesn’t get the credit for healing….God does! David contextually confirmed this biblical truth in Psalm 147:3 and he said, ”He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”

Look at it this way, time passes but it is not a healer. The passage of time may take the edge off of acute pain, but it does not heal the pain.

You see, waiting for pain to heal is like waiting for the air to come back into a flat tire. You can wait, and wait, and wait, but until you take action the tire will remain flat.

If I am speaking to you please note there is no judgment intended. I know that recovering from loss isn’t a topic most of us learned about in school, or from other people. But perpetuating the myth that time heals is harmful because it’s just not true.

One of God’s names, which He spoke directly in Exodus 15:26, is “The Lord Who Heals You.” Healing is an integral part of God’s nature. Scripture repeatedly says that Jesus healed because he had compassion on the people. Jesus healed because it was His nature to do so.

Now then, let’s shift our focus back on time for a moment. When you dig down just a little deeper you will find that the marking of time is irrelevant to God because He transcends it. Peter, in 2 Peter 3:8, cautioned his readers not to let this one critical fact escape their notice—that God’s perspective on time is far different from mankind’s (Psalm 102:12, 24-27). The Lord does not count time as we do. He is above and outside of the sphere of time. God sees all of eternity’s past and eternity’s future. The time that passes on earth is of no consequence from God’s timeless perspective. A second is no different from an eon; a billion years pass like seconds to the eternal God.

That said, even in the midst of our pain as believers we should have a deep sense of comfort knowing that God, though timeless and eternal, is in time with us right now; He is not unreachably transcendent, but right here in this moment with us. And because He’s vertically and horizontally reachable in every moment of our lives, He can and will always respond to our needs and prayers.

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#TimeDoesNotHeal

Although our flesh, the enemy, and this world may wound us; our Father in heaven will never allow those wounds to defeat us. The bibles clearly says that though we get struck down we will not be destroyed (I Cor 4:9) because we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37).

So today, if you have been wounded remember Christ too was wounded for our transgressions (rebellion), He was also bruised for iniquities (wickedness), the chastisement (punishment) for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes (blood) we are healed (Isa 53:5).

My brothers and sisters, don’t ever forget that your present sufferings can never ever be compared to the glory that will be revealed (Romans 8:18)!

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#TGBTG

#NAP

#GloryRevealed

Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply ‘ALL’ your needs according to the glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Notice the scripture doesn’t say ‘some’ or ‘portion of’; it says ALL. In most cases regardless of the circumstance(s) ALL we generically need is understanding of God’s will, plan, and purpose for our lives.

In order to gain this knowledge and understanding we must first be willing to let go of the ‘things’ that are not God’s will for us so that we can make room for the things that God does have prepared for us.

God reminds us there are no wrong turns or wrong decisions when we are led by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, all we need to do is be sensitive to God’s directive guidance and heed (obey) the voice of the Holy Spirit!

The bottom line is we must remember that our scarcity (lack) can never cap God’s generosity (His best)! God wants to help us in ’ALL’ circumstances and ’ALL’ we need to do is trust Him!

#BeStrong

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#NAP

#prayerchangesthings

Life is not always predictable. Inevitably, there will be ups and downs along the way. Many of us want to trust God. When times are good, it can feel easier. But when times feel difficult, it is even more important to trust God. God’s immutable or unchanging character can give us a firm foundation when we feel unhappy, uncomfortable, unsteady, and uncertain.

Proverbs 3:5-6 commands you and I to, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on our own understanding. Seek His will in all we do, and He will show us which path to take.”

Well, the two commands cited in the NLT passage above says don’t depend on our own understanding and always seek God’s will. So to trust in God means to believe in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of something (meaning God) beyond our worldly understanding.

Sometimes our feelings get in our way, but trusting God is more than a feeling; it’s a choice to have faith in what He says even when our feelings or circumstances would have us believe something different. Our feelings and circumstances matter and are very much worth paying attention to and God cares about them both. But those things alone are not reliable enough to base our life on. They can change at any moment, even in an instant. God, on the other hand, does not change (Malachi 3:6 & Hebrews 13:8). He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and therefore is worthy of our absolute trust.

Brothers and Sisters, spoiler alert…when Jesus Himself felt overwhelmed by what was before Him, and He went straight to His Father and though His disciples slept, God never left His side (Mark 14:-36).

At the end of the day, God loves us and we can show our trust in Him by communicating about all our feelings and circumstances with Him — the good and hard — through prayer. We shouldn’t let our unreliable and unstable emotions or feelings rule our lives; we should bring them to God so He can help us address them. God is never disappointed or frustrated by our struggles, doubts or pain. He cares about us, and we can trust Him with everything that is going on in our lives. Beside, all the days of our lives were ordained by God even before one day came to be (Psalm 139:16).

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#TGBTG

#NAP

GodCanBeTrusted