Daily Devotional: 6/25/2018 - UNBELIEF

“Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me with my unbelief!'" Mark 9:24

This in my opinion is the most underrated verse in the Bible and the most underrated prayer anyone can pray. This is something that we should be praying and checking on a daily basis. The father showed huge vulnerability to God and that is all God really wants from us, he wants us to be open-hearted and open-minded. He wants us to trust him and love him with all our heart. Going to do a quick Bible Study, this verse comes from the story of one of the many exorcisms throughout his ministry. This was right after the transfiguration on the mountain. Jesus and his disciples were walking up on some of the disciples who were surrounded. A guy had brought his son who was possessed by a spirit that sent him into seizure fits. None of the disciples were able to get the spirit to come out, Jesus called the disciples and a crowd an "unbelieving generation" (v. 19). The father then in turns goes to Jesus, knowing that he can do it. Jesus replies in verse 23 with, "Everything is possible for one who believes." Then the father says the famous verse from up above. So Jesus being the amazing awesome God he is was able to get the spirit to come out of the boy. There are so many stories, verses, passages, and things in the Bible that talk about or touch on faith and believing. We are by nature a very "second guessing" and skeptical generation. We face all kinds of lies and liars everyday, whether it be a home, at work, at school, on the street, or on the social media. We lie like it is nothing. It is natural and expected. People lie for many reasons. They lie for personal gain, help someone else earn personal gain, to protect someone, to hurt, to steal, and the list goes on. Even if you say you do not lie, you would be in turn lying. It is natural and impossible for us not to lie. We are all sinner and not perfect. There is only one who does not sin and is 100% perfect, that is the One and that is God. We have all seen what he can do, he has no limits. He can literally do all things. Nothing is impossible with him (Luke 1:37). Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." We have to trust him and put our full faith in him. We have been saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Matthew 17:20 says, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." All we need is a little faith, faith the size of a mustard seed. When we have just the littlest of faith we can move mountains and do so much, imagine if we had endless faith, the faith that we should be showing our God. Sometimes this is hard to do, we are a visual generation. We have to see it in order to believe it. John 20:29 says, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." We will not and have not literally seen Jesus in the flesh, but we have the Bible and all of his accounts. We have seen what he has done in our life and on a day-to-day basis. If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound? Of course it does!! We have to have faith, it is natural. Romans 10:17 says. "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly see him." We need faith, it is what makes the world go round. It is the only thing God really wants in return. He wants us to love him and to trust, believe, and have faith in him always. With faith comes trust. With trust comes fear. With fear comes love. With love comes happiness. We are not going to see everything that happens, it is impossible. We cannot go back in time. We cannot go back and witness Jesus walk on water, we cannot witness him heal all those people and we cannot witness him release all those people of their demons. All we can do is believe and trust that the Word in front of us is coming the mouth and hand of God. I have never seen these things, but I have seen the power of his name. I have felt his presence, he has healed my body and my soul. He has saved my life and I have witnessed him save countless others. I have never seen such power behind something as simplistic as a name. This is one of the reasons why I believe and have faith. We all have to grow, and grow daily. Myself, I am no where close to having "full faith", we have to do this together. We have to be open-minded and open-hearted. We have to be vulnerable to God and tell him our weaknesses and have him fix them.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)

Lord, thank you for all you do. Thank you for constantly showing your grace, love and mercy. I pray that you are with us always. Cut us at our hearts. Help us grow in you daily. Help us with all our unbelief. Your love is endless. There is no one above you. I pray all this in your Son's name, Amen.

#LetsBeAMovement