Words of EncouragementMark 9:14-24
14 At the foot of the mountain they found a great crowd surrounding the other disciples, as some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. 15 The crowd watched Jesus in awe as he came toward them, and then they ran to greet him. 16 "What is all this arguing about?" he asked.
17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, "Teacher, I brought my son for you to heal him. He can't speak because he is possessed by an evil spirit that won't let him talk. 18 And whenever this evil spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grind his teeth and become rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't do it."
19 Jesus said to them, "You faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."  20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. 21 "How long has this been happening?" Jesus asked the boy's father.
He replied, "Since he was very small. 22 The evil spirit often makes him fall into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can."
23 "What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes."  24 The father instantly replied, "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!"  (NLT)
The crowd was in awe of Jesus and they even ran to greet Him. Why? Did they want to be saved or maybe they believed in Him as their Messiah? No, all they wanted was to see the show. When the man who brought his son to be healed spoke you can see that he did not seek Jesus but instead went to His disciples. That’s like going to a co-worker to ask a question only the boss can answer. Why don’t you just ask the boss? The man bypassed Jesus because of fear, knowing that he lacked faith in Jesus and did not want to be confronted about it. Even Jesus gets disappointed once in a while too. “You faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you?" Does this sound familiar with us? Yes it does. The man did not help himself because he put his foot further into his mouth by saying “Do something if you can.” That was the wrong thing to say. Jesus’ response "What do you mean, 'If I can'?" The man was caught, no faith and no belief in Jesus. You cannot escape Jesus and the man knew it. Jesus said, "Anything is possible if a person believes." There you have it. You must put your faith and belief in Jesus. There is no way around it you can try as hard as you like but it will always come back to Jesus and where you stand. Do you believe or do you doubt? Jesus does not want lukewarm followers He want followers who believe and have faith.

Sponsored by BMCC Men’s Ministry
Our Mission is to Lead People into a Growing Relationship with Jesus Christ