So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”

Mark 9:14-19

So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” Mark 9:18b-19

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Mark 9:14-29.  Excerpts from the introduction for the entirety of the text and for the first (of three) division (vv14-19):

• The title for the entirety of the text is and the main idea: "Lessons Learned in the Fires of Failure," and "[w]e will fail, but God uses these failures to deepen our dependence on Him, our faith in Christ, and our discipline in prayer."
• "Failure is never fun and defeat is seldom something we take delight in. It can be painful, embarrassing, and humiliating. And our response can be life changing, altering our destiny. Failure can make us bitter, or it may make us better. We can take it as instructive and corrective and learn from it."
• "It is this last lesson the disciples need to learn and so many of us need to learn as well. But there is another truth we must hold on to as well: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). I can do nothing that really matters without Him, but this drives me continually to Him for help. I need to let my weakness drive me to His strength. I need to let my impotence drive me to His omnipotence. I need to let my limitations drive me to His unlimited resources. I need to let my humility drive me to His sufficiency."  
• For the first division, the title is: "We Never Advance Beyond Our Need for Jesus."
• "Mountaintop experiences are wonderful, and we need them from time to time for spiritual nourishment and the recharging of our spiritual batteries. However, God never intended for us to stay there. He wants us “down here” preaching the gospel to and ministering among the hurting and suffering. He wants us living with and serving real people devastated by the ravages of the fall and of sin. As His agents of redemptive love, we go in His name and with the promise of His presence. To forget this is to open ourselves up to all sorts of difficulty, challenges, and even failure, as nine of His disciples discovered with pain and humiliation."  
• "No doubt the scribes were mocking the disciples over their failure to heal the boy. Probably they used the lack of success as an opportunity to question Jesus’ authority."  
• "[T]heir failure reflected badly not only on them but also on Jesus!"
• "We never sin in a vacuum. We hurt ourselves, we hurt those we love, we hurt the gospel, and we hurt the reputation of Christ! When this happens, we do not need to look to ourselves but to Christ! Criticized by our detractors for our failures, we must point them to Christ, the One who does not fail—ever! We should encourage them to follow the example of the crowd in verse 15. They saw Him, they were amazed at Him, and they ran to Him. Our detractors may accurately point out our flaws and failures. Such, however, will never be found in Jesus. Oh how we need Him when enemies are nipping at our heels, ready to devour us if they can!"  
• "Many lessons are here. (1) We see that demons are real beings, not simply mythological creatures. Jesus clearly believes in the demonic. (2) Demons desire to inflict pain and death. (3) Demons are capable of inflicting physical suffering. This boy had symptoms resembling epilepsy (Matthew 17:15). (4) In our own strength we are helpless against the supernatural powers of the demonic. (5) Spiritual victories in the past (cf. Mark 6:7-13) are no guarantee we will be victorious today, especially when we operate with faith in ourselves rather than in Christ. (6) When all human efforts have been exhausted, we can turn to Jesus. Counter to our sinfulness and weakness, He is where we should turn from the start."
• "Whenever the disciples are separated from Jesus, they get in trouble and experience a crisis. What a valuable lesson: we never advance beyond our need for Jesus!"  

We are reminded that we must remain in Jesus to bear fruit - the lesson of John 15:1-17 is key. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing.  Daily study of God's Word, prayer, are key.  

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who provides for all of my needs, physical, emotional, and spiritual.  You never let me down.  You are SO good!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of my salvation nor how You bless and provide.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

Mark 2:18-22

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. Mark 2:18-19

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on an unassisted review of Mark 2:18-22, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary.  Observations using the Sword Bible Study Method:

• What do we learn from the passage about God?: God does not want empty heartless ceremonial worship practices - He seeks us, for us to love and worship Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind and then to love others.  See Matthew 22:34-40. With Jesus, we have a new covenant based on His blood - Hebrews 9:15-28.  As such, the ceremonial law of the Old Testament no longer apply - Jesus keeps the moral law but the keeping of the law is a natural response of a heart condition that seeks to please Him. God thinks of believers as new creations - vv21-22 - therefore as long as we abide in Him, He will abide in us and bear fruit (see John 15:1-9) as He day by day makes us into more of His image. 
• What do we learn from the passage about people?: People have habits and grow comfortable with these habits, and often we feel as if it is very difficult to break these habits.  When we are challenged in our faith, as were the Pharisees, we should be humble and ask God to mold us into His image.  The example to follow here is Jesus who focused on humility, our heart condition and glorifying the Father vs external behaviors and earning our favor with God.  
• Is there anything from the passage God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey)?: We should avoid hypocrisy - a chief sin Jesus pointed out with the scribes and Jewish leaders of Jesus' day.  We should not believe that we can earn our favor with God through our own action - the focus should be on God getting the glory - we decrease, and God increases.      

In the text today, Jesus shared how the days will come when He is taken away from us (v20).  Jesus was taken away from His followers through His death on the cross, yet He leaves us with the Holy Spirit who lives on in our hearts and lives (Galatians 2:20).  Our daily reading and study of God's Word enables us to remain in Him and Him to remain in us.       

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of incredible grace and mercy for me - and You pour out Your mercies without end every morning.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You save and bless me daily with Your mercies.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Luke 11-13

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Luke 12:48

Day 299 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues as I move further into the New Testament - focusing on primarily Jesus' teachings, particularly on hypocrisy as the Pharisees and Jewish leaders questioned Jesus on matters of the law while they failed to follow key aspects of the law.  On the question of hypocrisy, Jesus gives us the Parable of the Watchful Servants (Luke 12) which talks to those of us in positions of leadership and influence - and John Piper has a warning for us: "[t]he more knowledge you have of God’s will, the more you are accountable for doing it."

As someone in a position of influence - at least in my own household - I am driven into the arms of Jesus as God can only equip and assist me if I remain (abide) in Him.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:1-8

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has helped me produce good fruit and I know it is only because of You - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You have helped me produce good fruit - nor am I deserving of any of the blessings You pour out on me.  My sin continues...worry, distracted by the world, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

1 John 2

But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. v27

Jesus is to remain in us and we are to remain in Him - in v18-29, these words (or very close wording) are mentioned five separate times.  In John Piper's words, we are to "abide in Christ".

Both 1 John 2 and John 15 (the latter in particular), are referenced by Piper.  

Piper wants us to "believe, trust, savor, rest, and receive" Him. and "our fruit confirms us".

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You are of lasting value and I have seen You bear fruit in my life and in the lives of those around me - my brothers and sisters in Christ.  I love You.  You are an awesome God.  Thank You for being my God and for adopting me into Your family.  I am not worth such love.  My sin is daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.