Every day pray that everyone you know will either become a Christian or influence others to become a Christian, and please share this online book with others - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
Worship music - Please click the links and sing along if you know the words (You can also click skip ad to go straight to the songs) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbOP2iE-YII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNeQ7Tj40aU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlR9TRs-cbM
For Sunday evening services, the Lord has lead me to do a Bible study for practical Bible verses in Mark. Please come back to these Bible lessons in order to review them and learn them. Whenever we have learned the meaning of Bible verses and think about them throughout each day, we will be in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Not only that, but when we are in a situation in our daily lives and are tempted to sin, we can think back to what we have learned from the Bible and say to ourselves, "The Bible says not to do what I am tempted to say, think, do, and/or desire right now, so I am going to refuse to give in to this temptation." This is what Romans 12:2 means, and it says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This is also the pattern that Jesus used when the devil tempted Him to sin in Matthew 4:1-11.
Chapter 9
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK
Mark 9:14-29
14And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 16And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? 17And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. 20And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. (Sometimes our faith isn't as strong as we want it to be, but we know in our hearts that God will save us and others and heal us and others, but just like the child's father in this verse, we want God to give us extra faith so we can be sure that our prayers will be answered. In this case, God will grant us that extra faith that we so desperately desire.) 25When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 26And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. 28And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 29And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
There are possibly different reasons why the disciples were unable to cast the foul spirit out of the boy - they could have had temporary doubt that God and Jesus were able to heal, they could have trusted in their own power to cast it out instead of the power of God, and according to Matthew 17:19-20 (which records a similar event), they didn't believe that God would answer their prayer for the demon to be cast out of the boy. Although, a Christian doesn't always have to have gigantic faith; if their faith is in Jesus' power, it's enough. (For advice on how to have your prayers answered, see chapter 37 of this book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com) Mark 9:29 seems to mean that Jesus was wanting the disciples to ask God to forgive them for their lack of faith and try not to fail like that again.
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven
If you have never prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven